UNIT III:

Bipolar junction Transistors: Transistor Structure, Basic Transistor Operation, Transistor Characteristics
and Parameters, Transistor as an Amplifier and Switch.

BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR (BJT) STRUCTURE:

The BJT is constructed with three doped semiconductor regions separated by two pn junctions, as shown in
the epitaxial planar structure.
The three regions are called emitter, base, and collector. Physical representations of the two types of BJTs.
One type consists of two n regions separated by a p region (npn), and the other type consists of two p regions
separated by an n region (pnp).
The term bipolar refers to the use of both holes and electrons as current carriers in the transistor structure.
 A transistor has three regions known as emitter, base and collector
 Emitter: it is aregion situated in one side of a transistor, which supplies charge carriers (ie., electrons and
holes) to the other two regions,  Emitter is heavily doped region
 Base: It is the middle region that forms two P-N junction in the transistor
 The base of the transistor is thin as compared to the emitter and is alightly doped region
 Collector: It is a region situated in the other side of a transistor (ie., side opposite to the emitter) which
collects the charge carriers.
 The collector of the transistor is always larger than the emitter and base of a transistor
 The doping level of the collector is intermediate between the heavy doping of emitter and the light doping
of the base.

The pn junction joining the base region and the emitter region is called the base-emitter junction.
The pn junction joining the base region and the collector region is called the base-collector junction, These
leads are labeled E, B, and C for emitter, base, and collector, respectively. The base region is lightly doped
and very thin compared to the heavily doped emitter and the moderately doped collector regions schematic
symbols for the npn and pnp bipolar junction transistors.
 The pn junction joining the base region and the emitter region is called the base-emitter junction.
 The pn junction joining the base region and the collector region is called the base-collector junction,
A wire lead connects to each of the three regions. These leads are labeled E, B, and C for emitter, base,
and collector, respectively.
  The base region is lightly doped and very thin compared to the heavily doped emitter and the moderately
doped collector regions schematic symbols for the npn and pnp bipolar junction transistors.
 the area of the collector-base (C-B) junction is made considerably larger than the emitter-base (E-B)
junction. This is so because in most cases collector junction has to handle more power than the emitter.
So if collector and emitter are interchanged normal transistor action can’t be obtained.
The construction and circuit symbols for both the NPN and PNP bipolar transistor are given above with the
arrow in the circuit symbol always showing the direction of "conventional current flow" between the base
terminal and its emitter terminal. The direction of the arrow always points from the positive P-type region to
the negative N-type region for both transistor types, exactly the same as for the standard diode symbol.
TRANSISTOR BIASING:
UNBIASED TRANSISTORS
 A transistor with three terminals (Emitter, Base, Collector) left open is called an unbiased transistor or an
open – circuited transistor
 The diffusion of free electrons across the junction produces two depletion layers
 The barrier potential of three layers is approximately 0.7v for silicon transistor and 0.3v for germanium
transistor
 Since the regions have different doping levels therefore the layers do not have the same width
 The emitter base depletion layer penetrates slightly into the emitter as it is a heavily doped region where as
it penetrates deeply into the base as it is a lightly doped region
 Similarly, the collector- base depletion layer penetrates more into the base region and less into the collector
region
 The emitter- base depletion layer width is smaller than the that of collector base depletion layer
 The unbiased transistor is never used in actual practice. Because of this we went for transistor biasing
Biased Transistor: A transistor is said to be biased when external power supply is connected to it. BJT is
capable of operating in three different regions, depending on the biasing. The biasing condition for these three
regions of operations is listed in the table 2.1 Table 2.1 Biasing conditions for different regions of operation.

External power supply is connected in

such a way that JBE is made forward
biased and JCB is reverse biased. Figure
also indicates the conventional flow of
currents IB, IC and IE. From figure, we see
that external supply VCC is made larger
than supply VEE, to ensure that collector
to base junction is reverse biased. Note
that the polarities for the PNP transistor
are exactly opposite to the polarity of
NPN transistor.

