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Ujt Relaxation Oscillator

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93 views4 pages

Ujt Relaxation Oscillator

Uploaded by

myselfsoumyajyoti
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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UJT relaxation oscillator

UJT relaxation oscillator is a type of RC (resistor-capacitor) oscillator where the active element
is a UJT (uni-junction transistor). UJT is an excellent switch with switching times in the order of
nano seconds. It has a negative resistance region in the characteristics and can be easily employed
in relaxation oscillators. The UJT relaxation oscillator is called so because the timing interval is
set up by the charging of a capacitor and the timing interval is ceased by the the rapid discharge of
the same capacitor. Before going into the details of UJT relaxation oscillator let’s have a look at
the uni junction transistor (UJT).

UJT (uni junction transistor)


From the name itself, the UJT or uni junction transistor is a semiconductor device that has only
one junction. The UJT has three terminals designated B1, B2 and E. The base material for a UJT
is a lightly doped N-Type Silicon bar with ohmic contacts given at the lengthwise ends. These end
terminals are called B1 and B2. Since the silicon bar is lightly doped, the resistance between B1
and B2 is very high (typically 5 to 10 KΩ). A heavily doped P-type region is constructed on one
side of the bar close to the B2 region. This heavily doped P region is called emitter and it is
designated as E. Resistance between E & B1 is higher than the resistance between E & B2 because
E is constructed close to B2. The internal block diagram, simplified internal circuit model and
circuit symbol of a UJT is given in the figure below.

The diode symbol shown in the internal circuit model represents the P-N junction formed
between the heavily doped P-region (E) and the lightly doped N-Type bar.

UJT parameters
RBBO : It is the resistance between the terminals B1 and B2. In simple words, it is the resistance of
the N-Type bar when measured lengthwise. If RB1 is the resistance of the bar from E to B1 and
RB2 is the resistance of the bar from E to B2, then RBBO can be expressed as RBBO= RB1
+RB2. The typical range of RBBO is from 4KΩ to 10KΩ.
Intrinsic standoff ratio (η) : It is the ratio of RB1 to the sum of RB1 and RB2. It can be expressed
as η = RB1/(RB1+RB2) or η = RB1/RBBO. The typical range of intrinsic standoff ratio is from 0.4
to 0.8.

UJT characteristics and circuit arrangement


For ease of understanding, the internal model of the UJT is used in the circuit (Fig 1). B2 terminal
of the UJT is made positive with respect to B1 terminal using the voltage source Vbb. Emitter
terminal E of the UJT is forward biased using the voltage source Ve. Current starts flowing into
the emitter only when the bias voltage Ve has exceeded the forward drop of the internal diode (Vd)
plus the voltage drop across RB1 (Vrb1). This condition can be expressed using the following
equation.

Ve = Vd + Vrb1
Considering the intrinsic stand off ratio η= RB1/(RB1+RB2), the equation becomes

Ve = Vd+ηVbb
A typical silicon diode has a forward voltage drop of 0.7V. When this factor is considered, the
equation can be re written as

Ve = 0.7V + ηVbb
This minimum value of the emitter voltage Ve for which the emitter current starts to flow is called
the firing voltage of UJT.

As the Ve is increased the emitter current Ie is also increased and the junction behaves like a
typical P-N junction. But the Ve can be only increased up to a particular point called Vp (peak
voltage). At this point a considerable amount of emitter current (Ie) flows and a significant number
of holes are injected into the junction. These holes are repelled by B2 and attracted by B1. As a
result, the region between emitter(E) and B1 terminal starts saturating by holes and the
conductivity of this region starts to increase. This phenomenon of increasing conductivity by the
insertion of holes is called conductivity modulation. This increased conductivity reduces RB1
and η. This results in a condition where emitter current Ie increases and the emitter voltage Ve
decreases. This situation is similar to a negative resistance scenario. In the graph (Fig:2) you can
see that the regions between Vp (peak voltage point) and Vv (valley voltage) have a negative slope.
This negative resistance region in the UJT characteristics is employed in relaxation oscillators.

At last the emitter current Ie will be increased to a point that no more increase in conductivity is
possible. This point is called “Valley point”. The emitter current corresponding to valley point is
denoted as Iv and the corresponding emitter voltage is denoted as Vv. Beyond the valley point,
the UJT is fully saturated and the junction behaves like a fully saturated P-N junction.
Applications of UJT
 Relaxation oscillators.
 Switching Thyristors like SCR, TRIAC etc.
 Magnetic flux sensors.
 Voltage or current limiting circuit.
 Bistable oscillators.
 Voltage or current regulators.
 Phase control circuits.

UJT relaxation oscillator

The circuit diagram of a UJT relaxation oscillator is given shown above. R1 and R2 are current
limiting resistors. Resistor R and capacitor C determines the frequency of the oscillator. The
frequency of the UJT relaxation oscillator can be expressed by the equation
F = 1/ (RC ln(1/(1-η)) where η is the intrinsic standoff ratio and ln stand for natural logarithm.
When power supply is switched ON the capacitor C starts charging through resistor R. The
capacitor keeps on charging until the voltage across it becomes equal to 0.7V plus ηVbb. This
voltage is the peak voltage point “Vp” denoted in the characteristics curve (Fig:2). After this
point the emitter to RB1 resistance drops drastically and the capacitors starts discharging through
this path. When the capacitor is discharged to the valley point voltage “Vv” (refer Fig : 1) the
emitter to RB1 resistance climbs again and the capacitor starts charging. This cycle is repeated and
results in a sort of sawtooth waveform across the capacitor. The saw tooth waveform across the
capacitor of a typical UJT relaxation oscillator is shown in the figure below.

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