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Jamie A. Benitez
Abstract: Imagine the control one would have over technology, if they
were able to apply a little voltage or current, and create a huge magnitude
of what they put in. That imagination became reality when the transistor
was invented. With this, now simple to use, device, we are able to
two different transistors: the NPN (2n3904) and the PNP (2n3906). We
want to test the different theories such as, the three different regions of a
of the circuits and figuring out the β value for the NPN are other goals.
At the end of the experiment, the theories are proven to be correct with
the use of different components and trials. Our goals were reached and
Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs) are vital components to the technology we use today. They
have come a long way since the middle of the century. Decreasing in size – from large objects to
miniscule chip components, and increasing in efficiency, these transistors are only a fraction of potential
for what is stored in their future. BJTs consist of two different types of junctions: the NPN and the PNP
junctions. They are comprised of two diodes with the opposite direction, giving their title and structure;
refer to Figure 1. The difference in structure between these two transistors causes the NPN to “source”
current, while the PNP “sinks” current [2]. Both of these BJTs have three terminals: Base, Collector, and
Emitter. The way these terminals are arranged with resistors and/or other components will determine the
function of that particular circuit. Figures 2, 3, and 4, will display examples of simple, yet differently
orientated, circuits with diverse types of gains, i.e. voltage and/or current.
The NPN junction is the more commonly used transistor. NPN junctions have mobile electrons
due to N-type doping[1]. The mobility of these electrons cause current to flow, rapidly. Much more
rapid than the mobility of “holes” where electrons could fill – causing a similar but, slower electron
movement. This is much more efficient than working with the PNP junction which undergoes P-type
doping. In this junction, our goal is to be able to control the current that flows from the collector to the
emitter. The general circuit symbol, Figure 5, will allow a better opportunity to understand the flow of
current. The base current is what primarily controls the current that flows from the collector to the
emitter. In the simple common-emitter configuration, Figure 3, the iC (current coming from collector)
wants to pass directly to the emitter, which VC must have a greater voltage than VE [2]. The transistor
does not allow any current to flow unless a small current flows from the base. The transistor must be
turned “on”, or in the active region - which will later be discussed, by hitting a voltage (VBE between the
base and emitter) of 0.7V before any action will occur. This 0.7V is because there is a voltage drop
between the base and emitter for Silicon devices due to the input characteristics of an NPN Transistor are
of a forward biased diode [2]. Once turned “on”, the small iB (current from base) will allow the
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potentially large iC to flow rapidly into the emitter. Since iC is controlled by iB (current from base), then
iC = β iB [1]. (1)
The exact proportion for this equation is determined by the β (current gain) which each transistor has
fixed – roughly between 100 and 200 (unit-less). While the current from the base controls the current
from the collector from reaching the emitter, the current from the base travels to the emitter along with
iE = iB + iC [2]. (2)
These two equations are only functional when in the Active region.
An important aspect of the transistor is the three regions it works in. They are the Off region,
Active region, and Saturation region. Figure 6 illustrates the three regions. When the base-emitter diode,
or VBE, does not reach 0.7V, the transistor is in the Off region. When in the Off region, there is no current
flow, iE = iB = iC = 0. The Active region is our favorable region. Once the diode is turned “on”, the
currents can flow as previously stated. While in the Active region, we obtain more equations than just (1)
and (2). Referring back to Figure 3, there is an input signal (V in). This forms the iB that travels across the
resistor (RB), connected in series with the input signal and to the base. Since the voltage of the emitter
(VE) is 0, then VBE will be the same as the voltage (VB) across RB. This forms the equation,
Similarly, when the collector is the subject, the power to the transistor (VCC) forms iC that flows across RC,
which is connected in series with the power supply and the collector. The equation,
is then produced. When combining equations (1), (3), and (4), we get our last equation,
The -β (RC/RB), in that equation, is the slope (gain) of the Active region that is demonstrated in Figure 6.
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The last region is the Saturation region. This is where the transistor hits its maximum capability. Once in
saturation, even when more VIN is supplied, VOUT remains small at about 0.2V (transistor saturation) [1].
After Saturation is when the transistor reaches the constant Active region as illustrated in Figure 7. It is
constructive to work in the Active region as close to the Saturation region as possible. This is helpful
because after the Active region, the transistor will come to a new region where it does not work – the
The PNP junction works completely opposite to the NPN junction. The emitter now has a
voltage source attached to it instead of being grounded [2]. Unlike the NPN, this junction has mobile
“holes”, as declared previously, rather than those “extra” electrons. Since the emitter is now transmitting
a current to the transistor, and the current from the emitter to the collector are “holes”, the VIN needs to be
negative [2]. Also, current flows out of the base and the collector, Figure 9. Even though the PNP
junction is the reverse of the NPN junction, equations (1) and (2) still hold true.
II. Experiment
Now that we are knowledgeable in the Bipolar Junction Transistor topic, I will discuss the
procedure of the lab my partner and I performed. To begin, we constructed two separate circuits: circuit
one using an NPN, and circuit two using a PNP. Circuit one consists of the common-emitter set-up
discussed earlier, except we added a resistive load, which had one end connected to the junction of R C and
the collect, and the other end connected to ground, Figure 10. We used RC = 1kΩ and RL = 2 kΩ , and
conducted two tests: using RB = 10 kΩ in one and 121 kΩ in the other. VL was measured as a function
of VBB between 0V ≤ VBB ≤ 6V. When in between 0V 1V, 0.1V intervals were recorded, and when in
between 1V 6V, the intervals were in 0.25V steps. These values are recorded in Tables 1 and 2. VBB
was then replaced with a 1kHz sinusoid and we captured VOUT and VIN on the oscilloscope as images;
Figures 12, 13, and 14 were using RB = 121 kΩ and Figures 15 and 16 were using R B = 10 kΩ . Next,
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circuit two was assembled, Figure 11. VL is again measured across RL, which we used a 1 kΩ , 2 kΩ , and
III. Conclusion
After the experiments were finished and all the data was collected, many earlier theory statements
became visible. While looking at Table 1, we can witness the three regions that the transistor works in.
