October 4, 2017

Akshay S IMS15019
School of Physics
IISER Thiruvananthapuram
Transistor Characteristics in CE Configuration (n-p-n Transistor)
(Dated: October 4, 2017)
Transistors are semiconductor devices used for amplification and switching of electronic signals and
formed the basis of digital logic. In this experiment we studied the input and output characteristic
I-V curves of BC107A(Bipolar Junction n-p-n) transistor in Common Emitter configuration, as wella
s calculate its dynamic input resistance, dynamic output resistance and common emitter current
gain ().

Transistors are devices that can control the movement

FIG. 1: CE Configuration
of electrons, and consequently, electricity. When an in-
put electrical signal is given, transistors can act as a
switch or amplify electronic signals, letting you control
current moving through a circuit board with precision.
Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) is a Semiconductor
device constructed with three doped Semiconductor Re-
gions (Base, Collector and Emitter) separated by two p-n
Junctions. In BJT, current is produced by both types of FIG. 2: Input Characteristics of a BJT
Charge Carriers (Electrons and Holes), hence the name
Bipolar. There are two Types of BJT: npn and pnp.
The npn Type consists of two n-Regions (positive holes
are majority carriers) separated by a p-Region(negative
electrons are majority charge carriers). The pnp Type
consists of two p-Regions separated by an n-Region. The
regions are different from each other in terms of thickness
as well as doping concentration, thus causing the unique
properties observed. The p-n Junction between the Base
and the Emitter has a Barrier Voltage (V0) of about 0.7
V, which is an important parameter of a BJT. Emitter
is heavily doped segment of a transistor which supplies curves.
a large number of majority charge carriers for the cur-
∆VBE
rent flow through the transistor. Base is middle thin Dynamicinputresistance(ri) = ; VCE constant
segment which is lightly doped. The collector is moder- ∆IB
(1)
ately doped and larger in size than emitter. It collects
The values obtained for dynamic input resistance are
a major portion of the majority carriers supplied by the
1555 for VCE = 1V , 1428 for VCE = 4V and 800 for
emitter. Small base current regulates the output across
VCE = 6V
emitter and collector.
Output Characteristics
Transistor circuit can be classified based on common By keeping the base current (IB ) constant, collector-
terminal in the circuit; in common emitter(CE) config- emitter (VCE ) voltage is varied and the corresponding
uration both the signal source and the load share the
emitter lead as a common connection point. For normal
operation the Base-Emitter junction is forward biased
FIG. 3: Output Characteristics of a BJT
and Base-Collector junction is reverse biased. This is
the only way in which transistor can be operated as an
amplifier.
Input Characteristics
Keeping the Collector-Emitter voltage (VCE ) con-
stant,the Base-Emitter voltage(VBE ) is increased and the
corresponding base current (IB ) values are noted. This
is repeated for increasing values of (VCE ). Dynamic
Input resistance was calculated from the slopes of the

FIG. 4: Transfer Characteristics of a BJT
(IC ) values are obtained. This is repeated for increas-
ing values of IB.Initially for very small values of VCE ,IC
increases almost linearly. This happens because the base-
collector junction is not reverse biased and the transistor
is not in the active state.The reciprocal of the slope of the
linear part of the output characteristic gives the dynamic
output resistance(ro)
∆VCE
Dynamicoutputresistance(ro) = ; IB constant
∆IC
(2)
2
The values obtained for dynamic output resistance are
50 for IB = 100uA, 71 for IB = 150uA and 50 for IB =
200uAV
Transfer Characteristics
The transfer characteristic curve is drawn between 4IC
and IB , when VCE is kept constant at a particular value.
The base current IB is increased in suitable steps and
the collector current IC is noted down for each value of
IB. Current gain is defined as the ratio of the change in
the collector current to the change in the base current
at a constant collector emitter voltage(VCE) when the
transistor is in active state.
∆IC
Currentgain() = (3)
∆IB
Current gain was observed to be 200.
[1] http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/transistor/tran1 .htmlBipolar
//www.hunter.cuny.edu/physics/courses/physics222/repository
[2]