Chapter Name Course Structure

1 Chapter ± 1: Semiconductor Materials and Properties

1.1. Introduction to Semiconductor Materials
1.2. Types of Semiconductors
1.3. Types of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Semiconductors
1.4. The Hall Effect
1.5. Use of Semiconductors
1.6. Test Your Knowledge
1.7. Summary

2 Chapter ± 2: Solid-State Device Theory

2.1. Introduction to Solid-State Device Theory
2.2. Band theory of solids
2.3. Electrons and "holes"
2.4. The p-n junction
2.4.1. p-n junction
2.4.2. Biasing of p-n junction
2.4.3. Carrier concentration in n type and p type semiconductors
2.5. Types of Diode
2.6. Test Your Knowledge
2.7. Summary

3 Chapter - 3: Transistor
3.1. Structure
3.2. Basic Transistor operation
3.3. Transistor characteristics and parameters
3.4. Transistor as a switch and amplifier
3.4.1. Transistor bias circuit
3.4.2. Voltage divider bias circuit
3.4.3. Base bias circuit
3.4.4. Emitter bias circuit
3.4.5. Collector feedback bias circuit
3.5. DC and AC Load Line
3.6. Stabilization
3.6.1. Thermal runaway
3.6.2. Thermal Stability
3.7. Test your knowledge
3.8. Summary


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 Anna University ± Electronic Devices and Circuits (Unit I)
Chapter Name Content
Course Welcome Welcome to the course on Electronic Devices and Circuit. The course presented by Anna University, Trichy
designed for undergraduates (Semester One).

This electronic module intends to provide an in-depth understanding and hands-on experience to the student
on:

 Introduction to Semiconductor Materials and Properties.

 Solid State Device Theory.
 PN Junction, and
 Bipolar junction diode.

Before you proceed, let us look at the key navigation features to explore the information and prepare yourself
for academic challenges OR enhance your knowledge on the subject. At the top of every screen, you will see
where you are. To navigate through the interface, click the Next and Previous button on the bottom-right corner
of the screen.

Alternatively, you can select a topic by clicking the Index or {
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list the topics and sub-topics covered in this course. If you need to pause, click the  button. This will stop
the audio and the animation for the page. To resume, click .

If you¶re ready and like to proceed with the course, Click the 
button to continue.

 

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What¶s in it For Today¶s world consists of various equipments which function due to the movement of electrons ± an
Me? implementation of this phenomenon being in electronic devices and circuits.

In this course on Electronics and Circuits, you will get an understanding of semiconductors. Semiconductors
find applications in microprocessor chips, computer based devices and equipments that use radio waves.
Semiconductor chips and transistors are mostly made of silicon. Without semiconductor technology there
would be no Internet, and you would not be read this text.

The objective of this course is to explore the internal behaviour of semiconductor devices, to get an
understanding of the relationship between device geometry and material parameters on the one hand and the
eventual electrical characteristics on the other.

You will also learn about the connection between the physics of semiconductors and the design of electronic
circuits. This understanding will enable you to successfully design integrated circuits©
Course Objectives After completion of this course, you should be able to:
 Understand the principle and properties with regards semiconductors.
 PN Junction.
 I-V characteristics of diode.
 Functioning of different types of Diode,and
 Bipolar junction transistor
 

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Introduction to Content
Semiconductor
Material and
Properties.
Objectives After completion of this topic, you should be able to:

 Understand the periodic properties of semiconductor.

 Energy Band Theory.
 Doping and Conductivity in material

Periodic Properties A semiconductor is a substance - usually a solid chemical element or compound - which can conduct electricity
under certain conditions, making it a good medium for the control of electrical current.

As you can see, the elements highlighted in the periodic table are semiconductor materials.
Elemental semiconductors are those that are made up of a single species of atoms, such as silicon (Si),
germanium (Ge), and gray tin (Sn) in column IV, and selenium (Se) and tellurium (Te) in column VI. There are,
however, numerous compound semiconductors that are composed of two or more elements. Gallium Arsenide
(GaAs), for example, is a binary III-V compound, which is a combination of gallium (Ga) from column III and
arsenic (As) from column V.
Energy Band According to Pauli's Exclusion Principle if we have a certain number of atoms that are initially very far apart
Theory from each other, each of these atoms would have discrete electron energy levels, just like those observed in a
single atom. However, if these atoms are pushed closer together, the initial quantized energy levels will
eventually split into a large number of closely spaced, but discrete energy levels. This large number of closely
spaced energy levels is known as an energy band. The inter-atomic distance at which an energy band
appears is known as the equilibrium inter-atomic distance ro

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The highest filled level at T=0 K is known as the valence band. Electrons in the valence band do not participate
in the conduction process. The first unfilled level above the valence band is known as the conduction band.
Ú


M
 
3

The illustration depicts energy bands of solids at 0 deg K, where Eg is the band gap, Ec is the bottom of the
conduction band, Ev is the top of the valence band and Ef is the Fermi Energy.
Metal:
The valence and conduction bands overlap, enabling easy movement of free valence electrons to the
conduction band. These valence electrons participate in conduction, resulting in a very low electrical
resistance. Iron, copper and silver are good conductors.
Insulator:
The energy band gap is large, making the transfer of valence electrons into the conduction band difficult. This
gives an insulator its high electrical resistance. An insulator is a material with a band gap (Eg) higher than 6
eV. Glass, wood and rubber are good insulators.
Semiconductor:
The energy band gap is not large. Hence, valence electrons can be easily induced to jump into the conduction
band - by supplying them with enough energy. This is why a semiconductor exhibits an electrical resistance
that is in between those of a conductor and an insulator. A semiconductor may be defined as a band gap
material whose band gap (Eg) is not more than 1 eV Silicon and germanium are good semiconductors.

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Conductivity Conductivity is a measure of a material's ability to conduct an electric current. When an electrical potential
difference is placed across a conductor, its movable charges flow, giving rise to an electric current.
Conductivity ı is defined as the ratio of the current density to the electric field strength E.

J=I/A
J = current density
J =nqv=nqµE= ıE
ı = nqµ

Where
n = electrons per cubic meter (ne,nh electrons and hole are carrier respectively)
q = charge
v = drift velocity in m/sec
ı = conductivity (ohm-meter)-1
µ = square meter per volt-second

Doping The ability to conduct electricity can be greatly improved by adding certain µimpurities¶ to the crystalline
structure of the semiconductor, thereby producing more free electrons than holes or vice versa. Similarly, it is
also possible to control conductivity by controlling the amount of impurities added to the semiconductor
material. This process of adding impurity atoms to semiconductor atoms (in the order of 1 impurity atom per 10
million atoms of the semiconductor) is called Doping.


The above illustration is a representation of Doping.

Example for A pure Si crystal has 5 × 1028 atoms m±3. It is doped by 1 ppm concentration of pentavalent . Calculate the
Conduction number of electrons and holes, if M
=1.5 × 1016 m±3.


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Solution Note that thermally generated electrons (M
Î1016 m±3) are small as compared to those produced by doping.
Therefore, M
§ 

Since MM
= M 

The number of holes
M
= (2.25 × 1032)/(5 ×1022)
Î 4.5 × 109 m±3

Test Your Question 1: Which is the basic material for semiconductor?

