Addis Ababa University

Addis Ababa Institute of Technology

Electrical Engineering Lab II [ Eceg – 2205] Electrical & Computer Engineering Department

In the half-wave rectifier circuit current flows only when ei is positive, so that
the voltage across the load consists of half-sinusoid pulses repeating every
period of the input voltage. See fig.1(c). If the diode is assumed to be ideal or
to have a linear characteristic with a forward dc resistance rf , eL can be
described by the Fourier series:
E L , max  π 2 2 
eL = 1 + sin ω t − cos 2ω t − cos 4ω t + .... (1)
π  2 3 15 

The first term on the right is the dc component, the remaining terms
representing unwanted ripple, since the ac components merely produce heat
losses in the transformer windings and the load without contributing to the dc.
The efficiency with which the ac is converted to dc is measu
red by the efficiency of rectification, which is defined as the ratio of the dc
power delivered to the load to the total power furnished by the source. Since
the effective value of the load current is IL = Im / 2 and since its dc component
or average value is Idc = Im / π.
Idc 2 RL 4 RL
ηR = 2 x100% = 2 x100% ≤ 40.5% (2)
IL ( R L + R f ) π RL + Rf
The theoretical maximum value is 40.5% when an ideal diode is used.

A measure of the smoothness of the rectified output, known as the ripple

factor , γ, is defined as the ratio of the effective value, Iac, of the ac ripple to the
dc component, Idc.

Iac ( IL − Idc )
1/ 2
 IL  2 
1/ 2 1/ 2
2 2
π 2 
γ = = =   − 1 = − 1 = 121
. (3)
Idc Idc  Idc    4 

It is seen that Iac=1.21Idc. This excessive content of ripple limits the use of the
half-wave rectifier circuit. Another disadvantage of this circuit is the tendency
of the unidirectional current in the transformer secondary to cause dc
magnetisation and saturation of the core, making the use of large, expensive
transformers necessary. A related measure of performance in this regard is the
transformer utilisation.( read on this)

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 Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
Electrical Engineering Lab II [ Eceg – 2205] Electrical & Computer Engineering Department

Experiment

4 Junction Transistor
Characteristics
Course Number: Eceg 2205
Course Title: Electrical Engineering Lab II

1. Objective

To Plot the input and characterstics (graphic between the base

current iB and base to emitter voltage VBE, Keeping collector emitter
voltage VCE constant)
To Calculate the input dynamic resistance for the input
characteristics at given operating point
To plot the output characteristics (graph between ic and VCE For
fixed value of iB )
To calculate the Ac resistance (ro), the dc beta (βde) and ac beta at
agiven operating point.
2. Equipment

2 DC power Supply
1 mA range DC ammeter
1 µA range DC ammeter
3. Component

BC 107 or BC 109 BJT transistor or Equivalent

Decade resistor

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 Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
Electrical Engineering Lab II [ Eceg – 2205] Electrical & Computer Engineering Department

4. Theory

A bipolar junction transistor has three terminals: emitter (E), base (B) and
collector (C). In BJT the current flowing from E to C (IC) is controlled by
changing voltage drop between B and E, or equivalently by changing current
flowing into B terminal (IB). In the most common circuits the signal current IB is
usually quite small as compared to IC. Hence, BJT-based circuits can be used
to amplify the signal since small input variations (low input power) can produce
large output variation (high output power). Of course the energy is not
generated from nothing inside BJT. The extra power that becomes available at
the output comes from power supply that has to be present in BJT-based
amplifier circuits (actually, power supply has to be present in any amplifier
circuit).

Hence, one can say that VBE or IB controls the amount of energy taken from DC
power supply to change IC. One can recognize common emitter (CE), common
base (CB) and common collector (CC) BJT configurations in circuits depending
on which BJT terminal is grounded (i.e. used as a reference point for the input
and output signals). A BJT gain stage can amplify voltage (CB), current (CC) or
both (CE). In this lab we will use only the CE configuration when the input
voltage is applied between the base and emitter terminals, and the output
voltage is taken at the collector with respect to the ground (emitter).

Internally BJT is three layers of semiconductors of different conductivity types.

For instance, in n-p-n Sibased BJT the emitter is n-type Si, base is p-type Si
and collector is again n-type Si. Hence, inside the BJT there are two pn-
junctions. By applying voltages between terminals, one can bias Base-Emitter
or Base-Collector junctions either in forward or reverse direction. In n-p-n BJT
the positive VBE = VB-VE means forward bias to B-E junction. Forward bias of
the B-E junction lowers the energy barrier for electron injection from Emitter to

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 Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
Electrical Engineering Lab II [ Eceg – 2205] Electrical & Computer Engineering Department

Base (Figure 1). Electrons from the Emitter are injected to Base and can diffuse
across the B provided that they are rapidly removed at the B-C junction. For
this purpose the B-C junction is reverse biased, i.e. VBC = VB-VC is negative. In
other words, the positive Collector accepts electrons coming from Emitter
through the Base.

