CCE201: Solid State Electronic Devices

EEC223: Electronics (1)

Lecture 06
Bipolar Junction Transistors (1)
Prepared By
Dr. Eng. Sherif Hekal
Assistant Professor, CCE department
Lecture 01 09/05/2023 1
 Introduction

• IN THIS CHAPTER YOU WILL LEARN

• The physical structure of the bipolar transistor and how it
works.
• How the voltage between two terminals of the transistor
controls the current that flows through the third terminal, and
the equations that describe these current-voltage relationships.
• How to analyze and design circuits that contain bipolar
transistors, resistors, and dc sources.
• How the transistor can be used to make an amplifier.

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 Introduction

• IN THIS CHAPTER YOU WILL LEARN

• How to obtain linear amplification from the
fundamentally nonlinear BJT.
• The three basic ways for connecting a BJT to be able to
construct amplifiers with different properties.
• Practical circuits for bipolar-transistor amplifiers that can
be constructed by using discrete components.

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 Introduction

• This chapter examines a three-terminal device.

• bipolar junction transistor
• BJT was invented in 1948 at Bell Telephone
Laboratories.
• Ushered in a new era of solid-state circuits.
• It was replaced by MOSFET as predominant
transistor used in modern electronics.
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 Introduction

• Three-terminal devices are more useful than two-terminal

ones, such as the diodes, because they can be used in a
multitude of applications:
1. signal amplification
2. design of digital logic and memory circuits.
• The basic principle is the use of the voltage between two
terminals to control the current flowing in the third terminal.
• In this way, a three-terminal device can be used to realize a
controlled source.
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Introduction

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 6.1. Device Structure and Physical
Operation

• Figure 6.1 shows simplified structure of BJT.

• Consists of three semiconductor regions:
• emitter region (n-type)
• base region (p-type)
• collector region (n-type)
• Type described above is referred to as npn.
• However, pnp types do exist.
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 6.1. Device Structure and Physical
Operation

Figure 6.1: A simplified structure of the npn transistor.

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 6.1. Device Structure and Physical
Operation

Figure 6.2: A simplified structure of the pnp transistor.

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 6.1.1. Simplified Structure and Modes
of Operation
• Transistor consists of two pn-junctions:
• emitter-base junction (EBJ)
• collector-base junction (CBJ)
• Operating mode depends on biasing.
• active mode – used for amplification
• cutoff and saturation modes – used for switching.

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6.1. Device Structure and Physical Operation

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 6.1.2. Operation of the npn-Transistor in the
Active Mode

• Active mode is the

“most important.”
• Two external voltage
sources are required
for biasing to achieve
it.
• Refer to Figure 6.3.
Figure 6.3: Current flow in an npn transistor biased to operate
in the active mode. (Reverse current components due to drift of
thermally generated minority carriers are not shown.)
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 The Collector Current

• It is observed that most diffusing (eq6.3) iC  IS evBE / VT

electrons will reach boundary of
collector-base depletion region. 
• Because collector is more AE qDn np 0
saturation current: IS 
positive than base, these W
electrons are swept into collector.

• collector current (iC) is
approximately equal to In.
AE qDn ni2
(eq6.4) IS 
W N
• iC = In         A
ni  intrinsic carrier density
NA doping concentration of base

13
 The Collector Current

• Magnitude of iC is independent of vCB.

• As long as collector is positive, with respect to
base.
• saturation current (IS) – is inversely proportional
to W and directly proportional to area of EBJ.
• Typically between 10-12 and 10-18A
• Also referred to as scale current.
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 The Base Current

  transistor parameter
     
iC
(eq6.5) iB 


IS vBE / VT
(eq6.6) iB  e

15
 The Base Current

• common-emitter current gain (b.) – is influenced by

two factors:
• width of base region (W)
• relative doping of base emitter regions (NA/ND)
• High Value of b
• thin base (small W in nano-meters)
• lightly doped base / heavily doped emitter (small
NA/ND)
β is in the range 50 to 200 09/05/2023 16
 The Emitter Current
thisexpression
  is generated
  through
  combination
   of(6.5) and (6.7)

 1  1
• All current which enters (eq6.8/6.9) iE 

iC 



I
S evBE / VT

 

transistor must leave. iC

• iE = iC + iB 
• Equations (6.7) through (eq6.10) iC   iE
(6.13) expand upon this 
idea. this parameter is reffered to
as common-base current gain
       
 
(eq6.11)   , (eq6.13)  
 1 1 

IS vBE / VT
(eq6.12) iE  e
 17
 Recapitulation and Equivalent-Circuit
Models
• Next slides present first-order BJT model.
• Assumes npn transistor in active mode.
• Basic relationship is collector current (iC) is related exponentially to
forward-bias voltage (vBE).
• It remains independent of vCB as long as this junction remains
reverse biased.
• vCB > 0
• Thus in the active mode the collector terminal behaves as an ideal
constant-current source where the value of the current is determined
by vBE.
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Thus α is called the
common-base current gain.