Knowledge a. Phosphorus
b. Silicon
c. Iron
d. Germanium
Answer (b)
Question 2: The energy required to liberate electron in Germanium is :-
a. 1.4ev
b. 1 ev.
c. 0.7 ev
Answer (c)

Question 3:The longest wavelength that can be absorbed by silicon, which has the band gap of 1.12eV,is
1um.If the longest wavelength that can be absorbed by another material is 0.87um,then the band gap of this
material is:
a.1.416eV b.0.886eV c.0.854eV d.0.706eV.
Answer (
GATE ECE 2004

Question 4:The primary reason for widespread of silicon in semiconductor devices is :

a. Abundance of silicon on earth surface.
b.larger bandgap of silicon in comparison to germanium.
c.Favourable properties of silicon dioxide.
d.lower melting point.
Answer C.
GATE (ECE 2005)

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Summary In this topic, you have learned:
 Principles of semiconductors, types of semiconductors and their applications
 Semiconductors are the basic materials used in solid state electronic devices like diode, transistor, ICs
and so on
 The lattice structure and atomic structure of constituent elements determine whether a material is an
insulator, a conductor or a semiconductor
 Metals have low resistively (10±2 to 10±8 ȍm), insulators have very high resistively (>108 ȍm±1) while
semiconductors have intermediate values of resistively
 Semiconductors can be elements (Si, Ge) as well as compounds (GaAs, CdS)

 

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Types of Content
Semiconductor
Objectives After completion of this topic, you should be able to:

 Understand various types of semiconductor.

 Properties of Semiconductor.
 Types of Intrinsic and Extrinsic semiconductor.
 Holes and Electrons.
 Flow of Current in semiconductor.

1.Intrinsic A pure semiconductor free from any impurity is called an intrinsic semiconductor. In an intrinsic
Semiconductor semiconductor, charge carriers (electrons and holes) are created by thermal excitation. Si and Ge are
examples of intrinsic semiconductors. With both being tetravalent - each having four valence electrons in
the outermost shell.

Let us take a closer look at Ge. Germanium has a total of 32 electrons, with 28 being tightly bound to the
nucleus and the remaining 4 valence electrons revolving in the outermost orbit. In a solid, each atom
shares its 4 valence electrons with its nearest neighbors to form covalent bonds. The energy needed to
liberate an electron from the Ge atom is very small, of the order of 0.7 eV. Thus, even at room
temperature, a few electrons can detach from their bonds by thermal excitation. When the electron
escapes from the covalent bond, an empty space or a hole is created. Note that the number of free
electrons is always equal to the number of holes.

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Current conduction in
semiconductor

In an intrinsic semiconductor, even at room temperature, electron-hole pairs are created. When an electric
field is applied across an intrinsic semiconductor, current conduction takes place by two processes - free
electrons and holes. Under the influence of the electric field, the total current through the semiconductor is
the sum of currents due to free electrons and holes.

Though the total current inside the semiconductor is due to free electrons and holes, the external wire is
fully by electrons. Note that the holes being positively charged move towards the negative terminal of the
battery. As the holes reach the negative terminal of the battery, electrons enter the semiconductor near the
negative terminal and combine with the holes. At the same time, the loosely held electrons near the
positive terminal are attracted away from their atoms into the positive terminal. This creates new holes near
the positive terminal which again drift towards the negative terminal.

(nenh = ni2 ni _ intrinsic carrier concentration [cmí3]

2.Extrinsic Extrinsic semiconductors are formed by adding suitable impurities to intrinsic semiconductors ± a process
Semiconductor known as doping. Doping increases the electrical conductivity in semiconductors. The added impurity is
very small, of the order of one atom per million atoms of the pure semiconductor. The added impurity may
be pentavalent or trivalent. Depending on the type of impurity added, extrinsic semiconductors can be
classified as n-type and p-type.
 N-Type Since the impurity atom donates¶ an electron, pentavalent atoms are generally known as Donors¶.
semiconductor Antimony (Sb) is frequently used as a pentavalent additive as it has 51 electrons arranged in 5 shells
around the nucleus. The resulting semiconductor material has an excess of current carrying electrons,
each with a negative charge, and is therefore referred to as N-type¶ material. The electrons are called
Majority Carriers¶ and the resultant holes are known as Minority Carriers¶.

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 ÿ


 


   
    
  







 
 

Nd donor concentration [cmí3]

If Nd <<ni, doping irrelevant
(intrinsic semiconductor) ->no= po = ni

If Nd >> ni, doping controls carrier concentrations

(extrinsic semiconductor) ->
no = Nd po =ni2/Nd
 P-Type If a Trivalent¶ impurity such as Aluminium, Boron or Indium is introduced into the crystal structure of a
semiconductor semiconductor, only three valence electrons are available in the outermost covalent bond, and a fourth
bond cannot be formed. Thus, a complete connection is not possible, giving the semiconductor material an
abundance of positively charged carriers known as holes¶ in the structure of the crystal.

As there is a hole, an adjoining free electron is attracted to it and will try to move into the hole to fill it.
However, the electron filling the hole leaves another hole behind it as it moves. This in turn attracts another
electron which in turn creates another hole behind, and so forth giving the appearance that the holes are
moving as a positive charge through the crystal structure (conventional current flow).

As each impurity atom generates a hole, trivalent impurities are generally known as Acceptors¶ since they
are continually accepting extra electrons. Boron is frequently used as a trivalent additive as it has only 5
electrons arranged in 3 shells around the nucleus. Adding Boron causes conduction to consist mainly of
positive charge carrier and results in a P-type¶ material, where the positive holes are called Majority
Carriers¶ while the free electrons are called Minority Carriers¶.

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 ÿ


 


   
    
  







 
 
Na acceptor concentration [cmí3]
If Na <<ni, doping irrelevant
(intrinsic semiconductor) ->no= po = ni

If Na>> na, doping controls carrier concentrations

(extrinsic semiconductor) ->
po = Na no =ni2/Na
Electrons and Holes

1. Fig shows four electrons in the valence shell of a semiconductor forming covalent bonds to four other
atoms.
2.All electrons of an atom are tied up in four covalent bonds, pairs of shared electrons.
3. Thermal energy may free an electron from the crystal lattice.
4.When the electron was freed, it left an empty spot with a positive charge in the crystal lattice known as a

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 .
5. If an external electric field is applied to the semiconductor, the electrons and holes will conduct in
opposite directions.
6. Increasing temperature will increase the number of electrons and holes, decreasing the resistance.

(Explanation In semiconductors, the problem is mainly of having electrons with enough energy to get into
the conduction band from the valence band of the material, higher the temp, more the energy of the
electrons, more probability of them jumping into conduction band. Hence when temp increases, more
electrons are in conduction band, so more is the flow, which is same as saying resistance is less (Here
mainly resistance is the band gap between the conduction and valence bands)
7.The • 
 is not the same for electrons and holes.

Example of Problem A pure Si crystal has 5 × 1028 atoms m±3. It is doped by 1 ppm concentration of pentavalent. Calculate the
Solving Technique number of electrons and holes, if M
=1.5 × 1016 m±3.

Solution Note that thermally generated electrons (M
Î1016 m±3) are small as compared to those produced by
doping.
Therefore, M
§ 

Since MM
= M 

The number of holes
M
= (2.25 × 1032)/(5 ×1022)
Î 4.5 × 109 m±3

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Test Your Knowledge Question 1: In P type semiconductor electrons are majority carriers?
a. True
b. False.
Answer (b)

Question 2: In an n-type silicon, which of the following statement is true:

(a) Electrons are majority carriers and trivalent atoms are the dopants
(b) Electrons are minority carriers and pentavalent atoms are the dopants
(c) Holes are minority carriers and pentavalent atoms are the dopants
(d) Holes are majority carriers and trivalent atoms are the dopants
Answer (c)

Question 3:The Intrinsic carrier concentration of silicon sample of 300K is 1.5x1016/m3.If after doping, the
number of majority carrier is 5x1020/m3,the minority carrier density is

a.4.50x1011/m3 b.3.33x104/m3 c.5.00x1020/m3 d.3.00x10-5/m3

GATE (ECE 2003)

Question 4:The resistivity of uniform doped n-type silicon sample is 0.5Ÿ-cm.If the electron mobility is (un)is
1250 cm2/V-sec and the charge of electron is 1.6x10-19 C, the donor impurity concentration(ND) is

a.2x1016/cm3 b.1x1016/cm3 c.2.5x1015/cm3 d.2x1015/cm3

GATE (ECE 2004)

Summary In this topic, you have learned:

