CE BJT: Types of Transistor Configuration

Common emitter (CE) configuration

In common emitter configuration, base is the input terminal, collector is the output
terminal, and emitter is the common terminal. The emitter terminal is grounded in the
common emitter configuration. So the common emitter configuration is also known as
grounded emitter configuration

Common Emitter Configuration

In common emitter configuration, base is the input terminal, collector is the output terminal
and emitter is the common terminal for both input and output. That means the base terminal
and common emitter terminal are known as input terminals whereas collector terminal and
common emitter terminal are known as output terminals.

In common emitter configuration, the emitter terminal is grounded so the common emitter
configuration is also known as grounded emitter configuration. Sometimes common emitter
configuration is also referred to as CE configuration, common emitter amplifier, or CE
amplifier. The common emitter (CE) configuration is the most widely used transistor
configuration.

The common emitter (CE) amplifiers are used when large current gain is needed.
The input signal is applied between the base and emitter terminals while the output signal is
taken between the collector and emitter terminals. Thus, the emitter terminal of a transistor is
common for both input and output and hence it is named as common emitter configuration.
The supply voltage between base and emitter is denoted by VBE while the supply voltage
between collector and emitter is denoted by VCE.
In common emitter (CE) configuration, input current or base current is denoted by IB and
output current or collector current is denoted by IC.

The common emitter amplifier has medium input and output impedance levels. So the
current gain and voltage gain of the common emitter amplifier is medium. However, the
power gain is high.
To fully describe the behavior of a transistor with CE configuration, we need two set of
characteristics – input characteristics and output characteristics.

Input characteristics

The input characteristics describe the relationship between input current or base current (IB)
and input voltage or base-emitter voltage (VBE).

To determine the input characteristics, the output voltage VCE is kept constant at zero volts
and the input voltage VBE is increased from zero volts to different voltage levels. For each
voltage level of input voltage (VBE), the corresponding input current (IB) is recorded.
A curve is then drawn between input current IB and input voltage VBE at constant output
voltage VCE (0 volts).

Next, the output voltage (VCE) is increased from zero volts to certain voltage level (10 volts)
and the output voltage (VCE) is kept constant at 10 volts. While increasing the output voltage
(VCE), the input voltage (VBE) is kept constant at zero volts. After we kept the output voltage
(VCE) constant at 10 volts, the input voltage VBE is increased from zero volts to different
voltage levels. For each voltage level of input voltage (VBE), the corresponding input current
(IB) is recorded.

When output voltage (VCE) is at zero volts and emitter-base junction is forward biased by
input voltage (VBE), the emitter-base junction acts like a normal p-n junction diode. So the
input characteristics of the CE configuration is same as the characteristics of a normal pn
junction diode.

The cut in voltage of a silicon transistor is 0.7 volts and germanium transistor is 0.3 volts. In
our case, it is a silicon transistor. So from the above graph, we can see that after 0.7 volts, a
small increase in input voltage (VBE) will rapidly increases the input current (IB).

In common emitter (CE) configuration, the input current (IB) is very small as compared to the
input current (IE) in common base (CB) configuration. The input current in CE configuration is
measured in microamperes (μA) whereas the input current in CB configuration is
measured in milliamperes (mA).

In common emitter (CE) configuration, the input current (IB) is produced in the base region
which is lightly doped and has small width. So the base region produces only a small input
current (IB). On the other hand, in common base (CB) configuration, the input current (IE) is
produced in the emitter region which is heavily doped and has large width. So the emitter
region produces a large input current (IE). Therefore, the input current (IB) produced in the
common emitter (CE) configuration is small as compared to the common base (CB)
configuration.

Due to forward bias, the emitter-base junction acts as a forward biased diode and due to
reverse bias, the collector-base junction acts as a reverse biased diode.
Therefore, the width of the depletion region at the emitter-base junction is very small
whereas the width of the depletion region at the collector-base junction is very large.

If the output voltage VCE applied to the collector-base junction is further increased, the
depletion region width further increases. The base region is lightly doped as compared to
the collector region. So the depletion region penetrates more into the base region and less
into the collector region. As a result, the width of the base region decreases which in turn
reduces the input current (IB) produced in the base region.

From the above characteristics, we can see that for higher fixed values of output voltage
VCE, the curve shifts to the right side. This is because for higher fixed values of output
voltage, the cut in voltage is increased above 0.7 volts. Therefore, to overcome this cut in
voltage, more input voltage VBE is needed than previous case.

Output characteristics

The output characteristics describe the relationship between output current (IC) and output
voltage (VCE).
First, draw a vertical line and a horizontal line. The vertical line represents y-axis and
horizontal line represents x-axis. The output current or collector current (IC) is taken along
y-axis (vertical line) and the output voltage (VCE) is taken along x-axis (horizontal line).

To determine the output characteristics, the input current or base current IB is kept
constant at 0 μA and the output voltage VCE is increased from zero volts to different
voltage levels. For each level of output voltage, the corresponding output current (IC) is
recorded.

A curve is then drawn between output current IC and output voltage VCE at constant input
current IB (0 μA).

When the base current or input current IB = 0 μA, the transistor operates in the cut-off
region. In this region, both junctions are reverse biased.

Next, the input current (IB) is increased from 0 μA to 20 μA by adjusting the input voltage
(VBE). The input current (IB) is kept constant at 20 μA.

While increasing the input current (IB), the output voltage (VCE) is kept constant at 0 volts.
After we kept the input current (IB) constant at 20 μA, the output voltage (VCE) is increased
from zero volts to different voltage levels. For each voltage level of output voltage (VCE),
the corresponding output current (IC) is recorded.
A curve is then drawn between output current IC and output voltage VCE at constant input
current IB (20 μA). This region is known as the active region of a transistor. In this region,
emitter-base junction is forward biased and the collector-base junction is reverse
This steps are repeated for higher fixed values of input current IB (I.e. 40 μA, 60 μA, 80 μA
and so on).
When output voltage VCE is reduced to a small value (0.2 V), the collector-base junction
becomes forward biased. This is because the output voltage VCE has less effect on
collector-base junction than input voltage VBE.
As we know that the emitter-base junction is already forward biased. Therefore, when both
the junctions are forward biased, the transistor operates in the saturation region. In this
region, a small increase in output voltage VCE will rapidly increases the output current IC.

Transistor parameters

Dynamic input resistance (ri)

Dynamic input resistance is defined as the ratio of change in input voltage or base voltage
(VBE) to the corresponding change in input current or base current (IB), with the output
voltage or collector voltage (VCE) kept at constant.

In CE configuration, the input resistance is very low.

Dynamic output resistance (ro)

Dynamic output resistance is defined as the ratio of change in output voltage or collector
voltage (VCE) to the corresponding change in output current or collector current (IC), with
the input current or base current (IB) kept at constant.

In CE configuration, the output resistance is high.

Current gain (α)

The current gain of a transistor in CE configuration is defined as the ratio of output current or
collector current (IC) to the input current or base current (IB).

The current gain of a transistor in CE configuration is high. Therefore, the transistor in CE

configuration is used for amplifying the current.