Pramig.a-J. Phys.,Vol. 27, No. 3, September1986, pp. 459-468. © Printedin India.

Switching behaviour of unijunction transistor in the presence of

magnetic field

S L AGRAWAL and R SWAMI*

Departmentof Physics,BanarasHindu University,Varanasi221005, India
MS received7 October 1985;revised17 April 1986
Abstract. Theinfluenceofmagneticfieldon someswitchingparameters(turn-ontime,turn-
off time and amplitudeof the currentpulseappearingat base 1 terminal)of a unijunction
transistor has been theoreticallyand experimentallyinvestigated.The various switching
parametersare shownto be governedby the magneto-concentrationeffect.
Keywords. Unijunctiontransistor;switchingbehaviour;magneticfield.
PACS No. 85.80

1. Introduction

Information processing systems play an important role in microelectronics.

Transducers form a basic building block for these systems. This has led to the
development of a variety of semiconductor transducers (Cristoloveanu 198 la; Dorey
1981; Middlehoek 1983). Recently, various silicon switching devices including unijunc-
tion transistor (UJT) have been studied extensively as magnetic sensors (Esaki and
Haering 1962; Vikulin 1978; Agrawal and Swami 1981). Of these, UJT is specially
promising because of its simple structure and higher magnetosensitivity (Agrawal and
Swami 1981; Gasanov 1978; Karakushan et al 1978). Switching speed is one of the
relevant parameters of UJT on which the effect of magnetic field has not yet been
investigated. This speed depends upon the transit time and lifetime of minority carriers
(in the emitter base 1 re#on of UJT) which in turn would depend upon the magnetic
field. In view of the above, various electronic parameters of the device, namely, the turn-
on time, the turn-offtime and the amplitude of current pulse pertaining to the switching
speed have been investigated in the presence of magnetic field.

2. Theoretical analysis
2.1 Maonetic field effect on turn-on time
Suran (1957) associated the turn-on time of UJT for large capacitances to the transit
time effect and this is given by the relation

ton = t, = d2 / (U, VB), (1)

* sincedeceased.
459
460 S L Aorawal and R Swami

where VB= ~ VB~,#p is the minority carrier mobility, d is the emitter base 1 distance in
UJT bar, t/is the intrinsic stand-off ratio and VsBis the voltage applied between base 2
and base 1 terminal. For small capacitive loads, this expression does not hold good as
the operating point of UJT cannot be considered in the saturation region upon firing
(Doyle 1973).
Figure l(a) gives a typical relaxation oscillator circuit. The equivalent circuit
controlling the output waveform is given in figure 1(b). The details of the waveform for
high and low capacitance values are shown in figure l(c). In the equivalent circuit,
resistance R has not been indicated since the current flowing through R is negligible as
compared to the discharging current. The nodal equation for figure l(b) is:

+ I(e - + L = o, (2)
where Q is the instantaneous charge on the capacitor, I is the current during the
discharge process, Rd and L are the effective average resistance and inductance of UJT.
The solution of (2) in the form of current I is

2/.{(R~2__~_Rd)2_~__~}1/eL P~[ [ \ 2L -~C t}

RI-R. 2 1 I/2

!R l Vp R1
=C R1
(b)

(u)

IM21...... " ~ HighC

~ IM1 ......

Time ',
(C)
Figure 1. (a) UIT relaxation oscillator with base-I waveform. (b) Equivalent circuit of
UJT relaxation oscillator during the discharge of capacitor. (e) Nature of current pulse for
low and high capacitances.
 UJT switching behaviour in magnetic field 461

where Vp is the peak point voltage of UJT. According to this expression, the current
pulse behaviour during the discharge process would be determined by the following
term

\2Z
The circuit would show oscillatory, critically damped and overdamped behaviour
depending upon whether 1//Z: is greater, equal to or less than (R1 - Rd)2/4/, 2. For low
capacitances, the oscillatory discharge is more probable since the condition