 Pure semiconductors are called intrinsic semiconductors¶. The presence of charge carriers
(electrons and holes) is an intrinsic¶ property of the material and is an outcome of thermal
excitation. The number of electrons (M) is equal to the number of holes (M
in intrinsic
conductors. Holes are essentially electron vacancies with an effective positive charge
 The number of charge carriers can be changed by doping¶ with a suitable impurity in pure
semiconductors. Such semiconductors are known as extrinsic semiconductors. These are of two
types of semiconductors (n-type and p-type)
 In n-type semiconductors, M
>> M
while in p-type semiconductors M
>> M

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  n-type Si or Ge semiconductor is obtained by doping with pentavalent atoms (donors) like As, Sb or
P while p-type Si or Ge semiconductor can be obtained by doping with trivalent atom (acceptors)
like B, Al or In.
 There are two distinct energy bands (valence band and conduction band) which houses electrons.
Valence band energies are low as compared to conduction band energies. All energy levels in the
valence band are filled while energy levels in the conduction band may be fully empty or partially
filled. Electrons in the conduction band are free to move in a solid and are responsible for
conductivity. The extent of conductivity depends upon the energy gap (3 ) between the top of
valence band (3
 and the bottom of the conduction band 3
 Electrons from valence band can be excited by heat, light or electrical energy to the conduction
band and thus produce a change in the current flowing through in a semiconductor.

 

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 Hall Effect Content

Objectives After completion of this topic, you should be able to:

 Understand the principle of conduction of current in metal by Hall Effect.

Principle of Hall effect  If electric current flows through a conductor in a magnetic field, the magnetic field exerts a transverse
force on the moving charge carriers which tends to push them to one side of the conductor.
 A build-up of charge at the sides of the conductors will balance this magnetic influence, producing a
measurable voltage between the two sides of the conductor.
 It¶s called Hall effect. after E. H. Hall who discovered it in 1879.
 Right hand thumb rule is used for manipulation of force on electrons.
 Equation for hall effect is :-

The Hall effect can be used to measure magnetic field.

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Hall effect for +ve  The hall effect is due to force on moving charge carrier.
charge carrier
 The magnetic force is where the drift velocity of the charge is

 Current measured I in terms of drift velocity(Vd )is

And n is charge density. Force on positive charge carrier is

At equilibrium

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PN Junction Content

Objective After completion of this topic, you should be able to:

 Understand the formation of PN junction.

Introduction to PN The combination of P-Type and N-Type semiconductors forms a diode, allowing current to flow in one
Junction. direction while hindering flow in the other direction.

Formation of PN 1. To understand how a p-n-junction diode works, begin by imagining two separate bits of
Junction semiconductor, one n-type, and the other p-type.

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 2. Next, bring them together and join to make one piece of semiconductor which is doped differently on
either side of the junction.

3. Free electrons on the n-side and free holes on the p-side can initially wander across the junction.
When a free electron meets a free hole it can 'drop into it'. So far as charge movements are
concerned this means the hole and electron cancel each other and vanish.

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 4. As a result, the free electrons and holes near the junction tend to eat each other, producing a region
depleted of any moving charges. This creates what is called the 
M
M


 

 M


M
M
 M
.(size 0.5um)

5. Any free charge which wanders into the depletion zone finds itself in a region with no other free
charges. Locally it sees a lot of positive charges (the donor atoms) on the n-type side and a lot of
negative charges (the acceptor atoms) on the p-type side. These exert a force on the free charge,
driving it back to its 'own side' of the junction away from the depletion zone.

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 6. The acceptor and donor atoms are 'nailed down' in the solid and cannot move around. However, the
negative charge of the acceptor's extra electron and the positive charge of the donor's extra proton
(exposed by it's missing electron) tend to keep the depletion zone swept clean of free charges once
the zone has formed. A free charge now requires some extra energy to overcome the forces from the
donor/acceptor atoms to be able to cross the zone. The junction therefore acts like a barrier, blocking
anycharge flow (current) across the barrier©

(Right side n=ND, Left side p=NA)

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 7. The N type material is named as 
 and P type material is named as M

 
ÿ 

Test Your Knowledge Question: What is the order of size of depletion layer?
a.0.1um
b.9um
c.0.5um
Answer c.
Question:In the depletion region (the white region), which way does the total Electric Field point?
a. From n side to p side.
b. From p side to n side.
c. upwards.
Answer: a.
3 


From the n-side to the p-side, because of the positively charged donor in n-side and
negatively charged acceptor in p-side. From the energy band diagram, E-field points toward higher energy:
Field = 1/q dE/dx.

Follow this pattern for showing biasing.(©

 ©
©©©


 ©

Summary In this topic, you have learned:

 P-N junction is the key¶ to all semiconductor devices. When such a junction is made, a depletion
layer¶ is formed consisting of immobile ion-cores devoid of their electrons or holes. This is
responsible for a junction potential barrier.

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Biasing of Diode Content

Objectives After completion of this topic, you should be able to:

 The biasing of PN junction.

 Practical application of diode.

Forwarding Biasing  While anode is connected to the positive terminal of supply, the cathode is connected to the negative
the PN junction diode. terminal
 Initially there is no current flowing through the diode due to the potential barrier spread across the
two junctions.

 Once the supply voltage is raised across the junction, the carriers in either side are replied due to the
change in the carrier and hence move towards to the junction.

 As the applied voltage increased above the barrier potential , the charge carriers in either side cross
the potentialbarrier and enters to the other region due to the applied voltage.
 The injection of minority carriers results in a current, the current direction is opposite to the direction
of electron movement.

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Reverse Biasing the  The anode is connected to the positive terminal of the supply and the cathode is connected to the
PN Junction Diode. negative terminal of the supply.


 The width of the depletion region is increased with respect to the increase in the applied voltage.
 The increase in the depletion region width results in almost zero current flow across the junction.


 This reverse 

M
M
depends only on the thermal generation of holes and electrons.
 This reverse saturation current is quite small but it increases with increasing temperature.
3 


: The applied reverse bias attracts majority carriers away from the junction. This
increases the thickness of the non conducting depletion region.
(http://jas.eng.buffalo.edu/education/pn/biasedPN/

 Drift Current The transport of the charges under the influence of an electric field (found in metals).

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  Diffusion The field by non-uniform concentration gradient results in diffusion current.
Current The diffusion hole current density
Jp = -qDp dp/dx
Total current is the sum of diffusion current and drift current.

Practical Utility Diodes are used for converting AC current into DC and rectifiers are used to carry out the conversion.

A full-wave rectifier converts the whole of the input waveform to one of constant polarity (positive or
negative) at its output. Full-wave rectification converts both polarities of the input waveform to DC (direct
current), and is moreefficient.

Test Your Knowledge Question 1:The forward characteristic of a diode has a slope of approximately 50mA/V at a desired point.
The approximate incremental resistance of the diode will be

(A) 50Ÿ
(B) 35Ÿ
(C) 20Ÿ
(D) 10Ÿ
The answer is (C).

Resistance at any point in the forward characteristics is given by R= ǻV/ ǻI = 1/50mA = 20Ÿ

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 Question 2:Thegraph for the idol diode will be like:

A) B)
Answer B.

Question 3:A silicon PN junction at temperature of 20oC has reverse saturation current of 10 Pico Amperes
(pA), the reverse saturation current at 40oC for the same reverse bias is :-

a.30pA b.40pa c.50pA d.60pA

Answer b.
GATE ECE 2005
Reason: Reverse saturation current doubles for every 10oC rise in temperature.

Summary  By changing the external applied voltage, junction barriers can be changed. In forward bias (n-side is
connected to negative terminal of the
battery and p-side is connected to the positive), the barrier is decreased while the barrier increases in
reverse bias. Hence, forward bias current is more (mA) while it is very small (uA) in a p-n junction
diode.
 Current is due to two distinct phenomena:
a. Drift current.
b. Diffusion current.







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Diode Breakdown Content

Objective After completion of this topic, you should be able to:

 Understand the various breakdown in diode.

