Electronics-II

Lecture -25
Outline:
T. H. M. Sumon Rashid
Lecturer, EEE, PSTU
 THE UNIJUNCTION TRANSISTOR (UJT)  
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THE UNIJUNCTION TRANSISTOR (UJT)

 The term unijunction refers to the fact that the UJT has a single PN junction.
 The UJT is useful in certain oscillator applications and as a triggering device in thyristor
circuits.

Basic structure and operation of a UJT

 The UJT (unijunction transistor) is a three-terminal device whose basic construction is shown
in Figure 25-1(a); the schematic symbol appears in Figure 25-1(b).
 The terminals are labelled Emitter (E), Base 1 (B1), and Base 2 (B2).
 Do not confuse, the difference is that the arrow is at an angle for the UJT.
 The UJT has only one PN junction, and therefore, the characteristics of this device are
different from those of either the BJT or the FET.

   

    Fig.25.1: The unijunction transistor (UJT).

Equivalent Circuit

The equivalent circuit for the UJT, shown in Figure 25-2(a), will aid in understanding the basic
operation.

Fig.25.2: UJT equivallent circuit.

 The diode shown in the figure represents the PN junction, rB1 represents the internal dynamic
resistance of the silicon bar between the emitter and base 1, and rB2 rep-resents the dynamic
resistance between the emitter and base 2.
 The total resistance between the base terminals is the sum of rB1 and rB2 and is called the
interbase resistance, rBB..

 The value of rB1 varies inversely with emitter current IE and therefore, it is shown as a
variable resistor.
 Depending on IE, the value of rB1 can vary from several thousand ohms down to tens of ohms.
The internal resistances rB1 and rB2 form a voltage divider when the device is biased, as shown
in Figure 25-2(b). The voltage across the resistance rB1 can be expressed as

Standoff Ratio

The ratio rB1/rBB is a UJT characteristic called the intrinsic standoff ratio and is
designated by (Greek eta).

As long as the applied emitter voltage VEB1 is less than VrB1 Vpn there is no emitter
current because the pn junction is not forward-biased (Vpn is the barrier potential of the pn
junction). The value of emitter voltage that causes the pn junction to become forward biased is
called Vp (peak-point voltage) and is expressed as
When VEB1 reaches Vp , the pn junction becomes forward-biased and IE begins. Holes are injected into
the n-type bar from the p-type emitter. This increase in holes causes an increase in free electrons,
thus increasing the conductivity between emitter and B1 (decreasing rB1)

Fig.25.3: UJT characteristic curve for a fixed value of VBB .

After turn-on, the UJT operates in a negative resistance region up to a certain value of IE, as shown
by the characteristic curve in Figure 25-3. As you can see, after the peak point (VE = Vp and IE =
Ip), VE decreases as IE continues to increase, thus producing the negative resistance
characteristic. Beyond the valley point (VE = Vv and IE = Iv). The device is in saturation, and VE
increases very little with an increasing IE.

UJT Application

The UJT can be used as a trigger device for SCRs and Triacs. Other applications include
nonsinusoidal oscillators, sawtooth generators, phase control and timing circuits. Figure 25-4 shows a
UJT relaxation oscillator as an example of one application.

Fig.25.4: Relaxation oscillator. Fig.25.5: Waveforms for UJT relaxation oscillator.

 The operation is as follows. When de power is applied, the capacitor C charges exponentially
through R1 until it reaches the peak-point voltage Vp. At this point, the pn junction becomes forward-
biased, and the emitter characteristic goes into the negative resistance region (VE decreases and IE
increases).The capacitor then quickly discharges through the forward-biased junction, rB1 and R2.
When the capacitor voltage decreases to the valley point voltage Vv, the UJT turns off, the
capacitor begins to charge again, and the cycle is repeated, as shown in the emitter voltage waveform
in Figure 25-5 (top). During the discharge time of the capacitor, the UJT is conducting. Therefore, a
voltage is developed across R2, as shown in the waveform diagram in Figure 25-5 (bottom).

Conditions for Turn-On and Turn-Off

In the relaxation oscillator of Figure 25-4 certain conditions must be met for the UJT to
reliably turn on and turn off. First, to ensure turn-on, R1 must not limit IE at the peak point to less
than Ip. To ensure this, the voltage drop across R1 at the peak point should be greater than IpR1.
Thus, the condition for turn-on is

Or

To ensure turn-off of the UJT at the valley point, R1 must be large enough that IE (at the valley
point) can decrease below the specified value of Iv. This means that the voltage across R1 at the
valley point must be less than IvR1- Thus, the condition for turn-off is

Or

Therefore, for a proper turn-on and turn-off, R1 must be in the range

EXAMPLE 21.2 (Boylstad, 868)

 Electronics-II
Lecture -26
Outline:
T. H. M. Sumon Rashid
Lecturer, EEE, PSTU
 Photoelectric devices  
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THE PHOTOTRANSISTOR

 The phototransistor is similar to a regular BJT except that the base current is produced and
controlled by light instead of a voltage source.
 The phototransistor effectively converts variations in light energy to an electrical signal.

