EEE 52 WUV 01 December 2010

Laboratory 1: Bipolar Transistor Biasing and

Temperature Effects
YUTOC, Katherine Ann M.
2007-01733
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering,
University of the Philippines, Diliman

Abstract — The transistor is a very useful Figure 1 Bipolar Junction Transistor

component in making circuits but one must Bipolar transistors are classified as
know its characteristics and limitations to either NPN or PNP according to the arrangement
fully use its capabilities. of their N-type and P-type materials. Their basic
And as for this laboratory experiment, we
construction and chemical treatment is implied
explored the different ways on how to bias a
by their names. These two basic types of
transistor taking note of all its advantages
transistors along with their circuit symbols are
and disadvantages. First is the Fixed Bias,
shown in Figure 2
which is the easiest circuit to make because it
has only two resistors. Observations on
changing resistance values and temperature
effects were recorded and analysed. The
second circuit is the Collector to Base Bias, Figure 2 NPN and PNP
which is a more stable bias than the first.
Lastly, the Voltage Divider Bias which BJT has three regions of operations, cut-off,
showed the best stability in terms of beta saturation, and forward active. The first region
dependence and temperature changes. is called cut-off. This is the case where the
transistor is essentially inactive. In cut-off, the
I. INTRODUCTION following behaviour is noted:

B IPOLAR Junction Transistor (BJT) is an

active semiconductor device formed by
two P-N junctions whose function is

  0, 
 

  0,    
amplification of an electric current.   0.7
Bipolar transistors are made from 3 sections
of semiconductor material (alternating P- In cut-off, the transistor appears as an open
type and N-type), with 2 resulting P-N junctions. circuit between the collector and emitter
Schematically, a bipolar transistor is shown in terminals. The second region is called saturation.
Figure 1 This is where the base current has increased well
beyond the point that the emitter-base junction is
forward biased. In fact, the base current has
increased beyond the point where it can cause
the collector current flow to increase. In
saturation, the transistor appears as a near short
circuit between the collector and emitter
 2

terminals. In saturation, the following behaviour parameters over which the device operates. The
is noted: bipolar transistor, for example, has a ‘normal’
operating collector voltage range bounded by
  0.2, 

 
 saturation for low voltages and collector

  0

  0 junction breakdown for high voltages. Similarly
  0.7 the collector current is bounded by dissipation
considerations on the one hand and cut-off on
The final region of operation of the BJT is the other hand. In order to function properly the
the forward active region. It is in this region that transistor must be biased properly, i.e., the
the transistor can act as a fairly linear amplifier. steady-state operating voltages and currents
In this region, we see that: must suit the purpose involved. On the other
hand, BJTs are temperature dependent wherein
0.2     different parameter affects its characteristics.

  0

  0
  0.7 II. EQUIPMENT USED
1 Digital Multi-meter
Thus the transistor is on and the collector to 1 Soldering Iron
emitter voltage is somewhere between the cut- 1 DC Power supply
1 Prototyping board
off and saturated states. In this state, the
#22 Hook up wires
transistor is able to amplify small variations in Resistors 2 2.2kΩ
the voltage present on the base. The output is 1 4.7kΩ
extracted at the collector. In the forward active 1 10kΩ
state, the collector current is proportional to the 1 33kΩ
base current by a constant multiplier called beta, 1 47kΩ
denoted by the symbol . Thus in the forward 1 220kΩ
1 470kΩ
active region we will also observe that: Transistors NPN-2N3904
LM35

  ∙

III. DATA
The operating point of a BJT can be found Part A-1 Q Point Measurements: Fixed Biased
graphically using the concept of a load line. A Circuit
load line is the relationship between  and 
that is imposed on BJT by the external circuit.
For a given value of , the   characteristics
curve of a BJT is the relationship between  and
 as is set by BJT internals. The intersection of
the load line with the BJT characteristics
represents a pair of  and  values which
satisfy both conditions and, therefore, is the
operating point of the BJT (often called the Q
point for quiescent point).
In general all electronic devices are
nonlinear, and device operating characteristics
can vary significantly over the range of Figure 3 Fixed Biased Circuit
 3

Figure 3 shows the first biasing technique.

