What is the difference between BJT and FET? Explain each.

BJT is the short form of Bipolar Junction Transistor. FET is the short form of Field Effect Transistor. BJT is
current controlled device while FET is voltage controlled device.
BJT and FET are developed from different semiconductor materials mainly P-type and N-type. These
transistors are used in the design of amplifiers, switches and oscillators etc.
BJT

BJT stands for Bipolar Junction Transistor. BJT is the current controlled device. As shown in the figure, there
are P-N-P and N-P-N type of BJT transistors. The symbols of these transistors are also depicted in the figure.
There are three terminals in a BJT device viz. emitter,base and collector.
Trans-conductance gm = vs W/d
Cutoff frequency fT = gm/(2pCgs)
Following are useful characteristics of BJT:
Its input impedance is low and output impedance is high.
Noisy device due to presence of minority carriers.
It is bipolar device as current flows due to both majority and minority carriers.
Thermal stability is lesser due to leakage current or reverse saturation current.
Doping in emitter is highest and in base it is lowest.
Area of collector is highest and that is base is lowest.
FET

FET stands for Field Effect Transistor. FET is the voltage controlled device.
Figure depicts FET symbols for P channel and N channel type.There are three terminals in a FET device. viz.
source, drain and gate. The source is the terminal through which the carriers enter the channel. The drain is the
terminal through which carriers leave the channel.The gate is the terminal that modulates the channel
conductivity by application of voltage to this terminal.

FET is referred as unipolar transistor. In FET input voltage controls the output current, here input current is
usually negligible. This is the great merit of FET when input can not supply much current.
Trans-conductance- gm = q Ie/kBT
Cutoff frequency- fT = 2Dn/WB2
Following are useful characteristics of FET which mentions difference between BJT and FET features.
It is a high input impedance device about 100 MOhm and above.
FET has no offset voltage when used as switch unlike BJT.
FET is relatively immune to radiation but BJT is very sensitive.
It is a majority carrier device.
FET is less noisy compare to BJT. It is more suitable for input stages of low level amplifiers.
FET provides greater thermal stability compare to BJT.
FET is a unipolar device.
Following are the main disadvantages(demerits) of FETs.
FET has relatively small gain bandwidth product compare to BJT.
FET suffers from greater susceptibility to damage and hence requires careful handling.
Following table mentions difference between BJT(Bipolar Junction Transistor) and FET(Field Effect
Transistor) types.
BJT
FET
High voltage gain
Low voltage gain
Low current gain
High current gain
Low input impedance
Very high input impedance
Low output impedance
High output impedance
Medium Noise Generation
Low Noise generation
Medium switching time
Fast switching time
Robust
Easily damaged
Requires zero input to turn it "OFF" Some need an input to turn it "OFF"
It is a Current controlled device.
It is a Voltage controlled device.
Cheap
More expensive than BJT.
Easy to bias
Difficult to bias
Explain function of zener diode and its one of the application used in electronic circuit.
Zener diode operates in reverse bias. It limits any voltage above its breakdown voltage. Hence it is widely used
as voltage regulator in power supplies as well as other electronic circuits.
This zener diode application note covers basic description on zener diode voltage regulator. The circuit diagram
is mentioned.
The zener diode is normally used in reverse biased condition. The flow of current when diode is in reverse
breakdown mode will not be destructive provided it is less than the certain value upto which diode does not
overheated.
Once the diode has breakdown mode, very little change in voltage across zener diode will result into change in
current through the diode. Hence zener diode having known breakdown voltage can be used as reference
voltage in reverse biased mode. It is used to regulate the voltages.
Voltage regulation is a measure of ability of circuit to maintain constant voltage output under variation either in
input voltage or load current.
Figure depicts zener diode voltage regulator circuit and zener diode equivalent circuit. As shown, resistor Rs is
used to limit reverse current through the diode to safe value. Both Vs and Rs are selected such that diode
operates in breakdown region.
The series resistor Rs absorbs output voltage fluctuations to maintain voltage across load to constant value.
Is = (Vs-Vz)/Rs
Where in Is = Iz + IL
Zener diode maintains constant voltage across load as long as supply voltage is more than zener voltage.

