Basic Electronics

Course content
Diode Theory 1. Semiconductor basics 3. Forward and Reverse Biased PN Junction 4. Diode applications 2. The PN Junction Diode Characteristics

Transistor Theory
1. Bipolar NPN Transistor Construction 2. NPN Transistor Principle 3. Transistor Configurations Digital Basics 1. Binary numbers 2. Basic Logic Gates 3. Basic Digital Circuits 4. DC Operating Conditions 5. Transistors Applications 6. Other types of transistors

Diode Theory
Semiconductor Basics
Semi-conductors materials such as Silicon and Germanium, have electrical properties somewhere in the middle, between those of a "Conductor" and an "Insulator". They are not good conductors nor good insulators (hence their name semi-conductors). They have very few "free electrons" . Silicon and Germanium atom ability to conduct electricity can be greatly improved by adding certain "Impurities" to this crystalline structure thereby, producing more free electrons than holes or vice versa.

Silicon Atom & Crystal Lattice

N-Type Semiconductor
In order for our silicon crystal to conduct electricity, we need to introduce an impurity atom such as Arsenic, Antimony or Phosphorus into the crystalline structure. These atoms have five outer electrons in their outermost shell or orbit. This crystalline structure is called N-Type Semiconductor.

P-Type Semiconductor
To have a P-type semiconductor , we need to introduce an impurity atom such as Boron, Aluminium ,or Indium into the crystalline structure. These atoms have Three outer electrons in their outermost shell or orbit. This crystalline structure is called P-Type Semiconductor

PN Junction Diode Characteristics

By manufacturing a component which will have N-Type semiconductor structure in one side and P-Type semiconductor in other side a PN Junction Diode is P-Type semiconductor N-Type semiconductor formed.

P-N Junction

Diode I, V curve
Applying a forward bias voltage i.e. the p-type connection to battery (+), this region can be made to contract, thereby taking on a forward resistance of only a few ohms. This enables a high current to flow. Apply the battery in the opposite direction as a reverse bias and the junction expands forming an extremely high resistance.

Forward Biased PN Junction

When connecting the battery +V to the p-type material the junction is said to be Forward biased. Negative electrons will cross to the p-region attracted by the battery (+) potential and positive holes will move into the n-region, similarly attracted by the negative battery potential. It takes a potential of about 0.6V to overcome the junction barrier of a silicon diode, (germanium types require less at approximately 0.25V), than large current flow in the junction due to small value of junction Resistance.

Reverse Biased PN Junction

When connecting the battery +V the opposite direction, i.e connecting +V to N-type material, the junction will be called Reversed biased. In reverse bias the PN Junction will expand, making the junction have high resistance. A reverse biased junction can develop a resistance of many millions of Ohms. If Voltage increases up to 50V a dramatic increase in current will occur , due to the much lower diode resistance.

Diode Symbols & Real component

Simple Diode Circuit in Forward Bias

Simple Diode Circuit in Reverse Bias

Diode Multimeter Check

Connected this way across the diode, the meter should show a very low resistance

Connected the other way across the diode, it should show a very high resistance.

Diode function Multimeter Check

special diode check function which displays the actual forward voltage drop of the diode in volts.

Diode Applications
Diode as a Rectifier
Rectification is the conversion of alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). The simplest kind of rectifier circuit is the half-wave rectifier. It only allows one half of an AC waveform to pass through to the load.

Diode Applications.. continues

LED (Light Emitting Diode)

The Light Emitting Diode LED, is a PN junction diode that will emit light when forward biased, that is when current flows from its anode to the cathode.
The forward voltage drop can be between 1.6V and 2V depending upon the device type.

Here is an LED Example

Diode Applications.. continues

Seven Segment Light Emitting Diode
Light emitting diodes can be connected together as an array . Seven segment' device frequently found as part of a numerical display. These devices produce a bright visual indicator with a number count from 0 to 9 and usually include a decimal point.

Transistor Theory
Bipolar NPN Transistor Construction
There are two bipolar transistor types, NPN and PNP. The operating conditions are considered for the more popular NPN type, which consists of two PN junctions fused together to form one continuous piece of semiconductor material, with the connections as shown. NPN Transistor construction can be represented as two back-to-back diodes.

Bipolar NPN Transistor symbol & Real component

Transistor Theory continues

NPN Transistor Principle IE = IC + IB IC = IE - IB
IC
Transistor Theory

IB = IE - IC Typical IB = 2% IE Hence IC = 98% IE

IB

IE

Current Gain,,

hFE = IC/IB hFE = 50

In this example, ,

hFE value will be found in transistor data books, and will vary between different transistor types and is determined during manufacture.

Transistor Configurations
Three main connection configurations for a transistor. Each has a particular purpose.

First One The 'common emitter' will have a medium input and output impedance measured in Kilo Ohms.

Second
The 'common base' configuration has a gain of less than 1. The input impedance is low and output high making it ideal as a matching circuit.

