3.

Basics of Analog Electronics

Topics to be covered: Review of construction and working of semiconductor devices – diodes,

BJTs, MOSFETs. Analog and digital signals. Construction and working of a regulated power
supply. Analog and digital signals. Functions of building blocks of analog electronic systems –
amplifiers, attenuators, op-amps for mathematical operations on signals, oscillators, filters.
Amplifiers – definition of voltage gain, current gain, power gain, input and output impedances.
Meaning of frequency response of amplifiers.

Construction and Working of Semiconducting Devices

Diode:
A diode is formed by joining two equivalently doped P-Type and N-Type semiconductor. The P-
type semiconductor has excess holes and is of positive charge. The N-type semiconductor has
excess electrons. At the point of contact, the holes in the P-Type attract electrons in the N-Type
material. Hence the electron diffuses and occupies the holes in the P-Type material. Causing a
small region of the N-type near the junction to lose electrons and behave like intrinsic
semiconductor material, in the P-type a small region gets filled up and behaves like a intrinsic
semiconductor. This thin intrinsic region is called depletion layer, since it is depleted of charge
and hence offers high resistance. The depletion region prevents the further diffusion of majority
carriers. In physical terms the size of the depletion layer is very thin.

Forward Bias
In forward bias the P-region of the diode is connected to the positive terminal of the battery and
N-region is connected to the negative region. The positive of the battery pumps more holes into
the P-region of the diode. The negative terminal pumps electrons into the N-region. The excess
of charge in P and N region will apply pressure on the depletion region and will make it shrink.
As the voltage increases the depletion layer will become thinner and thinner and hence diode will
offer lesser and lesser resistance. Since the resistance decreases the current will increase (though
not proportional) to the voltage.
At one particular voltage level Vf called the threshold / knee / cut-off voltage the depletion layer
disappears and hence from this point the diode starts to conduct very easily and increases
exponentially to the voltage applied.

Reverse Bias
In reverse bias the P-type region is connected to negative voltage and N-type is connected to
positive terminal. In this condition the holes in P-type gets filled by electrons from the battery /
cell. The electrons in N-type material is sucked out of the diode by the positive terminal of the
battery. So the diode gets depleted of charge. So initially the depletion layer widens and it
occupies the entire diode. The resistance offered by the diode is very huge. The current that
flows in reverse bias is only due to minority charge which is in nano amperes in silicon and
micro amperes in high power silicon and germanium diodes.
The V-I characteristic of the diode is as shown below:

Bipolar Junction Transistor

The Bipolar Junction Transistor is a semiconductor device which can be used for switching or
amplification

Joining two individual signal diodes back-to-back, will give two PN-junctions connected
together in series that share a common P or N terminal. The fusion of these two diodes produces
a three layer, two junctions, three terminal device forming the basis of a Bipolar Junction
Transistor, or BJT for short.
Transistors are three terminal active devices made from different semiconductor materials that
can act as either an insulator or a conductor by the application of a small signal voltage. The
transistor’s ability to change between these two states enables it to have two basic functions:
“switching” (digital electronics) or “amplification” (analogue electronics). Then bipolar
transistors have the ability to operate within three different regions:
 Active Region – the transistor operates as an amplifier and Ic = β*Ib
 Saturation – the transistor is “Fully-ON” operating as a switch and Ic = I(saturation)
 Cut-off – the transistor is “Fully-OFF” operating as a switch and Ic = 0

There are two basic types of bipolar transistor construction, PNP and NPN, which basically
describes the physical arrangement of the P-type and N-type semiconductor materials from
which they are made.
The Bipolar Transistor basic construction consists of two PN-junctions producing three
connecting terminals. These three terminals are labeled as the Emitter ( E ), the Base ( B ) and
the Collector ( C ) respectively.
Bipolar Transistors are current regulating devices that control the amount of current flowing
through them from the Emitter to the Collector terminals in proportion to the amount of biasing
voltage applied to their base terminal, thus acting like a current-controlled switch. As a small
current flowing into the base terminal controls a much larger collector current forming the basis
of transistor action.
The principle of operation of the two transistor types PNP and NPN, is exactly the same the only
difference being in their biasing and the polarity of the power supply for each type.
Bipolar Transistor Construction

The construction and circuit symbols for both the PNP and NPN bipolar transistor are given
above with the arrow in the circuit symbol always showing the direction of “conventional current
flow” between the base terminal and its emitter terminal. The direction of the arrow always
points from the positive P-type region to the negative N-type region for both transistor types,
exactly the same as for the standard diode symbol.

Bipolar Transistor Configurations

As the Bipolar Transistor is a three terminal device, there are basically three possible ways to
connect it within an electronic circuit with one terminal being common to both the input and
output. Each method of connection responding differently to its input signal within a circuit as
the static characteristics of the transistor varies with each circuit arrangement.
 Common Base Configuration – has Voltage Gain but no Current Gain.
 Common Emitter Configuration – has both Current and Voltage Gain.
 Common Collector Configuration – has Current Gain but no Voltage Gain.
Transistor Characteristics: are the plots which represent the relationships between the current
and the voltages of a transistor in a particular configuration. The characteristic-curves can be of
the following types
1. Input Characteristics: These describe the changes in input current with the variation in the
values of input voltage keeping the output voltage constant.
2. Output Characteristics: This is a plot of output current versus output voltage with constant
input current.
3. Current Transfer Characteristics: This characteristic curve shows the variation of output
current in accordance with the input current, keeping output voltage constant.

Common Emitter (CE) Configuration of Transistor

In this configuration, the emitter terminal is common between the input and the output terminals
as shown by Figure. This configuration offers medium input impedance, medium output
impedance, medium current gain and voltage gain.

Input Characteristics for CE Configuration of Transistor

Figure shows the input characteristics for the CE configuration of transistor which illustrates the
variation in IB in accordance with VBE when VCE is kept constant.
Output Characteristics for CE Configuration of Transistor
The output characteristics of CE configuration are also referred to as collector characteristics.
This plot shows the variation in IC with the changes in VCE when IB is held constant.

MOSFET
The MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) transistor is a
semiconductor device which is widely used for switching and amplifying electronic signals in
the electronic devices. The MOSFET is a four terminal device with source(S), gate (G), drain
(D) and body (B) terminals. The body of the MOSFET is frequently connected to the source
terminal so making it a three terminal device like field effect transistor. The MOSFET is very far
the most common transistor and can be used in both analog and digital circuits.
The MOSFET works by electronically varying the width of a channel along which charge
carriers flow (electrons or holes). The charge carriers enter the channel at source and exit via the
drain. The width of the channel is controlled by the voltage on an electrode is called gate which
is located between source and drain. It is insulated from the channel near an extremely thin layer
of metal oxide. The MOS capacity present in the device is the main part

The MOSFET can function in two ways

 Depletion Mode
 Enhancement Mode

Depletion Mode: When there is no voltage on the gate, the channel shows its maximum
conductance. As the voltage on the gate is either positive or negative, the channel conductivity
decreases.
Enhancement mode: When there is no voltage on the gate the device does not conduct. More is
the voltage on the gate, the better the device can conduct.

Working Principle of MOSFET:

The aim of the MOSFET is to be able to control the voltage and current flow between the source
and drain. It works almost as a switch. The working of MOSFET depends upon the MOS
capacitor. The MOS capacitor is the main part of MOSFET. The semiconductor surface at the
below oxide layer which is located between source and drain terminal. It can be inverted from p-
type to n-type by applying a positive or negative gate voltages respectively. When we apply the
positive gate voltage the holes present under the oxide layer with a repulsive force and holes are
pushed downward with the substrate. The depletion region populated by the bound negative
charges which are associated with the acceptor atoms. The electrons reach channel is formed.
The positive voltage also attracts electrons from the n+ source and drain regions into the channel.
Now, if a voltage is applied between the drain and source, the current flows freely between the
source and drain and the gate voltage controls the electrons in the channel. Instead of positive
voltage if we apply negative voltage , a hole channel will be formed under the oxide layer.

P-Channel MOSFET:
The P- Channel MOSFET has a P- Channel region between source and drain. It is a four terminal
device such as gate, drain, source, body. The drain and source are heavily doped p+ region and
the body or substrate is n-type. The flow of current is positively charged holes. When we apply
the negative gate voltage, the electrons present under the oxide layer with are pushed downward
into the substrate with a repulsive force. The depletion region populated by the bound positive
charges which are associated with the donor atoms. The negative gate voltage also attracts holes
from p+ source and drain region into the channel region.

