UJT

A Unijunction transistor is a three terminal semiconductor switching

device.this device has a unique characteristics that when it is triggered , the
emitter current increases regeneratively until is limited by emitter power supply
the unijunction transistor can be employed in a variety of applications switching
pulse generator saw tooth generator etc.

Construction
It consists of an N type silicon bar with an electrical connection on each
end the leads to these connection are called base leads. Base 1 B1 Base 2 B2 the
bar between the two bases nearer to B2 than B1. A pn junction is formed between
a p type emitter and Bar.the lead to the junction is called emitter lead E.
Operation

The device has normally B2 positive w.r.t B1

If voltage VBB is applied between B2 and B1 with emitter open. Voltage gradient
is established along the n type bar since emitter is located nearer to B2 more than
half of VBB appears between the emitter and B1. the voltage V1 between emitter
and B1 establishes a reverse bias on the pn junction and the emitter current is cut
off. A small leakage current flows from B2 to emitter due to minority carriers
If a positive voltage is applied at the emitter the pn junction will remain reverse
biased so long as the input voltage is less than V1 if the input voltage to the

emitter exceeds V1 the pn junction becomes forward biased.under these

conditions holes are injected from the p type material into the n type bar these
holes are repelled by positive B2 terminal and they are attracted towards B1
terminal of the bar. This accumulation of holes in the emitter to B1 region results
in the degrees of resistance in this section of the bar the internal voltage drop
from emitter to b1 is decresed hence emitter curret Ie increases as more holes are
injected a condition of saturation will eventually be reached at this point a emitter
current limited by emitter power supply only . the devices is in on state.
If a negative pulse is applied to the emitter , the pn junction is reverse biased and
the emitter current is cut off. The device is said to be off state.

Characteristics of UJT

The curve between Emitter voltage Ve and emitter current Ie of a UJT at a given
voltage Vbb between the bases this is known as emitter characterstic of UJT
Initially in the cut off region as Ve increases from zero ,slight leakage current
flows from terminal B2 to the emitter the current is due to the minority carriers in
the reverse biased diode .

Above a certain value of Ve forward Ie begins to flow , increasing until the peak
voltage Vp and current Ip are rreached at point P.
After the peak point P an attempt to increase Ve is followed by a sudden increases
in emitter current Ie with decrease in Ve is a neagative resistance portion of the
curve
The negative portion of the curve lasts until the valley point V is reached with
valley point voltage Vv.and valley point current Iv after the valley point the
device is driven to saturation the difference Vp-Vv is a measure of a switching
efficiency of UJT fall of Vbb decreases

Advantages of UJT
It is a Low cost device
It has excellent characteristics
It is a low-power absorbing device under normal operating conditions

The Unijunction Transistor (UJT)

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Unijunction transistor: Although a unijunction transistor is not a thyristor,
this device can trigger larger thyristors with a pulse at base B1. A unijunction
transistor is composed of a bar of N-type silicon having a P-type connection in
the middle. See Figure below(a). The connections at the ends of the bar are
known as bases B1 and B2; the P-type mid-point is the emitter. With the
emitter disconnected, the total resistance RBBO, a datasheet item, is the sum
of RB1 and RB2 as shown in Figure below(b). RBBO ranges from 4-12k for
different device types. The intrinsic standoff ratio is the ratio of RB1 to RBBO.
It varies from 0.4 to 0.8 for different devices. The schematic symbol is
Figure below(c)

Unijunction transistor: (a) Construction, (b) Model, (c) Symbol

The Unijunction emitter current vs voltage characteristic curve
(Figure below(a) ) shows that as VE increases, current IE increases up IP at the
peak point. Beyond the peak point, current increases as voltage decreases in
the negative resistance region. The voltage reaches a minimum at the valley
point. The resistance of RB1, the saturation resistance is lowest at the valley
point.
IP and IV, are datasheet parameters; For a 2n2647, IP and IV are 2A and
4mA, respectively. [AMS] VP is the voltage drop across RB1 plus a 0.7V diode
drop; see Figure below(b). VV is estimated to be approximately 10% of VBB.

Unijunction transistor: (a) emitter characteristic curve, (b) model for V P .

