Transistor current sources

F'igure 1: An ldeal current source, l, driving resistor, R, and creating

voltage V

Constant Current Source:

A Current source is an electrical or electronic device that delivers or absorbs

electric currerrt. A current source is the dual of a voltage source. The term
constant-current sink is sometimes used for sources fed from a negative voltage
supply. Figure l- shows a schematic for an ideal current source driving a resistor
load.

ldeal current sources

In circuit theory, an ideal current source is a circuit element where the current
through it is independent of the voltage across it. lt is a mathematical model,
which real der,'ices can only approach in performance. lf the current through an
ideal current:;ource can be specified independently of any other variable in a
circuit, it is called an independent current source. Conversely, if the current
through an ideral current source is determined by some other voltage or current
in a circuit, it is called a dependent or controlled current source. Symbols for
these sources are shown in Figure 2.
 l-;

--_---t
ii f+\.
:.1
i,l.l
\.__*- -/'
I

m$t'rjrr.,-q * s,rrl; r r- E ri *ii tllr.r rr"*l- | Iirji_.. t-i_6

+ \*,
.r'it.'
\:"/
{- *'t: I r ni lr r:; r.rr-r{l e *
,a Lt *q, r:;,1" t-r-- f C,l''tt"s::i**r:i rlL. rppr-, I Er:* rr p
I

il ,.; i.: * r .r. r-:.1 r- r:_! l5

5 ir. g le, r: ell

5 y n"r L.- * i s t-t s E'J in il r.r,:r i l,n g e F n Lt fl.-f, e S

Figure2: Source symbols

An independent current source with zero current

is identical to an ideal o0en
circui!' For this; reason, the internal resistance
of an ideal current source is
infinite' The voltage across an idealcurrent source
is completely determined by
the circuit it is connected to. when connected to
a short circuit, there is zero
voltage and thurs zero power delivered. when connected
to a load resistance,
the voltage across the source approaches infinity as the
load resistance
approaches infinity (an open circuit). Thus, an ideal
currentsource could supply
unlimited powelr forever and so would represent an unlimited
source of energy.
Connecting an iclealopen circuit to an ideal non- zero
current source is not valid
in circuit analysis as the circuit equation would be paradoxical,
e.g., 5=0.

No real current source is ideal (no unlimited energy

sources exist) and all have a
finite internal rr:sistance (none can suppry unrimited vortage).
However, the
internal resistaflce of a physical current source is effectively
modeled in circuit
analysis by comlcining a non-zero resistance in parallel
with an ideal current
source (the Nortr)r eQuivalent circuit).
 Phvsicaf current sources
Resistor current source
The simplest current source
consists of a vortage
source series with a resistor.
The current arvailable from
such a source is given by
across the voltage source the ratio of the vortage
to the resistance ,n. resistor.
t
current sourcr3' the value of For a nearry ideal
this resistor shourd be very
that' for a sprecified current, the rarge but this impries
vortage source must be very
cfficicncy is low (due to power rarge. Thus,
loss in the resistor)and it
to construct a 'good'current source is usualry impracticar
this way. Nonetheless, it is
that such a circuit will provide often the case
adequate performance when
current and load resistance the specified
are small. For exampre, a 5V
vortage source in series
with a 4'7k ohms resistor will provide
an approximatelyconstant current
mA (!5%) to a lroad resistance of L
in the range of 50 to 450 ohms.

Active current sources

ActivecurrentSoUrceShavemanyimportantapp|icationsin@.
Current sources (current-stable
resistors) are often used in place
Le'lglars in analog integrated circuits to generate
of ohmic
a current without causing
attenuation at a point in the signal path
to which the current source is attached.
The collector of a bipolar transistor,
the drain of ,
plate of a vacuum tube-naturally @, or the
behave as current sources (or
sinks) when
properly connected to an external
source of energy (such as a power
suppry)
because the output impedance of
these devices is naturally high when
used in
the current source configuration,

Transistor current sources Vs (+)

I
i

DZl :

