INTRODUCTION TO BIPOLAR

JUNCTION TRANSISTORS

• Transistors are three port devices used in most

integrated circuits, such as amplifiers
• Transistors are active components (recall that
resistors, capacitors and inductors are passive)
• There are two types of transistor:
• 1. The unipolar or field effect transistor (FET), its
operation is due to the flow of majority carriers only
(either electrons or holes)
• 2. The bipolar junction transistor, its operation
depends on the flow of majority and minority carriers
• The bipolar junction transistor is one of the most
important and widely used semiconductor devices
• Its principal applications are as an amplifier or as a
switch
• Generally transistors are highly efficient, robust,
incredibly reliable and usually inexpensive

10. Bipolar Junction 1

Transistor
 GENERAL CONSTRUCTION

• A bipolar junction transistor consists of two pn junctions

in close proximity to each other
• Two arrangements are possible – according to whether
the middle region is n- or p-type material
• npn or pnp
• Leads are attached to the three regions, known as
emitter, base, and collector

Emitter Collector
p n p

Base

Emitter Collector
n p n

Base

10. Bipolar Junction 2

Transistor
 THEORY OF OPERATION (1)

• The majority of current in a pnp transistor is carried by

holes which, being positively charged particles, move in
the same direction as conventional current flow
• In an npn transistor, the majority of current is carried by
electrons
• The theory of operation of an npn transistor is in all
respects the same as that of a pnp device
• The theory of operation for pnp transistors will be
considered here
• Transistor circuit symbols are shown below
• The arrow on the emitter indicates the direction of
conventional current flow under normal bias conditions
Collector
base
npn

Emitter

Collector
base
pnp

Emitter
10. Bipolar Junction 3
Transistor
 THEORY OF OPERATION (2)

• An amplifier is a device that boosts the power of a

signal, whilst keeping its waveform the same
• Transistors are used in amplification circuits
• In normal use as an amplifier, the pn junction between
collector and base is reversed biased
• The junction between emitter and base is forward
biased
• The operation of the transistor is also dependent on the
width of the material used to construct the base region
• The effect or reducing the base width is to increase the
collector current, IC, whilst correspondingly reducing the
base current, IB
• The emitter current, IE, is highly dependent on the
base-emitter voltage, VBE
• The collector current, IC, is more or less independent of
the collector-base voltage VCB

10. Bipolar Junction 4

Transistor
 THEORY OF OPERATION (3)

• A transistor may be thought of as an electronic tap

that is able to control a large flow of electrons with only
small variations of the handle
• The handle in the case of a transistor is called the base
• The in and out pipes are called the emitter and
collector
• Voltage changes at the base of the transistor result in
changes to the flow of current through the transistor
• In practical terms, a small base current, IB, flows and
turns on a much larger collector current, IC
• IC is zero until IB flows
• A junction transistor is thus a current operated device

10. Bipolar Junction 5

Transistor
 THE TRANSISTOR AS AN
AMPLIFIER (1)

• There are three ways to connect a transistor for

amplification purposes in practice
• In each case one terminal is connected to signal
common (ground) – though not always directly
• As a result, the input and output signals are taken
between common and the other two terminals
• The three amplifier configurations are: common
emitter, common collector and common base
• Here we shall only consider the common emitter
• Typical circuit (npn) and values shown below

10. Bipolar Junction 6

Transistor
 THE TRANSISTOR AS AN
AMPLIFIER (2)

• Collector typically fed from approx. 12V DC supply

• Fairly high resistor, RC, placed in series (4.7kΩ)
• A further DC supply is also connected between base
and emitter – in series with input signal Vin
• DC base bias supply is arranged to make IC about 1mA
• The collector-emitter voltage, VCE, is then the collector
supply voltage less the voltage drop across RC
• For silicon transistors, the base bias voltage is about
0.6V, with IB about 10µA

10. Bipolar Junction 7

Transistor
 TYPICAL OPERATION OF
JUNCTION TRANSISTOR
AMPLIFIER

• Typically the collector current, IC, is 100 to 1000 times

greater than the base current IB, depending on the type
of transistor used
• If we take the base current IB as an input and the
collector current IC as an output, then we can say that
the transistor amplifies current, i.e. it is a current
amplifier
• The current gain is denoted by hFE
• F indicates forward current and E denotes the
connection type which is common emitter
• hFE = IC / IB
• For the circuit shown on the previous slide, IC = 1mA
and IB = 10µA
• Therefore hFE = 1mA/10µA = 100
• The input current is amplified by a 100 times in this
example
• Also note that since the current flowing out of the
transistor must equal the current flowing into it
(Kirchhoff’s Current Law) then IB + IC = IE
• Also IC >> IB and IE ≈ IC

