Abrogina, Jonathan Joncovic Michael R. DB1 1. Discuss how a transistor is used as an electronic switch.

12.14.11 HW1

A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and power. It is composed of a semiconductor material with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals changes the current flowing through another pair of terminals. Because the controlled (output) power can be much more than the controlling (input) power, a transistor can amplify a signal. Transistors are commonly used as electronic switches, both for high-power applications such as switched-mode power supplies and for low-power applications such as logic gates. The transistor can be made to operate as a switch by designing the associated circuit so that the transistor is either in the cut-off region or in the saturation region. In any switching circuit, values of input voltage would be chosen such that the output is either completely off, or completely on. The transistor is acting as a switch, and this type of operation is common in digital circuits where only "on" and "off" values are relevant.

Transistors can either conduct or not conduct current. That is, transistors can either be on or off. Switching is controlled by the voltage between the Base and the Emitter. When VBE<0.7V the transistor switches off and no current flows between the Collector and the Emitter. When VBE0.7V the transistor switches on and current flows between the Collector and the Emitter.

2. Describe the condition that produces cut-off.

When IB=0A, the transistor is in the cut-off region of its operation. This is drawn with the base lead open, resulting in a base current of zero. Under this condition, there is a very small amount of collector leakage current, ICEO, due mainly to thermally produced carriers. Because ICEO is extremely small, it will usually be neglected in circuit analysis so that VCE= VCC. In cut-off, both the base-emitter and the base-collector junctions are reverse-biased. Neglecting leakage current, all of the currents are zero and VCE is equal to VCC.

3. Describe the condition that produces saturation. When the base-emitter junction becomes forward-biased and the base current is increased, the collector current also increases and VCE decreases as a result of more drop across the collector resistor. When VCE reaches its saturation value, VCE(SAT), the base-collector junction becomes forward biased and IC can increase no further even with a continued increase in IB. At the point of saturation, the relation IC=IB is no longer valid. VCE(SAT) for a transistor occurs somewhere below the knee of the collector curves, and it is usually only a few tenths of a volt for silicon transistors. When the transistor is in the saturation region, the base-emitter junction is forward-biased. There is enough base current to produce a maximum collector current.