Transistors

Fundamentals
What transistors do
How to analyse transistor circuits
Small and large signals
Common-Emitter Amplifier
Review of analysis and design
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
BJT is a current amplifier
The collector current is controlled by a much smaller base
current
The sum of the collector and base currents flow into or out
of the emitter
Base-emitter junction looks a lot like a PN junction
diode
Operating Regions - Cut Off
If the base current is zero, the
collector current is also zero
It doesnt matter how big the collector-
emitter voltage, V
CE
, is
i.e. collector-emitter junction looks like
an open circuit
In this state, the transistor is in the
cut-off region
0 =
B
I
0 =
C
I
Operating Regions - Active
Base current flows and controls the
larger collector current
Collector current is proportional to the
base current
Transistor is in the active region
Operation can be summarised by two
equations:
B C
I I | =
(

=
T
BE
S C
V
V
I I exp
V
BE
I
C
I
B
( ) mV 25 / ~ = q kT V
T
Operating Regions - Saturation
Collector current rises in proportion to
the base current
As collector current rises, resistor
voltage rises and collector-emitter
voltage falls
When V
CE
~ 0, it cant go any lower
and the collector current cannot get
any higher
The transistor is saturated
Collector-emitter junction looks like a
short circuit
R
V
I
S
B
|
1
>
R
V
I
S
C
~
Amplification
BJT amplifiers work by controlling the
collector current by the base-emitter voltage
This is only possible in the active region
Cut-off and saturation regions correspond to
the transistor turning fully off or on like a
switch
In the active region, the transistor is only
partly on and the current can be controlled
Small Signals
We want circuits with a linear
response but real transistors
arent linear
Voltage
C
u
r
r
e
n
t

=v
=i
v i
Small variations (i.e. signals!)
are denoted by lower case
If the range of voltages/currents
is kept small, response is
approximately linear
AI
AV
V
I
Average (or quiescent) levels
are denoted by capital letters
Small Signal Collector Current
(

=
T
BE
S C
V
V
I I exp
BE C
v i
Mutual Conductance
I
C
and V
BE
are exponentially
related
i
C
and v
BE
, on the other hand,
are approximately linearly
related
The constant of
proportionality, g
m
, is known
as the mutual conductance
It isnt a real conductance,
but it is the ratio between a
current and a voltage
BE m C
v g i =
Estimating g
m
The small signal behaviour is
estimated by a tangent to the
exponential I
C
-V
BE
curve
g
m
is, therefore, simply the
gradient of the curve
BE m C
v g i =
(

= =
T
BE
S
BE BE
C
m
V
V
I
V V
I
g exp
d
d
d
d
(

=
T
BE
T
S
V
V
V
I
exp
T
C
V
I
=
Amplification
V
BE
I
C
BE m C
v g i =
Assume that the transistor is biased in the
active region somehow
Collector voltage, V
C
, is related to I
C
by Ohms
law
C C S C
R I V V =
Small signal ratio between collector voltage
and collector current is:
C
C
C
C
C
R
I
V
i
v
= =
d
d
So:
m C
BE
C
C
C
BE
C
g R
v
i
i
v
v
v
= =
R
C
V
C
Simple Common-Emitter Amplifier
I
B
provides a d.c. base current to
bias the transistor in the active
region
C
IN
couples the input voltage,
removing the d.c. base bias voltage
C
IN
is a short circuit to a.c. signals
but an open circuit to the d.c.
bias current
v
BE
is, therefore, equal to v
IN

Analysis
IN BE
v v =
IN m BE m C
v g v g i = =
C C S OUT
R I V V =
C
C
OUT
C
OUT
R
I
V
i
v
= =
d
d
m C
IN
C
C
OUT
IN
OUT
g R
v
i
i
v
v
v
= =
Biasing
Gain is proportional to g
m
which is,
in turn, proportional to I
C
In this circuit,

Unfortunately, | has a very wide
tolerance
The gain is, therefore, not
predictable
B C
I I | =
Reliable Biasing
Collector current is set
accurately regardless of |
C
E
ensures that the whole of
the a.c. input voltage is still
dropped across V
BE
R
B
provides the d.c. base
bias current
Usually, the current source is
approximated by a resistor
E C
B C
C B E
I I
I I
I I I
~
>>
+ =
Practical Amplifier
To analyse the circuit:
Determine quiescent
conditions
Calculate mutual
conductance
Calculate small signal
performance
Voltage Gain
Input Impedance
Output Impedance
Cut-off frequency
The Story so Far
Small signal analysis is used to simplify calculations
by linearising the non-linear response of the
transistor
Using mutual conductance, gain calculations are now
only a couple of lines of equations
Careful choice of the biasing network leads to reliable
performance
Next time practical amplifier calculations, input &
output impedances and capacitor calculations