Chapter 3: Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)

FUNDAMENTALS OF ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING (BENE 1123)

PART 2

Universiti Teknikal Malaysia, Melaka (UTeM)

BJT CONFIGURATION
There are three types of BJT configuration: 1. Common-Base (CB) Configuration

2. Common-Emitter (CE) Configuration

3. Common-Collector (CC) Configuration

COMMON-BASE CONFIGURATION
Common-Base terminology: The Base (B) is common to the Emitter and Collector of the configuration. Meaning that, the base is the terminal connected to the ground or reference to 0 Volt.

Applying KCL, IE = IC + IB where,

IC = ICmajority + ICminority

for NPN and PNP

Note: The arrow in the graphic symbol defines the direction of emitter current through the device.

Pointing IN PNP

Not Pointing IN NPN

COMMON-BASE CONFIGURATION
Generally (for any type of configuration), in order to understand the behavior of transistor, we requires 2 set of transistor characteristic: 1. Input Characteristic 2. Output Characteristic

COMMON-BASE CONFIGURATION
1. Input Characteristic The input parameter of CB configuration is related with an input* current (IE) to an input* voltage (VBE) for various levels of output* *the input and output are not related voltage (VCB)
Note: Based on this graph, we can assume the transistor will be in on state at

with the direction of current flow. It is related with input and output signal for amplification
IN OUT IN OUT

VBE = 0.7 V
!! This I-V curve is similar with PN Junction diode

COMMON-BASE CONFIGURATION

2. Output Characteristic The output parameter of CB configuration is related with an output* current (IC) to an output* voltage (VCB) for various levels of input* current (IE) *the input and output are not
related with the current flow. It is related with input and output signal for amplification
IN OUT IN OUT

Note: In the active region, approximately,

IC IE

COMMON-BASE CONFIGURATION
The output or collector of characteristics has three regions of interest: 1. active, 2. cut off and 3. saturation regions. 1. Linear-region (active-region) operation: Base-emitter junction is forward biased Base-collector junction is reverse biased 2. Cutoff-region operation: Base-emitter junction is reverse biased Base-collector junction is reverse biased 3. Saturation-region operation: Base-emitter junction forward biased Base-collector junction forward biased

Question: 1. Using the output characteristics of CB configuration, determine IC at IE = 3 mA and VCB = 10 V. 2. Using the input and output characteristic of CB configuration, determine VBE if IC = 4 mA and VCB = 20 V.
Answer: 1. IE Ic = 3 mA 2. VBE is about 0.74 V

COMMON-BASE CONFIGURATION
Alpha ()

Previously, (based on the output collector of transistor characteristic) we assume IC IE . Actually, in the IC and IE level (due to majority carrier) are related with quantity called alpha () Since alpha is defined based on majority carrier, equation I C I Cmajority I Cminority becomes I C I E I CBO where, ICBO is a Collector-Base current in condition of Emitter is open (IE = 0 mA). Usually, ICBO is so small (uA) and can be ignored. For DC mode, I DC C IE For AC mode, AC I C V I E For practical devices, = 0.90 to 0.998 For most situation, The magnitude of DC and AC are quite close.
CB constant

COMMON-EMITTER CONFIGURATION

1.

The Emitter (E) is common or reference to the Base and Collector terminal, where it is connected to ground (or reference to 0 Volt). Same with CB configuration, we requires 2 set of transistor characteristic. The current relationship in CB configuration is still applicable for CE configuration where IE = IC + IB

IN

OUT

IN

OUT

2.

IC = IE

The output characteristics are a plot of the output current (IC) versus output voltage (VCE) for a range of value of input current (IB). The input characteristics are a plot of the input current (IB) versus input voltage (VBE) for a range of value of output voltage (VCE).
Output Characteristics

Input Characteristics

Question: 1. Using the characteristics of input an output of CE configuration, determine IC at IB = 30 uA and VCE = 10 V. 2. Using the same characteristic in previous question, determine IC at VBE = 0.7 V and VCE = 15 V.
Answer: 1. Ic = 3.4 mA 2. Ic = 2.5 mA

COMMON-EMITTER CONFIGURATION

Beta ()

Based on the output characteristics of CE, there is a relationship between IC and IB by a quantity called beta (). For DC mode,

DC

IC IB

For practical devices, = 50 to over 400 For AC mode,

AC

I C I B

VCE constant

COMMON-EMITTER CONFIGURATION
Relationship between Alpha () and Beta (): Using = IC/IB and = IC/IE, we can derive equation I E I C I B becomes and

Beta is very important parameter because without looking on the graph of transistors characteristic it provides a direct link between input and output current of the transistor. Therefore,

and

I C I B

I E ( 1) I B

These equations are very important during the analysis of transistor biasing.

COMMON-COLLECTOR CONFIGURATION The Collector (C) is common or reference to the Base and Emitter terminal, where it is connected to ground (or reference to 0 Volt). For all practical purposes, the output characteristics of the CC configuration are the same as for CE configuration.

OUT
IN

COMMON-COLLECTOR CONFIGURATION
The output characteristic is a plot of output current IE versus output voltage VCE for a range of values of input current IB. The input characteristic is the same for both the CE and CC characteristics. The horizontal voltage axis for the CC configuration is obtained by simply changing the sign of the VBE to the VCB.
Change to IE

Output Characteristics Input Characteristics

Change to VCB

LIMITS OF OPERATION

There is a region of operation limit on the characteristics, which will ensure the maximum ratings are not being exceeded and the output signal exhibits minimum distortion.