EEK361 Power Electronics

2014/2015

Experiment 2
BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR AS A SWITCH
A. OBJECTIVES:
1) To study the switching parameters of an npn BJT under the effects of an inductive load, a
snubber circuit and a free-wheeling-diode
B. MATERIALS REQUIRED:
a) Equipment
1. DC Power Supply (variable 0 to 15V)
1
2. Digital multimeter
1
3. Dual channel oscilloscope
1
4. Function generator
1
5. Breadboard
1
b) Electronic components
1. npn BJT: BC548 or BC547 or equivalent
2. Voltage regulator IC 7805 (+5V, 1A)
3. Signal diode: 1N4148 or equivalent
4. Resistor: 100/0.25W
5. Resistor: 1k/0.25W
6. Resistor: 100/2W
7. Ceramic disc capacitor: 1nF
8. Electrolytic capacitor: 47F/(16V or above)
9. Electrolytic capacitor: 100F/(16V or above)
10. Inductor: 100H/0.29, 0.79A

1
1
2
1
2
1
2
2
1
1

C. INTRODUCTION
1. Switching parameters of BJT
Bipolar junction transistors (BJT) are moderate speed switches in among the power
semiconductor switches. It is because carriers (electrons and holes) are collected at the BE
junction during on state. During switching off, these carriers have to be removed before the
depletion layer at the BE junction starts to develop and turn off the BJT. During switching on,
carriers have also to be collected at the junction before the BJT starts to turn on. Finite times
are required for the BJT to fully turn on and fully turn off. Below are four defined switching
parameters, which can be used to characterize the BJT switching characteristics for a given
test circuit with conditions. td is the turn-on delay time, tf the fall time of vCE, ts the storage
time and tr the rise time of vCE. The switching-on time is tsw-on = td + tf and switching-off time
is tsw-off = ts + tr. tPW is the negative-going pulse-width of vCE.

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VI (max)
+VCC

vI
vCE

0.1VI (max)
0V
VCE(max)
0.9VCE(max)

RB

0.5VCE(max)

VI (max)

RC

DUT

0.1VCE(max)
0V

0V
tP
at DC, tr & tf
(b)

td

tPW
tf
tsw-on

ts
(a)

tr

tsw-off

Fig-1: (a) Typical vI and vCE waveforms of npn BJT. (b) A simple test circuit for npn BJT.

2. Effects of Inductor
a) Inductor
Inductor is a reactive circuit element. It stores energy due to current flowing through it. It has
inertia to change in current. However, the voltage across it can be instantaneous. Below are
equations to characterize the behaviour of inductor.
di( t )
(Eq-1)
v( t ) L
dt
+
v

1 t
1 t
(Eq-2)
i( t ) v( t ) dt i( t 0) v( t ) dt
L
L 0
i
(Eq-3)
E (t ) 12 Li( t )2

b) Inductive load
Inductive load is a load where its time constant = L/R is relatively longer than the time of
interest, where R is the equivalent serial resistance (ESR) of the inductive load due to the
resistance of the winding wire. The general effects of inductive load are voltage drop, voltage
spike and circuit oscillation. The voltage spike can damage a switching element through overvoltage. If the time of interest is very short, the effects of stray inductance of a circuit can also
be observed.
Consider an inductive load circuit as shown in Fig-2(a). CS is stay capacitance of the switch.
If the switch is closed long enough (>5 x L/R), the circuit current can achieve a steady state
value, which is given by I = V0/R. When the switch is opened, the current I will continue to
flow through CS due to the inductance L. The voltage across CS, vS will be increased from
0V. The peak voltage VSM across the switch can be found by solving the circuit equation
below:

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di
1 t
(Eq-4)
vC ( t 0) i dt
dt
C 0
where i = I, vL = vC = 0V at t = 0s. The VSM occurs at the time when i has reached 0A with
assumption the circuit is in underdamped oscillation condition, i.e. R < 2(L/CS). If the
circuit is in lightly damped condition, i.e. R << 2(L/CS), the energy stored in the inductor L
before switch is opened will be stored in the capacitor CS at the moment when i = 0A. Hence
V0 v R v L vC iR L

1
2

LI 2 12 C S VSM 2

and the oscillation period is given by

VSM I L C S

(Eq-5)

T = 2(LCS)

(Eq-6)
0.7V

vR +

vL

DF

V0
0V

V0
0V

vR +

vL

S is opened

+
V0 Power
supply

vS

V0 Power

CS

S is opened

+
CS

supply

vS
-

(a)

(b)

Fig-2: An inductive load circuit without (a) and with (b) a free wheeling diode.