N- Channel MOSFET:
The N-Channel MOSFET has a N- channel region between source and drain It is a four terminal
device such as gate, drain, source, body. This type of MOSFET the drain and source are heavily
doped n+ region and the substrate or body is P- type. The current flows due to the negatively
charged electrons. When we apply the positive gate voltage the holes present under the oxide
layer pushed downward into the substrate with a repulsive force. The depletion region is
populated by the bound negative charges which are associated with the acceptor atoms. The
electrons reach channel is formed. The positive voltage also attracts electrons from the n+ source
and drain regions into the channel. Now, if a voltage is applied between the drain and source the
current flows freely between the source and drain and the gate voltage controls the electrons in
the channel. Instead of positive voltage if we apply negative voltage a hole channel will be
formed under the oxide layer.

Enhancement -MOSFET
The E-MOSFET has no channel between source and drain. The substrate extends completely to
the SiO2 layer so that no channel exists. The E-MOSFET requires a proper gate voltage to form
a channel, called induced channel between the source and the drain. It operates only in the
enhancement mode and has no depletion mode. Only by applying VGS of proper magnitude and
polarity, the device starts conducting. The minimum value of VGS of proper polarity that turns
on the E-MOSFET is called threshold voltage [VGS(th)]. The n-channel device requires positive
VGS (≥VGS(th)) and the p-channel device requires negative VGS(≥VGS(th)).

Symbols for E-MOSFE: Figure shows the schematic symbols for n-channel E-MOSFET and
p-channel E-MOSFET.

n-channel E-MOSFET p-Channel E-MOSFET

Circuit Operation of E-MOSFET

i) When VGS= 0V, as shown in fig.9 (i), there is no channel connecting source and drain.
The p-substrate has only a few thermally produced free electrons (minority carriers) so that drain
current is almost zero. For this reason, E-MOSFET is normally OFF when VGS = 0V.

(ii) When VGS is positive, i.e, gate is made positive, it attracts free electrons into the p region.
The free electrons combine with the holes next to the SiO2 layer. If VGS is positive enough, all
the holes touching the SiO2 layer are filled and free electrons begin to flow from the source to
drain. The effect is same as creating a thin layer of n-type material i.e. inducing a thin n-layer
adjacent to the SiO2 layer. Thus the E-MOSFET is turned ON and drain current ID starts flowing
from the source to the drain. The minimum value of VGS that turns the E-MOSFET ON is called
threshold voltage[VGS(th)].

(iii) When VGS is less than VGS(th), there is no induced channel and the drain current IDis zero.
When VGS is equal to VGS(th), the E-MOSFET is turned ON and the induced channel conducts
drain current from the source to the drain. Beyond VGS(th), if the value of VGS is increased,the
newly formed channel becomes wider, causing to ID to increase. If the value of VGS decreases not
less than VGS(th), the channel becomes narrower and ID will decrease.

Drain characteristics of an N-channel E-MOSFET are shown in figure. The lowest curve is the
VGST curve. When VGS is lesser than VGST, ID is approximately zero. When VGS is greater than
VGST, the device turns- on and the drain current ID is controlled by the gate voltage. The
characteristic curves have almost vertical and almost horizontal parts. The almost vertical
components of the curves correspond to the ohmic region, and the horizontal components
correspond to the constant current region. Thus E-MOSFET can be operated in either of these
regions i.e. it can be used as a variable-voltage resistor (WR) or as a constant current source.
Regulated Power Supply

A regulated power supply can convert unregulated an AC (alternating current or voltage) to a

constant DC (direct current or voltage). A regulated power supply is used to ensure that the
output remains constant even if the input changes. A regulated DC power supply is also called as
a linear power supply, it is an embedded circuit and consists of various blocks.

The regulated power supply will accept an AC input and give a constant DC output. Figure
below shows the block diagram of a typical regulated DC power supply.

The basic building blocks of a regulated DC power supply are as follows:

1. A step down transformer

2. A rectifier
3. A DC filter
4. A regulator

Operation of Regulated Power Supply

1. Step Down Transformer

A step down transformer will step down the voltage from the ac mains to the required
voltage level. The turn’s ratio of the transformer is so adjusted such as to obtain the
required voltage value. The output of the transformer is given as an input to the rectifier
circuit.
 2. Rectification
Rectifier is an electronic circuit consisting of diodes which carries out the rectification
process. Rectification is the process of converting an alternating voltage or current into
corresponding direct (DC) quantity. The input to a rectifier is ac whereas its output is
unidirectional pulsating DC. Usually a full wave rectifier or a bridge rectifier is used to
rectify both the half cycles of the ac supply (full wave rectification).