10. Bipolar Junction 8

Transistor
 CONVENTIONAL AMPLIFIER
CIRCUIT SET UP

• Above shows the most common configuration for a

stable operating amplifier
• VCC is the power supply voltage, i.e. the circuit needs
power in order to perform its function (amplification)
• Such circuits have to be biased in order to give the
required value of IC
• In order to help achieve this, a voltage VBB, is set up
using a voltage divider, which has an effect on the size
of IC

10. Bipolar Junction 9

Transistor
 IMPORTANT AMPLIFIER CIRCUIT
RELATIONSHIPS

• VBB = VBE + VRE

• In practice VRE > VBE. For silicon transistors, VRE ≈ 2V
• R1 and R2 chosen so that base-emitter junction is
forward biased – resistors form a potential divider
• For good stability, R2 < 10RE
• Typical values for current gain hFE are around 100
• As an approximation VBB = (VCCR2)/(R1 + R2)
• VRE = IERE
• Since IB << IC and IC ≈ IE, then IC ≈ VRE/RE
• Since VRE = VBB - VBE
• Then
1  VCC R2 
IC =  − VBE 
RE  R1 + R2 
• VBE is approximately 0.7V
• RC is chosen so that VCE is VCC/2 to ensure that the
amplifier output does not exceed the boundary limits of
-VCC/2 to VCC/2
• VCE = VCC – ICRC - ICRE

10. Bipolar Junction 10

Transistor
 WORKED AMPLIFIER EXAMPLE

• Given that hFE = 150, VBE = 0.7V and VCC = 15V, find
R1, R2, RC and RE (i.e. bias the amplifier circuit) so
that IC is 1mA.

• hFE = IC / IB → IB = 1×10-3/150 = 6.67×10-6A

• IE ≈ IC ≈ 1×10-3A
• For silicon transistors VRE ≈ 2V
• VBB = VBE + VRE = 2.7V
• VRE = IERE → RE = 2kΩ
• R2 < 10RE → R2 = 20kΩ
• VBB = (VCCR2)/(R1 + R2) → R1 = 91.1kΩ
• VCE = VCC/2 = 7.5V
• VCE = VCC – ICRC – ICRE → RC = 9.5kΩ

10. Bipolar Junction 11

Transistor
 APPLYING AN AC INPUT SIGNAL
TO THE AMPLIFIER

• Coupling capacitors C1 and C2 are added.

• C1 protects the base from being short circuited by the
source.
• C2 blocks any DC component at the output.
• The AC input signal, VS, is superimposed on the base
bias voltage, so that the new base emitter voltage
becomes vbe = VBE + VS
• The output voltage Vout = VCC/2 + AVS
• A is the overall gain of the amplifier

10. Bipolar Junction 12

Transistor
 TRANSISTOR AS A SWITCH

• So far we have looked at transistors as amplifying

devices. However another important application is their
use as a switch.

• Advantages
• Very high speed of operation – present day transistor
can operate at up to 109 times a second
• Very high reliability
• Electronically controlled operation
• Low cost
• Small size

• Disadvantages
• The switch is not a true open circuit in the OFF
condition – a small but finite current still flows
• The switch is not a true short circuit in the ON condition
– there is a small but finite voltage drop across it of
about 0.1V

10. Bipolar Junction 13

Transistor
 PRACTICALITY OF TRANSISTOR
SWITCHING OPERATION

• In many practical cases, the disadvantages are of little

significance
• In many applications the use if transistor switches
provides great improvement in operation over
alternative methods such as relays and other
mechanical switches
• One of the most important applications is in the control
of logic levels in digital circuits
• Modern digital computers rely almost exclusively for
their operation on the use of transistor switches
• The operation of a transistor as a switch is the basics of
switching (digital) circuits
• In digital circuits, the outputs and inputs involve only
two levels of voltage – HIGH or LOW – i.e. two state
circuits
• HIGH logic level is referred to as logic 1 level, which in
voltage terms is 5V or near the supply voltage value
• LOW is referred to as logic 0
• Transistors are cheap, reliable, there are no moving
parts with almost indefinite life and can switch millions
of times a second
• A perfect switch would have zero resistance when ON
and infinite resistance when OFF with no power
consumption

10. Bipolar Junction 14

Transistor
TRANSISTOR SWITCHING CIRCUIT

• When transistor is switched on IC = VCC/RC

• We already know that IC = hFE * IB
• Substituting: IB = VCC/hFERC
• This value of IB is the minimum for satisfactory
switching
• Also, IB = (VBB – VBE)/RB
• However, in practice, VBB >> VBE
• So IB ≈ VBB/RB

10. Bipolar Junction 15

Transistor