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Transistors)
Unit- III: Diode Applications and Transistors
Circuit diagram
Volt-ampere or V-I
characteristic of a p-n junction
diode is the curve between
voltage across the junction and
the current. Usually, voltage is
taken along x-axis and current
along y-axis.
To plot the Voltage-
Ampere (V-I) characteristics
curve of p-n junction diode, the
circuit arrangement is made as
shown in figure. Volt meter (V)
is placed across and current
meter (mA) is placed in series
with p-n junction diode.
The characteristics can be
studied under three heads,
namely; zero external voltage,
V- I Characteristics Curve
forward bias and reverse bias.
(i) Zero external voltage: When the external voltage is zero, i.e. circuit is open at K,
the potential barrier at the junction does not permit current flow. Therefore, the
circuit current is zero as indicated by point O on the curve.
(ii) Forward bias: With forward bias to the p-n junction i.e. p-type connected to positive
terminal and n-type connected to negative terminal, the potential barrier is reduced. At
some forward voltage (0.7 V for Si and 0.3 V for Ge), the potential barrier is eliminated
and current starts flowing in the circuit. From the forward characteristic, it is clear that at
first (region OA), the current increases very slowly. However, once the external voltage
exceeds the potential barrier voltage, the p-n junction behaves like an ordinary
conductor. Therefore, the current rises very sharply with increase in external voltage
(region AB).
Important Terms
(i) Breakdown voltage: It is the minimum reverse voltage at which p-n junction breaks
down with sudden rise in reverse current.
(ii) Knee voltage: It is the forward voltage at which the current through the junction
starts to increase rapidly.
It is clear from the above graph that knee voltage for silicon diode is 0.7 V and 0.3 V for
germanium diode. If the forward voltage exceeds the knee voltage, the current starts
increasing rapidly.
2. Rectifiers:
Rectifier is circuit which converts a.c. signal into d.c. signal.
The supply voltage is sinusoidal and has a frequency of 50 HZ. It is used for
lighting, heating and electric motors. But there are many applications (e.g. electronic
circuits) where d.c. supply is needed.
The following two rectifier circuits can be used:
i. Half-wave rectifier ii. Full-wave rectifier
Advantages:
1. Simple circuit arrangement.
2. Low cost
Disadvantages:
1. The pulsating current in the load contains alternating component whose basic
frequency is equal to the supply frequency.
2. The a.c. supply delivers power only half the time.
2.2. Full-Wave Rectifier:
In full-wave rectification, current flows through the load in the same direction for
both half-cycles of input a.c. voltage. For the positive half cycle of input voltage, one
diode supplies current to the load and for the negative half-cycle, the other diode does
so; current being always in the same direction through the load. Therefore, a full-wave
rectifier utilises both half-cycles of input a.c. voltage to produce the d.c. output.
The following two circuits are commonly used for full-wave rectification:
i. Centre-tap full-wave rectifier ii. Full-wave bridge rectifier
Circuit arrangement: The circuit has two diodes D1 and D2 as shown in figure. A centre
tapped secondary winding AB is used with two diodes connected so that each uses one
half-cycle of input a.c. voltage. The load resistance RL is connected between the
common point of cathode of both diodes and centre tap of transformer.
Operation:
During the positive half-cycle, the point A becomes positive and point B becomes
negative. This makes the diode D1 forward biased and diode D2 reverse biased.
Therefore, diode D1 conducts while diode D2 does not. The conventional current flow is
through diode D1, load resistor RL and the upper half of secondary winding as shown by
the dotted arrows.
During the negative half-cycle, point A becomes negative and point B becomes
positive. Therefore, diode D2 conducts while diode D1 does not. The conventional
current flow is through diode D2, load RL and lower half winding as shown by solid
arrows. From the figure, it is clear that current in the load RL flows in the same direction
for both half-cycles of input a.c. voltage. Therefore, d.c. is obtained across the load RL.
Advantages:
1. Full wave rectification i.e. high efficiency
Disadvantages
1. It is difficult to locate the centre tap on the secondary winding.
2. The d.c. output is small as each diode utilises only one-half of the transformer
secondary voltage.
3. The diodes used must have high peak inverse voltage.
Disadvantages
i. It requires four diodes.
ii. As during each half-cycle of a.c., two diodes are conducting therefore, voltage
drop will be twice as compared to centre tap circuit.
4. Voltage Multiplier:
Diodes and Capacitors can be used to build a circuit that will provide a d.c
output which is multiple of the peak input a.c. voltage. Such a circuit is called a voltage
multiplier. When a voltage multiplier increases the peak input voltage by a factor n, the
peak input current is decreased by approximately the same factor. Thus the actual
power output from a voltage multiplier will never be greater than the input power. In fact,
there are losses in the circuit (e.g. in diodes, capacitors etc.) so that the output power
will actually be less than the input power.
Operation:
1. During the negative half-cycle of a.c.
input voltage, diode D1 is forward biased
and diode D2 is reverse biased.
Therefore, diode D1 can be represented
by a short and diode D2 as an open.