Avalanche As the magnitude of the reverse bias voltage increased, the reverse bias field is so strong that thermally
Breakdown generated electrons (or holes) acquire sufficient kinetic energy to ionize atoms within the crystal structure.

These in turn ionize other atoms leading to a large current ± a condition known as avalanche breakdown¶.
This breakdown voltage is 500V for germanium and 1kV for silicon.


Zener Breakdown Zener breakdown occurs in the heavily doped p-n junction diode known as the zener diode. High doping
results in a narrow depletion region width with an increase in potential barrier voltage. A slight increase in the
reverse bias voltage will cause the diode to breakdown with the effect of increased potential barrier voltage.

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Practical Utility Avalanche Breakdown effect is mainly used to construct over voltage protection circuits and voltage
reference circuits.
The constant dc supply is utilized in DC-DC converter for Zener Breakdown.

Test Your Knowledge Q. The depletion region is affected in which type of breakdown:-
a. Avalanche Breakdown b. Zener Breakdown.
Answer b.

Q. What is the difference between Avalanche breakdown and Zener Breakdown?

Write it by yourself.

Summary In this topic, you have learned:

 Ionization of atoms within the crystal structure leads to Avalanche Breakdown.

 High doping results in a narrow depletion region width with an increase in potential barrier
voltage and slight increase causes Zener breakdown.

 

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Diode Current Content
Component
Objectives After completion of this topic, you should be able to:

 Follow the relation between current and field region with the depletion region.
 Importance of Junction Capacitance.

Diode Current Boundary conditions on electron and hole densities are

Component


This relation gives the concentration of electrons and hole at the edge of p and n respectively.

 Here, NA is the acceptor ion concentration and ND is donor ion concentration.

 On moving from P type to N type through the depletion layer concentration of acceptor (Blue) is
decreasing while donor (Red) is increasing.
 The total diode current is

I = I0 el



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 Where I is diode current,
A ,area
q, charge
L, diffusion length.
Dp, Diffusion constant for holes.
Vt, volt equivalent of temperature. (Defined by: T/11,600)
V applied bias voltage.
Ǿ=constant to Ge=1,Si=2.

Step 1:When the diode is forward biased, the applied voltage is large compared to VT and
el

>> 1, therefore in equation 2.1 can written as,
I = I0 el

 (Represent for forward bias, trace the graph)

Step 2: When the diode is reverse biased, the applied voltage is negative and is small compared to VT,
so e<< 1, therefore, exponential term can be neglected.
Then,
I § - I0
 At reverse bias I flow independent of applied V.
 Reverse V beyond certain limit brake down, I increased tremendously.
 The reverse I double with every 10o C rise in temperature.

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Junction Capacitance

Example A Silicon PN junction diode under reverse bias has depletion region of width 10um.The relative permittivity of
silicon, İr=11.7 and the permittivity of free space İo=8.85x10-12 F/m. The depletion capacitance of diode per
square meter is :

Solution Capacitance of the junction is defined by the following formula:

C=İoİr/t

C=11.7x8.85x10-12
10x10-6

So, Capacitance=10.35uF

Test Your Knowledge Question: In an abrupt PN junction , the doping concentration on the n-side and p-side are NA=9x1016 cm3
and ND=1x1016 cm3 respectively .The p-n junction is reverse bias and total depletion width is 3um.The
depletion width of the p side is:-
a.2.7um b.0.3um c.2.25um d.0.75um
Answer:-
Gate ECE 2004.

Summary  P-N junction is the key¶ to all semiconductor devices. When such a junction is made, a depletion
layer¶ is formed consisting of immobile ion-cores devoid of their electrons or holes. This is responsible
for a junction potential barrier.

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Switching Content
Characteristics of PN
Junction Diode

Objective After completion of this topic, you should be able to:

 Follow the switching characteristics of the diode.

 Application of switching circuit.

Introduction to The effect of sudden change of biasing voltage is studied in switching characteristics.
Switching in diode 1. The times taken to reach again in steady state are called recovery time.
2. Two types of recovery time are:
i) Forward recovery time (tfr)
ii) Reverse recovery time (trr)








Step 1: Charge carrier in P type is linear initially.

Step2: Sudden change of biasing voltage for diode.
Step 3: Intially the reverse current Ir = If.
Step 4: Show the cross section of diode, with injecting excess minority carrier at P side (n-n0).
Step 5: Show the graph of reverse current versus voltage.

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Recovery time
c c 
 
  





Equation when forward bias:

Step 1:I§ VF/RL= IF(Assuming drop across RL is large compared to diode)

On sudden change of voltage biasing.
I§ VR/RL= IR at t1.

Step 2: At t2 current is zero.

The time interval from t1 to t2 is storage time (ts.)

The time from t2 to t3 is called transition time (tt)

Equation for reverse recovery time(trr) is:

trr=ts+tt
Range of trr: 1ns to 1us

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Method to reduce trr Step 1: Show the P region and shorten its length.
Step2: Introduce do pant into it such as gold by diffusion.
Application of Implementation of switching for diode are used both for digital purposes (e.g. for the logical link of signals) as
Switching circuit Test well as for analog applications (e.g. as a demodulator, as sensors, in high-precision rectifier circuits, and so
Your Knowledge on.) Provide a logical signal for diode showing AND GATE.

Test Your Knowledge

Summary

Summary The recovery is completed

 When the minority carriers have diffused to the junction and crossed it, and
 When the transition capacitance CT of the junction across the reverse ± biased junction has got
charged through RL.

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Zener Diode Content

Objective After completion of this topic, you should be able to:

 Understand the Zener diode and its functioning

 Zener regulator for regulation of the diode characteristics
.
Introduction to Zener  It¶s a specialtype of diode.
diode  Doping level higher then normal diode.
 Thin depletion region with higher potential barrier.

 Forward bias property same as normal diode.

 In reverse bias function when voltage more then breakdown voltage.
 Named after Clarence Zener, who discovered this electrical property.
 The Zener breakdown will occur with the effect of increased potential barrier voltage after reversed
biased.
Zener Regulator

 The regulation of voltage by Zener diode is utilized in providing constant output voltage.

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  The maximum voltage will be the Zener breakdown voltage.(only zero or breakdown voltage)

 The current through Zener will change to keep the voltage within the limits of Zener
breakdown voltage.
 Maximum power will be dissipated

Example If the Zener diode's voltage is 12.6 volts and the power supply's voltage is 45 volts, there will be 32.4 volts
dropped across the resistor (45 volts - 12.6 volts = 32.4 volts). 32.4 volts dropped across 1000 ȍ gives 32.4
mA of current in the circuit.

[



 

[
 

 


Power is calculated by multiplying current by voltage (P=IV), so we can calculate power dissipations for both
the resistor and the Zener diode quite easily:




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Example A 5.0V stabilized power supply is required from a 12v d.c. input source. The maximum power rating of the

Zener diode is 2W. Using the circuit above calculate:

a) The maximum current flowing in the Zener Diode.

b) The value of the series resistor, RS

c) The load current IL if a load resistor of 1kȍ is connected across the Zener diode.

d) The total supply current IS

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Test Your Knowledge Question 1:In the voltage regulator shown below, if the current through the load decreases,

(A) The current through R1 will increase.

(B) The current through R1 will decrease.

(C) Zener diode current will increase.

(D) Zener diode current will decrease.

Ans. (C) Zener diode current will increase.

Reason: Resistor value (ohms) = {(V1 - V2) / (Zener current + Load current)}(V1 is source voltage,V2
is Zener voltage)

Question 2:Estimate the maximum positive voltage produced by the following arrangement.

(A) 4.7
(B) 5.7
(C) 7.7
(D) 6.7
The answer is (B).

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Summary  Zener diode is one such special purpose diode. In reverse bias, after a certain voltage, the current
suddenly increases (breakdown voltage) in a Zener diode. This property has been used to obtain
^
 
 
M.