Merits and demerits of zener voltage regulator

Zener diode voltage regulator is preferred over other voltage regulator types, as they are lighter, smaller and
have long life. Moreover they are cheaper and simple to develop.
Following are the demerits of zener diode voltage regulator:
Efficiency is low for high load currents.
Output voltage slightly varies due to zener impedance(rz).
Output voltage depends on breakdown voltage of zener diode and can not be selected as separate voltage.
Explain function of oscillator and mention different types of oscillators.
Oscillator is used as source of frequency generation. It is widely used in frequency synthesizer, scalar and
vector signal generators etc. The types of oscillators include wein bridge, colpitts, clapps, crystal oscillators.
Types of oscillator are wein bridge oscillator,colpitts oscillator,clapps oscillator,Hartley Oscillator and crystal
oscillator. They are used in many electronic circuits as reference oscillator in PLL/synthesizer circuits.
Wein Bridge Oscillator

The figure depicts circuit of wein bridge oscillator using operational amplifier. As shown frequency of
oscillation depends on following equation.
f = 1/2**(R3*R4*C1*C2)0.5
Where,
If R3=R4=R and C1=C2=C then equation reduced to
f = 1/2**R*C
Colpitts Oscillator
The figure depicts circuit of colpitts oscillator using transistor. As shown frequency of oscillation depends on
following equation.
f = 1/2** ( L *(C1*C2/C1+C2) )0.5

gm*Rc >= C2/C1

Hartley Oscillator
In the figure-2 (colpitts oscillator) above if we replace C1,C2 with L2,L2 and C in place of L then it will
become Hartley Oscillator. Frequency of oscillation for Hartley Oscillator is as per following equation.
f = 1/2**(C(L1+L2))0.5
gm * RC >= L1/L2
Clapps Oscillator
In the colpitts oscillator circuit if inductor is replaced by a variable capacitor(say, C3) then frequency of
oscillation is expressed as per following equation. The circuit will become clapps oscillator.
f = 1/2**(L*C3)0.5
It happens if (C1/C >> 1 ) and (C1/C)>>(C1/C2)
Crystal Oscillator

The figure depicts circuit of crystal oscillator. The series resonance frequency is expressed as,
fs = 1/ 2**(L*C)0.5
The parallel resonance frequency is expressed as,
fp = 1/2**(L*Ceq)0.5 ,
Where,
Ceq = C*Co/(C+Co)
The frequency of oscillation is chosen between fs and fp.
Quartz Crystal
The technical formula for quartz is referred as SiO2, which is composed of two elements viz. silicon and
oxygen. The amorphous form of quartz is available in rocks as well as sand. They are abundant in nature but its

highly pure form is needed for quartz crystal unit manufacturing. Quartz is a piezoelectric material, used for
high frequency oscillation.
They are very important component of modern electronic industry. Quartz crystals are used to generate
frequencies. They are widely used in clocks, computers, processors and watches.
Quartz crystal equivalent circuit

Quartz resonators composed of piece of piezoelectric material fitted across crystallo-graphic axes. This wafer
will have conductive electrodes which are formed by vacuum evaporation. The piezoelectric effect results when
an E-field is applied between these electrodes. This will cause wafer to vibrate.
The figure-1 depicts Quartz crystal equivalent circuit. Where in Ls is inductance, Cs is series capacitance, Cp is
parallel capacitance and Rs is series resistance.
Quartz Crystal Parameters

Crystal oscillator operates in two modes series and parallel.

Q-factor: The equation/formula of Q-factor is mentioned above. Crystal offers very high Q factor approx. about
1 lakh.
Resonance: It is the condition when the voltage across a electronic circuit becomes in phase with the current
supplied to the circuit. At resonance the circuit acts like a resistive circuit. Power factor of the circuit at
resonance is equal to one.
Series resonance: This condition is formed using series connection of capacitor and inductor. Formula for series
resonance frequency is mentioned above.
Parallel resonance: This condition is formed using parallel connection of capacitor and inductor. Formula for
parallel resonance frequency is mentioned above.
Following are the steps involved in manufactutring of quartz crystal.
Cutting the wafers
Lapping them
Cleaning them
Checking orientation
Rounding

Cleaning and etching of blanks

Base plating
Mounting
Bonding
Final adjustment of frequency using vaccum deposition of silver/gold
Sealing holder to the can
Prevention of electrode oxidation
High temperature cycling
High vacuum bake cycling
Frequency control and sorting

Draw the circuit of AM receiver and FM receiver and explain.

