9/22/2016 ApplicationsofBipolarJunctionTransistororBJT|HistoryofBJT|Electrical4u

ApplicationsofBipolarJunctionTransistororBJT|HistoryofBJT
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HistoryofBipolarJunctionTransistors
Thetransistor(BJT)wasnotthefirstthreeterminaldevices.Beforetransistorscameintoexistencevacuumtubes
wereused.Inelectronics,vacuumtubetriodeswereusedalmostforhalfacenturybeforetheBJTs.Thelightbulb
inventedbyThomasEdisonintheearly1880swasoneofthefirstusesofvacuumtubesforanyelectrical
applications.Thevacuumtubetriodeswereusedinvariouscomputerdesignstillearly1950s.Butthemajor
problemwas,asthecomplicationofthecircuitsincreasedmoreandmoretriodeswererequiredtobeintegrated.In
thosedaysalargecomputerwouldhavemanyracksfilledwithtubeswhichalmostoccupiedalargeroom.Sizewas
nottheonlyproblem,thetubesconsumedlargepowerandsometimeswouldleakhencewerelessreliable.

Hence,scientistsandengineersstartedthinkingofwaystomakesomeotherkindofthreeterminaldevices.So
insteadofcontrollinganelectroninvacuumtheybegintothinkofwaystocontrolitinsolidmaterials.In1947,two
physicistsJohnBardeenandWalterBrattainworkingattheBelllaboratoriesfoundthatbymakingtwopointcontacts
veryclosetooneanother,theycouldactuallymakeathreeterminaldevice.Thusthefirstpointcontacttransistor
wasmadebyusinggermanium,paperclipandrazorblades.

Figurebelowshowsareplicaofthesame.ThanShockleydevelopedthejunctiontransistor(BJT)bypressing
togetherthinslicesofdifferentsemiconductormaterials.Thetransistorsreplacedthevacuumtubesandmadea
dramaticchangeintheworldofelectronics.BardeenandBrattaintogetherwithWilliamShockleywerehornedby
theNobelPrizeinPhysicsin1956fortheinventionofthetransistoreffect.Formanyyearstransistorswere

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9/22/2016 ApplicationsofBipolarJunctionTransistororBJT|HistoryofBJT|Electrical4u

manufacturedasindividualcomponentsuntillate1950s,afterwhichintegratedcircuits(ICs)cameintoexistence
whichplacedallcomponentsononesinglechip.ThisisjustoneportionofanendlesshistoryofBJT.

ApplicationsofBipolarJunctionTransistor
Therearetwotypesofapplicationsofbipolarjunctiontransistor,switchingandamplification.

TransistorasaSwitch

Forswitchingapplicationstransistorisbiasedtooperateinthesaturationorcutoffregion.Transistorincutoffregion
willactasanopenswitchingwhereasinsaturationwillactasaclosedswitch.

OpenSwitch

Inthecutoffregion(bothjunctionsarereversedbiased)the
voltageacrosstheCEjunctionisveryhigh.Theinputvoltageis
zerosobothbaseandcollectorcurrentsarezero,hencethe
resistanceofferedbytheBJTusveryhigh(ideallyinfinite).

ClosedSwitch

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9/22/2016 ApplicationsofBipolarJunctionTransistororBJT|HistoryofBJT|Electrical4u

Insaturation(bothjunctionsareforwardbiased)ahighinputvoltageisappliedtothebase.Thevalueofbase
resistanceisadjustedsuchthatalargebasecurrentflows.Thereisasmallvoltagedropacrossthecollectoremitter
junctionoftheorderof0.05to0.2Vandcollectorcurrentisverylarge.Averysmallvoltagedroptakesplaceacross
theBJTanditcanbesaidtobeequivalenttoaclosedswitch.

BJTasAmplifier

SingleStageRCCoupledCEAmplifier

ThefigureshowsasinglestageCEamplifier.C1andC3arecouplingcapacitors,theyareusedforblockingthedc
componentandpassingonlyacparttheyalsoensurethatthedcbasingconditionsoftheBJTremainsunchanged
evenafterinputisapplied.C2isthebypasscapacitorwhichincreasesthevoltagegainandbypassestheR4resistor
foracsignals.

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9/22/2016 ApplicationsofBipolarJunctionTransistororBJT|HistoryofBJT|Electrical4u

TheBJTisbiasedintheactiveregionusingthenecessarybiasingcomponents.TheQpointismadestableinthe
activeregionofthetransistor.Wheninputisappliedasshownbelowthebasecurrentstartstovaryupanddown,
hencecollectorcurrentalsovariesasIC=IB.ThereforevoltageacrossR3variesasthecollectorcurrentis
passingthroughit.VoltageacrossR3istheamplifiedoneandis180apartfromtheinputsignal.Thusvoltage
acrossR3iscoupledtotheloadandamplificationhastakenplace.IftheQpointismaintainedtobeatthecentreof
theloadverylessornowaveformdistortionwilltakeplace.ThevoltageaswellascurrentgainoftheCEamplifieris
high(gainisthefactorbywhichthevoltageofcurrentincreasesfrominputtooutput).Itiscommonlyusedinradios
andaslowfrequencyvoltageamplifier.

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9/22/2016 ApplicationsofBipolarJunctionTransistororBJT|HistoryofBJT|Electrical4u

Tofurtherincreasethegainmultistageamplifiersareused.Theyareconnectedviacapacitor,electricaltransformer,
RLordirectlycoupleddependingontheapplication.Theoverallgainistheproductofgainsofindividualstages.
FigurebelowshowsatwostageCEamplifier.

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