Thus β is called the

common-emitter current
gain.

Figure 6.4: Large-signal equivalent-circuit models of the npn BJT operating in the active
mode (a), (b) common base configuration. (c), (d) common emitter configuration.
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 6.1.4. Operation in Saturation Mode

• For BJT to operate in active mode, CBJ must be reverse biased.

• However, for small values of forward-bias, a pn-junction does not
operate effectively.
• As such, active mode operation of npn-transistor may be maintained for
vCB down to approximately -0.4V.
• Only after this point will “diode” begin to really conduct.

Figure 6.5 Modeling the operation of an npn transistor

in saturation by augmenting the model of Fig. 6.5(c)
with a forward conducting diode DC. Note that the
current through DC increases iB and reduces iC.
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6.1.4. Operation in Saturation Mode
ISC 
collector current         
(eq6.14) : iC  IS evBE / VT
 ISC evBC / VT
in saturation region   
this terms
plays bigger
role as vBC
exceeds 0.4V


base current I
(eq6.15) : iB  S evBE / VT  ISC evBC / VT
in saturation region 

i
(eq6.16) forced  :  forced  C 
iB saturation
                 09/05/2023 21
As vBC is increased, the value of  is forced lower and lower.
 6.1.4. Operation in Saturation Mode

• Two questions must be asked to determine whether BJT is in

saturation mode, or not:
• Is the CBJ forward-biased by more than 0.4V?
• Is the ratio iC/iB less than b.?
• The collector-to-emitter voltage of a saturated transistor can be found
from Fig. 6.9 as the difference between the forward-bias voltages of
the EBJ and the CBJ,
VCEsat = VBE – VBC

• Recalling that the CBJ has a much larger area than the EBJ, VBC will
be smaller than VBE by 0.1 to 0.3 V. Thus,
𝑉 𝐶𝐸𝑠𝑎𝑡 ≃0 . 1 𝑡𝑜 0 .3 V 09/05/2023 22
BJT regions of operation
09/05/2023 24
BJT applications

NPN BJT switch circuit

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 BJT applications

NPN BJT switch circuit

Use relay to separate the control circuit from the high current/voltage electrical
09/05/2023 26 circuit
 BJT applications
Transistor to Drive the Motor
• A transistor can also used to drive and regulate the speed of the DC
motor in a unidirectional way by switching the transistor in regular
intervals of time.
• the DC motor is also an inductive load so we have to place a
freewheeling diode across it to protect the circuit.
• By switching the transistor in cutoff and saturation regions, we can
turn ON and OFF the motor repeatedly.
• It is also possible to regulate the speed of the motor from standstill to
full speed by switching the transistor at variable frequencies. We can
get the switching frequency from control device or IC 09/05/2023
like 27
microcontroller.
 BJT applications

Control the speed of motor using Pulse Width Modulation

The duty cycle of input digital signal controls the DC level applied to the motor
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 BJT applications

Vcc

Vcc
0V
0V

Basic BJT inverter circuit

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BJT Specs

PD=IC x VCE
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BJT Specs

Why holes
To fix heat sink for cooling
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6.2.1. Circuit Symbols and
Conventions

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EXAMPLE 6.1

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 EXAMPLE 6.1 - Sol
since we are required to design for VC = +5 V, the CBJ will be reverse biased and
the BJT will be operating in the active mode. To obtain a voltage VC = +5 V, the
voltage drop across RC must be 15 – 5 = 10 V.
since IC = 2 mA, the value of RC should be selected according to

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 EXAMPLE 6.2
In the circuit shown in the figure, the voltage at
the emitter was measured and found to be –0.7
V. If β = 50, find IE, IB, IC, and VC.

