ECSE‐2210, Microelectronics Technology, Prof. E. F.

 Schubert 

Bipolar Junction Transistor – BJT - Basics

Introduction

 Inventors: Shockley, Bardeen, and Brattain, 1949 Bell Telephone Laboratories

Revolutionary invention which changed the world
 The transistor is a three terminal device
 Applications include the use as amplifier and switch
 There are pnp transistor and npn transistors
 The following materials will focus on the pnp transistor

o Two n regions merge to form a very thin base

o EB junction: Forward bias
o BC junction: Reverse bias

 Band diagram of pnp transistor

Chapter 20 – page 1 
 ECSE‐2210, Microelectronics Technology, Prof. E. F. Schubert 

Amplifier definitions

 Common base configuration

IC
α  (1)
IE

o   current amplification of common base circuit

o   0.99 for state-of-the-art transistors

 Common emitter configuration

1
IC IC 1  
      1  (2)
IB IE  IC   1 

 Common collector configuration

Chapter 20 – page 2 
 ECSE‐2210, Microelectronics Technology, Prof. E. F. Schubert 

IE IC /  
  (3)
IB IB 

 Nature of bipolar transistor is a current amplifier (not a voltage amplifier)

o It is a current-controlled current source

o We control the collector current with the base current

Chapter 20 – page 3 
 ECSE‐2210, Microelectronics Technology, Prof. E. F. Schubert 

Qualitative analysis

 Basic ideas
o EB junction is asymmetric:

I Ep  I En (4)

Emitter hole current is controlled by EB junction.

o Base width is small:

WB  Lp (5)

Most holes diffusing into the base will reach the collector since Lp >> WB. 
Thus the base current controls the collector current.

o EB junction (EB junction is forward biased)

(1) Holes diffusing from E into the B
(2) Electrons diffusing from the B into the E

o Base
(3) Recombination of holes injected into the base
(4) Most holes reach the C since Lp  W B

o BC junction (BC junction is reverse biased)

(5) Electron minority carrier current from C to B.
(6) Hole minority carrier current from B to C.
We know that current (5) and (6) can be neglected from most practical purposes.

Chapter 20 – page 4 
 ECSE‐2210, Microelectronics Technology, Prof. E. F. Schubert 

Quantitative analysis

 What fraction of the emitter hole current reaches the collector?

IC  B I Ep (6)

B = Base Transport Factor

B = Probability that a hole injected into B reaches C
B ≤ 1

 What fraction of the total emitter current is the emitter hole current?
I Ep   I E   ( I En  I Ep ) (7)

 = Emitter Efficiency
 = Ratio of IEn to IE
 ≤ 1

1
I Ep  I  I En
   1  En   1  (8)
I En  I Ep  I Ep  I Ep
 

 Current amplification 

  IC / IE  B I Ep / I E  B (9)

Next, we will calculate B and . We will employ:

1.) Approximate calculation
2.) Exact calculation

 Approximate calculation: Hole Distribution in Base (pnp transistor)

o Assume base is long (WB >> Lp)

 x n /L p
p( x n )  p e (10)

Chapter 20 – page 5 
 ECSE‐2210, Microelectronics Technology, Prof. E. F. Schubert 

o Assume base is short (WB << Lp)

 Exponential function can be liberalized.

At x n  0 it is p  p n0 (e eVBE / kT  1) (11)

At x n  W B it is  p  p n0 ( e eV BE / kT  1)   p n 0 (12)

 That is p( xn  WB )  0 (13)

 x 
 “Diffusion Triangle” p ( xn )  p 1  n  (14)
 WB 

o Note:
dp
Diffusion current Jp   e Dp (15)
dx

Jp  slope = dp / dx
Short base changes slope (dp / dx)

 Approximate calculation: Emitter Efficiency (pnp transistor)

Recall the Shockley equation:

 
 
 Dp
I  e A
L
p n0 
Dn
L
np0
 eV / kT
 e 
1  (16)
 p
 n
  
 Hole injection Electron injection 
 

   

Chapter 20 – page 6 
 ECSE‐2210, Microelectronics Technology, Prof. E. F. Schubert 

o Assume that emitter is long

Electron current from base into emitter

I En  e A
Dn
Ln

np0 eeV / kT  1  (17)

o Base is short
Hole current from emitter into base

I Ep  e A
Dp
Lp

p n0 e eV / kT  1  W
Lp
(18)
B
Correction due to
increase in slope

o Emitter efficiency using Eqns. (8), (17), and (18)

Dn
np0
I En Ln
  1  1 (19)
I Ep Dp
pn0
WB
Using np0  n i2 / p  n i2 / N A (20)
and p n0  n i2 / n  n i2 / N D (21)
One obtains

Dn WB N D
  1  (22)
Dp Ln N A

o To design a transistor with a high value of , we choose:

1. WB very short
2. NA >> ND (Emitter doping >> Base doping) (23)

 Example: Assume pnp transistor, with Emitter N A  1  1018 cm3 ,

Base N D  1  1017 cm 3 , D p  D n , WB  100 nm , Ln = 1 m

Calculate emitter efficiency

Dn WB N D 1
  1   1   0.99
Dp Ln N A 100

Chapter 20 – page 7 
 ECSE‐2210, Microelectronics Technology, Prof. E. F. Schubert 

 Hole Distribution in the Base (pnp transistor)

o Hole concentration at the emitter side of base

pE  p( xn  0)  pn0 (e eVBE / kT  1)  pn0 e eVBE / kT (24)

o Hole concentration at the collector side of base

pC  p( xn  WB )  pn0 (e eVBE / kT  1)   pn0 (25)