D. EXPERIMENT
Experimental effort evaluation (2 marks out of 5 marks)
Student must show multimeter reading, oscilloscope display, etc to lab experiment supervisor
before proceeding to the next section.
Before starting these experiments:
1. Test your BJT and diodes.
2. Check your voltage probes, oscilloscope and function generator.
Fixed +5V power supply
Construct a fixed +5V voltage source as shown in Fig-3. This output will be the VS in the
circuits in Fig-4.
+9V to +10V

IN
+

From adjustable output

DC power supply

7805
COM

47F

OUT

+5V

+
47F

Constant output voltage

as VS in Fig-4.

Fig-3: Voltage regulator IC 7805 circuit for fixed +5V output.

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Section 1: Temporal switching behaviour of BJT and effect of inductor

Note: Waveforms must be drawn on a common time axis as shown in the figure in each
section. Each waveform has its own vertical scale with its ground level (channel position) at
one of the vertical major grid position, e.g. at +2 division means at 2 divisions above centre
of the vertical axis. Each 2-student group is allowed to make a photocopy of the graphs.
Please indicate group ID, partners name and ID on the photocopy page. Use a single
page graph paper to draw all the waveforms.
P5
P4

VS = +5V RS=100/2W
CI = +
100F

W
P1

RB1=1k P2

CB=1nF
(a)

P3 B

RB2=
100

C
Q (npn)

VS = +5V RS=100/2W
CI = +
100F

DB=1N4148

P1

RB1=1k P2

CB=1nF
(b)

P4
LS=100H
P3 B

RB2=
100

C
Q (npn)
E

DB=1N4148

Fig-4: (a) A simple BJT switching circuit, (b) inductance effect,

Section 1.1: BJT temporal switching behavior

Caution when using the electrolytic capacitor: The polarity of the capacitor must be
connected correctly, otherwise, explosion may occur.
Caution when using the oscilloscope: Make sure the INTENSITY of the displayed
waveforms is not too high, which can burn the screen material of the oscilloscope.
Caution when using the function generator: Never short-circuit the output, which
may burn the output stage of the function generator.

Procedures:
1) Construct the circuit as shown in Fig-4(a).
2) Oscilloscope settings: You must use VOLTS/DIV and TIME/DIV values as
mentioned in each part, if any. Channel POSITION must be put at one of the vertical
major grid position. Set AC/GND/DC input coupling switches at DC. Make sure the
VARIABLE knobs for CH1, CH2 and time base at the CAL positions.
3) Function generator settings: Select square-wave mode and set frequency at 40kHz.
Connect the function generator output to CH1. Set the output voltage amplitude to 5V (or
peak-to-peak to 10V). Set the duration when the output is +5V, t5V = 5s by adjusting
the RAMP/PULSE knob. (Oscilloscope settings: 2V/div, 5s/div, edge-trigger: +,
trigger level: adjust to get stable waveform.) Then connect the output to the input P1 of
the circuit. After connection, check again the amplitude of the function generator output
and adjust to 5V amplitude, if necessary. Adjust t5V to exactly 5s by using 1s/div.
4) Skill to draw voltage waveforms: The HORIZONTAL position knob should not be moved
before all the waveforms, which share a common time axis, are drawn. Draw the
waveform by using one-to-one scale, i.e. 1 cm on the graph paper is equivalent to 1
division on the oscilloscope screen. Draw the ground level and locate some of the
important points, e.g. maximum and minimum points, turning points, points where the
waveform cuts through the ground level and the major grids. Connect the points together
by a smooth curve.

