Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

Electronics Bipolar transistor

Prof. M arta Rencz, Gergely Nagy
BME DED

2013. okt ober 16.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

Transistors I.

Transistors are the most important semiconductor devices. They are used in
analog circuit as ampliers:
the input power of an amplier is smaller than its output power, the energy need for amplication is provided by the supply voltage, a transformer is not an amplier as the power at its terminals is equal (if the voltage is larger at the output then the current is smaller),

both analog and digital circuits as switches:

large power can be switched by a small input power, logic gates can be realized by controlled switches.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

Transistors II.

The types of transistors:

bipolar transistor:
controlled by current, its outputs are not interchangeable.

eld-eect transistor:
controlled by voltage, unipolar device.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The bipolar transistor I.

The bipolar transistor (BJT) consists of two p-n junctions placed very close to each other. There are two types depending on structure: npn, pnp.

Both types are widely used. The npn transsistors operate faster, so they are more widespread.
The dierence in speed is due to the fact that in npn transistors the current is made up of electrons, while in pnp its made up of holes and electrons move faster than holes in semiconductors.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The bipolar transistor II.

The bipolar transistors have three terminals:

1 2 3

Emitter (E) Base (B) Collector (C)

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The symbol of the bipolar transistor I.

The currents and voltages of the two types are exactly the opposite.
Well discuss the npn transistors everything is the same in pnp transistors, only the directions are the opposite.

The arrow in the symbol:

is between the base and the emitter, shows the forward direction of the p-n junction.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The symbol of the bipolar transistor II.

The currents of the bipolar transistor comply to the KCL: IE = IC + IB The direction of the voltages is determined by the p-n junctions:
the emitter-base junction is assumed to be open, the collector-base junction is assumed to be closed.

This is the most widely used operating mode of the transistor.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The structure of the BJT I.

The BJT consists of two p-n junctions in a proximity of a few microns (or less).

The gure shows a discrete transistor there is only one transistor in a package. The structure is planar: its width is much bigger than its depth (just as diodes).

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The structure of the BJT II.

The collector is lightly doped and is n-type in npn transistors. The base is inside the collector, has an average doping and is p-type in npn transistors. The emitter is inside the base, it is highly doped and is n-type in npn transistors.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The structure of the BJT III.

In the leftmost gure the size of the chip is 0.5 0.5 0.3 mm. The collector terminal is the metal base that the chip is mounted onto. Golden wires connect the emitter and base to the leads of the package. The wires are connected to the the chip by thermocompression bonding. Small power transistors are packaged in plastic, power transistors are packaged in metal packages.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The structure of the BJT IV.

The device is asymmetrical due to the inhomogeneous doping densisties. The densities are determined by the technology. The doping of the two p-n junctions is dierent.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The operating modes of the BJT

There are four operating modes determined by the direction of the two junctions currents. The most important is the normal active mode.

The operating modes normal active inverse active saturation cut-o B-E junction open closed open closed B-C junction closed open open closed

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The normal active operation mode I.

n++ E iE
iEn iEp

n+ iC recombination

electrons holes
iB1 iB2

iE

C iC

B vBE iB vCB

The B-E junction is open, thus the majority charge carriers of the two sides are crossing the junction. The B-C junction is closed, there is a large eld in the space charge region, that forces minority charge carriers across the junction. The doping density of the emitter is much higher than that of the base thus electrons make up most of the B-E current.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The normal active operation mode II.

n++ E iE
iEn iEp

n+ iC recombination

electrons holes
iB1 iB2

iE

C iC

B vBE iB vCB

The electrons arriving in the base are forced away from the B-E junction by diusion. When they reach the proximity of the collector, they are drifted across the junction by the eld as they are minority carriers in the base. Although the B-C junction is closed, its current is large due to the large number of electrons that enter the base from the emitter, diuse towards the B-C junction and then drift over the reverse biased junction.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The normal active operation mode III.

n++ E iE
iEn iEp

n+ iC recombination

electrons holes
iB1 iB2

iE

C iC

B vBE iB vCB

The emitter emits charge carriers to the base, hence its name. The charge carriers in the base are collected by the collector. The narrower the base, the bigger the chances that electrons get through to the collector without recombining with holes. The collector current is almost equal to the emitter current: the dierence is the amount of electrons lost to recombination during their way across the base.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The normal active operation mode IV.

n++ E iE
iEn iEp

n+ iC recombination

electrons holes
iB1 iB2

iE

C iC

B vBE iB vCB

The relationship between the emitter current and the collector current: IC = AN IE where AN is common base, normal active, DC current gain of the transistor (AN = 0.98 0.995). This operating mode is used for amplication.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The common-emitter conguration I.

The collector current is proportional to the emitter current but the current gain is smaller than 1. The dierence between IE and IC is the small IB . By controlling IB , a large current gain can be obtained. In the common-emitter conguration the base current is the input and the collector current is the output.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The common-emitter conguration II.

According to the KCL: IC = AN IE = AN (IC + IB ) AN IB = BN IB 1 AN BN is the common emitter, normal active, DC current gain, and BN = 50 200. IC = BN is larger than 1, thus this conguration amplies current. The N in the index is usually omitted: IC = B IB . In some textbooks A is denoted with and B with .