L-V>

is satisfied." On simplification (3) takes the form

lip exp(/id t/2L)
I = L{ (1/LC) - (/i,/2£) 2 }1/2 sin[{ (1/LC)- (/id/2L)2} 1/2 t]. (4)

In the above expression resistance R~ has been omitted as we have adjusted/id ,> R1 in
the present experimental circuit. It is apparent from (4) that current is zero at time t = 0
and attains a maximum value at time t which is referred to as ton (the turn-on time). The
decrease in current beyond this time is due to the sine factor. The sine-dominated
discharge only occurs for approximately half a cycle due to superimposition of the
decay of minority carriers on the capacitor discharge path in the neighbourhood of the
valley point of the UJT I-V characteristics. In view of the above, the turn-on time of
UJT is approximately one fourth of the total period of oscillation obtained from (4).
Thus,

ton = \ Z/j (5)

According to the above expression, ton is a function of differential negative resistance

and inductance. These (/~d and/,) are magnetic field dependent quantities (Agrawal
1982) and hence on differentiating (5) w.r.t, magnetic field and further simplification, we
get
1 AtoN 2tO2N['J " 1 /"RdXl2 ] 1A/, /~d ARd~
tON AB = ~ T - L ~ - ~ 2 Z ) j'ZA-B+2-L-~ AB J" (6)
Similarly, for large values of capacitances, the change in ton as a function of magnetic
field can be written from (1) as:

1 AtoN = 1 A#p
tON AB pp AB" (7)

2.2 Magnetic change in turn-off time

According to Daw and Mitra (1970) the turn-off time of unijunction transistor for large
C values is given as,

toff ~" (R s + R1) C In (Vp/VEmin), (8)

462 S L Aorawal and R Swami

where Rs is the saturation resistance of UJT, Vp is the peak point voltage and VErain is
the minimum emitter voltage on static I-V characteristics curve of UJT. The magnetic
field influence on the turn-off time can therefore be understood from the following
equation which has been obtained upon differentiation and simplification of the above
expression

1 Atotr= _ 1 A/~FIn 1 {1 AVp 1 AVEmin} (9)

totf AB (& +R1) AB (V,/V~.~) V, ~a~ V~mi. AB "

It should be emphasized here that (8) is not valid for small value of capacitances on
account of the oscillatory discharge. For such capacitance, the turn-off time
comprises of a time approximately equivalent to the turn-on time (equation (5)) and a
major portion of the exponential decay time of minority carriers. Therefore, the
magnetically-induced change in the turn-off time for low capacitances can be readily
explained in terms of the magnetic field influence on these factors. In addition, the
magnetic change in the amplitude of current pulse will also be involved here since the
turn-off time is considered from the initiation of turn-off to 10 9/0 of the total pulse
height.

3. Experimental

Relaxation oscillator circuit of figure 1(a) has been used to measure the switching speed
of a cubic-structured UJT. In this circuit, RI was kept quite small (5 ohm) to minimize
its influence on the various switching parameters. The current pulse waveform was
photographed for different magnetic fields both for low (1 nf) and high (500nf)

tO0

l 5O
tc)

50
(b)

o
Z
o
°I i 0
la,l

~ 5o
(a|

0 I Z 3 4 5 6 7 6 9
TIME ( [.IS }

Figure 2. Voltage pulse waveform at base one of UJT for C = 1"0 nr (a) B = 0.0T;
(b) B=O'5Tand (c) B = 1-0T.
 UJT switching behaviour in maonetic field 463

'[A
:Sl'/ \
?,, . ~ 0 I/ ""

:t/\
5
__,.,
0
0 2 4. 6 R 10 12 14 16 18
TIME (psi =
Figure 3. Voltage pulse waveform at base one of UJT for C=5ff0nf. (a) B
= 0-0T; (b) 0"5T and (c) B -- 1.0T.

capacitances. Figures 2 and 3 show the current pulses obtained for three different
magnetic fields. The turn-on time, the turn-off time and the amplitude of current pulse
were determined from the recorded photographs. The results obtained are shown in
figures 4, 5 and 6. In all the measurements the direction of magnetic field B + with
respect to the device configuration is shown in figure 7. Moreover the magnetic field
acts uniformly on the whole device (figure 7).