*-*-"-'T-
I

tlt
c ND (ov)
 Figure 3: Typicat constant
current source (CCS)
Figure 3 sho'ws a typical
constant current source (ccs). DZr
which, when reverse biased is a zener diode
(as shown in the
circuit) has a constant
across it irrespective of re_rtagq dlqp
the current flowing through
it. Thus, as rong as the zener
current (l') is above a certain
level (called hording current),
the zener diocje (V') will be the vortage across
constant. Resistor Rl suppries
the base current (le) of NPN the zener current and
transisto[ (or1. The constant
zener vortage is appried
across the base of
Qt and emitter resistor R2. The operation
follows: Voltage across R2 (vR2) of the circuit is as
is given by vr-vsr,,
where Vee is the base-emitter
drop of Q1' The emitter current
of Qt which is also the current
given by through R2 is

t / ' r Vnz v7-vnn

lnz(=lg)=-=
'R2 R
since V' is cotrstant and VBr, is
also (approximately) constant for
temperature' it follows that Vrrz a given
is constant and hence rr is
arso constant. Due to
l!!!!15!9r action, emitter current lr is very nearly
equal to the collector current
lcof the transistor (which in turn,
is the current through the
load). Thus, the load
current is constant (neglecting the
output resistance of the transistor due
Early effect) and the circuit operates to the
as a constant current source.
As tong as the
temperature rernains constant (or
doesn't vary much), the load current
independent of the supply voltage, will be
RL and the transistor,s gain.
R2 allows the
load current to Lre set at any desirabre
varue and is carcurated by

v7 --vnn V 2-0.65
R2= or R2
Inz Inz ' since VBE is typically

0'65 vfor a silicon device. ( Is,is arso the emitter current and
is assumed to be
the same as the coilector or required
road current, provided hrr is sufficiently
large). Resistancer Rr at resistor Rr.
is carcurated as

vs-vz
RF where, K= 1,.2 to 2 (so that Rris low
I7*K. Ip enough to ensure

adequate ls ),
 I6 (=ln=lnz)
ls= and hir,1rin1 is the lowest acceptable current
lln n gain
lmuq
for the pa rticu la r tra nsistor type being used.

A more common current source

in irrtegrated circuits is the current
mirror.

simple transistor current source

with diode compensation

I
I

.1.
Rr *1"
j

i
i

QT
D

DZT I I
*'.,.....-".*..1.....***j

lt
GND (OV)
Figure 4: TypicaI constant current source (ccs)
with diode compensation
Temperature changes will change the output
current delivered by the circuit of
Fi5Jure 3 becauset Vsr is sensitive
to temperature, Temperature dependence
can
be compensated using the circuit of Figure
4 that includes a standard diode D
(of the same semiconductor material
as the transistor) in series with Zener
diode
as shown in the image on the left. The
diode drop (Vo) tracks the ver changes
due to temperatLlre and thus significantly
counteracts temperature dependence
of the CCS.

Resistance Rz is now calculated as

 p-V nn
V
Rz= 1+V
Inz
Since Vo = VeE,= 0.65 V,

R2=k
Inz
-fherefore,
(ln practical Vo rs never exactly equal to Var and
suppresses the change in
hence it only
Vsr rather than nulling it out.)
And Rr is calculated as

Rt= s-V z-V n

V
(the compensating diode,s forward
I z f K .l voltage drop
n
Vo appears in the equation and is typically
0.65 v for silicon devices.)
This method is most effective for Zener
diodes rated at 5.6 V or more. For
breakdown diodes of less than 5.6 V,
the compensating diode is usually not
required because the breakdown mechanism
is not as temperature dependent
as it is in breakdown diodes above
this voltage.
Simple transistorr current source with LED

tra n st st0r

ElrcCircuit.rror-Il
 Figure 5: Typical constant
current source (ccs) using LED
instead of zener

Anothermethodistorep|acetheZenerdiode*ith@LEDas
shown in Figurre 5. The LED voltage drop (Vo)
is now used to drive the constant
voltage and ;rlso has the additional
advantage of tracking (compensating)
Var
changes due to temperature. Rz is
calculated as

p_v nn v
Rz= I
IR2
And Rr as

v
Rt = s--v n where lo is the LED current.
Io*K.ln '

In view of this it is a simple matter

to design the circuit for a given current.

te=(6+I)tb

I s^6 =16 =$16

/road=BVe(B+lL) Re

/load =Vb - 0.6Re

NB: fhis assumes the use of a silicon transistor

as the base emitter drop is given
as 0.6V
 Vcc +5V

LK BCS+t
SLL00
R

VD i-9V Vee
YelJas 4FOE
LED

TnLED Jabl 1

RL
100 E
Rio0E
220 E 220E
330 E 330E
47-0E 4+0 E
1K 560E

Toble RL stot 47oEaal _at RL Aenstot 4+0E

Vs Vs
5V 9
V 10V
+V 11V
8V 12V

9V 13V

10V