The relaxation oscillator in Figure below is an application of the unijunction
oscillator. RE charges CE until the peak point. The unijunction emitter terminal
has no effect on the capacitor until this point is reached. Once the capacitor

voltage, VE, reaches the peak voltage point VP, the lowered emitter-base1 EB1 resistance quickly discharges the capacitor. Once the capacitor discharges
below the valley point VV, the E-RB1 resistance reverts back to high
resistance, and the capacitor is free to charge again.

Unijunction transistor relaxation oscillator and waveforms. Oscillator drives

SCR.
During capacitor discharge through the E-B1 saturation resistance, a pulse
may be seen on the external B1 and B2 load resistors, Figure above. The load
resistor at B1 needs to be low to not affect the discharge time. The external
resistor at B2 is optional. It may be replaced by a short circuit. The
approximate frequency is given by 1/f = T = RC. A more accurate expression
for frequency is given in Figure above.
The charging resistor RE must fall within certain limits. It must be small
enough to allow IP to flow based on the VBB supply less VP. It must be large
enough to supply IV based on the VBBsupply less VV. [MHW] The equations and
an example for a 2n2647:

Programmable Unijunction Transistor (PUT): Although the unijunction

transistor is listed as obsolete (read expensive if obtainable), the
programmable unijunction transistor is alive and well. It is inexpensive and in

production. Though it serves a function similar to the unijunction transistor,

the PUT is a three terminal thyristor. The PUT shares the four-layer structure
typical of thyristors shown in Figure below. Note that the gate, an N-type
layer near the anode, is known as an anode gate. Moreover, the gate lead
on the schematic symbol is attached to the anode end of the symbol.

Programmable unijunction transistor: Characteristic curve, internal

construction, schematic symbol.
The characteristic curve for the programmable unijunction transistor in
Figure above is similar to that of the unijunction transistor. This is a plot of
anode current IA versus anode voltage VA. The gate lead voltage sets,
programs, the peak anode voltage VP. As anode current inceases, voltage
increases up to the peak point. Thereafter, increasing current results in
decreasing voltage, down to the valley point.
The PUT equivalent of the unijunction transistor is shown in Figure below.
External PUT resistors R1 and R2 replace unijunction transistor internal
resistors RB1 and RB2, respectively. These resistors allow the calculation of the
intrinsic standoff ratio .

PUT equivalent of unijunction transistor

Figure below shows the PUT version of the unijunction relaxation oscillator
Figure previous. Resistor R charges the capacitor until the peak point,
Figure previous, then heavy conduction moves the operating point down the
negative resistance slope to the valley point. A current spike flows through
the cathode during capacitor discharge, developing a voltage spike across the
cathode resistors. After capacitor discharge, the operating point resets back
to the slope up to the peak point.

PUT relaxation oscillator

Problem: What is the range of suitable values for R in Figure above, a
relaxation oscillator? The charging resistor must be small enough to supply
enough current to raise the anode to VP the peak point (Figure previous) while
charging the capacitor. Once VP is reached, anode voltage decreases as
current increases (negative resistance), which moves the operating point to
the valley. It is the job of the capacitor to supply the valley current IV. Once it
is discharged, the operating point resets back to the upward slope to the peak
point. The resistor must be large enough so that it will never supply the high
valley current IP. If the charging resistor ever could supply that much current,
the resistor would supply the valley current after the capacitor was discharged
and the operating point would never reset back to the high resistance
condition to the left of the peak point.
We select the same VBB=10V used for the unijunction transistor example. We
select values of R1 and R2 so that is about 2/3. We calculate and VS. The
parallel equivalent of R1, R2 is RG, which is only used to make selections from
Table below. Along with VS=10, the closest value to our 6.3, we find VT=0.6V,
in Table below and calculate VP.

We also find IP and IV, the peak and valley currents, respectively in
Table below. We still need VV, the valley voltage. We used 10% of VBB= 1V, in
the previous unijunction example. Consulting the datasheet, we find the
forward voltage VF=0.8V at IF=50mA. The valley current IV=70A is much less
than IF=50mA. Therefore, VV must be less than VF=0.8V. How much less? To
be safe we set VV=0V. This will raise the lower limit on the resistor range a
little.