       

Fig.26.1: Typical phototransistor chip structure.

The phototransistor is a transistor in which base current is produced when light strikes the
photosensitive semiconductor base region. The collector-base pn junction is exposed to incident light
through a lens opening in the transistor package. When there is no incident light, there is only a small
thermally generated collector-to-emitter leakage current, ICEO ; this is called the dark current and is
typically in the nA range. When light strikes the collector-base pn junction, a base current, is
produced that is directly proportional to the light intensity. This action produces a collector current
that increases with . Except for the way base current is generated, the phototransistor behaves
as a conventional BIT. In many cases, there is no electrical connection to the base. The relationship
between the collector current and the light-generated base current in a phototransistor is

Fig.26.2: Phototransistor bias circuit and typical Fig.26.3: Typical phototransistor spectral response.
collector characteristic curves.
Photomultiplier Tube: A photomultiplier tube or PMT, is a photoelectric device that is an extremely sensitive
detector of visible, infrared and UV light. Photodiodes have largely replaced PMTs, however, the high gain and
frequency response that results from the high sensitivity makes PMTs very useful in physics, astronomy and
medical imaging.

Light-dependent resistor: Light-Dependent Resistors (LDRs) are also referred to as photoresistors, or

photoconductors. Its resistance, or opposition of the passage of an electric current, decreases with increasing
intensity of light. If light falling on the device is a high enough frequency, enough energy is present to pass an
electrical current. Inexpensive cadmium sulfide cells are used in consumer electronics such as clock radios,
security alarms, camera light meters and street light. More sophisticated cells that detect infrared
frequencies are used in astronomy and spectroscopy.

Photodiode: Photodiodes function as photodetectors in a number of devices. The photodiode is packaged with a
window that lets light into the sensitive part of the device. The photodiode can also be constructed without a
window to detect UV light and X-rays. They are used in consumer electronics including smoke detectors, and
receivers for remote controls for TVs and DVD players. Photodiodes are also used in science to accurately
measure light intensity.

Photoemissive Cell: The photoemissive cell, known also as phototube, first appeared in the early 1920. These
cells are familiar as the "electric eyes" that trigger the automatic opening of doors when a person intercepts a
beam of light. These cells can also be used in a way similar to those of photoconductive cells, in order automate
and control systems. They are used in astronomy, in the form of photo-multiplier tubes, to measure
electromagnetic radiation from celestial objects.

A photoemissive cell is constructed with a wire anode and a semi-cylindrical cathode with an emitting surface,
sealed in an evacuated or gas-filled bulb. As cathode surfaces, monatomic layers of cesium, potassium, or
rubidium are used. Due to photons that strike the cathode, and therefore transfer their energy to the surface
electrons, some electrons can overcome the binding force and be emitted into space. These emitted electrons
are attracted to the positive anode as a photocurrent of microampere order. For many applications, phototubes
were placed by semiconductor photodiodes.

Photovoltaic Cell:The photovoltaic cells are now used in a wide range of electronic systems, an example being
modulated-light systems such as fiber optics communications arrays. When the Sun is the source of light they
are known as solar cells and their many applications are described more fully in that entry.

Semiconductor, of such material that light flux falling in it displaces electrons from some of the atoms, is the
sensitive element in a photovoltaic cell. The most suitable semiconductors for photovoltaic cells are selenium
and cuprous oxide.

Figure 26.4: The arrangement of a cell having selenium as the active material.
A steel plate P is coated with a thin layer S of Selenium at about 200°C (473.16K) and annealed at about 80°C
(353.16K) to produce the crystalline form. This selenium layer is covered with a very thin transparent film M of
metal, and a collecting ring R of metal is sprayed around the edge of the film. Between the selenium S and the
film M, there appears to be a 'barrier layer' B.

When the light falls on the cell, it passes through M and causes electrons to be released from the metallic
selenium. These electrons travel across B to M, from which R collects them. A micro-ammeter A is connected
between R and P. It is found that with a suitable resistance of the external circuit between R and P, the
current through A is practically proportional to the illuminance and can be calibrated to read the illuminance
directly in lux.

Solar Cell: Solar cells are:

– p-n junctions
– Minority carrier devices
– Voltage is not directly applied
The photocurrent produces a voltage drop across the resistive load, which forward biases the pn
junction. Photocurrent is always in the “reverse bias” direction; therefore the net solar cell current
is also in the “reverse bias” direction.
IF = Forward-bias current
IL = Photocurrent
Is = Ideal reverse saturation current

Itotal = IF – IL

 Fundamental absorption is from:

– annihilation or absorption of photons by the excitation of an electron from the valence band to the
conduction band.
– leaves a hole in the valence band
 Ideally, each incident photon with Ehν EG will create one electron flowing in the external device.
 Ehν EG : semiconductor is transparent to light.
Solar Cell Equivalent circuit: