TRANSISTORS

A bipolar transistor consists of a threelayer "sandwich" of doped (extrinsic)

semiconductor materials, either P-N-P or N-P-N. Each layer forming the transistor
has a specific name (Emitter, Base and Collector), and each layer is provided with
a wire contact for connection to a circuit
PNP transistor

construction
NPN transistor

construction
FORWARD & REVERSE BIASED
(a) The majority carriers in the emitter p-type material are holes (c) The base-
emitter junction is forward biased to the majority carriers and the holes cross the
junction and appear in the base region (c) The base region is very thin and is only
lightly doped with electrons so although some electron-hole pairs are formed, many
holes are left in the base region (d) The base-collector junction is reverse biased
to electrons in the base region and holes in the collector region, but forward
biased to holes in the base region; these holes are attracted by the negative
potential at the collector terminal (e) A large proportion of the holes in the base
region cross the base collector junction into the collector region, creating a
collector current; conventional current flow is in the direction of hole movement.
(a) The majority carriers in the n-type emitter material are electrons (c) The
base-emitter junction is forward biased to these majority carriers and electrons
cross the junction and appear in the base region (c) The base region is very thin
and only lightly doped with holes, so some recombination with holes occurs but many
electrons are left in the base region (d) The base-collector junction is reverse
biased to holes in the base region and electrons in the collector region, but is
forward biased to electrons in the base region; these electrons are attracted by
the positive potential at the collector terminal (e) A large proportion of the
electrons in the base region cross the base collector junction into the collector
region, creating a collector current.
TRANSISTOR AS A SWITCH
Any sufficient source of DC current may be used to turn the transistor on, and that
source of current need only be a fraction of the amount of current needed
Construction Stage
Operation
• The base of the NPN transistor must be positive with respect to the emitter, •
And the collector must be more positive than the base.
Operation
Biasing
Biasing
METER CHECK OF A TRANSISTOR
Testing of Transistor
• TESTING A TRANSISTOR to determine if it is good or bad can be done with an
ohmmeter or transistor tester or by the substitution method. • PRECAUTIONS should
be taken when working with transistors since they are susceptible to damage by
electrical overloads, heat, humidity, and radiation. • TRANSISTOR LEAD
IDENTIFICATION plays an important part in transistor maintenance because before a
transistor can be tested or replaced, its leads must be identified. Since there is
NO standard method of identifying transistor leads, check some typical lead
identification schemes or a transistor manual before attempting to replace a
transistor.
Multimeter without diode check
Meter readings will be exactly opposite, of course, for an NPN transistor, with
both PN junctions facing the other way
If a multimeter with a “Diode Check" function is used in this test, it will be
found that the emitter-base junction possesses a slightly greater forward voltage
drop than the collector-base junction. This forward voltage difference is due to
the disparity in doping concentration between the emitter and collector regions of
the transistor: the emitter is a much more heavily doped piece of semiconductor
material than the collector, causing its junction with the base to produce a higher
forward voltage drop.
Using multimeter with “Diode Check”, the data obtained: Meter Meter Meter Meter
Meter Meter touching touching touching touching touching touching wire wire wire
wire wire wire 1 1 1 1 2 2 (+) and 2 (-): (-) and 2 (+): (+) and 3 (-): (-) and 3
(+): (+) and 3 (-): (-) and 3 (+): "OL" "OL" 0.655 volts* "OL" 0.621 volts* "OL"

* Indicating forward biasing of the emitter-to-base junction and the collector-to-

base junction
Wire 3 is common to both sets of conductive readings. Thus it must be the base
connection of the transistor, because the base is the only layer of the three-layer
device common to both sets of PN junctions. In both those sets of meter readings
(*), the black (-) meter test lead was touching wire 3, which tells us that the
base of this transistor is made of N-type semiconductor material (black =
negative). Thus, the transistor is an PNP type with base on wire 3, emitter on wire
1 and collector on wire 2.
Identification
An easy way to identify a specific transistor configuration is to follow three
simple steps: • Identify the element (emitter, base, or collector) to which the
input signal is applied. • Identify the element (emitter, base, or collector) from
which the output signal is taken. • The remaining element is the common element,
and gives the configuration its name.
Power dissipation Transistors are rated in terms of how many watts they can safely
dissipate without sustaining damage. High temperature is the mortal enemy of all
semiconductor devices, and bipolar transistors tend to be more susceptible to
thermal damage than most. Reverse voltages As with diodes, bipolar transistors are
rated for maximum allowable reverse-bias voltage across their PN junctions.
Collector current A maximum value for collector current will be given by the
manufacturer in amps.

TRANSISTOR RATINGS
Saturation voltages Ideally, a saturated transistor acts as a closed switch contact
between collector and emitter, dropping zero voltage at full collector current.

Beta: The ratio of collector current to base current, β is the fundamental

parameter characterizing the amplifying ability of a bipolar transistor.
Transistor as Amplifier
• The key to understanding how amplifiers can exist without violating the Law of
Conservation of Energy lies in the behavior of active devices. • The result is a
device that appears to magically magnify the power of a small electrical signal
(usually an AC voltage waveform) into an identicallyshaped waveform of larger
magnitude.
Perfect or Imperfect Machine
• There does exist, however, a class of machines known as amplifiers, which are
able to take in small-power signals and output signals of much greater power. • The
Law of Conservation of Energy is not violated because :

