Samar State University

College of Engineering
S.Y. 2017-2018

UNIJUNCTION
TRANSISTOR
Prepared by: Delos Reyes, Aldrin Jay B.
Macabenta, John Gabriel B.
Uy, Mercwesley I.
BSECE - 4
History
 History

General Electric (GE) founded in 1892 at Schenectady,

New York, USA, assembled a team of researchers and
engineers contributing to the development in the field of
semiconductors in 1950’s.
 History
 UJT was discovered by Jerry Suran (an
Electrical Engineer) in 1953.

 Suran was working under the circuits group

lead by Richard Shea

 This group was evaluating the experimental tetrode transistor

made by John Saby’s group
 History
 This tetrodes were created by Arnold Lesk but it was Suran
who tested this tetrodes and noticed the hysteresis effect on its
input, and then found that it was oscillating.

Although it was Suran who discovered

it, UJT was patented by Lesk on that
same year.
What is a Unijunction
Transistor (UJT)
 Unijunction Transistor (UJT)
 Three terminal semiconductor switching device
 Composed of a bar of N-type silicon having a
P-type connection in the middle
 as its name implies “UNI” means one(single) PN junction
 Sometimes referred as “Double-base Diode”
 Unique characteristic that when triggered, emitter
current increases regeneratively until limited by emitter
power supply
Types of UJT
 Types of UJT
 Original Unijunction Transistors
 A simple device that is essentially a bar of n-type semiconductor material
which p-type material has been diffused somewhere along its length, fixing
the intrinsic stand-off ratio.
Ex. 2N2646

 Complementary Unijunction
Transistor
 P-type semiconductor material into which
n-type material is diffused somewhere
along its length, defining the intrinsic
stand-off ratio.
Ex. 2N6114
 Types of UJT
 Programmable UJT (PUT)
 is a multi-junction device that, with two external resistor, displays similar
characteristics to the UJT.
Ex. 2N6027
Construction
Construction of UJT
Operation
 Operation of UJT case 1
 If voltage VBB is applied bet. B2 & B1
while emitter is OPEN, a voltage
gradient is established in the N-type
Bar.

 More than half of the voltage

VBB appears bet. emitter and B1
since emitter is nearer to B2.
 Voltage V1 bet. emitter and B1
establishes reverse bias with the PN
junction cutting off emitter current
 Operation of UJT case 2
 If a positive voltage VE is applied at
the emitter, PN junction will remain
reverse biased until VE is ≥ V1

 Once PN junction becomes forward

bias, holes are injected from P-type
material to the N-type bar
 A condition of saturation will
eventually reached as more holes are
injected, then the device is now at
ON state
Equivalent Circuit of
UJT
 Equivalent Circuit of UJT
 With no voltage applied to the
UJT, the inter-base resistance is
given by ;
RBB = RB1 + RB2

 If VBB is applied bet. the bases with

emitter open, the voltage will
divide up across RB1 and RB2
𝐑 𝐁𝟏
𝐕𝟏 = 𝐕
𝐑 𝐁𝟏 + 𝐑 𝐁𝟐 𝐁𝐁
 Equivalent Circuit of UJT
 Intrinsic stand-off ratio is:
𝐕𝟏 𝐑 𝐁𝟏
𝛈= =
𝐕𝐁𝐁 𝐑 𝐁𝟏 + 𝑹𝑩𝟐

𝛈 varies from 0.51 to 0.82

∴
 If positive voltage is applied to the
emitter, diode will become forward
biased only if VE > VP
VP = peak point voltage
= 𝛈VBB + VD
VD = forward voltage drop of
silicon diode ≅ 0.7V
Characteristics of
UJT
Characteristics of UJT
 Advantages and
Disadvantages of
UJT
 Advantages
 It is a low cost device
 Low-power absorbing device under normal operating condition
 Stable triggering voltage
 Disadvantage
 Difficult to acquire nowadays
Application of UJT
Common Application of UJT
 Relaxation Oscillators
 Lamp Dimmers
 Motor Controller
 Battery Charger
 Triggering device for SCR and TRIAC
Sample Problem
 Sample Problem
Ex. 1 The intrinsic stand-off ratio for a UJT is determined to be 0.6.
If the inter-base resistance is 10kΩ, what are the values of RB1 and
RB2 ?
 Sample Problem
Ex. 2 A unijunction transistor has 10 V between the bases. If the
intrinsic stand off ratio is 0.65, find the value of stand off voltage.
What will be the peak-point voltage if the forward voltage drop in
the PN junction is 0.7 V ?
Sample Circuit
THANK YOU !