Choosing R > 143k guarantees that the operating point can reset from the
valley point after capacitor discharge. R < 755k allows charging up to VP at
the peak point.
Selected 2n6027 PUT parameters, adapted from 2n6027 datasheet. [ON1]

Parameter
VT

IP

IV

Conditions

min typical max units

V
VS=10V, RG=1Meg 0.2 0.7
1.6
VS=10V, RG=10k 0.2 0.35 0.6
A
VS=10V, RG=1Meg 1.25 2.0
VS=10V, RG=10k 4.0
5.0
A

VF

VS=10V, RG=1Meg
VS=10V, RG=10k
VS=10V, RG=200
IF=50mA

18
70 150
1500 0.8

50
1.5 V

Figure below show the PUT relaxation oscillator with the final resistor values.
A practical application of a PUT triggering an SCR is also shown. This circuit
needs a VBB unfiltered supply (not shown) divided down from the bridge
rectifier to reset the relaxation oscillator after each power zero crossing. The
variable resistor should have a minimum resistor in series with it to prevent a
low pot setting from hanging at the valley point.

PUT relaxation oscillator with component values. PUT drives SCR lamp
dimmer.
PUT timing circuits are said to be useable to 10kHz. If a linear ramp is
required instead of an exponential ramp, replace the charging resistor with a
constant current source such as a FET based constant current diode. A
substitute PUT may be built from a PNP and NPN silicon transistor as shown
for the SCS equivalent circuit in Figure below by omitting the cathode gate
and using the anode gate.

REVIEW:

A unijunction transistor consists of two bases (B1, B2) attached to a

resistive bar of silicon, and an emitter in the center. The E-B1 junction
has negative resistance properties; it can switch between high and low
resistance.

A PUT (programmable unijunction transistor) is a 3-terminal 4-layer

thyristor acting like a unijunction transistor. An external resistor
network programs .

The intrinsic standoff ratio is =R1/(R1+R2) for a PUT; substitute

RB1 and RB2, respectively, for a unijunction transistor. The trigger
voltage is determined by .

Unijunction transistors and programmable unijunction transistors

are applied to oscillators, timing circuits, and thyristor triggering.

The UJT Transistor

The Uni Junction Transistor

This transistor is rarely used in a hobby-circuit because there are a number

of alternate ways to produce the same effect, however it is interesting to
know how the Uni Junction Transistor works, so you can see why it lost
favour.
The UJT is especially designed to connect to SCR's and this is where its
main application lies.
It only needs 3 or 4 external components and the UJT will produce an
oscillator. The output of the oscillator can be a saw-tooth, if you carefully
pick off the waveform across the capacitor, but more often the output is
taken between B1 and the negative rail. This is where the LOAD is designed
to be placed. The waveform here is a spike, and has an amplitude of about 2v
for a 6v supply (from 0v to +2v).
The diagram below shows the UJT in a typical arrangement with a lowimpedance device, such as a speaker, between B1 and 0v rail.

The way the circuit works is this:

The capacitor charges via the 10k resistor During this time the resistance
between B1 and B2 is infinite. The charging is a sawtooth waveform because
the charging is a rising gradient and the discharge is very rapid - into the
speaker. The emitter detects when the voltage rises to 4v (for a 6v circuit)
and at this point the transistor "turns on" and the resistance between the
Emitter and B1 becomes very low and is effectively equivalent to a diode in
forward-bias.
The voltage (the energy) in the capacitor is then passed to the speaker and
this produces a "click." This is the only way the speaker gets its energy. The

voltage across the capacitor falls very rapidly and when it reaches about 1v
(for a 6v circuit), the transistor turns off and the cycle repeats.
It is important to note that the speaker does not receive any current via the
resistor connected to B2 and this resistor has very little effect (almost no
effect) on the volume produced by the speaker.
The only way to increase the loudness of the tone is by adding a buffer
transistor.
Doubling the supply voltage will alter the frequency of the output very
slightly and the voltage across the speaker will increase to 10v, but the
width of the spike is so narrow that very little energy is passed to it.
The circuit is reliable in operation. It will work on almost flat batteries (a
high impedance supply) but you have to be careful with the choice of
resistors and capacitors. For instance, if the 10k is reduced to 1k, the
circuit will simply refuse to work with the 2u2 electrolytic so the circuit
below may "freeze-up" if the wrong ratio of R and C is selected. The
"freeze-up" may also depend on supply voltage so, all in all, the circuit has
some limitations that must be overcome by building a prototype before
deciding on the final design.