Transistor Operation:
Operation of NPN Transistor: We will study operation of NPN transistor in the active region. In order to
operate transistor in active region, base emitter junction JBE is made forward biased and collector base junction
JCB is reverse biased.
The external supply is given as shown in figure to make the transistor to operate in active region. Due to this
biasing, depletion region for base emitter junction is narrow and is wider for collector base junction.
As the base emitter junction JBE is forward biased, it reduces the barrier potential and causes the majority
charge carriers i.e. electrons to flow from n type emitter to p-type base region.
This constitutes the emitter current IE. Few of the electrons entering into the base region do not reach the
collector region because recombination of electrons and holes takes place and they flow out of the base
terminal as shown in fig. As the base region is very thin and lightly doped, very few holes are available for
recombination. Due to this only about 2% electrons will flow out of the base. This IB is said to be just 2% of
IE.
The remaining 98% electrons cross the reverse biased collector junction and reach to the positive terminal of
the external supply VCC. This constitutes the collector current IC.
The collector current is much larger than the base current. The emitter current is thus the sum of collector
current and base current. i.e.IE=IC + IB.
IB is very small compared to IC so we can assume that the collector current is nearly equal to the emitter current.
i.e. IC ≈ IE .
Operation of PNP Transistor: PNP transistor behaves exactly in the same way as the NPN transistor, only
difference is, the majority charge carriers are holes and minority charge carriers are electrons. Here, in PNP
as shown in fig. holes are emitted from the p-type emitter region into the n-type base region.
Base region is thin and lightly doped and so very few electrons are available for recombination. Therefore
about 2% of total emitted holes will flow out of the base terminal and remaining 98% are collected by collector
region.
Current Components in BJT
N-P-N Transistor

Here, the majority carrier electrons from the emitter are injected into the base and majority carrier holes from
the base are injected to the emitter region. These two constitute the emitter current as 𝐼𝐸 = 𝐼𝑛𝐸 + 𝐼𝑝𝐸
Since the doping of the emitter region is much higher than that of the base, 𝐼𝑛𝐸 ≫ 𝐼𝑝𝐸 and we have 𝐼𝐸 ≈ 𝐼𝑛𝐸 .
Thus the emitter current is almost entirely due to the electrons moving from the emitter to the base. The
injected electrons diffuse through the base towards the collector junction. A few of the injected electrons are
lost due to the recombination with the holes in the base. The electrons reaching the collector junction are
collected by the collector and give rise to the current component 𝐼𝑛𝐶 . The difference (𝐼𝑛𝐸 − 𝐼𝑛𝐶 )
constitutes a part of the base current. Since the collector junction is reverse biased there is a reverse saturation
current, 𝑰𝑪𝑶 through this junction even when the emitter is open. It consists of two parts: 𝐼𝑛𝐶𝑂 , due to
movement of minority electrons from the base to the collector, and 𝐼𝑝𝐶𝑂 , due to the movement of minority

holes from the collector to the base. Thus:

P-N-P Transistor:
The forward biasing voltage VEB reduces the emitter–base potential. This permits diffusion of holes from the
emitter to the base and diffusion of electrons from base to emitter. These two flows constitute the emitter
current as 𝐼𝐸=𝐼𝑝𝐸 + 𝐼𝑛𝐸 , where 𝐼𝑝𝐸 is the emitter current due to holes moving from the emitter to the base and
𝐼𝑛𝐸 is the emitter current due to electrons moving from the base to the emitter. Usually, doping of emitter is
much higher than that of base. So, 𝐼𝑝𝐸 ≫ 𝐼𝑛𝐸 and the emitter current is almost due to holes only. The injected
holes diffuse through the base region towards the collector junction. While diffusing through the base few
holes (1-3%) are lost due to their recombination with the electrons in the base regions.
The holes reaching the collector junction fall down the potential barrier and are collected by the collector.
This gives rise to the component IpC of the collector current. IpC is slightly less than the IpE and the difference
(IpE - IpC) constitutes a part of the base current IB.
The base current is due to flow of electrons from battery to the base to maintain the charge neutrality of the
base region.
Since the collector junction is reverse biased there is a small collector current even with the emitter open. This
current consisting of two components: I nCO due to minority electrons flowing from the p-type collector to the
n-type base and IpCO due to minority holes moving from the n-type base to the p-type collector. The resultant
current (𝐼𝑛𝐶𝑂 +𝐼𝑝𝐶𝑂 ) is denoted by 𝐼𝐶𝑂 and is called leakage current or reverse collector saturation current with

