FET II: JFET Current Source

Post-laboratory Report

Dean Karlo D. Bardeloza

Antonio Angelo O. Rabe

Electronics, Computer, and Communications Engineering

Ateneo de Manila University
Philippines
dk_bardeloza@yahoo.com.ph

Electronics, Computer, and Communications Engineering

Ateneo de Manila University
Philippines
antonioangelorabe@yahoo.com

AbstractThe objective of the experiment was to examine the

characteristics of a JFET current source. The JFET can act as a
current source in a common-drain circuit. In the experiment, two
circuits were constructed, one with a resistor connected to the
source terminal, and another with the source terminal directly
connected to the ground. Results show that connecting a resistor to
the source terminal of the JFET will result to the current flow
being able to remain constant for larger ranges of drain resistance,
which results to better performance as a current source.

In this circuit, the current will depend on the load connected

to the drain of the JFET. Different values of resistance will
alter the voltage drop across the drain and the source. This
results to varying the amount of current flow through the JFET
and is the primary mechanism for acting as a current source. A
resistor can be connected to the JFETs source terminal to
make the current flow more stable [1].

Index TermsFET, JFET, source follower, drain resistance,

drain current

III. METHODOLOGY

I. INTRODUCTION
The field effect transistor (FET) is conductive even without
bias voltage which makes it suitable for a constant current
source. A JFET current source, from its name, provides current
which can be varied by varying the resistance in the drain.
The experiment aimed to study the properties of this JFET
current source, and how the current behaved for varying
resistances.

A. Materials
The materials and equipment used the experiment are a
potentiometer, a resistor of resistance 1k, a 2N5458 JFET, a
15-V source, digital multimeter (DMM), breadboard, and
wires and probes.
B. Procedure
A circuit as shown in Fig. 2 is constructed.

II. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

A junction field effect transistor or JFET, like a bipolar
transistor has many configurations that can be used to perform
specific functions. In this case, the JFET acts as a current
source by configuring it as a source follower or common drain
JFET. This configuration is done by connecting the source and
the gate of the JFET, with a voltage bias connected to the
drain. An example of a source follower JFET is shown in Fig.
1 as follows [1]:

Fig. 2. JFET Source Follower 1 [2].

Fig. 1. Schematic Diagram of a JFET current source (source follower) [1].

Using different values for the resistance R L, the drain

current ID, and drain-to-source voltage VDS will be measured
using the DMM and recorded in Table I.

A second circuit will then be constructed as shown in

Fig. 3.

1.077 k at about 3.72-3.77 mA. As the potentiometer

resistance increases, the drain current decreases. For the drainto-source voltage VDS, at the same range of potentiometer
resistance the values are close to each other and is measured at
about 14.18-14.85 V. Similarly, from the point forward as R L
increases, VDS decreases.
For the second circuit (shown in Fig. 3), the drain current
and the drain-to-source voltage is also measured with the
corresponding potentiometer resistance. The results are shown
in Table II as follows:
TABLE II
MEASURED VARIABLES IN THE SECOND CIRCUIT

Fig. 3. JFET Source Follower 2 [2].

The resistance RL will be varied from 0 to 50 k,

and the drain current ID and drain-to-source voltage will be
measured using the DMM. The measurements are then
recorded in Table II.
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The drain current ID and the drain-to-source voltage VDS is
observed and recorded in the circuits represented by Fig. 2 and
Fig. 3. For the first circuit, the values for I D and VDS are
measured along with the corresponding resistance of the
potentiometer RL. The results of the first circuit are shown in
Table I as follows:

RL (nominal)
0
100
500
1 k
3 k
5 k
10 k
20 k
30 k
50 k

RL (actual)
10.4
83.5
417
1.077 k
2.99 k
5.14 k
9.99 k
19.98 k
30 k
50.2

ID
0.86 mA
0.88 mA
0.87 mA
0.875 mA
0.87 mA
0.87 mA
0.86 mA
0.66 mA
0.45 mA
0.26 mA

VDS
13.94 V
13.81 V
13.17 V
10.8 V
11.25 V
9.31 V
5.09 V
386.4 mV
190.8 mV
95.6 mV

By observation, the drain current remained relatively

constant in the potentiometer resistance values ranging from
10.4 to 9.99 k, with values ranging from 0.86-0.88 mA.
From that point on, the drain current steadily decreases as the
potentiometer resistance increases. As for the drain-to-source
voltage, the values are closest to each other at very low
potentiometer resistance values. Similarly, as the potentiometer
resistance increases, the drain-to-source voltage decreases.
V. CONCLUSION

TABLE I
MEASURED VARIABLES IN THE FIRST CIRCUIT

RL (nominal)
0
100
500
1 k
3 k
5 k
10 k
20 k
30 k
50 k

RL (actual)
10.4
83.5
417
1.077 k
2.99 k
5.14 k
9.99 k
19.98 k
30 k
50.2 k

ID
3.72 mA
3.76 mA
3.77 mA
3.72 mA
3.57 mA
2.64 mA
1.4 mA
0.71 mA
0.45 mA
0.27 mA

VDS
14.85 V
14.48 V
14.53 V
14.18 V
4.17 V
1.055 V
0.446 V
209.3 mV
136.5 mV
80 mV

The actual resistance values of the potentiometer are used

and selected to be the closest value plausible to the nominal
values. This is caused by the difficulty in adjusting and
measuring the potentiometer resistance.
From observation, the drain current ID is relatively
constant from the potentiometer resistance values of 10.4 to

From what is observed through the entire experiment, the

two circuits are compared by their ability to maintain a
constant amount of current to function as a current source.
Based on the data and results gathered, the second circuit
functioned better as a JFET current source than the first circuit
because it has a larger range of potentiometer resistance values
as to which the current that flows is approximately constant.
Therefore, a JFET current sources performance can be
improved by applying a filter. In this case, a 1 k resistor is
connected to the source terminal to help maintain the current
flow constant.
REFERENCES
[1]

[2]

Elliott, R. (2005). ESP Amplifier Basics - How Audio Amps Work (Part
5). Retrieved December 2, 2014, from http://sound.westhost.com/ampbasics5.htm
Laboratory Activity 1: FET I: Transfer Curve of JFET. ELC 107.2:
Electronics II Laboratory Manual, 8-9.

[3]
[4]