2. C1 will charge until voltage across it
becomes equal to peak value of source
voltage Vs (p).
3. During positive half-cycle, D1 is reverse biased and D2 is forward. Now C1 (charged
to source voltage (Vs (p)) act as series-aiding voltage sources. Thus C2 will be
charged to the sum of the series peak voltages i.e. 2 VS (p).
4. When VS returns to its original polarity (i.e. negative half-cycle), D2 is again turned
off (i.e. reverse biased). With D2 turned off, the only discharge path for C2 is through
the load resistance RL. The time required to discharge C2 (RL.C2) is too large, hence
C2 always appears like it is fully charged.
5. Clipping Circuits:
The circuit with which the waveform is shaped by removing (or clipping) a
portion of the applied wave is known as a clipping circuit.
The clippers are used to remove signal voltages above or below a specified level. The
important diode clippers are
i. Positive clipper
ii. Biased clipper
iii. Combination clipper.
A negative clipper is that which removes the negative half-cycles of the input
voltage. Figure shows the typical circuit of a negative clipper using a diode.
During the positive half-cycle of the input voltage, the diode is reverse biased
and acts as open circuit. Therefore, the voltage across load RL is same as that of input.
During the negative half-cycle of the input voltage, the diode is forward biased and
behaves as short circuit; hence the output across RL is zero.
It is a combination of biased
positive and negative clippers. With a
combination clipper, a portion of both
positive and negative half-cycles of
input voltage can be removed or
clipped as shown in figure.
When positive input voltage is greater than +
V1, diode D1 conducts heavily while diode D2 remains
reverse biased. Therefore, a voltage +V1 appear
across the load. This output stays at +V1, as long as
the input voltage exceeds +V1.
On the other hand, during the negative half-
cycle, the diode D2 will conduct heavily and the
output stays at V2 as long as the input voltage is
greater than V2. Between + V1 and V2 neither
diode is on. Therefore, in this condition, most of the
input voltage appears across the load.
6. Clamping Circuits:
A circuit that places either the positive or negative peak of a signal at a desired
d.c. level is known as a clamping circuit.
Figure shows the circuit of a positive clamper. The input signal is assumed to be
a square wave with time period T. The clamped output is obtained across R L. The
values of C and RL are so selected that time constant T = C.RL is very large. This
means that voltage across the capacitor will not discharge significantly during the
interval the diode is non-conducting.
Operation:
During the negative half-cycle of
the input signal, the diode is forward
biased i.e. acts as a short circuit. The
charging time constant (= C.Rf , where Rf
= forward resistance of the diode) is very
small so that the capacitor will charge to V
volts very quickly, therefore, Vout = 0 V.
When the input switches to +V state (i.e.
positive half-cycle), the diode is reverse biased and
behaves as an open circuit. Since the discharging
time constant (= C.RL) is much greater than the time
period of the input signal, the capacitor remains
almost fully charged to V volts during the off time of
the diode. By applying Kirchhoffs voltage law to the
input loop, we have,
V + V - Vout = 0
Vout = 2V
The resulting waveform is as shown in figure.
It is clear that, it is a positively clamped output. That
is to say the input signal has been pushed upward by
V volts so that negative peaks fall on the zero level.
7. Transistors:
When a third doped element is added to a crystal diode in such a way that two p-
n junctions are formed, the resulting device is known as a transistor.
7.1. Introduction
Transistors are far smaller than vacuum tubes, have no filament and hence need
no heating power and may be operated in any position.
A transistor consists of two p-n junctions formed by sandwiching either p-type or
n-type semiconductor between a pair of opposite types.
Symbols:
Emitter: The section that supplies charge carriers (electrons or holes) is called the
emitter. The emitter is always forward biased w.r.t. base so that it can supply a large
number of majority carriers.
Collector: The section that collects the charges carriers is called the collector. The
collector is always reverse biased. Its function is to remove charges from its junction
with the base.
Base: The middle section which forms two p-n junctions between the emitter and
collector is called the base. The base-emitter junction is forward biased, allowing low
resistance for the emitter circuit. The base-collector junction is reverse biased and
provides high resistance in the collector circuit.
8. Transistor Configurations:
There are three leads in a transistor viz., emitter, base and collector. However,
when a transistor is to be connected in a circuit, we require four terminals; two for the
input and two for the output. This difficulty is overcome by making one terminal of the
transistor common to both input and output terminals.
Accordingly; a transistor can be connected in a circuit in the following three ways:
i. Common Base Configuration
ii. Common Emitter Configuration
iii. Common Collector Configuration
Current amplification factor (): It is the ratio of output current to input current. In a
common base connection, the input current is the emitter current IE and output current
is the collector current IC.
The ratio of change in collector current (IC) to the change in emitter current (IE)
at constant collector base voltage VCB is known as current amplification factor i.e.
In almost any transistor, less than 5% of emitter current flows as the base current.
Therefore, the value of is generally greater than 20. Usually, its value ranges from 20
to 500.