3. DC Filtration
The rectified voltage from the rectifier is a pulsating DC voltage having very high ripple
content. But this is not we want, we want a pure ripple free DC waveform. Hence a filter
is used. Different types of filters are used such as capacitor filter, LC filter, Choke input
filter, π type filter.

4. Regulation
This is the last block in a regulated DC power supply. The output voltage or current will
change or fluctuate when there is change in the input from ac mains or due to change in
load current at the output of the regulated power supply or due to other factors like
temperature changes. This problem can be eliminated by using a regulator. A regulator
will maintain the output constant even when changes at the input or any other changes
occur.

Transistor Amplifier
A transistor acts as an amplifier by raising the strength of a weak signal. The DC bias voltage
applied to the emitter base junction, makes it remain in forward biased condition. This forward
bias is maintained regardless of the polarity of the signal. The below figure shows how a
transistor looks like when connected as an amplifier.
The low resistance in input circuit, lets any small change in input signal to result in an
appreciable change in the output. The emitter current caused by the input signal contributes the
collector current, which when flows through the load resistor R L, results in a large voltage drop
across it. Thus a small input voltage results in a large output voltage, which shows that the
transistor works as an amplifier.

Performance of Amplifier
As the common emitter mode of connection is mostly adopted, let us first understand a few
important terms with reference to this mode of connection.

Input Resistance
As the input circuit is forward biased, the input resistance will be low. The input resistance is the
opposition offered by the base-emitter junction to the signal flow.
By definition, it is the ratio of small change in base-emitter voltage (ΔVBE) to the resulting
change in base current (ΔIB) at constant collector-emitter voltage.
Input resistance, Ri=ΔVBE / ΔIB

Output Resistance
The output resistance of a transistor amplifier is very high. The collector current changes very
slightly with the change in collector-emitter voltage.
By definition, it is the ratio of change in collector-emitter voltage (ΔVCE) to the resulting change
in collector current (ΔIC) at constant base current.
Output resistance = Ro=ΔVCE/ΔIC

Current Gain
The gain in terms of current when the changes in input and output currents are observed, is called
as Current gain. By definition, it is the ratio of change in collector current (ΔIC) to the change in
base current (ΔIB).
Current gain, β=ΔIC/ΔIB β=ΔIC/ΔIB
The value of β ranges from 20 to 500. The current gain indicates that input current becomes β
times in the collector current.

Voltage Gain
The gain in terms of voltage when the changes in input and output currents are observed, is
called as Voltage gain. By definition, it is the ratio of change in output voltage (ΔVCE) to the
change in input voltage (ΔVBE).
Voltage gain, AV=ΔVCEΔVBE

Power Gain
The gain in terms of power when the changes in input and output currents are observed, is called
as Power gain.
By definition, it is the ratio of output signal power to the input signal power.

Power gain, AP= voltage gain x current gain

Frequency Response of an Amplifier
Frequency Response of an electric or electronics circuit allows us to see exactly how the output
gain (known as the magnitude response) and the phase (known as the phase response) changes at
a particular single frequency, or over a whole range of different frequencies from 0Hz, (d.c.) to
many thousands of mega-hertz, (MHz) depending upon the design characteristics of the circuit.
Generally, the frequency response analysis of a circuit or system is shown by plotting its gain,
that is the size of its output signal to its input signal, Output/Input against a frequency scale over
which the circuit or system is expected to operate. Then by knowing the circuits gain, (or loss) at
each frequency point helps us to understand how well (or badly) the circuit can distinguish
between signals of different frequencies.
The frequency response of a given frequency dependent circuit can be displayed as a graphical
sketch of magnitude (gain) against frequency (ƒ). The horizontal frequency axis is usually
plotted on a logarithmic scale while the vertical axis representing the voltage output or gain, is
usually drawn as a linear scale in decimal divisions. Since a systems gain can be both positive or
negative, the y-axis can therefore have both positive and negative values.

Frequency Response Curve

Then we can see that the frequency response of any given circuit is the variation in its behaviour
with changes in the input signal frequency as it shows the band of frequencies over which the
output (and the gain) remains fairly constant. The range of frequencies either big or small
between ƒL and ƒH is called the circuits bandwidth. So from this we are able to determine at a
glance the voltage gain (in dB) for any sinusoidal input within a given frequency range.