- The additional power is supplied by an external source, usually a DC battery or

equivalent. - The power output of a machine can approach, but never exceed, the
power input for 100% efficiency as an upper limit. -A realistic machine most often
loses some of its input energy as heat in transforming it into the output energy
stream. - Hypothetical “perpetual motion machine” powers itself?
Amplifier
• Amplifier can scale a small input signal to large output, its energy source is an
external power supply. • Amplifiers, like all machines, are limited in efficiency
to a maximum of 100 percent. • Usually, electronic amplifiers are far less
efficient than that, dissipating considerable amounts of energy in the form of
waste heat. • Because the efficiency of an amplifier is always 100 percent or less,
one can never be made to function as a “perpetual motion” device.
Amplifier
• The requirement of an external source of power is common to all types of
amplifiers, electrical and non-electrical. • A common analogy of a non-electrical
amplification system would be power steering in an automobile, amplifying the power
of the driver's arms in turning the steering wheel to move the front wheels of the
car. The source of power necessary for the amplification comes from the engine. The
active device controlling the driver's “input signal” is a hydraulic valve
shuttling fluid power from a pump attached to the engine to a hydraulic piston
assisting wheel motion. If the engine stops running, the amplification system fails
to amplify the driver's arm power and the car becomes very difficult to turn.
Connection
COMMON-BASE AMPLIFIER

Both the signal source and the load share the base lead as a common connection
point
Gain
• The term hfe used in place of b. The terms hfe and b are equivalent and may be
used interchangeably. This is because "hfe" means: h = hybrid (meaning mixture) f =
forward current transfer ratio e = common emitter configuration The resistance gain
of the common emitter can be found in a method similar to the one used for finding
beta: • Once the resistance gain is known, the voltage gain is easy to calculate
since it is equal to the current gain multiplied by the resistance gain (E = bR). •
And, the power gain is equal to the voltage gain multiplied by the current gain b
(P = bE).
Example: Measurements at several points of interest using oscilloscope
COMMON-EMITTER AMPLIFIER

Both the signal source and the load share the emitter lead as a common connection
point
Example: Measurements at several points of interest using oscilloscope
COMMON-COLLECTOR AMPLIFIER

Both the signal source and the load share the collector lead as a common connection
point
Example: Measurements at several points of interest using oscilloscope
Transistor's Characteristic Curves
When a transistor is in the fully-off state (like an open switch), it is said to be
cutoff.

ACTIVE MODE OPERATION

Conversely, when it is fully conductive between emitter and collector (passing as

much current through the collector as the collector power supply and load will
allow), it is said to be saturated.
CLASS A AMPLIFIER
Class A operation is where the entire input waveform is faithfully reproduced.

Class A operation can only be obtained when the transistor spends its entire time
in the active mode, never reaching either cutoff or saturation
CLASS B AMPLIFIER
Class B operation is the transistor spent half its time in active mode and the
other half in cutoff with the input voltage too low (or even of the wrong
polarity!) to forward-bias its base-emitter junction.
Class Input and Output
• FIDELITY and EFFICIENCY are two terms used in conjunction with amplifiers.
Fidelity is the faithful reproduction of a signal, while Efficiency is the ratio of
output signal power compared to the total input power. The class A amplifier has
the highest degree of fidelity, but the class C amplifier has the highest
efficiency.

• •

•
Typical Configurationa class A amplifier • This illustration is
configured as a common emitter using fixed bias. From this, you should be able to
conclude the following: • • • • Because of its fixed bias, the amplifier is
thermally unstable. Because of its class A operation, the amplifier has low
efficiency but good fidelity. Because it is configured as a common emitter, the
amplifier has good voltage, current, and power gain. In conclusion, the type of
bias, class of operation, and circuit configuration are all clues to the function
and possible application of the amplifier.
Example
• If the input current (IB) in a common emitter changes from 75 mA to 100 mA and
the output current (IC) changes from 1.5 mA to 2.6 mA, the current gain (b) will be
44. • This simply means that a change in base current produces a change in
collector current which is 44 times as large.
Amplifier Rating
• Because amplifiers have the ability to increase the magnitude of an input signal,
it is useful to be able to rate an amplifier's amplifying ability in terms of an
output/input ratio. • The technical term for an amplifier's output/input magnitude
ratio is gain. • As a ratio of equal units (power out / power in, voltage out /
voltage in, or current out / current in), gain is naturally a unitless measurement.
• Mathematically, gain is symbolized by the capital letter “A”.
Example
• If an amplifier takes in an AC voltage signal measuring 2 volts RMS and outputs
an AC voltage of 30 volts RMS, it has an AC voltage gain of 30 divided by 2, or 15:
• If an amplifier with an AC current gain of 3.5 is given an AC input signal of 28
mA RMS, the output will be 3.5 times 28 mA, or 98 mA:
Rating…
• Amplifiers often amplify changes or variations in input signal magnitude (AC) at
a different ratio than steady input signal magnitudes (DC).
Rating
Multistage Amplifier
• If multiple amplifiers are staged, their respective gains form an overall gain
equal to the product (multiplication) of the individual gains. (Figure below)

• A 1 V signal were applied to the input of the gain of 3 amplifier in Figure

above, a 3 V signal out of the first amplifier would be further amplified by a gain
of 5 at the second stage yielding 15 V at the final output.
Heat Sink
Application of Electronics
• • • • • • • From electric to electronic Active versus passive devices Diode
Transistor MICROELECTRONICS is a broad term used to describe the use of integrated
circuits to miniaturize electronic equipment. A PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD (PCB) is a
flat, insulating surface upon which printed wiring and miniaturized components are
connected in a predetermined design and attached to a common base. MODULAR
CIRCUITRY is an assembly technique in which printed circuit boards are stacked and
connected together to form a module. This technique increases the packaging density
of circuit components and results in a considerable reduction in the size of
electronic equipment. An INTEGRATED CIRCUIT is a device that integrates (combines)
both active components (transistors, diodes, etc.) and passive components
(resistors, capacitors, etc.) of a complete electronic circuit in a single chip.