4. Results and discussion

4.1 Effect of magneticfield on the amplitude of current pulse

Magnetically-induced changes in the amplitude of current pulse (see figures 2 to 4)can
be explained with the help of magnetic field-dependent differential negative resistance
and inductance (Agrawai 1982; Agrawal and Swami 1985). For small capacitances,
when the condition 1/LC >>(Rd2L) 2 in (4) holds good, the amplitude is proportional
to L- w2. Agrawal (1982) showed that L increases with the magnetic field (B-) due to a
decrease in the carrier mobilities and lifetime of the minority carriers. This decrease is
on account of the deflection of carriers towards the surface of high recombination
(Dobrovolski 1961; Dobrovolski and Lyashenko 1962; Cristoloveanu 1981b). The
increase of L causes a decrease in the amplitude as is observed from figure 4. In the B +
direction, the amplitude of the current pulse first increases slightly before decreasing
(figure 4). This effect is more pronounced for low capacitances and is probably due to
the enhancement of lifetime (carriers being deflected towards the surface of lower
464 S L Agrawal and R Swami

-3.0

2.2

1.8

jo I.O

0.6

8- p,15
'4--

S I I
).10

~.oa I I I I I
1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0o 0.2 0.4 o.e o.e ~.o
j._ 8 4

M a g n e t i c field in t est a

Figure 4. Variation of the amplitude of current pulse I,, with magnetic field for three
capacitors. A, 1,0 nf; B, 50-0 nf; C, 500-0 nf.

recombination rate) for low values of B +. This increase in lifetime is over-compensated

for large B + values due to the effect of transverse diffusion current (Cristoloveanu
198 l b) thus reducing the lifetime of minority carriers. Subsequently I= decreases with
high B + values since L increases in this case.
For large values of capacitances, the amplitude I" is governed by the static I-V
characteristics at high injection levels. When the current in the diode-dominated region
of UJT decreases on account of enhanced recombination (Agrawal and Swami 1981)
the amplitude I= diminishes as the magnetic field B- enhances. This is seen from the
experimental results of figure 4. The behaviour of lifetime of minority carriers for B +
magnetic field causes initially an increase of current in diode-dominated region of UJT
before decreasing (Agrawal and Swami 1981). This in turn results in slight increase of/,.
before the decreasing trend.

4.2 Effect of maonetic field on turn-on time

The effect of magnetic field on to.~for high C values can be analyzed with the help of (7).
Since the minority carrier mobility decreases with magnetic field B-, the term A#p/AB
in (7) would be negative. This causes an increase in ton with the magnetic field (B-) for
large C values as observed experimentally (figure 5). Further we note that for B +
 UJT switchino behaviour in maonetic field 465

5.0

4.0

3.0

o. ).o
c|

0.6 o A

I i [ I [ )-2 I I I I I
1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 )10 0.2 0.4 0-6 0.8 1.0

B'~. I ) a"
Magnetic fiel.d in t e s t a

Figure 5. Variation o f turn-on time o f U J T with magnetic field for two capacitors. A, 1"0 nf;
B, 500"0nf.

direction ton decreases before enhancing which can be explained considering the role of
carrier recombination on the mobility of holes when they are deflected towards the
surface having smaller recombination velocity as discussed in §4.1.
For low C values, the magnetic field dependence of tON can be understood from (6)
derived in §2.1. The two terms appearing in (6), namely, Rd and L increase in the
magnetic field B - on account of a decrease in the lifetime of minority carriers and
inabilities of both types of carriers (Agrawal 1982; Agrawal and Swami 1985). Thus the
terms AL/LAB and ARdRd AB in relation (6) are positive which in turn enhances ton as
shown in figure 5. Where we also notice that ton decreases initially with B ÷ magnetic
field before enhancing. This can be understood from the studies of Agrawal (1982) who
found that the change in negative resistance and inductance at high injection levels
depend upon the magnetic field direction causing these changes. When the carriers are
deflected by magnetic field towards the surface of lower recombination velocity, the
negative resistance and inductance decrease due to augmentation of the carrier
mobilities and minority carrier lifetime. After a certain magnetic field, carrier mobilities
and lifetime of minority carriers start decreasing due to the appearance of transverse
diffusion current effects (Cristoloveanu 198 lb) which increase Rd and L with magnetic
field. This behaviour is obviously reflected in the dependence of tONon magnetic field in
view of relation (6).

