Scribd
Upload
18 views

BJT Configurations

The document discusses three configurations of Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs): Common Base, Common Emitter, and Common Collector. Each configuration has distinct input and output characteristics, current gain, and applications, with the Common Base providing low current gain, the Common Emitter offering both voltage and current amplification, and the Common Collector serving primarily for impedance matching with unity voltage gain. The relationships between input and output currents are defined, highlighting the behavior of the transistor in active, cutoff, and saturation regions.

Uploaded by

jenicamaesisno
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
18 views

BJT Configurations

The document discusses three configurations of Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs): Common Base, Common Emitter, and Common Collector. Each configuration has distinct input and output characteristics, current gain, and applications, with the Common Base providing low current gain, the Common Emitter offering both voltage and current amplification, and the Common Collector serving primarily for impedance matching with unity voltage gain. The relationships between input and output currents are defined, highlighting the behavior of the transistor in active, cutoff, and saturation regions.

Uploaded by

jenicamaesisno
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 9

Common Base Configuration

The common-base terminology is derived from the fact that


the base is common to both the input and output sides of the
configuration.
Input: The input signal is applied between the emitter and the base.

Output: The output is taken from the collector and the base.

Since the input and output are at different parts of the


transistor, and the base is shared, the transistor amplifies the
input signal with a phase shift (in this case, none) and with a
change in magnitude, depending on the gain of the transistor.
The current flowing through the emitter is denoted as ​, the current through the collector
is ​, and the current through the base is ​. In the Common Base configuration, the current
gain is approximately 1, meaning the current amplification factor is very low compared
to other configurations like the Common Emitter configuration. The relationship between
the currents is given by:

≈+ ​

where is the collector current and is the base current.


Figure 1.1 Output/Collector Characteristics In the active region the collector-base junction is
for a Common-base transistor reverse-biased, while the base-emitter junction is
forward-biased.

The input current (I_E) is applied between the emitter and the
base. The current gain of the transistor in this configuration is
very low while the output current (I_C) is much larger than the
input current due to the amplification property of the transistor.
The current gain (α) is defined as the ratio of the output
current (I_C) to the input current (I_E), and it typically lies
between 0.98 and 0.99, meaning that most of the emitter
current becomes the collector current.

This indicates that a first approximation to the


relationship between IE and IC in the active region is
givencut-off
The by IC IE
region defined as the region where
collector current is 0A. In addition, In the cutoff region
In this region, the base current is insufficient to turn the collector-base and base-emitter junctions of a
the transistor on, and thus the emitter current (I_E) transistor are both reverse-biased. Note that the
and the collector current (I_C) are very close to zero. exponential increase in collector current as the voltage
There is no amplification in this region because the VCB increases toward 0 V.
transistor is essentially "off."
In the saturation region the collector-base and base-emitter junctions are forward-
biased.

Both the emitter and collector junctions are forward-biased, leading to a situation where the transistor is
"fully on.“ The collector current reaches its maximum value and is determined by the external load, not by
the transistor's characteristics. The transistor behaves more like a switch than an amplifier in this region.
Alpha (
- Current Gain

=
Where:

is the collector current

is the emitter current


Common Emitter Configuration
In this configuration, the emitter of the Bipolar Junction Transistor
(BJT) is common to both the input and the output. This
configuration provides both voltage and current amplification,
which makes it versatile for various applications.

Input: The input signal is applied between the base and the emitter.
Output: The output is taken between the collector and the emitter.

The input current is the base current ​, and the output current is the collector
current ​.

The relationship between the currents in the CE configuration is: = +

where ​is the emitter current, ​is the base current, and ​is the collector current.

The collector current is primarily controlled by the base current and is given by:
≈β⋅

where β is the current gain of the transistor (also called hFE or DC current gain).
The voltage gain of the Common Emitter configuration is typically high and is given approximately
by:

AV ≈

where:
​is the collector resistor.
is the small-signal emitter resistance, approximately equal to 1/ where ​is the
transconductance of the transistor.

The negative sign indicates that the output signal is inverted with respect to the input signal.

Emitter Current (I_E): The total current flowing through the emitter is the sum of the base and
collector currents: = +

Base-Collector Relationship: The collector current is approximately β ⋅ with β being the


transistor's current gain.
In the active region of a common-emitter amplifier the collector-base
junction is reverse-biased, while the base-emitter junction is forward-
biased.
In this region, the transistor acts as an amplifier. When a small input
voltage is applied to the base, it causes a larger current to flow
between the collector and emitter. The relationship between the
input (base-emitter voltage) and the output (collector-emitter
voltage) is not linear, but the transistor can amplify the signal.

For linear (least distortion) amplification purposes, cutoff for the common-emitter
configuration will be defined by

In the saturation region, both the base-emitter and collector-base


junctions are forward-biased, meaning that the transistor is "on"
and behaving like a closed switch. The collector current is at its
maximum value, limited by the external circuit, not by the base
current. When the transistor enters saturation, the voltage drop
between the collector and emitter () is small, typically around 0.1V
to 0.3V.
Beta (

In the dc mode the levels of and are related by a quantity called beta
and defined by the following equation:

For ac situations an ac beta is defined as follows:

= = constant

A relationship can be developed between using the basic relationships


introduced. Thus,
Common Collector Configuration
In this configuration, the collector of the transistor is common to both
the input and the output circuits, hence the name "Common Collector."
This configuration is widely used in circuits where impedance matching
or buffering is required.

Input: The input signal is applied between the base and the emitter of the transistor.
Output: The output is taken from the emitter and ground (or the common collector terminal).

The Common Collector configuration is voltage buffer and provides


voltage gain close to 1 (unity gain). This means the output voltage is
approximately equal to the input voltage, with very little attenuation. Due to
this characteristic, the Common Collector is not used for voltage
amplification but is instead used for impedance matching or as a voltage
follower.

The current gain of the Common Collector configuration is high, as the


output current ​(emitter current) is approximately equal to the input
current (base current) multiplied by the transistor's current gain β.
The current gain in this configuration is very close to β, which is typically
large (e.g., 100 or more in most BJTs), meaning that a small base current
can produce a large emitter current.
Emitter Current (I_E): The emitter current is approximately equal to the collector current ​≈ ​
because the base current is small compared to the emitter and collector currents.

Voltage Gain (A_V):

= ≈1

The voltage gain is near 1, meaning there is little voltage amplification but high current
amplification.

Current Gain: The current gain β in the Common Collector configuration is approximately the
same as the current gain of the transistor in general, i.e., β, since the emitter current is ≈ β ⋅

You might also like