• What is a Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)?

• A bipolar junction transistor is a three-terminal semiconductor device

that consists of two p-n junctions which are able to amplify or
magnify a signal. It is a current controlled device. The three terminals
of the BJT are the base, the collector, and the emitter. A signal of a
small amplitude applied to the base is available in the amplified form
at the collector of the transistor. This is the amplification provided by
the BJT. Note that it does require an external source of DC power
supply to carry out the amplification process.
• Construction of Bipolar Junction Transistor
• BJT is a semiconductor device that is constructed with 3 doped
semiconductor Regions i.e. Base, Collector & Emitter separated by 2
p-n Junctions.
• Bipolar transistors are manufactured in two types, PNP and NPN, and
are available as separate components, usually in large quantities. The
prime use or function of this type of transistor is to amplify current.
This makes them useful as switches or amplifiers. They have a wide
application in electronic devices like mobile phones, televisions, radio
transmitters, and industrial control.
Types of transistors:
Types of Bipolar Junction Transistor
There are two types of bipolar junction transistors:
• PNP bipolar junction transistor
NPN bipolar junction transistor
The flow of charge in a Bipolar transistor is due to the diffusion of charge carriers between the
two regions belonging to different charge concentrations. Regions of BJT are known as the
base, collector, and emitter.
The emitter region is highly doped when compared to other layers. Both collector and base
layers have the same charge carrier concentrations. Among these junctions, the base-emitter
junction is forward biased, and the base-collector junction is reverse biased. Forward biased
means p-doped region has more potential than the n-doped side.
 Bipolar junction transistor (BJT)
The transistor is a three-layer semiconductor device consisting of either two n- and one p-
type layers of material or two p- and one n-type layers of material. The former is called
an npn transistor, while the latter is called a pnp transistor.

Emitter - heavily doped

Arrow indicates direction of current during the active
Base - lightly doped region of operation
Collector - moderately doped
 Common Base (CB) Configuration Common Collector (CC) Configuration
Base grounded, Amplifies voltage Collector grounded, Amplifies
current

Common Emitter (CE) Configuration

Emitter grounded, Amplifies both current and
voltage
 Common Emitter (CE) Configuration
𝑰 𝑪 + 𝑰 𝑩= 𝑰 𝑬
𝑹𝐶
𝑰𝐶 𝑰𝑪≅𝑰𝑬
𝑰 𝑪=𝜶 𝑰 𝑬
𝒆 (𝟏 − 𝜶 )
n 𝑰 𝑩= 𝑰 𝑰 𝑪= 𝜷 𝑰 𝑩
𝑰𝐵 𝜶
𝑹𝐵 𝑽 𝐵𝐸
𝑪

𝒆 𝑽 𝐶𝐶
p
Levels of IC and IB are related by a quantity
𝑽 𝐵𝐵 called beta, common-emitter, forward-current,
𝑽 𝐵𝐸 n 𝒆 amplification factor and defined by the
following equation:
𝑰𝐸
The level of α typically extends from 0.90 to 0.998
The level of β typically extends from 50 to 400
 Common Emitter (CE) Configuration
 Two sets of characteristics are necessary to
describe the behavior of the common-emitter
configuration: one for the input or base-emitter
circuit and one for the output or collector-emitter
circuit
Input Characteristics B

 The input characteristics are a plot of the input

current (IB) versus input voltage (V) for a range of
values of output voltage (VCE).
The base-emitter junction is forward-biased, while the
collector-base junction is reverse-biased
𝑽 𝑪 >𝑽 𝑩 >𝑽 𝑬
𝑽 𝑪𝑬 =𝑽 𝑪𝑩+ 𝑽 𝑩𝑬
 Output Characteristics
 The output characteristics are a plot of the output current (IC) versus output voltage
(VCE) for a range of values of input current (IB).

Different regions of operation

1. Active region
In the active region of a common-emitter
amplifier the collector-base junction is
reverse-biased, while the base-emitter
junction is forward-biased.

𝑽 𝑪 >𝑽 𝑩 >𝑽 𝑬
 The active region for the common-emitter configuration is that portion of the upper-
right quadrant that has the greatest linearity, that is, that region in which the curves for
IB are nearly straight and equally spaced.

 This region exists to the right of the vertical dashed line at VCEsat and above the curve for
IB equal to zero.
 The active region of the common-emitter configuration can be employed for voltage,
current, or power amplification.

2. Saturation region

In the saturation region of a common-emitter amplifier both the collector-base junction

and base-emitter junction are forward-biased.
𝑽 𝑩 >𝑽 𝑬 𝑽 𝑩 >𝑽 𝑪

In this region the base current is sufficiently large, so that the collector emitter voltage is
low and the transistor acts as a switch
3. Cut-off region

In the cut-off region both the collector-base junction and base-emitter junction are
reversed-biased.

𝑽 𝑬>𝑽 𝑩
𝑽 𝑪 >𝑽 𝑩

Active region - Amplification

Cut-off and Saturation region - Switch