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Varactor Diode Content

Objective After completion of this topic, you should be able to:

 Provide the knowledge and functioning of Varactor diode.

Functioning of Diode  Known as Voltage variable Capacitance

 If applied reverse bias voltage varies, the internal junction capacitance also varies.
 Always operated in reverse bias mode.
 Heavily doped to maximize the depletion layer area.

ÿ  
 
ÿ   c
   



 ©

      
 



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Test your knowledge Question: The width of depletion region will be:
a. Increase with increase in voltage.
b. Decrease with increase in voltage.
c. No effect.
Answer a.
Let us understand why this happens.
Capacitance decreases with increase in voltage and W is inversely proportional to C.

Question:Which type of special-purpose diode has the characteristics of a voltage-controlled capacitor?

a. A Schottky diode.
b. A zener diode.
c. A varactor diode.
d. A photodiode
Ans C.

Summary As reverse bias voltage varies, the internal junction capacitance of the diode also varies. This type of diodes
is always operated in reverse bias condition and having the doping to maximize the inherent capacitance of
the depletion region.





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Schottky Diode Content

Objective After completion of this topic, you should be able to:

 Understand the functioning of the diode.

 Implementation of the diode.

Introduction of Diode

The Schottky diode is designed for low forward voltage with very fast switching action, the name Schottky
diode named after German physicist Walter H. Schottky; also known as hot carrier diode.

Principle of Schottky When current flowing through the normal avalanche diode, It has some internal resistance to that current
Diode flow, which causes a voltage drop across it, it has measured in the range 0.7-0.17 v , the Schottky diode is
used to reduce the voltage drop to around 0.15 - 0.35v with the improved switching speed.

 Schottky diode is a metal-semiconductor (MS) diode

 Historically, Schottky diodes are the oldest diodes

 MS diode electrostatics and the general shape of the MS diode I-V characteristics are similar to p+n
diodes, but the details of current flow are different.

 Dominant currents in a p+n diode

p Arise from recombination in the depletion layer under small forward bias.
p Arise from hole injection from p+ side under larger forward bias.

 Dominant currents in a MS Schottky diodes

p Electron injection from the semiconductor to the metal

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 !  

 





 

u
À  À






 


è 
u


 s  e 1 here  s
ÿ * 2
e è

 

where
B = Schottky barrier height,

A = applied voltage,
 is area,
and  is Richardson¶s constant.

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Test Your knowledge Which type of special-purpose diode is formed by a junction between a layer of metal and a layer of
semiconductor?
(A) Zener Diode
(B) Varactor Diode
(C) Schottky Diode
(D) Tunnel Diode
The answer is (C)

Summary  Implemented in switching function due to high frequency action.

 It is metal-semiconductor diode.
 Injection of electrons takes place in Schottky diode.

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 Photodiode Content

Objective After completion of this topic, you should be able to:

 Understand the interfacing of diode with photons.

 Application of photodiode in non-conventional source of energy.

Introduction to The Photo Diode is also known as a Photo Detector and has the following characteristics:
photodiode
 Converts light energy into current or voltage
 When a light source with sufficient photon energy strikes the diode, it excites
an electron, thereby creating a mobile electron and a positively charged electron hole
 If absorption occurs in the junction's depletion region, or one diffusion length away from it, these
carriers are swept away from the junction by the built-in field of the depletion region
 Thus, the holes move towards the anode, and electrons toward the cathode, producing photocurrent

Note that the p-n interface induces an electric field across the junction. When particles of light or 'photons'
are absorbed by the semiconductor, they transfer their energy to some of the semiconductor's electrons,
which then move within the material.

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Application of
photodiode

Explanation:The p-n interface induces an electric field across the junction. When particles of light
('photons') are absorbed by the semiconductor, they transfer their energy to some of the
semiconductor's electrons, which are then able to move about through the material. For each such
negatively charged electron, a corresponding mobile positive charge, called a 'hole', is created. In an
ordinary semiconductor, these electrons and holes recombine after a short time and their energy is
wasted as heat.By connecting the device to an external circuit, the electrons are able to flow - and
this flow of electrons is what we call electricity.
Test Your Knowledge Question: All the photons striking the material is capable of generating current:
a. True
b. False
Because few photons might not have energy to excite electrons.
Summary  p-n junctions have also been used to obtain many photonic or optoelectronic devices where one of the
participating entity is photon¶:
 (a) Photodiodes in which photon excitation results in a change of reverse saturation current which
helps us to measure light intensity;
(b) Solar cells which convert photon energy into electricity;
(c) Light Emitting Diode and Diode Laser in which electron excitation by a bias voltage results in the
generation of light.

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 Tunnel Diode Content

Objective After completion of this topic, you should be able to:

 Workout the principle and function of tunnel diode

Introduction to Tunnel A tunnel diode or Esaki diode is a type of semiconductor diode which is capable of very fast operation.
diode
Conduction takes place when the p±n junction is forward biased and blocks current flow when the junction is
reverse biased. This occurs up to a point known as the reverse breakdown voltage¶ when conduction begins
(often accompanied by destruction of the device)

These diodes have a heavily doped p-n junction only some 10 nm (100 Å) wide. The heavy doping results in
a broken bandgap, where conduction band electron states on the n-side are more or less aligned with
valence band hole states on the p-side.

Principle behind As voltage increases further these states become more misaligned and the current drops. This is called
Tunnel Diode negative resistance¶ since the current decreases with increasing voltage

As the voltage increases further, the diode begins to operate as a normal diode

Practical tunnel diodes operate at a few mill amperes and a few tenths of a volt, making them low-power
devices.

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 When used in the reverse direction they are called back diodes and can act as fast rectifiers with zero offset
voltage and extreme linearity for power signals (they have an accurate square law characteristic in the
reverse direction). `
Practical Utility The property of negative resistance makes Tunnel Diodes ideal for use in high radiation environments, such
as those found in space applications.

The tunnel diode showed great promise as an oscillator and high-frequency threshold (trigger) device since it
would operate at frequencies far greater than the tetrode would, well into the microwave bands. Applications
for tunnel diodes included local oscillators for UHF television tuners, trigger circuits in oscilloscopes, high
speed counter circuits, and very fast-rise time pulse generator circuits.
Test Your Knowledge The characteristic of tunnel also follow some other diode, which is :-
a. Varactor diode.
b. Zener diode.
c. Photodiode
d. None of these
Answer: - b.

Let us see why?

Under reverse bias filled states on the p-side become increasingly aligned with empty states on the n-side
and electrons now tunnel through the pn junction barrier in reverse direction ² this is the Zener effect that
also occurs in Zener diodes.

Summary  The tunnel diode is used in switching circuit.

 It is a low power device.
 Property of negative resistance at certain voltage.
 Great application in space and as oscillator.

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 Transistors Content

Chapter Objective After completing this chapter, you will be able to understand:
Transistor structure.
 Basic of Transistor Operation
 Transistor Characteristics and Parameters
 Transistor as a switch and an amplifier
 Transistor Bias Circuit
 Voltage Divider Bias Circuits
 Base Bias Circuits
 Emitter Bias Circuits
 Collector Feedback Bias Circuits
 DC Load Line
 AC Load Line
 Bias Stabilization
 Thermal Runaway and Thermal Stability

Introduction to Topic A transistor is a three layer semiconductor device consisting of two n layers and one p layer of material,
referred to as a npn transistor. If the transistor contains two p layers and one n layer, what you have is a pnp
transistor.

Let us now look at a bipolar junction transistor or BJT. The term bipolar implies that both electrons and holes
participate in the injection process of the oppositely polarized material.