Base current = IB
Collector current = .IB + ICEO
Emitter current = Collector current + Base current
= (.IB + ICEO) + IB
= (+ 1) IB + ICEO
Relation between and : A simple relation exists between and . This can be
derived as follows:
It is clear that as approaches unity, approaches infinity. In other words, the current
gain in common emitter (CE) connection is very high. Hence, this circuit arrangement
(CE) is used in about 90 to 95 percent of all transistor applications.
Example 1: Find the value of if (i) = 0.9 (ii) = 0.98 (iii) = 0.99.
Example 2: Calculate IE in a transistor for which = 50 and IB = 20 A.
8.3. Common Collector Connection:
In this circuit arrangement, input is
applied between base and collector while
output is taken between the emitter and
collector. Here, collector of the transistor is
common to both input and output circuits and
hence the name common collector (CC)
connection. Figure shows common collector
npn transistor.
9. Transistor as an amplifier:
Figure shows the common emitter (CE) npn amplifier circuit. Battery VBB is
connected in the input circuit in addition to the signal voltage. This d.c. voltage is known
as bias voltage and its magnitude is such that it always keeps the emitter-base junction
forward biased regardless of the polarity of the signal source.
Operation: During the positive half-cycle of the input signal, the forward bias across the
emitter-base junction is increased. Therefore, more electrons flow from the emitter to
the collector via the base. This causes an increase in collector current. The increased
collector current produces a greater voltage drop across the collector load resistance
RC. However, during the negative half-cycle of the input signal, the forward bias across
emitter-base junction is decreased. Therefore, collector current also decreases. This
results in the decreased output voltage. Hence, an amplified output is obtained across
the load.
9.1. Transistor Testing:
An ohmmeter can be used to check (test) the transistor. We know that base-
emitter junction of a transistor is forward biased while collector-base junction is reverse
biased. Therefore, forward biased base-emitter junction should have low resistance and
reverse biased collector-base junction should register a much higher resistance.
Figure shows the process of testing an npn transistor with an ohmmeter.
i. The forward biased base-emitter junction should show low resistance approx. 100
to 1 k.
ii. The reverse biased collector-base junction should higher resistance approx. 100 k
or higher.
As VCC and RC are fixed values, therefore, it is a first degree equation and can be
represented by a straight line on the output characteristics. This is known as d.c. load
line. To add load line, we need two end points of the straight line. These two points can
be located as under :
i. When the collector current IC = 0, then collector-emitter voltage is maximum and is
equal to VCC i.e. Max. VCE = VCC IC.RC
= VCC (as IC = 0)
This gives the first point B (OB = VCC) on the collector-emitter voltage axis as
shown in graph.
ii. When collector-emitter voltage VCE = 0, the collector current is maximum and is
equal to VCC /RC i.e. VCE = VCC - IC.RC
or 0 = VCC - IC RC
Max. IC = VCC / RC
Cut off: The point where the load line intersects the IB = 0 curve is known as cut off. At
this point, IB = 0 and only small collector current (i.e. collector leakage current I CEO)
exists. At cut off, the base-emitter junction no longer remains forward biased and
normal transistor action is lost. The collector-emitter voltage is nearly equal to VCC i.e.
VCE (cut off) = VCC
Saturation: The point where the load line intersects the I B = IB(sat) curve is called
saturation. At this point, the base current is maximum and so is the collector current. At
saturation, collector base junction no longer remains reverse biased and normal
transistor action is lost.
Active region: The region between cut off and saturation is known as active region. In
the active region, collector-base junction remains reverse biased while base-emitter
junction remains forward biased. Consequently, the transistor will function normally in
this region.
Operating Point: The zero signal values of IC and VCE
are known as the operating point.
It is called operating point because the
variations of and VCE take place about this point
when signal is applied. It is also called quiescent
point or Q-point because it is the point on IC VCE
characteristic when the transistor is silent i.e. in
the absence of the signal.
The point Q describes the actual state of affairs in the circuit in the zero signal
conditions and is called the operating point.
For IB = 5 A, the zero signal values are:
VCE = OC volts
IC = OD mA
It follows, therefore, that the zero signal values of I C and VCE (i.e. operating point) are
determined by the point where d.c. load line intersects the proper base current curve.
Advantages:
1. This biasing circuit is very simple as only one resistance RB is required.
2. Biasing conditions can easily be set and the calculations are simple.
3. There is no loading of the source by the biasing circuit since no resistor is employed
across base-emitter junction.
Disadvantages:
1. This method provides poor stabilisation. It is because there is no means to stop a
self increase in collector current due to temperature rise and individual variations.
2. The stability factor is very high. Therefore, there are strong chances of thermal
runaway.
Advantages:
1. It is a simple method as it requires only one resistance RB.
2. This circuit provides some stabilisation of the operating point as discussed below :
VCE = VBE + VCB
Disadvantages:
1. The circuit does not provide good stabilisation because stability factor is fairly high,
therefore, the operating point does change.
2. This circuit provides a negative feedback which reduces the gain of the amplifier.
During the positive half-cycle of the signal, the collector current increases. The
increased collector current would result in greater voltage drop across RC. This will
reduce the base current and hence collector current.