emitter open. 𝐼𝐶𝑂 is very much temperature sensitive. Thus we have the relations.
Difference Between NPN and PNP Transistor
NPN PNP
The current flows from collector terminal to emitter The current flows from emitter to collector
terminal. terminal.
One P-type semiconductor is sandwiched between the It is made of up two P-type material layers with
two N-type semiconductors. N-type sandwiched between them.
The current flow from the collector is generated by The current flow from the emitter to collector is
keeping a +ve voltage there. generated at emitter terminal by keeping a +ve
voltage there.
The transistor switches ON with the increase in current The transistors switch ON when there is no
in the base terminal current flow at the base terminal
When the current is reduced in the base, the transistor When a current is present at the base of a PNP
doesn’t function across the collector terminal and transistor, then the transistor switches OFF.
switches OFF
Bipolar Transistor Configurations:
As the Bipolar Transistor is a three terminal device, there are basically three possible ways to connect it within
an electronic circuit with one terminal being common to both the input and output. Each method of connection
responding differently to its input signal within a circuit as the static characteristics of the transistor vary with
each circuit arrangement.
• 1. Common Base Configuration - has Voltage Gain but no Current Gain.
• 2. Common Emitter Configuration - has both Current and Voltage Gain.
• 3. Common Collector Configuration - has Current Gain but no Voltage Gain.
The Common Base (CB) Configuration As its name suggests, in the Common Base or grounded base
configuration, the BASE connection is common to both the input signal AND the output signal with the input
signal being applied between the base and the emitter terminals.
The corresponding output signal is taken from between the base and the collector terminals as shown with the
base terminal grounded or connected to a fixed reference voltage point.
The input current flowing into the emitter is quite large as its the sum of both the base current and collector
current respectively therefore, the collector current output is less than the emitter current input resulting in a
current gain for this type of circuit of "1" (unity) or less, in other words the common base configuration
"attenuates" the input signal.
This type of amplifier configuration is a non-
inverting voltage amplifier circuit,
in that the signal voltages Vin and Vout are in-phase.
This type of transistor arrangement is not very
common due to its unusually high voltage gain
characteristics.
Its output characteristics represent that of a forward
biased diode while the input characteristics represent
that of an illuminated photo-diode.

Also this type of bipolar transistor configuration has a high ratio of output to input resistance or more
importantly "load" resistance (RL) to "input" resistance (Rin) giving it a value of "Resistance Gain". Then the
voltage gain (Av for a common base configuration is therefore given as:

The common base circuit is generally only used in single stage amplifier
circuits such as microphone pre-amplifier or radio frequency (Rf) amplifiers
due to its very good high frequency response.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CB CONFIGURATION
 The performance of transistors determined from their characteristic curves that relate different d.c
currents and voltages of a transistor
 Such curves are known as static characteristics curves
 There are two important characteristics of a transistor
 Input characteristics
 Output characteristics