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Construction of BJT

A Transistor has basically three layers of doped semiconductor ± referred to as - emitter, base and collector.
Let us look at these layers in an npn transistor.
Detailed Description Emitter:
of layers
 Most heavily doped among the three layers
 Supplies charge from one region to other region, hence known as emitter
 Always forward biased with respect to base, to supply large number of majority carriers
 Width wider than base but smaller than collector

Base:
 Thinnest and most lightly doped among the three layers
 Is at the middle region and forms two junctions
 Forward biasing of base emitter provides high resistance to collector circuit

Collector:
 Doping is less than emitter and more than base
 Region situated on other side to collect charge carrier
 Always reverse biased
 Function is to remove charges from its junction with the base

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Test your knowledge Question: Transistor is:
(A) Current controlled current device.
(B) Current controlled voltage device.
(C) Voltage controlled current device.
(D) Voltage controlled voltage device.
Ans: A

Question: In the npn transistor, which is the thinnest section?

(A) Emitter
(B) Base
(C) Collector
The Answer is B.

Question: For transistor action, which of the following statements are correct:
(a) Base, emitter and collector regions should have similar size and
doping concentrations.
(b) The base region must be very thin and lightly doped.
(c) The emitter junction is forward biased and collector junction is
reverse biased.
(d) Both the emitter junction as well as the collector junction are
forward biased.
Ans b,c

Question: What is the most important function of a transistor?

(A) Amplify weak signals
(B) Rectify line voltage
(C) Regulate voltage
(D) Emit light
The answer is (A).

Question: The base-emitter voltage of an ideal transistor is

a. 0
b. 0.3 V
c. 0.7 V
d. 1 V
Ans a

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 Question: In an npn transistor, the majority carriers in the base are
(A) Free electrons
(B) Holes
(C) Neither
(D) Both
The answer is (B).

Summary  Transistor is an n-p-n or p-n-p junction device. The central block

(thin and lightly doped) is called Base¶ while the other electrodes are
Emitter¶ and Collectors¶. The emitter-base junction is forward biased
while collector-base junction is reverse biased.

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 Biasing of BJT Content

Objective After completing this chapter, you will be able to understand:

Biasing is a process where the transistor terminals are connected to the DC voltage source for proper
transistor action. Proper DC biasing prepares the transistor to work in different modes.

Different Types of
Modes

Active mode:

 Emitter junction is forward biased.

 Collector junction is reverse
 Collector current depends upon the emitter current
 Transistor is operated in this region for amplification

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 Saturation mode:
 Emitter junction and collector junction are forward biased
 Collector current independent of base
 Transistor acts like a closed switch

Cut-off mode:

 Both emitter junction and collector junction are reverse biased

 Emitter does not emit carriers into the base
 No carriers are collected by the collector
 Transistor acts like an open switch

Inverted mode:
 Emitter junction is reverse biased
 Collector junction is forward biased

Test your Knowledge Question: For a silicon n-p-n transistor the base to emitter voltage(VBE) is 0.7V and the collector to base
voltage is (VCB) is 0.2V,then the transistor is operating in:
a. Active mode b. Saturation mode c. Inverted mode. d.Cut-off mode
Answer
Gate ECE 2004

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 Question: An active mode transistor acts as:

(A) Open switch

(B) Closed switch
(C) Amplifier

The Answer is C (The output current depends on the input current).

Summary  When the transistor is used in the cutoff or saturation state, it acts as
a switch.
Sl.No. Mode Emitter-Base Collector- Remarks
junction Base junction
1 Forward Active Forward bias Reverse bias Amplification mode
2 Forward Saturation Forward bias Forward bias Switch on mode
VBE>VCB
3 Cut-off Reverse bias Reverse bias Switch off mode
4 Reverse Active or Reverse bias Forward bias Generally not used
Inverted Mode
5 Reverse Saturation Forward bias Forward bias Switch with long turn off
time and VBE < VCB

For quick refernce.

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Basic Transistor Content
Operation

Objective After this topic you will understand ;

The working principle of BJT

Various configurations of BJT and its functioning.

Working Principle of In NPN transistor emitter base junction is forward biased and base collector junction is reverse biased as
BJT shown in figure.

 The forward bias causes electrons in the n-type emitter to flow towards the base and constitutes the
emitter current IE
 In a p-type base, these electrons combine with the holes
 Only few electrons (less than 5%) combine with holes to constitute the base current IB
 The remaining electrons (more than 95%) move towards the collector region to constitute the
collector current IC

IE = IB + IC (Net current is base current and collector current)

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Transistor There are three types of Transistor Configurations. They are:
Configuration  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
1.Common Base
Configuration

 Input is applied between emitter and base

 Output is measured between collector and base
 Base terminal is common for both output and input terminals

Input Characteristics:
 Small change in the input voltage rapidly increases the input current (emitter current)
 Input resistance is very small
 Emitter is independent of input CB voltage
 Input resistance is represented as ri =VEB / IE at constant VCB

Output Characteristics:
 The output current (collector current) varies with output voltage (collector-base voltage) only at low
voltages

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  When collector base voltage is greater than 1V, then collector current becomes constant
 A very large change in collector±base voltage results in a small change in collector current. Hence
output resistance is very high
 The output resistance is given by: ro = ¨VCB / ¨IC at constant IE
Current Gain (Į) Current gain or current amplification factor is the ratio of output current Ic to input current IE.

Į = IC / IE (assuming zero leakage current from collector junction)

Value of Į is less than 1. Practical value of Į lies in the range from 0.9 to 0.99

Early effect When VCB is increased in reverse bias, the depletion width in base region will increase with a decrease in the
effective base width. This modulation in effective base width with change in VCB is called early effect. The
decrease in effective base width has three consequences:

 There is a less chance of recombination in the base, therefore Į increases with VCB
 Concentration gradient of minority carrier in base increases when VCB is increased
 Emitter current IE will also increase with VCB

Punch Through If voltage is continuously increased in reverse bias, after some time the effective base width becomes zero,
leading to breakdown of the transistor. This phenomenon is called Reach through or Punch through.

2. Common Emitter In a Common Emitter, input is applied between base and emitter, while output is taken from the collector and
emitter.
Hence, the emitter is common between input (base) and output (collector) terminals.

Current Gain(ȕ) :
Current gain or current amplification factor is the ratio of output current IC to input current IB.
Current gain(ȕdc) = IC / IB
Value of ȕdc lies between 20 and 500

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 The relation between Į and ȕ is given as: Į = ȕ / (ȕ+1)

In CE configuration, a small collector current flows even when the base current is zero. This is called
collector cut-off current and is denoted by ICEO.

The value of IC is much greater than base current. The collector current is represented as:
IC = ȕIB + ICEO = ȕ(IE - IC ) + ICEO [IE = IC + IB ]
IC = (ȕ+1)IE + ICEO
ICEO = ICBO / (1- Į) = (ȕ+1)ICBO

Input Characteristics:
The input current (base current) increases less rapidly with input voltage (emitter base voltage) as compared
to CB arrangement .Therefore input resistance is higher than CB configuration and the characteristics
resemble the forward biased diode curve. Input resistance is represented as ri =VEB / IB at constant VCE

Output Characteristics:

Output Characteristics Curves for a Typical Bipolar Transistor:

The output current (collector current) varies with output voltage (collector-emitter voltage) only at low
voltages.

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 When the collector emitter voltage is greater than 1v, the collector current becomes constant.

The transistor is always operated in the region above knee voltage. Above knee voltage, the collector current
is approximately given by IC = ȕIB and the output resistance is given by ro = ¨VCE / ¨IC at constant IB
3.Common Collector Input is applied between base and collector
Output is taken across the emitter and collector
Hence, collector is common between input (base) and output (emitter) terminals

Current Gain(Ȗ) :
Current gain or current amplification factor is the ratio of output current IE to input current IB.
Ȗ = IE / IB relation between Ȗ and Į is given by: Ȗ = 1/(1- Į)

The collector current is given by :

IC = (ȕ+1)IB + (ȕ+1)ICBO [IE = IC + IB ]
And ICEO = ICBO / (1- Į) = (ȕ+1)ICBO

Test Your Question: The lowest output impedance is obtained in case of BJT amplifiers for:
Knowledge
(A) CB configuration
(B) CE configuration
(C) CC configuration
(D) CE with RE configuration

The Answer is C, since the order of output impedance is a few ohms.