Third
The 'common collector' or 'emitter follower' has a high input impedance and low output.

Transistor Applications
Transistor as a Switch :
When used as a current switch the transistor will be forced to operate in either of two states. Fully ON and conducting the maximum collecter current or OFF where ideally no current flows at all.

Simple Signal Amplifier :

The common emitter transistor will amplify the small input AC voltage, thereby causing collector current to flow in R2. The output voltage change (input volts Av) is as a result of the alternating collector current in R2. The output signal voltage is at 180 phase inversion to that at the input.

Other types of Transistors

Field Effect Transistor, FET :
Bipolar Junction Transistors, BJT are CURRENT operated device,
on other hand The Field Effect Transistor, or simply FET however, use the voltage that is applied to their input terminal to control the output current, since their operation relies on the electric field (hence the name field effect) generated by the input voltage. This then makes the Field Effect Transistor a VOLTAGE operated device.

Bipolar Transistor Emitter - (E) Base - (B) Collector - (C)

Field Effect Transistor Source - (S) Gate - (G) Drain - (D)

FETs symbols :

MOSFETs symbols :
MOSFET stand for Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor.

Digital Basics
Binary numbers :
What is Decimal, Binary, Hexadecimal, Octal numbers ?

Decimal :
We count numbers in what is called the decimal number system. Decimal has 10 digits which are 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. Decimal is also called base 10 because it has 10 digits. The reason why people started counting in decimal is because it has 10 digits and we have 10 fingers and people used to use their fingers for counting.
Example of Decimal Numbers : 1. 2310 2. 5410

Binary :
Binary numbering system uses only 2 digits which are 0 and 1 and is also called base 2. Binary is what computers use for counting because inside a computer you get things that are like little switches that can be either off or on(0 or 1).

Example of Binary Numbers : 1. 10012 2. 10110012

Hexadecimal :
The word hexadecimal is made up of 2 parts which are hex(6) and decimal(10). If you add 6 and 10 together you get 16 and that is how many digits there are in hexadecimal. Hexadecimal is sometimes called hex or base 16. To get 16 digits we have to use letters of the alphabet and those 16 digits are 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F. Hexadecimal is often used instead of binary

Example of Hexadecimal Numbers : 1. 3FF16 2. AB316

Octal : Octal uses 8 digits which are 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and is also called base 8. We use a subscripted 8 to show that a number is octal.
Example of Octal Numbers :

1. 2758

2. 1238

Binary numbers analysis :

Most Significant Bit Least Significant Bit

MSB

LSB
6

28 27 2
256 128 64

2 5 2 4 2 2
32 16 8 4

2
2

2
1

8th Digit 7th Digit 6th Digit 5th Digit

rd Digit 3rd Digit 2nd Digit 1st Digit 3 4thDigit

Decimal to Binary conversion :

Example-1 Convert the decimal number 3410 to Binary? Solution: Considering the table for Binary number analysis , the Binary number will be equal to 1000102. Example-2 Convert the decimal number 24510 to Binary? Solution: Considering the table for Binary number analysis , the Binary number will be equal to 111101012.

Example-3 Convert the decimal number 510 to Binary? Solution: Considering the table for Binary number analysis , the Binary number will be equal to 1012.

Example-4
Convert the decimal number 134610 to Binary? Solution: Considering the table for Binary number analysis , the Binary number will be equal to 101010000102.

Binary to Decimal conversion :

Example-1 Convert the Binary number 11112 to Decimal? Solution: Considering the table for Binary number analysis , the Decimal number will be equal to 1510. Example-2 Convert the Binary number 11001012 to Decimal? Solution: Considering the table for Binary number analysis , the Decimal number will be equal to 10110.

Example-3

Convert the Binary number 10012 to Decimal? Solution: Considering the table for Binary number analysis , the Decimal number will be equal to 910.
Example-4 Convert the Binary number 111112 to Decimal? Solution: Considering the table for Binary number analysis , the Decimal number will be equal to 3110.

Hexadecimal to Binary conversion :

Example-1 Convert the Hexadecimal number 1F116 to Binary? Solution: Note that, each Hexadecimal digit can be considered to have four sub-digits. Hence the above Hexadecimal digit can be arranged as below Hexadecimal 1 F 1

0001 1111 0001

Hence the Binary number equal to 1111100012.

Example-2 Convert the Hexadecimal number FFFA16 to Binary? Solution: Note that, each Hexadecimal digit can be considered to have four sub-digits. Hence the above Hexadecimal digit can be arranged as below

F F F 1111 1111 1111

A 1010

Hence the Binary number equal to 11111111111110102.

Binary to Hexadecimal conversion :

Example-1 Convert the Binary number 1010102 to Hexadecimal? Solution: Binary 0010 1010 Hexadecimal 2 A Hence the Hexadecimal digit is equal 2A16.

Example-2 Convert the Binary number 111110102 to Hexadecimal? Solution:

1111 1010 F A

Hence the Hexadecimal digit is equal FA16.