 INPUT CHARACTERISTICS
 The curve drawn between emitter current and emitter – base voltage for a given value of collector –
base voltage is known as input characteristics
 Base width modulation (or) Early effect
 In a transistor, since the emitter – base junction is forward biased there is no effect on the width of the
depletion region
 However, since collector – base junction is reverse biased as the reverse bias voltage across the
collector – base junction
 increase the width of the depletion region also increases
 Since the base is lightly doped the depletion region penetrates deeper into the base region
 This reduces the effective width of the base region
 This variation or modulation of the effective base width by the collector voltage is known as base
width modulation or early effect
 The decrease in base width by the collector voltage has the following three effects
 It reduces the chances of recombination of electrons with the holes in the base region
 Hence current gain increases with increase in collector – base voltage
 The concentration gradient of minority carriers within the base increases. This increases the emitter
current
 For extremely collector voltage , the effective base width may be reduced to zero, resulting in voltage
breakdown of a transistor
 This phenomenon is known as punch through
 The emitter current increases rapidly with small increase in which means low input resistance
 Because input resistance of a transistor is the reciprocal of the slope of the input characteristics
Output characteristics
 The curve drawn between collector current and collector – base voltage, for a given value of emitter
current is known as output characteristics
i)active region
 There is a very small increase in with increase in
 This is because the increase in expands the collector – base depletion region and shorten the distance
between two depletion region
 Hence due to the early effect does not increase very much with increase in
 Although, the collector current is independent of if is increased beyond a certain value, eventually
increases rapidly because of avalanche effects
 This condition is called punch – through or reach – through
 When it occurs large current can flow destroying the device
ii) cut – off region
 small collector current flows even when emitter current
 this is the collector leakage current
iii) saturation region
 collector current flows even when the external applied voltage is reduced to zero. There is a low barrier
potential existing at the collector – base junction and this assists in the flow of collector current
The Common Emitter (CE) Configuration In the Common Emitter or grounded emitter configuration, the
input signal is applied between the base, while the output is taken from between the collector and the emitter
as shown.
This type of configuration is the most commonly used circuit for transistor based amplifiers and which
represents the "normal" method of bipolar transistor connection.
The common emitter amplifier configuration produces the highest current and power gain of all the three
bipolar transistor configurations.
This is mainly because the input impedance is LOW as it is connected to a forward-biased PN-junction, while
the output impedance is HIGH as it is taken from a reverse-biased PN-junction.
In this type of configuration, the current flowing
out of the transistor must be equal to the currents
flowing into the transistor as the emitter current
is given as Ie = Ic + Ib.
Also, as the load resistance (RL) is connected in
series with the collector, the current gain of the
common emitter transistor configuration is
quite large as it is the ratio of Ic/Ib and is given
the Greek symbol of Beta, (β).

As the emitter current for a common emitter configuration is defined as I e = Ic + Ib, the ratio of Ic/Ie is called
Alpha, given the Greek symbol of α. Note: that the value of Alpha will always be less than unity.
Since the electrical relationship between these three currents, I b, Ic and Ie is determined by the physical
construction of the transistor itself, any small change in the base current (I b), will result in a much larger
change in the collector current (Ic). Then, small changes in current flowing in the base will thus control the
current in the emitter-collector circuit. Typically, Beta has a value between 20 and 200 for most general
purpose transistors. By combining the expressions for both Alpha, α and Beta, β the mathematical relationship
between these parameters and therefore the current gain of the transistor can be given as:

Where: "Ic" is the current flowing into the collector terminal,

"Ib" is the current flowing into the base terminal and "Ie" is
the current flowing out of the emitter terminal.
Then to summarize, this type of bipolar transistor
configuration has a greater input impedance, current and
power gain than that of the common base configuration but
its voltage gain is much lower. The common emitter
configuration is an inverting amplifier circuit resulting in the
output signal being 180o out-of-phase with the input voltage
signal.
Characteristics of CE configuration
i) Input Characteristics
 Same as in the case of common-base configuration, the junction of the common-emitter configuration
can also be considered as a forward biased diode, the current-voltage characteristics is similar to that
of a diode:

 The Curve drawn between base current and base-emitter voltage for a given value of collector-emitter
voltage is known as input characteristics.
  The input characteristics of CE transistors are similar to those of a forward biased diode because the
base-emitter region of the transistor is forward-biased.

 Input Resistance is larger in CE configuration than in CB configuration.

 This is because the I/P current increases less rapidly with increase in Vbe.
 An increment in value of Vce causes the input current to be lower for a given level of Vbe.
 This is explained on the basis of early effect.
 As a result of early effect, more charge carriers from the emitter flows across the collector-base
junction and flow out through the based lead.
ii) Output Characteristics
 It is the curve drawn between collector current Ic and collector-emitter voltage Vce for a given value
of base current Ib.
 The collector current Ic varies with Vce and becomes a constant.
 Output characteristics in CE configuration has some slope while CB configuration has almost
horizontal characteristics.
 This indicates that output resistance incase of CE configuration is less than that in CB configuration.
i) Active Region
 For small values of base current, the effect of collector voltage Vc over Ic is small but for large values
of Ib, this effect increases.
 The shape of the characteristic is same as CB configuration
 The difference that Ic is larger than input current
 Thus, the current gain is greater than unity.
ii) Saturation Region
 With low values of Vce, the transistor is said to be operated in saturation region and in this region,
base current Ib does not correspond to Ic,
iii) Cut off Region
 A small amount of collector current Ic flows even when I b=0, This is called emitter leakage current.

The Common Collector (CC) Configuration In the Common Collector or grounded collector configuration,
the collector is now common through the supply. The input signal is connected directly to the base, while the
output is taken from the emitter load as shown.
This type of configuration is commonly known as a Voltage Follower or Emitter Follower circuit. The emitter
follower configuration is very useful for impedance matching applications because of the very high input
impedance, in the region of hundreds of thousands of Ohms while having a relatively low output impedance.
 The common emitter configuration has a current
gain approximately equal to the β value of the
transistor itself.

In the common collector configuration the load

resistance is situated in series with the emitter so its
current is equal to that of the emitter current.

As the emitter current is the combination of the

collector AND the base current combined, the load
resistance in this type of transistor configuration also
has both the collector current and the input current
of the base flowing through it. Then the current gain
of the circuit is given as:
This type of bipolar transistor configuration is a non-inverting circuit
in that the signal voltages of Vin and Vout are inphase.
It has a voltage gain that is always less than "1" (unity).
The load resistance of the common collector transistor receives both the
base and collector currents giving a large current gain (as with the
common emitter configuration) therefore, providing good current
amplification with very little voltage gain.

Characteristics of CC configuration
i) Input Characteristics
 To determine the i/p characteristics Vce is kept at a suitable fixed value.
 The base collector voltage Vbc is increased in equal steps and the corresponding increase in I b is
noted.
 This is repeated for different fixed values of Vce.
ii) Output Characteristics
The output characteristic of the common emitter circuit is drawn between the emitter-collector voltage VEC and
output current IE at constant input current IB. If the input current IB is zero, then the collector current also
becomes zero, and no current flows through the transistor.
Comparison of the performance of Characteristics of CB, CE, and CC Configurations

Till now we have studied the configurations and Characteristics of CB, CE and CC configurations Let us have a
look at the comparison between them.

S.no Parameter CB CE CC
1 Input Resistance Very low 20kΩ Moderately 1kΩ Very high 500k
2 Output resistance Very high 1.MΩ Moderately 40kΩ Low 50Ω
3 Input current IE IB IB

4 Output current IC IC IE

5 Input voltage applied Emitter and base Base and emitter Bae and collector
between
6 Output voltage is taken Collector and emitter Emitter and collector Emitter and ground
as base
7 Current amplification α=IC/IE β=IC/IB γ=IE/IB
factor
8 Current gain Unity High (20 to few High (20 to few
hundreds) hundreds)
9 Voltage gain High High Unity

10 Application multistage As an input stage of amplifier For audio signal For impedance
matching amplification matching.

Definitions of Alpha ‘α’, Beta ‘β’, and Gamma ‘γ’ Factors

The ratio of output current to input current is called the "current amplification factor". The current
amplification factor is also called "current gain"

Current amplification factor Output current Input current

o The current amplification factor in CB configuration is called Alpha (α)

o The current amplification factor in CE configuration is called beta (β)
o The current amplification factor in CC configuration is called gamma (γ)

1. Alpha (α):

The ratio of change in collector current to the change in emitter current at constant collector base
voltage VCB is known as alpha (α).

α=△IC /△IE
Practical values of α in commercial transistors range from 0.9 to 0.99.

It is clear that the current amplification factor is less than unity. This value can be increased (but not more
than unity) by decreasing the base current. This is achieved by making the base thin and doping it lightly

2. Beta (β):

The ratio of change in collector current (△IC) to the change in base current △IB

Current gain β=△IC / △IB

The value of (β) ranges from 20 to 500. The current gain indicates that input current becomes β times in
collector current.