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CSB=
1nF

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5) Using graph paper (Note: this section and next section use the same time axis. Start
P1 waveform at top-left corner of the graph paper), draw the voltage waveforms at P2,
P3 and P4 with respect to the referent voltage waveform at P1 to show the detailed v(t)
and t relationships among them. To do this:
i) Connect CH1 (5V/div, ground level: +2 division, trigger edge: +) to P1 and draw
the waveform (keep this connected all the time),
vP1
ii) Connect CH2 (2V/div) to P2 and draw the waveform,
iii) Connect CH2 (2V/div) to P3 and draw the waveform,
vP2
iv) Connect CH2 (2V/div) to P4 and draw the waveform, and also
With
vP3
CB
measure ts value between vP1 and vP4 and tr of vP4.
Note: You must draw the waveforms as shown at the left and
vP4
indicate the ground level of each waveform. Set 2V/div for CH2 and
w/o
vP2
use a time base of 1s/div.
CB
6) Remove CB from the circuit and draw voltage waveforms at P2 w.r.t. the
1s/div
waveform at P1. Measure ts value between vP1 and vP4 and tr of vP4
(refer to Fig-4).
Results:
Step 5) iv): ts = _______, tr = ______
Step 6): ts = _______, tr = ______
Questions:
i) vP2 waveform with CB: Explain why there are positive spike and negative spike?
ii) vP3 waveform with CB: Comment and explain on the waveform.
iii) vP4 waveform with CB: Comment and explain on the waveform.
iv) vP2 waveform without CB: Comment on this waveform to the vP2 waveform with CB.

Section 2: Effects of the inductor

Procedures:
1) Switch off power supply. Modify the circuit in Fig-4(a) as shown in Fig-4(b) by adding
LS and CSB (remember put back the CB).
Cautions for CSB connections:
Make sure CSB is in firm connection to the collector (C) and the emitter (E) terminals of
the BJT, respectively. Any short duration (in ms) of disconnection during operation
could cause the BJT to be destroyed by over-voltage stress. The stray capacitance of the
BJT is less than 30pF. A voltage of more than VCE(max) = 30V could built up across CE of
the BJT if the capacitor CSB is removed.
2) Set up the oscilloscope and the function generator as in section 1.1, procedure 2 and 3.
Neglect this step if you did not disturb the oscilloscope CH1 and the function generator.
3) Using the same graph paper and time axis for section 1.1, draw the
waveforms of
voltage waveforms at P4 (CH2, 5V/div) and P5 (CH2, 5V/div) w.r.t.
section 4.1
the referent voltage waveform at P1 to show the detailed v(t) and t vP4
relationships between vP4 and vP5.
t
vP5

t
1s/div
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t
t
t
t
t

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Note: Indicate the ground level of each waveform, use the same time axis as for
section 1.1, and draw the waveforms as shown at the left.
4) Measure the tr value of vP4. Measure the maximum and minimum voltages of vP4 after
Q is turned off. Measure the average time period of the oscillating part of vP4.
Results:
Step 4): tr = ______ , vP4(max) = ______ , vP4(min) = ______ , Tvp4, osc = ______
Questions:
i) vP4 waveform: a) Explain why tr is different from those of vP4 in section 1.1. b) Explain
why there is an oscillation part. c) Explain the behavior of the other non-oscillation part of
vP4.
ii) vP5 waveform: Explain the waveform behavior by relating it to vP4.
iii) Using the equation Eq-5, calculate the maximum voltage across CSB and explain why it is
different from the experimental value.
iv) Using the equation Eq-6, calculate the oscillation period. Why it is shorter than the
experimental value?
Lab report format, evaluation and submission
The report should consists of
Results and answers for all the questions (Please write down the corresponding step or
procedure number as the identification of your answer in appropriate order),
Discussion, and Conclusion.
Duration of lab report submission: not more than 7 days after the date of your
experiment
Lab report submitted to: the lab staff of power electronics experiment
Penalty for the late submission: deduct 1 mark

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