Hexadecimal to Decimal conversion :

In this type of conversion , you first convert your hexadecimal number to Binary, then convert binary to Decimal.

For Octal conversion to Binary or Hexadecimal :

Each octal digit can be converted to three sub-digits, similar to the hexadecimal system conversion.

Basic Logic Gates

Logic gates :
Digital systems are said to be constructed by using logic gates. These gates are the AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, EXOR and EXNOR gates. The basic operations are described below with the aid of Truth Tables

AND gate
The AND gate is an electronic circuit that gives a high output (1) only if all its inputs are high. A dot (.) is used to show the AND operation i.e. A.B. Bear in mind that this dot is sometimes omitted i.e. AB

OR gate
The OR gate is an electronic circuit that gives a high output (1) if one or more of its inputs are high. A plus (+) is used to show the OR operation.

NOT gate
The NOT gate is an electronic circuit that produces an inverted version of the input at its output. It is also known as an inverter. If the input variable is A, the inverted output is known as NOT A. This is also shown as A', or A with a bar over the top, as shown at the outputs. The diagrams below show two ways that the NAND logic gate can be configured to produce a NOT gate. It can also be done using NOR logic gates in the same way.

NAND gate
This is a NOT-AND gate which is equal to an AND gate followed by a NOT gate. The outputs of all NAND gates are high if any of the inputs are low. The symbol is an AND gate with a small circle on the output. The small circle represents inversion.

NOR gate
This is a NOT-OR gate which is equal to an OR gate followed by a NOT gate. The outputs of all NOR gates are low if any of the inputs are high. The symbol is an OR gate with a small circle on the output. The small circle represents inversion

EXOR gate
The 'Exclusive-OR' gate is a circuit which will give a high output if either, but not both, of its two inputs are high. An encircled plus sign + is used to show the EXOR operation

EXNOR gate
The 'Exclusive-NOR' gate circuit does the opposite to the EOR gate. It will give a low output if either, but not both, of its two inputs are high. The symbol is an EXOR gate with a small circle on the output. The small circle represents inversion.

The NAND and NOR gates are called universal functions since with either one the AND and OR functions and NOT can be generated. A function in sum of products form can be implemented using NAND gates by replacing all AND and OR gates by NAND gates. A function in product of sums form can be implemented using NOR gates by replacing

Gates symbol summary

Basic Digital Circuits

There are basically two kinds of digital circuits, created from connected gates: 1. Combinational circuits : Which are formed by using the output of one gate as the input of another gate. 2. Sequential Logic circuits: The outputs of the circuit "fed back" as inputs to the circuit.

Digital Circuit design (at least for simple circuits) is accomplished by developing a truth table that describe the input and output of the circuit, then deriving the simplest Boolean statements that satisfy the table and, finally, drawing the digital circuit that represents the Boolean statements.

Digital Circuits as MEMORY:

The basic gates can be used to construct digital circuits that store digital data, 0 or 1, they can be retained until inputs reset them. The latch is the simplest circuit that can store and retain one of two values; when applied to digital circuits, this means that a simple latch can store One bit. (In fact there are complex latches that can store more than one bit.) . A latch has a data input, a clock input and an output. When the clock input is active, data on the input is "latched" or stored and transfered to the output either immediately or when the clock input goes inactive. The output will then retain its value until the clock goes active again. However, the latch has some shortcomings and non intuitive characteristics, so it is not the basic element for computer storage.

The flip-flop is the fundamental circuit used to construct storage units. A digital logic circuit that can be in one of two states which it switches (or "toggles") between under control of its inputs. It can thus be considered as a one bit memory. Three types of flip-flop are common: the SR flip-flop, the JK flip-flop and the D-type flip-flop (or latch).

S-R Latch :
It is also called the "RS latch", using it to illustrate how gate circuits can "store" digital data. The S-R latch, one of the simplest sequential circuits, is made up of paired NAND gates.
The outputs ,Q and Q' in are complements of one another. Both are available as outputs to other circuits, but, when used for storage, Q gives the value of the bit represented by the latch. Shortcomings of the S-R latch to become a storage unit

Clocked RS NAND Latch

By adding a pair of NAND gates to the input circuits of the RS latch , a clocked RS latch is built

The clocked RS latch solves some of the problems of basic RS latch circuit, and allows closer control of the latching action. However, it is by no means a complete solution.
The clocked RS latch solves some of the problems of basic RS latch circuit, and allows closer control of the latching action. However, it is by no means a complete solution.

The Edge-Triggered RS Flip-Flop

To adjust the clocked RS latch for edge triggering, we must actually combine two identical clocked latch circuits, but have them operate on opposite halves of the clock signal. The resulting circuit is commonly called a flip-flop, because its output can first flip one way and then flop back the other way. The clocked RS latch is also sometimes called a flip-flop, although it is more properly referred to as a latch circuit.