At the start, while VBB increases, VL barely varies. It is only when VBB is about 0.6~0.7V that VL begins
to change. This illustrates the Off region of the transistor. V L begins to change when the transistor
reaches the required voltage of ~0.7V and turns “on”, as the theory described, and the Active region is
then visible. As we continue along the Active region, VL decreases dramatically up until VBB gets to
1.25V. VL drops to 0.265V (and decreases to 0.076V) which is very close to the saturation voltage of
~0.2V, previously acknowledged. We are now in the Saturated region in this circuit. Similarly, with the
121 kΩ data, we are able to see the Off and Active region, but we do not reach Saturation in this
experiment. When VBB reaches the 0.6~0.7V range again, the transistor turns “on”, except this time we
are in the Saturation region for a much longer voltage supply because of the magnitude of our RB. Now
we want to find the β value. Using the gain note from equation (5), we set that equal to ∆ VOUT/∆ VIN.
To find ∆ VOUT/∆ VIN, we must pick two voltages from Table 1. I chose to use VBB = 0.80V and 0.90V.
This gives us a β value of: 102.1. Now using Table 2, I chose VBB = 2.75V and 3.00V, using the same
equations, our value of β is: 114.708. These b values are very similar. Experimental errors should be
taken into consideration for the different values. Voltage measurements would alter while a constant
Replacing VBB with the 1kHz sinusoid and generating Figures 12 to 16, more inferences can be
made. Looking at Figure 12, our VOUT and VIN are exactly out of phase. This demonstrates a gain
(∆ VOUT/∆ VIN) of -1. Figure 13, reveals saturation when we changed the amplitude. When using the
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sinusoid for the 10 kΩ , Figure 15 exemplifies a gain of -10, which is close to the 12.1x greater gain
Circuit 2 involved connecting a LED (Light Emitting Diode) into the circuit. Each of our three
trials allowed the LED to light up. Also to note, as resistance (R L) increased, the voltage (VL) increased
proportionally. We were able to see that circuit 2 was a constant current source.
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References
<http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/transistor/tran_1.html>.
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[2]
Figure 1. The basic structures of PNP and NPN transistors.
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[2]
Figure 2. The Common Base Amplifier Circuit.
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[2]
Figure 3. The Common Emitter Amplifier Circuit.
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[2]
Figure 4. The Common Collector Amplifier Circuit.
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[2]
Figure 5. Circuit Symbol in NPN junction.
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[1]
Figure 6. VOUT vs. VIN graph with labeled regions.
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[1]
Figure 7. Active region showing comparison iB and iC with increasing VCE. The almost vertical
regions on this graph representation the Saturated region.
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[1]
Figure 8. Breakdown region visible on graph. Shows how too much voltage after a certain point
can destroy the transistor.
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[2]
Figure 9. A PNP Transistor Circuit
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Figure 10. Hand-drawn sketch of the first circuit used in the experiment.
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Figure 11. Hand-drawn sketch of the second circuit used in the experiment.
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Figure 12. Shows gain of -1 using 1kHz and RB = 121kΩ.
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Figure 13. Saturation with amplitude change using 1kHz and RB = 121kΩ.
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Figure 14. Change offset towards negative using 1kHz and RB = 121kΩ.
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Figure 15. Shows gain of -10 using 1kHz and RB = 10kΩ.
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Figure 16. Greatly increased offset and amplitude using 1kHz and RB = 10kΩ.
Starts to show truncation.
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VBB VL VBB VL
0 7.989 0 7.983
0.1 7.988 0.1 7.983
0.2 7.988 0.2 7.983
0.3 7.989 0.3 7.983
0.4 7.989 0.4 7.983
0.5 7.987 0.5 7.982
0.6 7.937 0.6 7.962
0.7 7.429 0.7 7.905
0.8 6.521 0.8 7.826
0.9 5.5 0.9 7.747
1 4.43 1 7.663
1.25 2.005 1.25 7.415
1.5 0.264 1.5 7.182
1.75 0.138 1.75 6.958
2 0.158 2 6.713
2.25 0.143 2.25 6.46
2.5 0.132 2.5 6.218
2.75 0.123 2.75 5.966
3 0.116 3 5.729
3.25 0.11 3.25 5.472
3.5 0.105 3.5 5.227
3.75 0.1 3.75 5.005
4 0.097 4 4.764
4.25 0.093 4.25 4.511
4.5 0.09 4.5 4.277
4.75 0.087 4.75 4.042
5 0.085 5 3.809
5.25 0.082 5.25 3.574
5.5 0.08 5.5 3.346
5.75 0.078 5.75 3.11
6 0.076 6 2.892
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Appendix
Calculating β :
Using RB = 10kΩ
VOUT VOUT VIN VIN
6.521V 5.5V .80V .90V
∆ VOUT ∆ VIN
1.021V -0.1V
β = 102.1
Using RB = 121kΩ
VOUT VOUT VIN VIN
5.966V 5.729V 2.75V 3.00V
∆ VOUT ∆ VIN
.237V -0.25V
β = 114.7
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