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The other operating modes

Inverse active mode: the role of the emitter and collector are swapped.
Due to the inhomogeneous structure, the transistor eect is, although present, much smaller. This mode is very scarcely used (it was used in traditional TTL gates).

Saturation: both p-n junctions are open.

Large current ows through the device while the collector-emitter voltage is small. The transistor is in this mode when its operated as a switch that is turned on.

Cut-o region: both junctions are closed.

Only the saturation currents ow in the device. These can be neglected as they are in the range of nA. This is the operating mode of a switch that is turned o.

When the transistor is operated as a switch, it switches between saturation and the cut-o region.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

Characteristic curves of the BJT

The currents of the transistor are depicted as a function of the voltages. As the device has three terminals, at least two current-voltage pairs are needed to describe the operating point. The most widely used characteristic curves are the common-emitter curves: IB = f (VBE ) IC = g (VCE , IB )

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

Common-emitter characteristic curves I.

Input characteristic curve

Output characteristic curve

The input characteristic curve: depicts the relationship between the input quantities.
It resembles the diodes characteristic curve IB is an exponential function of VBE . This is due to the fact the there is a diode operating in the forward direction between the B and E terminals.

Output characteristic curves: depict the collector current as a function of the collector-emitter voltage and the base current (IB 4 > IB 3 > IB 2 > IB 1 ).

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

Common-emitter characteristic curves II.

The output characteristic curves:

They are a set of VCE IC curves for increasing IB values. The area where the curves are close to being horizontal is the normal active region. The steep part of the curves constitute the saturation region. In saturation the collector and emitter forward currents ow in opposite directions, thus their dierence appears as a macroscopic current.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

Voltage amplication using a transistor

The transistor is in a common-emitter conguration. The base voltage is sinusoidal with an oset. The collector is connected to the supply voltage through a resistor. The output is the collector.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The operating point of the circuit I.

The DC input voltage (VIN ) determines a base current (IB ) it can be found using the input characteristic curve. With the help of IB , the curve that holds the operating point can be chosen from the set of output characteristic curves. The exact OP is dened by the supply voltage and the resistor
as VCE also aects IC , though only slightly.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The operating point of the circuit II.

The linear elements surrounding the transistor determine the load line. The intersection of the load line and the characteristic curve is the operating point. According to the KCL the load line is: VCC = RC IC + VCE IC = VCC VCE RC

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The operating point of the circuit III.

The load line can be found in an easier way:

When IC = 0 the collectors potential has to be equal to the supply voltage (Ohms law for RC ). If VCE = 0, the entire supply voltage is dropped on RC , thus IC = VCC /RC By connecting these two points, we get the load line. This is due to the fact that the two points were determined according to the characteristic equation of the linear elements (RC ), thus they have to be on the load line.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The gain of the circuit I.

The base current has an ib amplitude around Ib0 (as the input is a sinusoid with an oset): IB (t) = IB 0 + ib sin(t) In the operating point the characteristic equation is substituted with its tangent: ib = IB IB IE vin = vin VBE IE VBE

using the chain rule.

As IE = IC + IB = (B + 1)IB and assuming that the B-E junction is ideal (IE = IE0 (exp (VBE /VT ) 1)): ib = IE 1 vin B + 1 VT

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

The gain of the circuit II.

A change in the base current results in a change in the collector current:
IC = IC 0 + ic sin(t)

The change approximated with a linear equation:

ic =
IC IB

ib = B ib

The output voltage:

VC (t) = VCC IC (t) RC

By substituting the equation of IC into the one describing the output voltage:
VC (t) = VCC IC 0 RC ic RC sin(t) = VCE 0 B ib RC sin(t) = B B IE IE VCE 0 RC vin sin(t) = VCE 0 RC vin sin(t) B + 1 VT B + 1 VT
AC gain 1
1 r e

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

Overview of the gain calculation

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

Simplied calculation

Small-signal analysis is performed at the operating point. The characteristic equation is substituted with its tangent a linear equation. A small-signal model of the circuit is created which consists of linear elements only. Such a circuit describes the AC behavior only. The value of the elements in the circuit is determined by the operating point currents and voltages. The small-signal model is easy to calculate. It neglects the non-linearity of the characteristic equation, thus the results are not exactly accurate.

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

Common-emitter, small-signal equivalent circuits

The collector current is proportional to the base current: this can be modelled with a current controlled current source:
=
IC IB

as

IC = B IB

The B-E diode can be substituted with its dierential resistance: re = VBE /IE = VT /IE , but in this case the input resistance is re ( + 1).
The input resistance can be calculated as follows: VBE IB = VBE IE IE IB = VT IE ( + 1) = ( + 1) re

chain rule

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

Calculation of the gain using the small-signal equivalent I.

The AC equivalent circuit:

the transistor is substituted with its small-signal equivalent, the DC supply voltage sources are substituted with short circuits (as the changes pass through them).

Introduction

The structure and operation of BJTs

Calculation of the gain using the small-signal equivalent II.

The calculation:
The base current as a function of the input current:
ib = vin ( + 1) re

The collector current: ic = ib The output voltage:

vout = ic Rc = ib RC = RC RC vin vin + 1 re re

The negative sign shows that changes at the output occur in the opposite direction as at the input.