Chapter 28 Bipolar Junction Transistors Topics Covered in Chapter 28 28-1: Transistor Construction 28-2: Proper Transistor Biasing 28-3: Operating Regions 28-4: Transistor Ratings 28-5: Checking a Transistor with an Ohmmeter 28-6: Transistor Biasing 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
28-1: Transistor Construction A transistor has three doped regions, as shown in Fig. 28-1 (next slide). Fig. 28-1 (a) shows an npn transistor, and a pnp is shown in (b). For both types, the base is a narrow region sandwiched between the larger collector and emitter regions. McGraw-Hill 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
28-1: Transistor Construction The emitter region is heavily doped and its job is to emit carriers into the base. The base region is very thin and lightly doped. Most of the current carriers injected into the base from emitter pass on to the collector. The collector region is moderately doped and is the largest of all three regions. Fig. 28-1 Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Bipolar Transistors Collector Collector N P Base P N Base N Emitter P Emitter C B E
28-2: 2: Proper Transistor Biasing For a transistor to function properly as an amplifier, the emitter-base junction must be forward-biased and the collector-base junction must be reverse-biased. The common connection for the voltage sources are at the base lead of the transistor. The emitter-base supply voltage is designated V EE and the collector-base supply voltage is designated V CC. For silicon, the barrier potential for both EB and CB junctions equals 0.7 V
Schematic Symbol
Transistor Biasing Collector N P Base I C Reverse bias N Emitter I B I E = I B + I C Forward bias I E
28-2: 2: Proper Transistor Biasing Fig. 28-4 shows transistor biasing for the common-base connection. Proper biasing for an npn transistor is shown in (a). The EB junction is forward-biased by the emitter supply voltage, V EE. V CC reverse-biases the CB junction. Fig. 28-4 (b) illustrates currents in a transistor. CE voltage of an npn transistor must be positive Ratio of I C to I E is called DC alpha α dc Fig. 28-4 Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
28-3: Operating Regions Since emitter lead is common, this connection is called common-emitter connection Collector current I C is controlled solely by the base current, I B. By varying I B, a transistor can be made to operate in any one of the following regions Active Saturation Breakdown Cutoff Ratio of I C to I B is called DC beta β dc Fig. 28-6: Common-emitter connection (a) circuit. (b) Graph of I C versus V CE for different base current values.
28-3: Operating Regions Active Region Collector curves are nearly horizontal I C is greater than I B (I C = β dc X I B ) Saturation I C is not controlled by I B Vertical portion of the curve near the origin Breakdown Collector-base voltage is too large and collector-base diode breaks down Undesired collector current Cutoff I B = 0 Small collector current flows I C 0
Transistor Currents I E = I B + I C I C = I E I B I B = I E I C β dc = α dc = α dc = I C I B I C I E β dc 1 + β dc
Example 28-4 A transistor has the following currents: I E = 15 ma I B = 60 µa Calculate α dc, and β dc I C = I E I B = 14.94 ma α dc = 0.996 β dc = 249
28-3: Operating Regions Fig. 28-7 shows the dc equivalent circuit of a transistor operating in the active region. The base-emitter junction acts like a forward-biased diode with current, I B. Usually, the second approximation of a diode is used. If the transistor is silicon, assume that V BE equals 0.7 V. Fig. 28-7 Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
28-4: Transistor Ratings A transistor, like any other device, has limitations on its operations. These limitations are specified in the manufacturer s data sheet. Maximum ratings are given for Collector-base voltage Collector-emitter voltage Emitter-base voltage Collector current Power dissipation
28-5: Checking a Transistor with an Ohmmeter An analog ohmmeter can be used to check a transistor because the emitter-base and collector-base junctions are p-n junctions. This is illustrated in Fig. 28-8 where the npn transistor is replaced by its diode equivalent circuit. Fig. 28-8
Using a DMM to check a Diode Ohmmeter ranges in DMMs do not provide the proper forward bias to turn on the diode Set DMM to the special diode range In forward-bias, digital display indicates the forward voltage dropped across the diode In reverse-bias, digital display indicates an over range condition For silicon diode, using an analog meter, the ratio of reverse resistance, R R, to forward resistance, R F, should be very large such as 1000:1 or more