3. Gamma (γ)

The ratio of change in emitter current △IE to the change in base current △IB is known as Gamma (γ).

γ=△IE / △IB

γ value is slightly more than the value of β its voltage gain is always less than 1.

Relation between Alpha α, Beta β, and Gamma γ

Transistor as an Amplifier
A transistor can increase the strength of a weak signal and hence it can be used as an amplifier in a circuit.
The weak signal is applied between the emitter – base junction and output is taken across the load connected
in the collector circuit.
In order to achieve desired amplification, emitter – base junction must remain forward biased. For this, a DC
voltage VBB is applied in the input circuit in addition to signal. This DC voltage is known as Bias Voltage
and its magnitude is such that it always makes the emitter – base junction forward biased regardless of polarity
of signal.
Since the input circuit has low resistance (because of forward biased), hence a small change in signal voltage
causes a huge change in emitter current. Due to transistor action, same change occurs in the collector current.
Since the collector current flowing through a high load resistance RC produces a large voltage across it. In
this way, a weak signal applied to the input circuit amplified in the output circuit, hence the transistor acts as
an amplifier.
Circuit Diagram of Transistor Amplifier

During Positive half cycle of the input signal, the forward bias across emitter – base junction is increased.
Hence, from the n – types emitter more electrons flow to the collector through the base. This increases the
collector current. The increased collector current causes a high voltage drop across the collector load
resistance (RC).
During the negative half cycle of the input signal, the forward bias across the emitter – base junction is
decreased. Hence, the collector current decreased. This causes reduced output voltage in opposite direction.
Therefore, amplified output is obtained across the load.
 A small change in input voltage is
Vin, Output voltage is Vout
Voltage Amplification factor
Av = Vout/Vin
When Av > 1 the transistor acts as
amplifier.

Transistor as a Switch
A transistor can be used as a solid state switch. If the transistor is operated in the saturation region then it
acts as closed switch and when it is operated in the cut off region then it behaves as an open switch.
The transistor operates as a Single Pole Single Throw (SPST) solid state switch. When a zero input signal
applied to the base of the transistor, it acts as an open switch. If a positive signal applied at the input terminal
then it acts like a closed switch.
When the transistor operating as switch, in the cut off region the current through the transistor is zero and
voltage across it is maximum, and in the saturation region the transistor current is maximum and voltage
across is zero. Therefore, both the on – state and off – state power loss is zero in the transistor switch.
Circuit Diagram of Transistor as a Switch
Cut Off State (Open Switch):
When transistor operates in the cut off region shows the following characteristics −
 The input is grounded i.e. at zero potential.
 The VBE is less that cut – in voltage 0.7 V.
 Both emitter – base junction and collector – base junction are reverse biased.
 The transistor is fully – off acting as open switch.
 The collector current IC = 0 A and output voltage Vout = VCC.
Saturation State (Closed Switch):
The transistor operating in the saturation region exhibits following characteristics −
 The input is connected to VCC.
 Base – Emitter voltage is greater than cut – in voltage (0.7 V).
 Both the base – emitter junction and base – collector junction are forward biased.
 The transistor is fully – ON and operates as closed switch.
 The collector current is maximum
IC=VCCRLIC=VCCRL
and Vout = 0 V.

Operating Characteristics of Transistor

 Cut Off Region − To operate the transistor in this region, both the junctions of BJT are reverse biased
and the operating conditions of the transistor are as follows − input base current (I B) is equal zero,
hence the zero output collector current (I C). The collector – emitter voltage (VCE) is maximum. This
results in a large depletion layer on the junctions of the transistor and no current can flow through the
device. Hence, the transistor operates as Open Switch i.e. fully – off.
 Saturation Region − To operate the transistor in saturation region, both the junctions of the BJT are
forward biased, hence the base current can be applied to its maximum value which results in maximum
collector current. Due to forward biased junctions the width of depletion layer is as small as possible
causing minimum collector – emitter voltage drop. Therefore current flowing through the transistor
having maximum value, thus the transistor is operated as Closed Switch i.e. fully – ON.