BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTORS (BJT)

OBJECTIVES:

This lab uses the NI ELVIS II suite of instruments to measure the input and output characteristics of
Bipolar Junction Transistors.

MATERIALS:

 OrCAD Capture Lite 16.6 and above  200 k potentiometer

 NI ELVIS II  10 k potentiometer
 1kΩ resistor  BC547BP transistor
 220 kΩ resistor

Background:
Transistors

Transistors is a semiconductor which is used to control the flow of voltage or current. There are many
different types of transistors(BJT(NPN,PNP),MOSFET) but their basic theory of operation is all the same.

Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)

BJT Structures:

Transistors are three terminal active devices made from different semiconductor materials that can act
as either an insulator or a conductor by the application of a small signal voltage.

Transistor basic epitaxial planar structure

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 BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTORS (BJT)

PNP Bipolar Junction Transistor

 One P-N(Base Collection) diode one N-P(Base Emitter) diode

NPN Bipolar Junction Transistor

 One N-P(Base Collection) diode one P-N(Base Emitter) diode

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 BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTORS (BJT)

The transistor’s ability to change between these two states enables it to have two basic functions:
“switching” or “amplification”. Then bipolar transistors have the ability to operate within three different
regions:

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.

Common Base Configuration – has Voltage Gain but no Current Gain.

Common Emitter Configuration – has both Current and Voltage Gain.

Common Collector Configuration – has Current Gain but no Voltage Gain.

A Bipolar NPN Transistor Common Emitter(CE) Configuration

The construction and terminal voltages for a bipolar NPN transistor are shown.

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 BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTORS (BJT)

Two voltagesVBEand VCEare applied respectively to the baseB and collector C with respect to the

common emitter E. TypicallyVCE > VBE, i.e., the BE junction is forward biased while the CB junction is
reverse biased, same as the CB configuration. The voltages of CB and CE configurations are related by:

VCE = VCB + VBE

Then the voltage sources are connected to an NPN transistor

NPN Transistor it is the movement of negative current carriers (electrons) through the Base region that
constitutes transistor action. we can see that the transistor is a current operated device (Beta model)
and that a large current ( Ic ) flows freely through the device between the collector and the emitter
terminals when the transistor is switched “fully-ON”. However, this only happens when a small biasing
current ( Ib ) is flowing into the base terminal of the transistor at the same time thus allowing the Base
to act as a sort of current control input.

DC Current Gain

The current gain of the CE circuit, denoted by β, is defined as the ratio between the collector
current IC treated as the output and the base current IB treated as the input:

Β = IC / IB

Emitter current: IE = IC + IB
Emitter current with beta : IE =IB *(1+ β)

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 BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTORS (BJT)

The relationships between the current and voltage of both the input and output ports are described by
the following input and output characteristics.

Input characteristics of CE Configuration:

Characteristic curve shows relation between current-voltage for any electrical components. Transistor
has two characteristic curve as input and output.
Input characteristic of transistor gives the relationship between the base emitter voltage (VBE) and the
base current (IB).
As shown in the graph, the input characteristic of the transistor similar to a normal diode characteristic.
As long as VBEvoltage is below 0.5V, base current will be neglected. The base-emitter voltage is
considered VBE = 0.7 V. Increasing the temperature decreases the Base Emitter Voltage (VBE ).

Output characteristics of CE Configurations :

The output characteristics of CE configuration are also referred to as collector characteristics. This plot
shows the variation in IC with the changes in VCE when IB is held constant.

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 BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTORS (BJT)

PRE-LAB:

1.

Assume the BJT is in the active region.

What is IB, IC, IE and VCE, VCB, vBE?

Check to see if your results are consistent

with your assumption.

Please show your calculations.

2. Find a basic circuit(can be a simple medical device circuit) with transistor and briefly explain working
principle and the aim of the transistor in this circuit.

A transistor is a semiconductor device with three terminals, capable of amplification and

rectification. It lets you control the flow of current through one channel by varying the intensity of a
much smaller current that's flowing through a second channel.
Lab Exercise : NPN Transistor Characteristic

Input characteristics:

BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTORS (BJT)

Built the circuit on NI Elvis prototyping board. Wire ampermeter in order to measure ICcurrent. Adjust
ICcurrent to 3 mA, 6 mA and 9 mA with potentiometer. Measure IBand IEcurrents for every Ic
values. Finally calculate the β DC current gain.

IC(mA) IB IE β (IC/ IB)

3 mA 0,03 mA 0,003 A 100
6 mA 0,02 mA 0,006 A 100
9 mA 0,05 mA 0,009 A 180
IC(saturation) 0,07 mA 0,012 A 171.43

When VCEis small( ~ 0.3V )its slight increase will cause significant increase ofIC. But when, VCE >

0.3 V , its further increase will not cause much change inIC due to saturation (all available charge
carriers travel at the saturation velocity to arrive at collector C), IC = βIBis mostly determined by IB.
Output characteristics:
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 BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTORS (BJT)

Built the circuit on NI Elvis prototyping board. Wire ampermeters and voltmeter in order to measure IC
and IBcurrents and VCEvoltage. Adjust IBcurrent and VCEvoltage with potentiometers, measure the IC
values and fill in the table. Finally draw the graph of VCE / IC .

VCE(V) 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.7 1 3 5 7 9

IB=0μA Ic(mA) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

IB=10μA VCE(V) 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.7 1 3 5 7 9

Ic(mA) 0,0009 0,00412 0,00483 0,00508 0,00513 0,00517 0,00532 0,00547

IB=30μA VCE(V) 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.7 1 3 5 7 9

Ic(mA) 0,00094 0,00416 0,00464 0,00479 0,0048 0,00483 0,00494 0,00505 - -
IB=50μA VCE(V) 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.7 1 3 5 7 9
Ic(mA) 0,00243 0,00855 0,00995 0,0111 0,01115

0.012 0.0111 0.01115

0.00995
0.01

0.008 0.00855

0.006 0.005170.005320.00547
0.004830.005080.00513
Ic

0.00412
0.004 0.0048 0.00483 0.00494 0.00505
0.004160.004640.00479
0.00243
0.002
0.0009 0.00094
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
VCE