The circuit below shows a common use for a UJT - to "fire" an SCR after a
pre-determined period of time.
The LOAD will remain active (the SCR will remain "triggered") and the supply
voltage must be removed to de-energise the LOAD - a bit messy - in the
days of microcontroller designs, this can be done much more conveniently
with a chip.

All Talking Electronics projects are now microcontroller based and it is only
a matter of adding a few extra lines of code to produce almost any sound you
need. UJT transistors are expensive and difficult to obtain, however the
circuit consumes only about 1mA @6v or 2mA at 12v and this may give it an
application where very little is required to be consumed.
Note: many hobby circuits show the UJT drawn incorrectly. B1 must be

connected to the device being activated as the energy from the capacitor
flows via the Emitter-B1 circuit to the device. The transistor will not work
around the other way, however it will not be damaged if momentarily
connected incorrectly.

The tab is actually between B2 and E.

The UJT can be gated "on and off" by controlling the 47k "charging
resistor."
The circuit below shows an "up-side-down" multivibrator turning on the tone
circuit (the UJT circuit):

The Talking Electronics Digital Course studies the "standard" multivibrator

as shown below. This standard circuit can be turned up-side-down if needed.
The animation below shows how one side of the multivibrator turns on then
the other side to activate each LED. In the circuit above, the multivibrator
takes the 47k to the positive rail, to activate the tone circuit.

Don't forget: UJT's are difficult to get and expensive, when compared
to transistors and other standard semiconductors.
- Colin Mitchell 21-7-2001 and 15-3-2004

Unijunction Transistor
by Matthew H. Williams
Back to the British Amateur Electronics Club.
The basic structure of a unijunction transistor (UJT) is shown in Fig.1. It
is essentially a bar of N type semiconductor material into which P type
material has been diffused somewhere along its length. Contacts are then
made to the device as shown; these are referred to as the emitter, base 1
and base 2 respectively. Fig.2 shows the schematic symbol used to
denote a UJT in circuit diagrams. For ease of manufacture alternative
methods of making contact with the bar have been developed, giving rise
to the two types of structure - bar and cube - shown in Fig.3

The equivalent circuit shown in Fig.4 has been developed to explain how
the device works, and it is necessary to define the terms used in this
explanation.
RBB is known as the interbase resistance, and is the sum of RB1 and RB2:
RBB = RB1 + RB2 (1)
N.B. This is only true when the emitter is open circuit.

VRB1 is the voltage developed across RB1; this is given by the voltage
divider rule:
RB1

VRB1 =

(2)

RB1 + RB2

Since the denominator of equation 2 is equal to equation 1, the former

can be rewritten as:
RB1

VRB1 =

RBB

x VBB (3)

The ratio RB1 / RBB is referred to as the intrinsic standoff ratio and is
denoted by (the Greek letter eta).
If an external voltage Ve is connected to the emitter, the equivalent
circuit can be redrawn as shown in Fig.5.
If Ve is less than VRB1, the diode is reverse biased and the circuit behaves
as though the emitter was open circuit. If however Ve is increased so that
it exceeds VRB1 by at least 0.7V, the diode becomes forward biased and
emitter current Ie flows into the base 1 region. Because of this, the value
of RB1 decreases. It has been suggested that this is due to the presence of
additional charge carriers (holes) in the bar. Further increase in V e causes
the emitter current to increase which in turn reduces R B1 and this causes
a further increase in current. This runaway effect is termed regeneration.
The value of emitter voltage at which this occurs is known as the peak
voltage VP and is given by: VP = AVVBB + VD (4)
The characteristics of the UJT are illustrated by the graph of emitter
voltage against emitter current (Fig.6).

As the emitter voltage is increased, the current is very small - just a few
microamps. When the peak point is reached, the current rises rapidly,
until at the valley point the device runs into saturation. At this point
RB1 is at its lowest value, which is known as thesaturation resistance.
The simplest application of a UJT is as a relaxation oscillator, which is
defined as one in which a capacitor is charged gradually and then
discharged rapidly. The basic circuit is shown in Fig.7; in the practical
circuit of Fig.8 R3 limits the emitter current and provides a voltage
pulse, while R2 provides a measure of temperature compensation. Fig. 9
shows the waveforms occurring at the emitter and base 1; the first is an
approximation to a sawtooth and the second is a pulse of short duration.

