UTM

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

TRANSISTOR
 INTRODUCTION TO TRANSISTOR

• A device composed of semiconductor material

that amplifies a signal or opens or closes a
circuit.
• Invented in 1947 at Bell Labs, transistors have
become the key ingredient of all digital circuits,
including computers.

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• Prior to the invention of transistors, digital
circuits were composed of vacuum tubes, which
had many disadvantages, such as:
– Larger
– required more energy
– dissipated more heat
– more prone to failures.
• Without the invention of transistors, computing
as we know it today would not be possible.

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• There are various types of transistor which
include the bipolar transistor, field effect
transistor and unijunction transistor differ in
their construction and operation

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 BIPOLAR TRANSISTOR
• Bipolar means the transistor have two charge
carriers, holes and electrons which play a role in
the current flow.
• Bipolar transistor are constructed by layering
semiconductor material that comprise of P type
and N type.
• The base (B) layer, which is sandwiched by an
outer layer is very thin and is lightly doped
compared to the outer layer. The two outer layers
are the emitter (E) and collector (C).
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There are two types of standard transistors:
i. NPN transistor
– For the NPN transistors, the P layer is the base
sandwiched between N layers which are the emitter
and collector.
ii. PNP transistor
– For the PNP transistor, the N layer is the base which
is sandwiched between P layers which are the
emitter and collector.
 Transistor construction and symbol
Construction Symbol Construction Symbol

NPN Transistor PNP Transistor

• From the symbol of NPN and PNP transistors,
the arrows of terminal current always pointing
in the direction of N-types material.
• There are three terminal current in transistor
which are:
i. Emitter current, IE
ii. Base current, IB
iii. Collector current, IC
The transistor terminal current
NPN PNP
   
 TRANSISTOR CONFIGURATION
• The transistor configuration is a method of
connecting a transistor in order to achieve
different operating effects.
• There are three types of bipolar transistor
configurations which are:
– common-emitter
– common-collector
– common-base.
 The Common-Emitter Configuration.
• In the common-emitter configuration, the input
signal is applied between the base, while the
output is taken from between the collector and
the emitter.
• The common-emitter amplifier configuration
produces the highest current and power gain of
all the three bipolar transistor configurations.
Common-emitter configuration
 The Common Collector Configuration.
• In the common collector configuration, the
collector is now common and the input signal is
connected to the base, while the output is taken
from the emitter load.
• This type of configuration is commonly known
as a voltage follower or emitter follower circuit.
• The Emitter follower configuration is very
useful for impedance matching applications
because of the very high input impedance.
Common-collector configuration
 The Common Base Configuration
• The common base configuration, the base
connection is common to both the input signal
and the output signal with the input signal being
applied between the base and the emitter
terminals.
• Output signal is taken from between the base
and the collector terminals as shown with the
base terminal grounded or connected to a fixed
reference voltage point.
• The input current flowing into the emitter is
quite large, therefore the collector current
output is less than the emitter current input
resulting in a current gain for this type of circuit
of less than1.
Common-base configuration
 BIASING REQUIREMENT FOR
TRANSISTOR OPERATION
A PNP Transistor Configuration
Symbol Construction structure
• PNP Transistors require a negative voltage at
their collector terminal with the flow of current
through the emitter-collector terminals being holes
as opposed to electrons for the NPN types.
• Because the movement of holes across the
depletion layer tends to be slower than for
electrons, PNP transistors are generally more
slower than their equivalent NPN counterparts
when operating.
 TRANSISTOR APPLICATION

i. Transistor As a Switch
•A transistor can be used as a switch if it
is only triggered to be in saturation and
cut of point. Transistors are used as a
switches in control circuits and digital
circuits.
• Control Switches Circuit.
– To control fans automatically, a circuit can be build
using this circuit:

A fan control switching

– R1 is a negative temperature coefficient thermistor,
meaning that its resistance will decrease when the
temperature rises. R1 will function as a temperature
detector which switches on the fan when
temperature exceeds 80º F the circuit.
When the temperature exceeds 80º F

· The termistor resistance decreases.

· The termistor across voltage VR1 and the voltage VR4 are the same.

· The output of amplifier operation IC 741 at pin 6 will be low.

· The transistor Q1 will be saturated and the switch will be closed.

· Current will flow from the emitter to collector and the fan will turn
• Digital Switch Circuit
– A digital switching circuit using transistor is
shown figure below

Digital switching circuit

• When the switches is in X position, the base
current will flow and the transistor Q1 will be in
operation.
• At this instant, the output voltage, VK will be
zero and the LED is OFF.
• When the switch is Y position, no current will
be flow to the base and the transistor Q1 acts as
open switch. The output voltage, VK equals
Vcc and LED will turn on.
ii. Transistor Application in Power Amplifier
– Power transistor are used in power amplifiers.
– A power amplifier can deliver a higher voltage
and current signal to low resistance load of 4Ω
to 300Ω but has high power rating.
– The power amplifier is the last stage in an
amplifier system as shown in Figure 1.7. An
example of a power amplifier which is used to
amplify signals in the range of 20Hz to 20kHz.
– An example of an audio amplifier is shown in figure
below:

Block diagram of a amplifier system

 FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR
(FET)
• There are two types of FETs and can be
classified as Junction Field Effect Transistors
(JFET) and Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field
Effect Transistors (MOSFET).
• FETs are unipolar components which allow only
a particular charge carrier to flow through them.
• The characteristic is different from the current
flow in Bipolar Transistors caused by movement
of electrons and holes.
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 FET

JFET MOSFET

P-channel N-channel Depletion Mode Enhancement mode

P-channel N-channel P-channel N-channel

FET family tree

 JUNCTION FIELD EFFECT
TRANSISTOR (JFET)

• JFET have three terminals consist drain (D),

source (S) and gate (G).
• JFETs also known as symmetrical components
because their size and shape of the drain and
source are similar.
• The channel which connects the drain and the
source is the current path.
There are two types of JFETs:
i. N-channel JFET
• Constructed from N-types materials.
• The N-channel is positioned between the two layers
of the P-types materials.
• The upper part of the channel is connected to a
metal to form the drain (D) terminal and the lower
part is connected to the metal which to forms the
source (S) terminal.
• Both the P-type layers are connected to the gate
(G).
ii. P-channel JFET
• Constructed from P-types materials.
• Both the N-types are connected to gate (G)
terminal. The drain (D) terminal and source (S)
terminal are located at both ends of the channel.
 Types N-channel JFET P-channel JFET

 
 
 
 Structure

 
 
 
Symbol

Structure and symbols of JFET

 Current flow in N-channel JFET
– In N-channel JFET, when voltage between the drain
and source, VDS is supplied, current, IDS will flow
from drain to the source.
– Current flow in opposite direction to the electron
flow as shown below.
 Electric field in depletion region
– The electric field in depletion region formed
between the channel.
– The gate controls the electron flow.
– As the depletion region widens, the channel
becomes narrower and flow electron is
restricted.
– This happen when the gate-source junction is
reverse biased as shown in next slide.
 ADVANTAGE AND DISADVANTAGE
OF FET AND BJT
  Field Effect Transistor (FET) Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)
1 Low voltage gain High voltage gain
2 High current gain Low current gain
3 Very input impedance Low input impedance
4 High output impedance Low output impedance
5 Low noise generation Medium noise generation
6 Fast switching time Medium switching time
7 Easily damaged by static Robust
8 Some require an input to turn it Requires zero input to turn it "OFF"
"OFF"
9 Voltage controlled device Current controlled device
10 Exhibits the properties of a Resistor  
11 More expensive than bipolar Cheap