28-5: Checking a Transistor with an Ohmmeter To check the base-emitter junction of an npn transistor, first connect the ohmmeter as shown in Fig. 28-9 (a) and then reverse the ohmmeter leads as shown in (b). For a good p-n junction made of silicon, the ratio R R /R F should be equal to or greater than 1000:1. Fig. 28-9 Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
28-5: Checking a Transistor with an Ohmmeter To check the collector-base junction, first connect the ohmmeter as shown in Fig. 28-10 (a) and then reverse the ohmmeter leads as shown in (b). For a good p-n junction made of silicon, the ratio R R /R F should be equal to or greater than 1000:1. Although not shown, the resistance measured between the collector and emitter should read high or infinite for both connections of the meter leads. Fig. 28-10 Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
28-6: Transistor Biasing For a transistor to function properly as an amplifier, an external dc supply voltage must be applied to produce the desired collector current. Bias is defined as a control voltage or current. Transistors must be biased correctly to produce the desired circuit voltages and currents. The most common techniques used in biasing are Base bias Voltage-divider bias Emitter bias
28-6: Transistor Biasing Fig. 28-12 (a) shows the simplest way to bias a transistor, called base bias. V BB is the base supply voltage, which is used to forward-bias the base-emitter junction. R B is used to provide the desired value of base current. V CC is the collector supply voltage, which provides the reverse-bias voltage required for the collector-base junction. The collector resistor, R C, provides the desired voltage in the collector circuit Fig. 28-12 Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Transistor Biasing: Base Biasing A more practical way to provide base bias is to use one power supply. I B = V CC - V BE R B I C β dc x I B V CE V CC - I C R C
28-6: Transistor Biasing The dc load line is a graph that allows us to determine all possible combinations of I C and V CE for a given amplifier. For every value of collector current, I C, the corresponding value of V CE can be found by examining the dc load line. A sample dc load line is shown in Fig. 28-14. Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Fig. 28-14
28-6: Transistor Biasing Midpoint Bias Without an ac signal applied to a transistor, specific values of I C and V CE exist at a specific point on a dc load line This specific point is called the Q point (quiescent currents and voltages with no ac input signal) An amplifier is biased such that the Q point is near the center of dc load line I CQ = ½ I C(sat) V CEQ = ½ V CC Base bias provides a very unstable Q point, because I C and V CE are greatly affected by any change in the transistor s beta value
28-6: Transistor Biasing Fig. 28-15 illustrates a dc load line showing the end points I C (sat) and V CE (off), as well as the Q point values I CQ and V CEQ. Fig. 28-15 Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Base Bias Example 1 Solve for I B, I C and V CE Construct a dc load line showing the values of I C(sat), V CE(off), I CQ and V CEQ
Base Bias Example 2 Solve for I B, I C and V CE Construct a dc load line showing the values of I C(sat), V CE(off), I CQ and V CEQ
28-6: Transistor Biasing The most popular way to bias a transistor is with voltage-divider bias. The advantage of voltage-divider bias lies in its stability. An example of voltage-divider bias is shown in Fig. 28-18. V B = R 2 R 1 + R 2 X V CC V E = V B - V BE Fig. 28-18 I E I C Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Voltage Divider Bias Example Solve for V B, V E, I E, I C, V C and V CE Construct a dc load line showing the values of I C(sat), V CE(off), I CQ and V CEQ
28-6: Transistor Biasing Fig. 28-19 shows the dc load line for voltage-divider biased transistor circuit in Fig. 28-18. End points and Q points are I C (sat) = 12.09 ma V CE (off) = 15 V I CQ = 7 ma V CEQ = 6.32 V Fig. 28-19 Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
28-6: Transistor Biasing Both positive and negative power supplies are available Emitter bias provides a solid Q point that fluctuates very little with temperature variation and transistor replacement. Fig. 28-23 Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Emitter Bias Example Solve for I E, and V C