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 Question: A BJT with Į equal to 0.8 has ȕ equal to:
(A) 0.2
(B) 1
(C) 4
(D) 5
(E) The information provided is insufficient to compute ȕ
The answer is C.

Question: For normal operation of the transistor, the collector diode has to be
(A) Forward-biased
(B) Reverse-biased
(C) Non-conducting
(D) Operating in the breakdown region
The answer is (B).

Question: The current gain of a transistor is the ratio of the

(A) Collector current to emitter current
(B) Collector current to base current
(C) Base current to collector current
(D) Emitter current to collector current
The answer is (B).

Question: For npn transistor ,VBE is 0.7V,reverse saturation current at room temperature is 10-13A the
emitter current is :
a)30mA b.39mA c.49mA d.20mA
Answer C
GATE ECE 2005
Summary  The transistors can be connected in such a manner that either C or E or B is common to both the
input and output. This gives the three configurations in which a transistor is used: Common Emitter
(CE), Common Collector (CC) and Common Base (CB). The plot between IC
and VCE
for fixed IB
is
called output characteristics while the plot between IB
and VBE
with fixed VCE
are called input
characteristics.
 The three types of configuration followed by transistor are - Common Base Configuration, Common
Emitter Configuration and Common Collector Configuration

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DC Analysis Content

Objective The main objective of biasing is to keep the base-emitter junction properly forward biased and the collector-
base junction properly reverse biased, during the application of the signal.

Analysis The circuit which provides transistor biasing is known as biasing circuit. DC voltage is applied to the
transistor in different biasing arrangements to establish the operating point ICQ,VCEQ

 The operating point ù can be anywhere on the load line that is intersected by a collector
characteristic
 Ñ
determination allows one to verify if the initial assumption of active bias is correct
 The two extreme possible operating points ù
and ù
 show how the transistor can act as a switch

Transistor as a The two extreme possible operating points ù

and ù
 show how the transistor can act as a Ã
.
Switch
The operating point ù
corresponds to the maximum value of . As  increases from zero, the voltage drop
across  increases, and so
3 must decrease until the BE junction becomes forward biased and the
transistor saturates. The saturation value of
3 is denoted
3(
) and is typically 0.2 V. The saturation value
of the collector current is

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 In order to achieve saturation,
 must be large enough to ensure that  is greater than

which means that
 must satisfy

In saturation mode, the transistor is on, allowing maximum current to flow.

At the other extreme, ù
 the transistor is cutoff. This requires 
= 0, and hence 
= 0.
The cutoff value of
3 is

3(
) =
 In this mode the transistor is off. With the simple model this requires

In the graph, the pink shaded area at the bottom represents the Cut-off¶ region.

In this region, the operating conditions of the transistor are - zero input base current (Ib), zero output
collector current (Ic)and maximum collector voltage(Vce) This results in a large depletion layer and no

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 current flows through the device. The transistor is switched Fully-OFF¶. Both junctions are Reverse-
biased.

The lighter blue area to the left represents the Saturation¶ region. Here, the transistor is biased so that the
maximum amount of base current is applied, resulting in maximum collector current flow and minimum
collector emitter voltage. This results in the depletion layer being as small as possible and maximum
current flows through the device. The transistor is switched Fully-ON¶. Both junctions are Forward-biased.
Test Your Knowledge

Summary  Studied the DC load line analysis.

 Transistor acting as a switch.
 Curve analysis for various region and its functioning.

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Transistor as an Content
Amplifier

Objective To make you understand the AC analysis and amplification characteristics of transisitor.

Working Principle When the DC operating point ù is in the active region, the transistor can act as an amplifier to AC signals.
For this, ù should be set midway between ù
and ù
 to enable maximum possible voltage excursions.

The equivalent model of the circuit is

Step 1: Apply KVL around the left loop

Step 2: On solving this equation, we get

Step 3: Apply KVL in the right loop,

^ = -   ,

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 Step 4:On combining these equations, we get

Step 5:Input voltage amplified at the output by gain factor

-ve sign indicates inversion of the input voltage. It is an inverting amplifier.

Operation of amplifier on load line:

When ^ M= 0 the transistor is at the DC operating point ù
As ^ M increases, the operating point moves up and to the left along the load line
When ^ M decreases it moves down and to the right
Clipping of the waveform will occur if the operating point reaches either of the extremes ù
or ù


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Practical Utility Used in voltage gain circuits.

Test Your Knowledge

Summary  The transistor can act as an amplifier to AC signals.

 ù should be set midway between ù
and ù
 to enable maximum possible voltage
excursions

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Different Types of Content
Transistor Biasing
Objective After this topic you will understand ,

Various types of biasing for functioning of transistor.

Circuital examples and problems.

The different types of transistor biasing :

(i) Fixed Bias

(ii) Emitter Bias
(iii) Voltage Divider Bias
(iv) Voltage Feedback Bias

1. Base Biased
Circuit.

DC biasing can be achieved as follows:

 Start with the E-B junction loop, if the junction is reverse biased the transistor is either cut-off or
inverse active (most likely cut-off)
 If the E-B junction is forward biased assume its voltage drop= 0.7V and using KVL, calculate IB (or
IE). You may need to use Venin¶s theorem to reduce the circuit
 Assume the transistor to be active and calculate IC from the relation IC=ȕIB or IC=ĮIE. You may
need to use this formula in step 2
 From the output loop and using KVL, calculate VCE for NPN (or VEC for PNP)

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  Check for your assumption by comparing VCE to VCEsat!0.2V for NPN (or VEC to VECsat!0.2V for
PNP)
 If your assumption is invalid the transistor will be in saturation, repeat by assuming VCE=VCE sat
(Don¶t assume any currents)
 Check for saturation is ȕ forced=IC sat/IB<ȕ

Example for Base For given values, the base resistance will be calculated from the above equations.
Biased

What is the emitter current with a 910kȍ resistor?

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2.Collector Feedback Variations in bias due to temperature and beta may be reduced by moving the VBB end of the base-bias
Bias resistor to the collector as depicted in the illustration.

If the emitter current were to increase (IE), the voltage drop across RC increases, decreasing the VC, and
decreasing IB is fed back to the base. This decreases the emitter current, rectifying the original increase.

Next, write a KVL equation about the loop containing the battery, RC , RB and the VBE drop.
Substitute IC!IE and IB!IE/ȕ
Solving for IE yields the IE CFB-bias equation
Solving for IB yields the IB CFB-bias equation

Example for Collector Find the required collector feedback bias resistor for an emitter current of 1 mA, a 4.7K collector load
Feedback Bias resistor, and a transistor with ȕ=100. Find the collector voltage VC. It should be approximately midway
between VCC and ground.

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 Find the emitter current IE with a 470 K resistor. Recalculate the emitter current for a transistor with ȕ=100
and ȕ=300.

This demonstrates the fact that as beta changes from 100 to 300, the emitter current increases from
0.989mA to 1.48mA. This is an improvement over the previous base-bias circuit which had an increase from
1.02mA to 3.07mA. Collector feedback bias is twice as stable as base-bias with respect to beta variation.

 Inserting a resistor RE in the emitter circuit as indicated in the illustration causes degeneration, also
3. Emitter Bias known as negative feedback
 The IE current changes due to temperature, tolerance and beta variation
 The polarity of the voltage drop across RE is due to the collector battery VCC
 The (-) end of RE is connected via VBB battery and RB to the base
 Increase in current flow through RE will increase the magnitude of negative voltage applied to the
base circuit, decreasing the base current and decreasing the emitter current
 This decreasing emitter current partially compensates the original increase

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 Solving Circuits:
 Write the KVL equation for the loop through the base-emitter circuit, paying attention to the polarities
on the components
 Substitute IB8 IE/ȕ and solve for emitter current IE
 This equation can be solved for RB
 Before applying the equations: RB emitter-bias and IE emitter-bias, we need to choose values for RC
and RE
 RC is related to the collector supply VCC and the desired collector current IC which we assume is
approximately the emitter current IE
 Normally the bias point for VC is set to half of VCC. Though, it could be set higher to compensate for
the voltage drop across the emitter resistor RE
 The collector current(IC) is whatever we require or choose(uA-miliA) so 1mA
 Calculate a value for RC and choose a close standard value. An emitter resistor which is 10-50% of
the collector load resistor usually works well

Example for Emitter VBB = VCC = 10V. Determine the required value of base-bias resistor RB. Choose a standard value resistor.