The receiver which rectifies and decodes Amplitude Modulated Signal is known as AM receiver. The receiver
which rectifies and decodes Frequency Modulated Signal is known as FM receiver.
As we know the major blocks in any wireless communication system are modulator and demodulator. The
modulator modulates the baseband information and demodulator demodulates the modulated signal to get back
baseband. The modulator employs different modulation schemes to function. They are divided into linear
modulation and angle modulation. The linear modulation types include DSB, AM, SSB and VSB. Angle
modulation types include FM and PM. AM, FM and PM is the short form of Amplitude Modulation, Frequency
Modulation and Phase Modulation respectively. Refer AM vs FM vs PM which differentiate AM, FM and PM
modulation types.
AM/FM radio system
There are two main principles behind AM/FM radio system:
To share the frequency spectrum i.e. many transmitters will use the same one medium.
Demodulates desired signal and rejects all other signals transmitted simultaneously.
As we know source signal in AM/FM radio system is audio information. Different sources of voice information
such as speech, music, hybrid signal(i.e. singing) will have different spectrum. Hence they will occupy different
bandwidth. Speech occupies 4KHz, high quality music specifies 15KHz, AM radio limits baseband bandwidth
to about 5KHz and FM radio limits baseband bandwidth to 15KHz.
There are two main components in a radio system.
Radio Station Transmitter
Radio Receiver
Radio system i.e. radio receiver should be able to receive any type of audio source simultaneously. Different
radio stations will share the frequency spectrum using AM and FM modulation types. Each radio station within
a certain geographical area is assigned a carrier frequency around which it need to transmit. Sharing of AM/FM
radio spectrum is achieved using FDM i.e. Frequency Division Multiplexing. Refer FDM vs TDMfor more
information.
Radio Receiver
Following are the requirements of a radio receiver.
It should be cost effective, so a common man can afford.
It should work with both AM and FM signals.
It should tune to and amplify the desired radio station
It should filter out all other stations
Demodulator part has to work with all radio stations regardless of the carrier frequency.
AM receiver/FM receiver

In a AM radio system, each station occupies maximum bandwidth of 10KHz. Hence carrier spacing is 10KHz.
In a FM radio system, each station occupies bandwidth of 200KHz. Hence carrier spacing is 200KHz.
Figure depicts the combined block schematic of AM/FM receiver. Let us understand working of AM/FM radio
receiver.
For the demodulator to work with any radio signal, we convert carrier frequency of any radio signal to IF
(Intermediate frequency). Radio receiver is optimized to work with these IF frequencies. To achieve this,
suitable IF filters and demodulators at those IF frequencies for AM and FM is designed.
As both AM and FM have different radio frequency spectrum ranges as mentioned below, there are two
different IF frequencies for each of them.
Specifications
AM
FM
Frequency Range 540 to 1600 KHz 88 to 108 MHz
IF Frequency
455 KHz
10.7 MHz
As mentioned in figure-1 a radio receiver consists of following modules:
RF Section: Tunes to desired RF frequency Fc. Includes RF BPF centered around Fc with desired baseband
bandwidth. It passes desired radio station as well as nearby stations.
RF to IF converter: It converts carrier frequency to IF frequency. A local oscillator with variable frequency
which varies with RF carrier frequency is used. This helps in tuning all the carrier frequencies to the same IF
frequency. Here while tuning to the desired channel, we are tuning LO and RF filter simultaneously. In the
mixing process, two frequencies are generated. The higher component is eliminated using filtering and we are
left with IF filtering. The problem with this receiver is generation of image frequency at (Fc+2*FIF). This image
frequency is also present at the output of RF-to-IF converter along with desired signal. This image frequency is
eliminated using rf filtering. RF to IF is done in two stages in the radio receiver, it is known assuper heterodyne
receiver.
IF filter: Depending upon the type of received signal whether AM or FM appropriate IF filter is selected.
Demodulator: Output of IF filter is demodulated either using AM or FM demodulators.
Audio Amplifier: This module amplifies the demodulated baseband information.
Explain function of multivibrator and mention types of multivibrators?
It is basically two stage RC coupled amplifier. The common multivibrators include astable, monostable, bistable.
A multivibrator is basically a two stage RC coupled amplifier with positive feedback from output of one
amplifier to the input of the another amplifier. This is shown in the figure-1.
It is basically a switching circuit which generates non-sinusoidal waves such as square, sawtooth and
rectangular etc. Multivibrator circuits are widely used in storing numbers, counting of pulses, synchronization
of arithmetic operations and so on.

Depending upon type of coupling network used, there are three types of multivibrators.
Astable or free running multivibrator
Monostable or single shot multivibrator
Bistable or flipflop multivibrator
Astable Multivibrator

Figure-2 depicts circuit used for astable multivibrator. In this configuration, both coupling networks provide AC
coupling through coupling capacitors. Each amplifier stage provides phase shift of 180degree in midband. This
results into positive feedback due to overall phase shift of 360 degree or 0 degree. It has no stable state. Circuit
oscillates as long as total loop gain >= 1.
Monostable Multivibrator
Figure-3 depicts circuit used for monostable multivibrator. In this configuration, one coupling network provides
AC coupling while the other provides DC coupling. The circuit has one stable state and one quasi stable state.
In this circuit, a triggering signal is required to induce transition from stable to quasi stable state.
Since the circuit vibrates once for a trigger, it is called a uni-vibrator or monostable multivibrator.