Ans. 0.93 mA; 18.2 μA; 0.91 mA; +5.45 V

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EXERCISE 6.2 - Sol

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 6.2.3. Dependence of iC on Collector Voltage – The
Early Effect

• When operated in
active region, practical
BJT’s show some
dependence of
collector current on
collector voltage.
• As such, iC-vCB
characteristic is not
“straight”.
Figure 6.6 (a) Conceptual circuit for measuring the iC–vCE
characteristics of the BJT. (b) The iC–vCE characteristics of a
practical BJT.
09/05/2023 37
 6.2.3. Dependence of iC on Collector Voltage – The
Early Effect

Figure 6.7: Large-signal equivalent-circuit models of an npn BJT operating in the

active mode in the common-emitter configuration with the output resistance
09/05/2023 38
ro
included.
Example 6.3

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Example 6.3 - Sol

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Example 6.3 - Sol

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 EXAMPLE 6.4
6.8

Figure 6.8
09/05/2023 42
 Summary

• Depending on the bias condition on its two junctions, the BJT can
operate in one of three possible modes:
• cut-off (both junctions reverse biased)
• active (the EBJ forward-biased and CBJ reversed)
• saturation (both junctions forward biased)
• For amplifier applications, the BJT is operated in the active mode.
Switching applications make use of the cutoff and saturation modes.
• A BJT operating in the active mode provides a collector current iC =
ISexp{vBE/VT}. The base current iB = iC/b, and emitter current iE = iC
+ iB.
09/05/2023 43
 Summary

• To ensure operation in the active mode, the collector voltage of an

npn-transistor must be kept higher than approximately 0.4V below
the base voltage. For a pnp-transistor, the collector voltage must be
lower than approximately 0.4V above the base voltage. Otherwise,
the CBJ becomes forward-biased and the transistor will enter
saturation.
• At a constant collector current, the magnitude of the base emitter
voltage decreases by about 2mV for every 1OC rise in temperature.
• The BJT will be at the edge of saturation when |vCE| is reduced to
about 0.3V.

09/05/2023 44
 Summary

• In the active mode, iC shows a slight dependence on vCE. This

phenomenon, known as the Early Effect, is modeled by
ascribing a finite output resistance to the BJT: ro = |VA|/I’C
where VA is the Early Voltage and I’C is the dc collector
current without the Early Effect taken into account.
• The dc analysis of transistor circuits is generally simplified
by assuming |VBE| = 0.7V.

09/05/2023 45
 BJT Circuits at DC
in analyzing a circuit the first question that one must answer is: In
which mode is the transistor operating?
1. quick check of the terminal voltages.
2. Assume that the transistor is operating in the active mode, and
determine the various voltages and currents that correspond.
• Then check for consistency of the results with the assumption of
active-mode operation (vCB> -0.4 volt);
• If the answer is no, assume saturation-mode then test
• compute the ratio IC ⁄ IB and to verify that it is lower than the
transistor β (i.e., βforced < β ).
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BJT Circuits at DC

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BJT Circuits at DC

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 Example 6.5
Consider the circuit shown in Fig. 6.9(a), which is redrawn in Fig. 6.9(b) to remind the
reader of the convention employed throughout this book for indicating connections to
dc sources. We wish to analyze this circuit to determine all node voltages and branch
currents. We will assume that β is specified to be 100.

Figure 6.9 09/05/2023 49

Example 6.5 – Sol.

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 Example 6.6
We wish to analyze the circuit of Fig. 6.10 to determine the voltages at all
nodes and the currents through all branches. Note that this circuit is identical to
that of Fig. 1 except that the voltage at the base is now +6 V. Assume that the
transistor β is specified to be at least 50.

Figure 6.10 Analysis of the circuit for Example 6.7.

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 Example 6.6 – Sol.
Active mode assumption is not correct because VC < VB

09/05/2023 52
 Example 6.6 – Sol.

Since βforced is less than the minimum specified value of β, the transistor is indeed
saturated. We should emphasize here that in testing for saturation the minimum
value of β should be used. By the same token, if we are designing a circuit in
which a transistor is to be saturated, the design should be based 09/05/2023
on the minimum
53

specified β.
 Example 6.7
Fig. 6.11 (a) to

09/05/2023 54
Figure 6.11
 Example 6.8
We want to analyze the circuit, shown in the figure below, to determine the
voltages at all nodes and the currents through all branches. Assume β = 100.

Figure 6.12 09/05/2023 55

 Example 6.8

Figure 6.12 09/05/2023 56

Applications
Transistor Switch

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 Applications
An H-bridge is a transistor-based circuit capable of driving motors both
clockwise and counter-clockwise.

H-Bridge
09/05/2023 58
 Applications
Digital Logic

Not Gate OR Gate

AND Gate 09/05/2023 59
 Design Examples

To saturate the transistor with the lowest β, we need to provide a base current at least

09/05/2023 60
Design Examples

09/05/2023 61
 Design Examples

LED

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