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Bias Calculate the emitter current (IE) for ȕ=100 and ȕ=300

An 883k resistor was calculated for RB, an 870k chosen. At ȕ=100, IE is 1.01mA

Internal Emitter Internal emitter resistance refers to the resistance in the emitter circuit contained within the transistor
Resistance package. This internal resistance REE is significant when the (external) emitter resistor RE is small, or even
zero. The value of the internal resistance RE is a function of emitter current IE

Derivation of REE:- REE = KT/IEm where

K=1.38×10-23 watt-sec/oC, Boltzman's constant

T= temperature in Kelvins !300.
IE = emitter current

m = varies from 1 to 2 for Silicon

REE ! 0.026V/IE = 26mV/IE

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4.Voltage divider
 Stable emitter bias requires a low voltage base bias supply.
bias
 The alternative to a base supply VBB is a voltage divider based on the collector supply VCC.
 The voltage is calculated by using Thevenin's Theorem
Note to EDC: First put emitter bias.
After describing emitter show the second circuit as voltage divider circuit..


 
 ^ 








^
 
 ^ 

Draw the voltage divider without assigning values.

Break the divider loose from the base. (The base of the transistor is the load.)

Apply Thevenin's Theorem to yield a single Thevenin equivalent resistance Rth and voltage source Vth.

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 a) b) c)

Calculation of Vth and Rth:

Step 1: The Thevenin equivalent resistance is the resistance from load point (arrow) with the battery
(VCC) reduced to 0 (ground) R1||R2.

Step 2: The Thevenin equivalent voltage is the open circuit voltage (load removed).

Step 3: This calculation is by the voltage divider ratio method.

Step 4:R1 is obtained by eliminating R2 from the pair of equations for Rth and Vth.

Step 5: The equation of R1 is in terms of known quantities Rth, Vth, Vcc. Note that Rth is RB , the bias
resistor from the emitter-bias design.

Step6: The equation for R2 is in terms of R1 and Rth.

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Example for Voltage
Divider

Emitter-bias example converted to voltage divider bias

These values were previously selected or calculated for an emitter-bias example.

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 Substituting VCC, VBB, RB yields R1 and R2 for the voltage divider bias configuration.

Test Your Knowledge Question: Calculate REE and RB when

IC=IE=1mA ,Vcc=10V, VB=2V, RE=470Ÿ, ȕ=100

(A) REE=26 Ÿ ,RB=100k Ÿ

(B) REE=26 Ÿ ,RB=80.4k Ÿ

(C) REE=120 Ÿ,RB=70.4k Ÿ

The answer is B.

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Summary  Transistor Biasing circuit are - Base Bias, Voltage Feedback, Emitter Bias and Voltage Divider

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Load Line Analysis Content

Objective After this topic you will understand,

 The output characteristics determined experimentally and indicate the relation between Vce
and Ic.
 The relation is a straight line.

DC load line It is the line on the output characteristics of a transistor circuit which gives the values of Ic and VCE
corresponding to zero signal or d.c. conditions.

An important part of amplifier design is setting the DC bias point ù. In this section we look at a general bias
network,

Step 1: Applying KVL to the left loop gives

 =   +
3 + 3 3 .

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 Step 2: Now since we can eliminate 3 and solve for :

Step 3: The right hand loop gives, using KVL,

 =   +
3 + 3 3 .

Step 4 : Now if is close to 1, we assume , and so eliminating 3 and solving for  we get

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 Step 5: The value of Vce will be maximum when Ic=0. Therefore, by putting Ic=0 in exp. (i),we get,
Max. VCE=VCC
This locates the first point VCE=VCC of the d.c.load line along X-axis.

(b) The value of Ic will be maximum when Vce=0.

VCE= VCC - IC (Rc+RE)
0 = VCC - IC (Rc+RE)
IC = Vcc/(Rc+RE)

AC Load Line This is the line on the output characteristics of a transistor circuit which gives the values of Ic and Vce when
signal is applied.

*   AC equivalent circuit for the circuit of neglecting 

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 Equation describes the
ÿ 
, shown in Figure, since it says

this has slope -1/RC.

the DC load line has slope -1/(3+).

Example

Test your Knowledge

Summary The analysis so far has considered an unconnected or open-circuit amplifier. We now add in the load
resistance  and see what effect this has. Remember that  models the load that is driven by the amplifier.

The load resistor  has no effect on the DC bias because of the capacitor , however it does effect the
AC signal path and should be added in parallel to . In fact we define

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Bias Stabilization Content

Objective After this topic you will understand,

The factors which contribute to instability of transistor.

How to compensate it.
Enhancing the performance of transistor.

Introduction to Bias  Factors, which contribute instability in the transistor like, reverse saturation current (Ico), base
stabilization emitter voltage (VBE),DC current gain (b),collector ± emitter voltage (Vce),Dc bias voltage supply
(Vcc) etc.
 The reverse saturation current (Ico),base ±emitter voltage (VBE) and DC current gain (ȕ) are most
important.
 The reverse saturation current doubles for every 10˸C rise in temperature.
 The base emitter voltage decreases at the rate of -2.5mV/˸C, as temperature increases.

Analysis

Let us consider a self-bias circuit, the current relation of a transistor is given by

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 The relation between base current,reverse saturation current and collector current is given by,

««.1

Apply Kirchhoff¶s voltage law to the input loop, we get

««.2
Substitute equation 1 in 2 we get,

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Stability Factors The stability factor S can be defined as the ratio of change in collector current to the change in reverse
saturation current, keeping VBE and ȕ constant.


Differentiate Ic in equation (4) with respect to Ico keeping VBE and ȕ constant

Since

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 the equation for stability is given by,

For any circuit design,

This equation provide the control of voltage drop across RE under designer.

Stability Factor S¶ The stability factor S¶ can be defined as the ratio of change in collector current to change in base emitter
voltage, keeping Ico and ȕ constant.

Differentiate Ic in equation (4) with respect to base emitter voltage, keeping Ico and ȕ constant

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 Since,

,The equation for stability is given by,

This shows that the emitter resistance stabilizes against change in Ico and VBE

Stability Factor S´ The stability factor S¶ can be defined as the ratio of change in collector currents to change in ȕ keeping
Ico and VBE constant.

Let us consider the equation (3)

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 Multiplying ȕ on both side, we get

On differentiating Ic in above equation with respect to ȕ , we get

Thus we conclude a high ȕ circuit will be more stable than one using a lower ȕ transistor.

Test Your Knowledge

Summary

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Thermal Runaway Content

Objective After this topic you will understand,

Thermal property of transistor.

Prevention of transistor from burn off.

Introduction to  The collector leakage current ICBO strongly dependent on temperature.

Thermal Runaway  The flow of collector current produces heat in the transistor.
 As the temperature rises the ICBO rises too.
 From derivation ICEO raises too by factor of (ȕ+1).
 This leads transistor to burn off.

î   





   

 
 




To Prevent Burn off Too prevent burn off:
 Operating point is stabilized i.e.,Ic is kept constant.
 Done by causing Ib to decrease automatically with temperature increase by circuit modification.
Then decrease in ȕ Ib will compensate for the increase in (ȕ+1)ICBO, keeping Ic nearly constant.


Power-Temperature de-rating curve for germanium power transistor.

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Test your knowledge

Summary Thermal Breakdown and Thermal stability which prevent the burn-off of the transistor.

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