WAVE SHAPING

CIRCUITS
Storage, Delay and Calculation
of Transistor Switching Times
 Storage, Delay and Calculation
of Transistor Switching Times
• When a pulse is applied to the input of the

transistor, the output current does not directly follow

the input waveform.
• Instead there will always be some delay because
the transistor operates from cut-off to saturation and
returns to cut-off.
 Storage, Delay and Calculation
of Transistor Switching Times
Delay time(td):

• The collector current does not immediately respond

to the input pulse.

• There is delay and the time that elapses during this

delay, together with time needed for the current to
rise to 10% of its maximum value i.e, IC(sat) = VCC/RC
is called the time delay.
 Storage, Delay and Calculation
of Transistor Switching Times
• The reason for the delay is that the transistor
requires a non- zero time to charge up the
emitter-junction transistor capacitance in order
to bring the transistor to the active region from
cut-off region.
 Storage, Delay and Calculation
of Transistor Switching Times
Rise time(tr):

• The time required for the collector current to rise

from 10% to 90% of the maximum value.

Turn- ON time(tON):

• The sum of delay time(td) and the rise time(tr)

tON =td + tr
 Storage, Delay and Calculation
of Transistor Switching Times
Storage time(ts):
• When the input signal return backs to its initial state
at t = T, the collector current again fails to respond
immediately.
• The interval which elapses between the transition of
the input voltage waveform and the time when
collector current dropped to 90% of its maximum
value is called Storage time.
 Storage, Delay and Calculation
of Transistor Switching Times
Fall time(tf):
• The time required for the collector current to fall
from 90% to 10% of the maximum value.

Turn- off time(tOff):

• The sum of storage time(ts) and the fall time(tr)

toff = ts + tf
 SPEED-UP CAPACITOR
• Speed up capacitor is used to improve the switching
times.

• Before switching ON the transistor, the base emitter

junction is reverse biased and the input capacitance of
the transistor charges to reverse biased emitter voltage.

• To turn on the transistor from cut-off, the base emitter

voltage(VBE) must be made positive for npn transistor.

• The time taken to change the VBE from negative to zero

and then to positive is high.
 SPEED-UP CAPACITOR
• Hence to minimize the turn-on time, VBE should
have a very small reverse bias value before switch-
on.

• The delay time and the rise time can be reduced if

the transistor is overdriven i.e. if IB is made larger
than the minimum required for saturation.

• With a larger IB, the junction capacitance charges

faster, thus reducing the turn-on time.
 SPEED-UP CAPACITOR
• A major disadvantage of over driving is that the
storage time is extended by the larger current flow
across the forward biased collector base junction
when the transistor is in saturation.

• An overdriven transistor will turn on faster, but it

will lead to a longer turn-off time.

• The turn-off time may be reduced by providing a

large negative input voltage during switch-off.
 SPEED-UP CAPACITOR
• This produces a reverse base current flow which
causes the junction capacitance to discharge
rapidly.

• But it increases the turn on time because of the

initial large reverse bias across the base emitter
junction.
 SPEED-UP CAPACITOR
• The ideal conditions for switching the transistor
are:
– VBE should be zero volts

– IB must be made large at the time of switch on but must

decrease quickly to minimum level required for the saturation.

– Switch off should be accomplished by a large reverse bias

voltage which rapidly returns to zero.

• These conditions can be achieved by connecting a

capacitor in parallel with RB.
 SPEED-UP CAPACITOR

• The capacitor is called speed up capacitor or

commutating capacitor.

• The speed up capacitor tends to reduce td, ts, tr and tf .

 SPEED-UP CAPACITOR
• When the input voltage is applied, the charging current flows
through the speed up capacitor.

• The capacitor charges quickly to (Vin-VBE).

• Along with the base current IB, the capacitor charging current
also flows into the base terminal of the transistor.

• This satisfies the requirement that IB must be high.

• Thus the charging current of capacitor C1 helps to switch ON

the transistor very quickly.

• The turn on time can be reduced when the capacitor is

permitted to charge by 10% during the turn on time.
 Calculation of speed-up
Capacitor
• The capacitor charges by 10% during the time 0.1 RsC.

R = Rs = source resistance

• Hence ton = 0.1 RSC i.e. C = ton/0.1RS

 SPEED-UP CAPACITOR
• Once the transistor is driven to saturation, to switch it OFF, Vin is
reduced to zero.

• The capacitor starts discharging through RB and the base emitter

junction becomes reverse biased.

• For perfect switching C must be atleast 90% discharged during

the time interval between transistor switch-off and switch-on.

• The time needed for the capacitor to return to discharged

condition is called settling time or the recovery time tre.

• Hence tre = 2.3 RBC, i.e. C = tre/2.3 RB

• The maximum signal frequency is f = 1/2T = 1/2 tre

 Calculation of speed-up
Capacitor
• An inverter circuit using 2N3904 transistor with ton = 70ns
has RS=600 Ω and RB = 5.6 kΩ. Determine the size of the
speed-up capacitor to give maximum improvement in
transistor turn on time. Also find the max square wave input
frequency that may be used with the circuit.
C = ton/0.1RS
C = 70 x 10-9/ 0.1x 600
C = 1200 pF
tre= 2.3 RBC = 2.3 X 5.6 x 103 X 1200 X 10-12 = 15 µs
f = 1/2 tre = 1/(2 X 15 X 10-6) = 3.33 kHz