Bistable Multivibrator

Figure-4 depicts circuit used for bistable multivibrator. This configuration requires application of two triggers to
return the circuit to its original state. The first trigger causes conducting transistor to cut-off mode and second
trigger causes it back to conducting mode. This circuit does not oscillate. In this circuit, both coupling networks
provide DC coupling and no energy storage element is used.
What is the difference between SCR, DIAC, TRIAC, UJT and Junction Transistor?
SCR
The full form of SCR is Silicon Controlled Rectifier.
It is a three terminal device.
It has 4 layers of semiconductor.
It is a unidirectional switch. It conducts current only in one direction. Hence it can control DC power only OR it
can control forward biased half cycle of AC input in the load.
Basically SCR can only control either positive or negative half cycle of AC input.

Figure-1 depicts structure and symbol of SCR.

Figure-2 depicts characteristics of SCR.

TRIAC

Figure-3 depicts structure and symbol of TRIAC.

The name "TRIAC" is derived from combination of "TRI" means three and "AC" or alternating current.
It is a three terminal semiconductor device.
It has 5 layers of semiconductor.
It can control both positive and negative half cycles of AC signal input.
It is a bidirectional switch.
The forward and reverse characteristics of TRIAC is similar to forward characteristics of SCR device.
Contruction of TRIAC is equivalent to 2 separate SCR devices connected in inverse parallel as shown in the
figure.
Similar to the SCR, once the triac is fired into conduction, the gate will lose all the control. At this stage, the
TRIAC can be turned OFF by reducing current in the circuit below the holding value of current.
The main demerit of TRIAC over SCR is that TRIAC has lower current capabilities. Typically most of the
TRIACs are available in ratings less than 40 Amp and at voltages upto 600 Volt.

Figure-4 depicts V-I characteristics of TRIAC. Following can be derived from TRIAC characteristics.
VI characteristics in first and third quadrants are same except direction of voltage and current flow. This
characteristic in the 1st and 3rd quadrant is identical to SCR characteristic in the 1st quadrant.
TRIAC can function with either positive(+ve) or negative(-ve) gate control voltage. In normal operation, gate
voltage is +ve in 1st quadrant and -ve in 3rd quadrant.
DIAC

Figure-5 depicts structure and symbol of DIAC.

It is a two terminal device.
It is 3 layer bidirectional device.
Diac can be switched from its off state to ON state for either polarity of applied voltage.
The DIAC can be made either in PNP or NPN structure form. The figure depicts DIAC in PNP form which has
two p-regions of silicon separated by n-region.
Let us compare DIAC vs TRANSISTOR and understand similarities and difference between DIAC and
TRANSISTOR.
Structure of DIAC is similar to the structure of transistor.
There is no terminal attached with base layer in DIAC unlike transistor.
All the three regions in DIAC are identical in size unlike transistor.
The doping concentrations are identical in these three regions in DIAC unlike bipolar transistor. This will give
DIAC device symmetrical properties.

Figure-6 depicts characteristics of DIAC.

UJT

Figure-7 depicts structure and symbol of UJT.

As shown it is n-type silicon bar with connections on both ends. The leads are referred as "B1" and "B2". Along
the bar between the two bases , PN junction is constructed between P-type Emitter and N-type Bar. This lead is
referred as "Emitter Lead-E".
It is the short form of Unijunction Transistor.
It is 3 terminal switching device made of semiconductor materials.
When UJT is triggered, IE increases re-generatively until it is limited by VE . Here IE is emitter current and VE is
emitter power supply. Due to this feature, UJT is used in wide variety of applications such as sawtooth
generator, pulse generator, switching etc.

Device has only one PN junction and hence the term "UNI" in Unijunction Transistor (UJT).
The UJT is also known as "Double Based Diode". This is due to the fact that it has only one PN junction. The
two base terminals are derived from one single section of diode(or semiconductor material).
In UJT, emitter part is heavily doped and n region is lightly doped. Hence resistance between two base
terminals is quite high when emitter terminal is left open. The value of resistance is about 5 to 10 KOhm.

UJT structure is similar to N-channel FET device. But the difference between UJT and FET is that P-Type Gate
material is surrounded around N-type material.

Figure-8 depicts characteristics of UJT.

Junction Transistor

Figure-9 depicts structure and symbol of Bipolar junction Transistor.

Figure-10 depicts output characteristics of transistor in common base and common emitter configurations.