The operation of the circuit is as follows: C1 charges through R1 until

the voltage across it reaches the peak point. The emitter current then
rises rapidly, discharging C1 through the base 1 region and R3. The
sudden rise of current through R3 produces the voltage pulse. When the
current falls to IV the UJT switches off and the cycle is repeated.
It can be shown that the time t between successive pulses is given by:
VBB - VV

t + R1C ln

secs (5) N.B. R measured in Megaohms. C in F.

VBB - VP

Design for a lKHz relaxation oscillator

The oscillator uses a 2N2646 UJT, which is the most readily available
device, and is to operate from a 10V D.C. power supply.
From the relevant data sheet the specifications for the 2N2646 are:
VEB2O IE(peak) PTOT(max) IP(max) IV(max)
30V 2A
300mw
5A
4ma

Case style TO18

0.56 - 0.75

It is important that the value of R1 is small enough to allow the emitter

current to reach IP when the capacitor voltage reaches VP and large
enough so that the emitter current is less than I V when the capacitor
discharges to VV. The limiting values for R1 are given by:
R1(max) =

VBB - VP
IP

and R2(min) =

VBB - VV
IV

From the specifications for the 2N2646 the average value of is 0.56 +
0.75/2 = 0.655. Substituting this value in equation (4) and assuming V D =
0/7V: VP = 0.655 x 10 + 0.7 = 7.25V.

So R1(max) = 10 - 7.25/5A = 550K, and if VV = approx VBB/10,

R1(min) = 10 - 1/4mA = 2.25K.

If we choose a value for R1 somewhere between these limits, e.g. lOK,

the value of C can be calculated from equation (5)
If f = 1MHz, t = 1/f = 1msec. VBB - VP = 10 - 7.25 = 2.75 and VBB - VV =
10 - 1 = 9
t
Rearranging equation(5) to make C the subject: C =

R1 ln

VBB - VV
VBB - VP

so C =

0.001

= approx 84nF.

104 ln (9/2.75)

Because of component and UJT tolerances it is sufficient in most

circumstances to use an approximate formula: f = 1/CR, which assumes
that is 0.63 - well within 5% of the average value for the 2N2646. In
practice one would use a variable resistance (or a variable resistance in
series with a fixed resistance) for R1 so that the frequency of oscillation
could be adjusted to give the required value.
R2 is not essential; if it is included, a value of 470 ohms is appropriate
for the 2N2646. The value of R3 should be small in comparison with
RBB, with which it is in series, so as to prevent it from affecting the value
of the peak voltage. A value of 47 ohms or thereabouts is satisfactory.
Editor's notes: The above design points are illustrated in the circuit of the
enlarger timer which was described earlier this year in the April
Newsletter. In that circuit the UJT provides clock pulses at 20Hz. R1 is a
combination of a 47K variable and a 150K fixed resistance; R2 is
omitted and R3 is 33 ohms. The timing capacitor has a value of 220nF.
In addition to the 2N2646, the component list for this timer also includes
the TIS43 and the 2N4891. Most suppliers list only the 2N2646, but
Maplin also include the TIS43. This device was used with a transistor
constant current generator as the sawtooth oscillator in the timebase of
the "Student's Oscilloscope" published in "Practical Wireless" in August
1973.
In his book "110 Semiconductor Projects for the Home Constructor"
(2nd edition 1978), R.M.Marston gives twenty circuits for UJT projects
using the 2N2646. These include pulse and sawtooth generators,
analogue/digital converters, relay time delay circuits and frequency

dividers. If any member would like to experiment with UJTs there is a

good number of 2N2646 and TIS43 in Cyril's stock, and Ray Marston's
book can be borrowed from me for 38p postage.
There is also a device called a programmable UJT - the BRY39 is an
example so called because its parameters can be set by external
components. It is a PNPN device, similar in some ways to a thyristor,
and can be used in applications similar to those for the UJT. Perhaps we
could have an article about this in a future Newsletter.