4.3 Effect of magnetic field on turn-off time

It is evident from (8) and (9) that the magnetically-induced change in toff for large
capacitances is due to the change in the static behaviour of UJT with magnetic field. The
measured values of saturation resistance R~, peak point voltage Vp and emitter voltage
VErain (corresponding to 10 % of the amplitude of current pulse) for different magnetic
fields are given in table 1. The applicability of (8) which forms the basis of (9) explaining
466 S L Agrawal and R Swami

Table 1. Comparison between theoretical and exper-

imental turn-off time of UJT for C = 500 nf and RI
-- 5.6 ohm in figure 1.

Magnetic field B

0.0T - 1~)T + 1~)T

Peak point
voltage V (in volts) 11"75 12.50 11"50
Amplitude of
current pulse I .
(in mA) 500 200 400
Emitter voltage
V~rain corresponding
to 10% of I= (in volts) 3'20 2"35 2-40
Experimental
turn-off time (/asec) 19 45 22
Theoretical turn-
off time (from
equation (8)) (in/asec) 17"60 43"40 23"20

55-0

45.0

35.0

Z5.0 o B

5-0 o o "

"8.o

6.0

2.0

I I I I I I I I I I
1,0 0.8 0.6 0,4 0,2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0,8 1.0
B-t Be

Magnetic field in t e s | a

Figure 6. Variation ofturn-offtime of UJT with magnetic field for two capacitors. A, 1-0 nf;
B, 500-0 nf.
 UJT switching behaviour in magnetic field 467

Figure 7. Direction of magnetic field with respect

to device geometry.

our results has been checked by theoretically calculating to~ from the measured
parameters given in table 1. It is obvious that the theoretical turn-off time is
approximately the same as the experimental turn-off time.
The variation of turn-off time with magnetic field is shown in figure 6 for different C
values. From the investigations of the magnetically-induced changes in static para-
meters of UJT (Agrawal and Swami 1981) it is evident that when the carriers are
deflected by magnetic field towards the surface of high recombination, saturation
resistance R~ increases due to decrease in the minority carrier lifetime. Also the peak
point voltage Vp increases due to the well-known Hall effect and the emitter voltage
Vrnin corresponding to 10 % of lm diminishes due to decrease of I,, for B- magnetic
field (figure 4). Therefore in view of the above and relation (9) ton, increases in B-
magnetic field. Again when the injected carriers are deflected towards the surface of low
recombination, the saturation resistance initially decreases (due to rise in the minority
carrier lifetime) and then increases when the transverse diffusion current sets in. Also
the peak point voltage decreases in B + magnetic field (Agrawal and Swami 1981) and
V£raininitially increases due to enhancement of Im (figure 4) and then diminishes due to
decrease of 1m (figure 4). Therefore, for low B + magnetic fields (before the appearance
of transverse diffusion current) ton, reduces and at higher B + values (after the
appearance of transverse diffusion current) ton,increases.

5. Conclusion

Switching behaviour of UJT in the presence of magnetic field has been analyzed
theoretically and verified experimentally on a commercially available UJT 2N2646. The
results show that the various switching parameters of UJT are mainly influenced by the
magneto-concentration effect and their impact on various electrophysical parameters
of the device.

References

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Banaras Hindu University
Agrawal S L and Swami R 1981 J. Phys. DI4 283
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(Moerut: Puneet Press) p. 194
Cristoloveanu S 1981a International Workshop on the physics of semiconductor devices, Abstract-poster
papers (New Delhi: Allied Publishers) p, 179
468 S L ,4grawal and R Swami

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