… note that VBC is negative

o Eqns. (24) and (25) are the boundary conditions for the hole concentration in the
base

o There is no electric field in the neutral region of the base. Therefore, transport is
described by the diffusion equation

d2 p( xn )
p( xn )  (26)
dxn 2 Lp 2

General solution

xn / Lp  xn / Lp
p( xn )  C1 e  C2 e (27)

The constants C1 and C2 will be determined by the boundary conditions. They are:

 p ( x n  0 )  C1  C 2  pE (28)

W B / Lp W B / Lp
p ( x n  WB )  C1 e  C2 e  p C (29)

Chapter 20 – page 8 
 ECSE‐2210, Microelectronics Technology, Prof. E. F. Schubert 

Solving Eqns. (28) and (29) for C1 and C2 yields

W B / L p
pC  p E e
C1  (30)
W B / Lp W B / L p
e  e

W B / Lp
p E e  pC
C2  (31)
W B / Lp W B / L p
e  e

Next: Insert the constants C1 and C2 into Eqn. (27).

For pC  0 , the hole concentration in the base is given by:

W B / Lp  x n / Lp W B / Lp x n / Lp
e e  e e
p ( x n )   p E (32)
W B / Lp W B / L p
e  e

This function has an exponentially decreasing part and an exponentially increasing

part, as shown in the illustration below.

d p ( x n )
o Recall that the slope, , determines the diffusion current
dx
Slope is larger at x n  0 as compared to x n  W B .
Difference: Recombination in the base.

Chapter 20 – page 9 
 ECSE‐2210, Microelectronics Technology, Prof. E. F. Schubert 

o For WB  Lp , we can expand the exponential function into a power series:

x x2
ex  1    ...
1! 2!

Neglecting all quadratic and higher terms in Eqn. (32) yields

 x 
p ( xn )  pE 1  n    (33)
 WB 

… this is the “diffusion triangle” for negligible recombination in the base.

Chapter 20 – page 10 
 ECSE‐2210, Microelectronics Technology, Prof. E. F. Schubert 

Emitter (E), base (B), and collector (C) current

 E, B and C currents
o We have calculated the hole distribution in the base and can now calculate the
currents of the three terminals E, B and C by using

d
I   e A Dp p ( xn )   (34)
dxn

o Emitter current is obtained by using Eqns. (27), (30), (35), (34)

Dp
I Ep  I p ( x n  0)  e A (C 2  C1 )   (35)
Lp

Dp  
  I Ep  e A  pE coth WB  pC cosech WB    (36)
Lp  Lp Lp 

o Collector current:
Dp  W B / L p W /L  
I C  I p ( x n  WB )  e A  C2 e  C1 e B p  (37)
Lp  

Dp  
  IC  e A  pE cosech WB  pC coth WB    (38)
Lp  Lp Lp 

o Base current:
I B  I E  I C  I Ep  I C   (39)

Dp  W 
   IB  e A (pE  pC ) tanh B    (40)
Lp  2 Lp 

o Eqns. (36), (38), and (40) are general, i.e. they are valid for any bias configuration of
the transistor

The equation can be simplified for a transistor under regular operating conditions,
which are:

 VBE = forward bias

 VCB = reverse bias

Chapter 20 – page 11 
 ECSE‐2210, Microelectronics Technology, Prof. E. F. Schubert 

 Approximate E, B and C currents

o VBE = forward bias  pE ≠ 0

o VCB = forward bias  pC = 0

o From Eqns. (36), (38), and (40):

Dp WB
I Ep  e A p E coth   (41)
Lp Lp

Using coth x  1/ x  x / 3 , one obtains

Dp  Lp W 
I Ep  e A p E   B   (42)
Lp  WB 3Lp 


Dp WB
IC  e A p E cosech   (43)
Lp Lp

Using cosechx  1/ x  x / 6 , one obtains

Dp  Lp W 
IC  e A p E   B   (44)
Lp  WB 6Lp 


Dp  1 WB 1 WB 
IB  IE  IC  IEp  IC  e A pE     (45)
Lp  3 Lp 6 L 
 p 

Dp W
IB  e A WB p E  e A B pE   (46)
2 Lp 2 2 p

Chapter 20 – page 12 
 ECSE‐2210, Microelectronics Technology, Prof. E. F. Schubert 

 Base Transport Factor, B

o Using Eqns. (41) and (43) we calculate

IC cosech (WB / Lp ) W
B    sech B   (47)
I Ep coth (WB /Lp ) Lp

2
Using sech x  1  (1/ 2) x , one obtains

2
1 W 
B  1   B   (48)
2  Lp 
 
We now have an expression for B.

o We now have  (Emitter efficiency) Eqn. (22) and B (Base transport factor) Eqn. (48).
Since    B , we can now give the current amplification of a pnp transistor:

 Dn WB N D   2 
   B  1  1  WB    (49)
 Dp Ln N A   2 Lp 2 
    
 B

 Example: Calculate the Base Transport Factor for WB = 0.1 m and

(a) Lp = 0.1 m
and
(b) Lp = 1.0 m

Solution:
2
1  WB 
Base transport factor: B  1   
2  Lp 
 

(a) B = 0.5

(b) B = 0.995

Chapter 20 – page 13 
 ECSE‐2210, Microelectronics Technology, Prof. E. F. Schubert 

Appendix: Mathematics

Exponential function 

1
e      lim 1      2.718 

e      1                 …  
1!  2!  3! 

/
  Function:         e  

  Slope:            

/
  Integral:     e  d          

Hyperbolic exponential functions 

Hyperbolic sin function:   sinh       e  e  

Hyperbolic cos function:  cosh       e  e    (chain function) 

Hyperbolic tan function:  tanh      

Hyperbolic cot function:  coth      

Hyperbolic secan function:  sech             

 

Hyperbolic cosecan function:  cosech             

 

Chapter 20 – page 14