CHAPTER 15: BIASING OF TRANSISTORS

IN Transistor technology, the word biasing simply means applying the correct amount of operating voltage to the transistors electrodes or elements for its normal operation. so that it will be easy to perform repair work in the future, memorize these biasing rules. 1. The emitter-to-base junction shoud be forward bias 2. The collector-to-base junction should be reverse bias In laymans language, these rules simply mean that 1. The emitter should be forwarded bias 2. The base should be forward bias 3. The collector should be reverse bias

Figure 1. PNP transistor with its bias voltage

Figure 2 NPN transistor with its bias voltage

Why is Forward Bias applied to the base and emitter while reverse bias to the collector? A forward bias is applied at the base and emitter to produce a low resistance at the junction between base and emitter. This way more current carriers are injected from the emitter to the base , which in turn produces more collector current and bigger output for the transistor . on the other hand, the collector to base junction is reverse bias so that a high resistance is produced in the collector circuit. A high resistance at the collector circuit produces a higher voltage drop at that that point. A higher voltage drop at the collector circuit means a bigger output voltage for the transistor

Behavior of charges in transistor Let us visualize the behavior of charges inside the transistor when bias voltage is applied In fig. 3 the forward bias from the positive post of battery repels the positive current carriers, holes at the emitter toward the junction . at the base, forward bias from the negative post of the battery repels the electron towards its junction with the emitter.

Figure 3.Behavior of charges in PNP transistor

at the collector, reverse bias from the negative post of the battery attracts and pulls the holes away from the junction

Current carriers transfer in transistor. In figure 3, as the holes from the emitter are pushed by its forward bias toward the base, recombination with electrons takes place at the emitter-base junction. The recombination of charges produces a small amount of base current . However, considering that the base is very thin and lightly doped , only a small number of holes undergoes a recombination at the emitter base junction Most of the holes diffuse towards the side of the base collector collector junction . And drifts towards the collector because the reverse bias voltage at the collector is relatively high , almost 95% of holes from the emitter drift to the collector . They are pulled by the negative potential of the battery cells. It has been proven that the total current carriers from the emitter, only 5% goes to the base circuit 95% goes to the collector circuit in fig 4, is an NPN transistor circuit. Forward bias at the emitter repels the electrons toward the base-emitter junction . At the collector , the positive potential of the battery. ( reverse bias for the collector) pulls the electron away from the junction towards the collector

Figure 4. Block form of NPN transistor with its bias voltage

Types of biasing transistor There are various ways or methods of obtaining bias voltage for the normal operation of the transistors. However only those types of biasing you will likely meet in your work in basic servicing would be discussed here. 1. FIXED BIAS The term fixed bias is used when bias voltage is constantly supplied by the source, such as battery cells, uninterrupted by the signal variations at the collector. Bias volltage generally refers to the forward bias at the base emitter circuit. See figure 5.

Figure 5. Fixed bias applied to the PNP transistor

In this circuit, constant or fixed bias voltage is supplied by the battery cells. Current that flows from the battery to the base through R1 is called base bias current. R1 is called base bias resistor.

2. Self-Biased method usually the term self bias is used when forward bias voltage for the base-emitter junction is obtained from the voltage drops across the base voltage divider resistors and the emitter stabilizing resistors In the circuit below, Figure 6, supply voltage from the battery cells is 6 volts the negative post of the battery cells is connected to the collector. Direction of current flow is from the negative post of the battery trough R3 and R2 to the base bias voltage divider resistor Figure 6. PNP transistor circuit with self bias

As current flow trough R3 and R2 .it produces voltage drops across them with the shown polarities. Voltage drops across R3 is 3 volts. This is positive with respect to the base . Voltage drops across R2 is 4.6 volts . This is negative with respect to the base. Subtracting positive 3 volts from the negative 4.6 volts, leaves a net of negative 1.6 volts applied to the base

How large the forward bias of the base is At the emitter circuit, current flows from the negative post of the battery, passes trough R1, (load resistor), enters the transistor and goes out at the emitter, flows trough the emitter stabilizing resistor, and back to the positive post of the battery. Voltage drop across R1. the stabilizing resistor is 1.3 volts . This is negative with respect to the emitter . So voltage applied to the base and emitter is at the base is negative 1.6 volts; and at the emitter 1.3 volts. So the emitter voltage is less negative than the base voltage. Stating it the other way, the emitter voltage is positive with respect to base voltage . Therefore, emitter to base junction is forward bias because the base is 0.3 volts more negative than the emitter

Figure 7. Location of emitter base and collector of power transistor