After wiring up the circuit, the voltage drops
across the resistors were measured. The DC gain
of the transistor was calculated:






Also, the Vcc, Vce and Vbe were measured. All

acquired measurements were recorded and is
presented in Table 1.
Figure 4 Collector to Base Bias Circuit
R1 468.50 kΩ
Resistor Values
R2 2.1615 kΩ Figure 4 shows the second biasing technique.
VR1 9.279 V
Voltage Drops Same procedure was done. All acquired
VR2 6.334 V
measurements were recorded and is presented in
Supply Voltage VCC 9.995 V
Collector-Emitter Voltage VCE 3.634 V Table 3. A 2.2kΩ was also placed in parallel
Base-Emitter Voltage VBE 0.7033 V with Rc. All acquired measurements were
DC Current Gain β 147.93 recorded and is presented in Table 4.
Table 1 Data from Part A-1
Resistor R4 219.13 kΩ
A 2.2 kΩ was placed in parallel with Rc, Values R3 2.1615 kΩ
making the total resistance equal to 1.1kΩ. VR4 3.3905 V
Voltage Drops
Resistances and voltages were again measured. VR3 5.861 V
Supply Voltage VCC 9.995 V
All acquired measurements were recorded and is
Collector-Emitter Voltage VCE 4.1276 V
presented in Table 2.
Base-Emitter Voltage VBE 0.6959 V
Table 3 Data from Part A-2
R1 468.50 kΩ
Resistor Values
R2 // 2.2 kΩ 1.0842 kΩ
VR1 9.285 V
Voltage Drops Resistor R4 219.13 kΩ
VR2 3.2466 V
Values R3 // 2.2 kΩ 1.0841 kΩ
Supply Voltage VCC 9.995 V
VR4 4.4054 V
Collector-Emitter Voltage VCE 6.740 V Voltage Drops
VR3 4.9440 V
Base-Emitter Voltage VBE 0.6989 V
Supply Voltage VCC 9.995 V
DC Current Gain β 150.87
Collector-Emitter Voltage VCE 5.680 V
Table 2 Data from Part A-1 with 2.2kΩ
Base-Emitter Voltage VBE 0.7020 V
Table 4 Data from Part A-2 with 2.2 kΩ
Part A-2 Q Point Measurements: Collector to
Base Bias Circuit
Part A-3 Q Point Measurements: Voltage
Divider with Emitter Resistor Bias Circuit
 4

VR8 1.6040 V
Supply Voltage (VCC) 9.995 V
Collector-emitter Voltage (VCE) 4.9413 V
Base-emitter Voltage (VBE) 0.6611 V
Table 6 Data from Part A-3 with new R5

Part B Temperature Effects

Each circuit schematic in Part A was again

wired up, with the LM35 temperature sensor
placed side by side to allow simultaneous action
between the heating up of the transistor and the
heating up of the sensor. For each circuit
configuration in Part A, the time it took for the
circuit to go to saturation was recorded. The
Figure 5 Voltage Divider with Emitter Resistor temperature sensor voltage was also noted,
Bias Circuit together with the other measurements for the
derivation of the Q-point. The measurements
Figure 5 shows the third biasing technique. obtained were collated and presented in Table 7.
Same procedure was done. All acquired
measurements were recorded and is presented in Biasing tSAT VOUT VCE,SAT
Table 5. And then, R5 was replaced with 33kΩ. Fixed
4min 22s 0.85 V 0.300 V
All acquired measurements were recorded and is Bias
CB Bias Did not saturate within allotted time
presented in Table 6.
Divider
Did not saturate within allotted time
Bias
R5 46.969 kΩ Table 7 Data from Part B
Resistor R6 9.821 kΩ
Values R7 4.6817 kΩ IV. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
R8 2.1615 kΩ
Voltage Drops VR5 8.272 V A. For each circuit, calculate the DC current
VR6 1.7020 V gain, β. Enter it in a table of values, against
VR7 2.2502V each circuit configuration. Write the currents
VR8 1.0513 V and voltages beside all branches and node of
Supply Voltage (VCC) 9.995 V each circuit.
Collector-emitter Voltage (VCE) 6.6777 V
Base-emitter Voltage (VBE) 0.6508 V Since we already have the voltage across the
Table 5 Data from Part A-3 resistors, the DC current gain (β) of the BJT can
be computed by dividing the collector current by
R5 32.820 kΩ the base current,
Resistor R6 9.821 kΩ
"
Values R7 4.6817 kΩ 

#
R8 2.1615 kΩ Currents can be computed by dividing the
VR5 7.708 V
voltage by the corresponding resistor.
Voltage Drops VR6 2.2643 V
For the fixed bias circuit and collector-to-
VR7 3.4294 V
base bias circuit we have,
 5

