BMT 1023:

ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONICS

TECHNOLOGY
Lecturer
E-mail

: Raja Siti Nur Adiimah

: rsnara95@yahoo.com

CHAPTER 8: BIPOLAR
JUNCTION TRANSISTORS (BJT)
Chapter Outline:
3.1
3.2
3.3

Basic Transistor Operation

Transistor Characteristic and Parameters
Basic Application

 Describe the operation of BJT

Discuss transistor parameters and
characteristics and use these to analyze a
transistor circuit

INTRODUCTION
Two basic types of transistors :
Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)
Field Effect Transistor (FET)

Bi polar two polarities

refers to the use of both holes and electrons as carriers
in the transistor structure

BJT is used in two broad areas:

As a linear amplifier to boost or amplify an electrical
signal
As an electronic switch

BJT Structure
BJT is constructed with
three doped
semiconductor regions.
The middle region is called
the base of the transistor.
Of the remaining two
regions , one is called the
collector and the other is
called the emitter of the
transistor.

Figure 4.1 (a) Basic

Structure of BJT

Types of BJTs
Two types of BJT:
i. NPN
- two n regions
separated
by a p
Figure 41 Basic BJT
construction.
Figure
41 Basic BJT construction.
region
Base-Emitter Junction
-the pn junction joining the Base
ii. PNP
region and the Emitter region
- two p regions Base-Collector Junction
separated by an
- the pn junction joining the Base
region and the Collector region
n region

Thomas L. Floyd
Electronic Devices, Electron Flow Version, 5e

Copyright 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River,

New Jersey 07458
All rights reserved.

SCHEMATIC SYMBOLS

Figure 4.2: Standard BJT Symbols

BASIC OPERATION

Basic Transistor Operation

In order for the transistor to operate properly as an
amplifier, the two pn junctions must be correctly biased
with external dc voltages.

npn transistor will be used for illustration

The operation of the pnp is the same as for the
npn except that

- the roles of the electrons and holes

- the bias voltage polarities
- the current directions
are all reversed

Forward-active operating mode

Transistor Currents
Notice that the arrow on the emitter of the transistor symbols
points in the direction of conventional current.
It shows that the emitter current (IE) is the sum of the collector
current (IC) and the base current (IB):

IE = IC + IB

* IB is very small
compared to IE and
IC .

TRANSISTOR CHARACTERISTICS
&
PARAMETERS

For Fig. 4.6 (a) & (b), VBB forward-biases the base-emitter junction, and
VCC reverse-biases the base-collector junction.

Figure 4.6: Transistor dc bias

circuits

DC Beta (DC) and DC Alpha (DC)

Current & Voltage Analysis

Consider:

When the base-emitter junction is

forward-biases, it is like a forward-biased
diode and has a nominal forward voltage
drop of
VBE 0.7 V
Since the emitter is at ground (0V), by
Kirchoffs Voltage Law (KVL), the voltage
across RB is

Figure 4.7: Basic Transistor

Bias Circuit

VRB = VBB VBE

Also, by Ohms Law,
VRB = IBRB
Substituting for VRB yields
IBRB = VBB VBE
Solving for IB ,

Current & Voltage Analysis (cont..)

Consider:
Cont..
The voltage at the collector with
respect to the grounded emitter is
VCE = VCC VRC
Since the drop across RC is
VRC = ICRC
Figure 4.7: Basic Transistor
Bias Circuit

The voltage at the collector can be

written as
VCE = VCC ICRC

The voltage across the reverse-biased

collector-based junction is

EXAMPLE:

BASIC APPLICATION

TRANSISTOR AS AN AMPLIFIER

Before introducing the concept of transistor amplification, the designations

that we will use for the circuit quantities of current, voltage, and resistance
must be explained because amplifier circuits have both dc and ac quantities.
AC current and voltage values are always rms unless stated otherwise.
Distinction between dc and ac quantities is in the subscript.
DC Quantities

AC Quantities

IB , IC , IE

Ib , Ic , Ie

VBE , VCB , VCE

Vbe , Vcb , Vce

VB , V C , VE

Vb , V c , V e

Internal transistor resistance: r

TRANSISTOR AS AN AMPLIFIER (cont..)

Amplification of a relatively small

ac voltage can be had by placing
the ac signal source in the base
circuit.

Recall that small changes in the

base current circuit causes large
changes in collector current
circuit.

The small ac voltage causes the

base current to increase and
decrease accordingly and with this
small change in current the
collector current will mimic the
input only with greater amplitude.

TRANSISTOR AS A SWITCH

A transistor when used as a switch being biased so that it is in cutoff (switched

off) or saturation (switched on). Remember that the VCE in cutoff is VCC and 0V
in saturation.

SUMMARY

SUMMARY

The bipolar transistor (BJT) is constructed of three regions: base, collector,

and emitter.

The BJT has two pn junctions, the base-emitter junction and the basecollector junction.

The two types of transistors are pnp and npn.

For the BJT to operate as an amplifier, the base-emitter junction is forward

biased and the collector-base junction is reverse biased.

Of the three currents, IB is very small in comparison to IE and IC.

Beta is the current gain of a transistor. It is the ratio of IC / IB.

A transistor can be operated as an electronics switch.

When the transistor is off, it is in cutoff condition (no current)

When the transistor is on, it is in saturation condition (maximum current).

Beta can vary with temperature and also varies from transistor to transistor.