$" Fixed Bias Circuit. In figure 1, we have two

% KVL loops, one in the collector side another in
 "
$# the base side,
%#
"" 
#+ %# + #, (1)
For the voltage divider with emitter resistor
bias circuit, we first have to get the Thevenin "" 
"+ %" + ",+ (2)
equivalent of the left side of the circuit, Manipulating (1), we can get IBQ. Then
%& substitute it to the formula of β to get ICQ,
#  "" "" − #,
%' + %&
#+ = = 19.7923
%' %& %#
%) 
"+ =
#+ = 1.97943
%' + %&
we then use these values to compute for β, By manipulating (2) and substituting ICQ, we can
$" get VCEQ,
% ",+ = "" −
"+ %" = 5.6462
 "
$*
%*
Collector-to-Base Bias Circuit. In the KVL
equation at the base loop, we have,
Summary of computed values for β is
", =
# %# + #, (3)
presented in Table 8.
Since the circuit is in active region
" ≅
, and
Second Set-
First Set-Up
, = ( + 1)
# so the KVL equation in the
Up
Fixed Bias 147.93 150.87 collector loop,
Collector-to- ", = "" − %"
, = "" − %" ( + 1)
# (4)
175.25 226.84
Base Bias Substituting (3) to (4) and manipulating the
Voltage Divider equation to get IB, we have,
with Emitter 2.29 2.45
# %# + #, = "" − %" ( + 1)
#
Resistor Bias "" − #,
Table 8 Computed values for β
# = = 21.0323
%# + ( + 1)%"

"+ =
# = 2.10343
Based on the values in the table, decreasing
Substituting IB to (3)
the resistance in the collector side increases the
",+ = 5.327
value of β. Fixed bias and collector-to-base bias
has higher β making it more suitable for
amplification purposes. However, in the set-up Voltage Divider with Emitter Resistor Bias
of the collector-to-base bias, it is seen that Circuit. We first get the Thevenin equivalent of
values have a big difference. This is due to the left side of the circuit,
human error, VRC has a wrong value. %:; = %' ||%& = 8245.614Ω
%&
:; = "" = 1.754
B. For each circuit, calculate the theoretical %' + %&
quiescent (Q) point (ICQ and VCEQ). By KVL,
:; = %:;
# +
, %, + #,
For the following solutions, it is assumed that Substituting
, = ( + 1)
# and manipulating
β = 100 and VBE = 0.7 the equation to get IB, we have,
:; = %:;
# +
# ( + 1)%, + #,
:; − #,

# = = 4.5723
%:; + ( + 1)%,


"+ =
# = 0.45743
KVL in the collector loop,
",  "" 0 (%" + %, )
"  6.8467
C. Draw the loadline. Scale the axes properly.
Indicate the cut-off and saturation values. Plot
the theoretical Q-points obtained.
Figure 6 Loadline for Fixed Bias Circuit
Figure 7 Loadline for Collector-to-Base Bias
Circuit
6
Figure 8 Loadline for Voltage Divider with
Emitter Resistor Bias Circuit
D. Temperature Effects
Lastly, the effects of temperature on the
saturation time of the 2N3904 for each of the
three above-mentioned configurations were
observed. With the soldering iron heating both
the transistor and the temperature sensor, a
multimeter was used to constantly measure VCE
until it reaches a stabilization point (no more or
at least minimal fluctuation in the reading). This
state was then considered as the quiescent point
and thus, output voltage and VCE,SAT were noted.
Due to time constraints in the laboratory
session, only the fixed bias configuration was
able to saturate within the allotted time. This
solidifies the fact that this configuration is
among the less stable biasing methods for a BJT
because of its sensitivity to changes in
temperature (thus having a large change in β)
and thus, makes it more prone to early
saturation.
Stability was better for the last two
configurations due to an introduction of a
voltage feedback path from collector to base
(collector-to-base bias) and the independency of
the circuit from β (voltage divider bias).
It is because of lack of proper data due to
none-saturating transistors that no proper load
line can be presented in this report.
 7

V. CONCLUSION
Among the three biasing methods presented,
the voltage divider bias proved to be the
recommended configuration due to its high-beta
property and stability despite temperature
variation. The fact that it did not saturate easily
promises gradual change in currents even with
temperature variation, minimal change in β, and
in the process, small swing of the quiescent
point. This ensures that the transistor will
operate within the desired operating region.
Stability-wise, the collector-to-base
configuration comes in second with longer
saturation time, tSAT in comparison with the
fixed bias configuration. However, it has the
lowest gain among the three.
Finally the Fixed Bias configuration is the
least stable with very low saturation time. This is
because of the fact that the said configuration
has no emitter resistance, which could have
improved stability for the said biasing method.

VI. REFERENCES
[1] R. Boylestad, L. Nashelsky, An Introduction
to Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory.
Upper Saddle, New Jersey: Pearson-Prentice
Hall, 2006, ch.4.
[2] L. Sison, Introduction to Semiconductor
Devices and Circuits. UP Diliman, QC: UP
Press, 2007, ch.4
[3] 2n3904 Datasheet. ON Semiconductor.
Available: http://www.datasheetcatalog.org