Fig 1 NPN junction

The hole current in n-p-n BJT is unwanted current component and it is

minimized by design of BJT transistor. One manifestation of the hole current is
recombination current in Base, i.e. electrons that came from Emitter recombine
inside the Base with holes that came from Base terminal.

The flux of hole from Base terminal isessentially the base current IB. To make
the base current small as compared to the emitter current, the Base width is
made very small and the acceptor concentration (doping) in the Base is made
much smaller than the donor concentration in the Emitter. Thus, with increase
of the B-E forward bias we get small flux of holes coming from Base (small IB)
and large flux of electrons from Emitter into Collector (large IC). Since IB << IC,
in many cases one can use approximation IC=IE. The ratio of collector and base
currents is the BJT current gain β Usually the current gain is being introduced
for variations of current iB and iC around some preset value IB0 and IC0 – bias
currents.

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 Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
Electrical Engineering Lab II [ Eceg – 2205] Electrical & Computer Engineering Department

The symbol of an NPN-BJT transistor is shown in Fig. 1. Since the dependence

of iC on vBE is exponential, the collector current varies drastically as the base-
emitter voltage changes. A small current iB flows into the base terminal
because of vBE variations; usually it is a small fraction of the collector current
iC. We call the ratio of iC to iB the current gain of the transistor that is denoted
by b. The value varies significantly with temperature, and can be different
between two transistors of the same type; see textbooks and/or lecture notes.

The bipolar junction transistor (BJT) has three regions of operation:

1. Cutoff Region: If both base-emitter and base-collector junctions are reverse
biased, the BJT transistor enters the cutoff region. All
terminal currents are extremely small and we say the
transistor is off.
2. Active Region: The base-emitter junction must be forward biased and the
base-collector junction reverse biased to make a BJT
transistor work in the active region. The active region is
desired to design a linear amplifier.
3. Saturation Region: When both the base-emitter and collector-base
junctions are forward biased, the saturation region is entered.

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 Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
Electrical Engineering Lab II [ Eceg – 2205] Electrical & Computer Engineering Department

 VBE 
Ic=Is  e nVth −1  (1)
 
 

where IS is the saturation current for the emitter terminal, Vth is the thermal
voltage and n is a fitting parameter whose value is within 1 and 2. At room
temperature (300° K), the thermal voltage is roughly 26 mV. Another
fundamental equation of the bipolar device is

iE = iC +iB (2)

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 Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
Techno
Electrical Engineering Lab II [ Eceg – 2205] Electrical & Computer Engineering Department

It will be evident in the course that a very useful parameter is the collector-
colle
base DC forward current gain defined as follows

Ic α
ΒDC= = >>1 (3)
IB 1−α

Ic
Where α is
IE

Input characteristics

In the case of common-emitter configuration, the Emitter Base junction can also be considered
as a forward biased diode, the current
current-voltage characteristicss is similar to that of a diode. The
input characterstics of the common emitter configuration is looks like as fig…
fig…….
….

VBE

I B = I o (e VT
− 1)

The collector-emitter voltage VCE has little effect on IB.

June, 2011 Page | 46

 Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
Electrical Engineering Lab II [ Eceg – 2205] Electrical & Computer Engineering Department

Output characteristics

To measure the output characteristics of Common emitter by keeping the abse

current constatnt and varying the VCC

Active Region:
Recall that the active region requires that the EBJ be forward-biased, and that
the CBJ be reverse-biased.A forward-biased EBJ means that vBE 0.7 V. Thus,
the CBJ will ≈ be reverse-biased as long as vCE > 0.7 V. Note that iC and iB are
related by the ratio β , as long as the BJT isin the active region .We can also
identify the cutoff and saturation regions

Cutoff:
The Emitter base Junction is not forward-biased (sufficiently) if iB=0. Thus the
cutoff region is the particular curve for iB= 0 (i.e., the horizontal axis).

Saturation:
When the EBJ is forward-biased, vBE 0.7 V. Then, the Collector Base Junction
is ≈ reverse-biased for any vCE > 0.7 V. Thus, the saturation region lies to the
left of vCE = 0.7 V.Note that the Collector Base Junction must become forward-
biased by 0.4 V to 0.5 V before the iC=βiB relationship disappears, just as a
diode must be forward-biased by 0.4 V to 0.5 V before appreciable forward
current flows

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 Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
Electrical Engineering Lab II [ Eceg – 2205] Electrical & Computer Engineering Department

5. Procedure

A. Measurement of Output characteristics

1) Set up the circuit of Fig..... using Voltmeter for V1 an V2. Use the
decade resistance box for RB and set it 100K. Connect mill
ammeter range ammeter on collector leg. Have the circuit checked
by the instructor.
2) Record the ic Vs VCE for the values of IB = 0, 30, 60, 90, µA. IB is to
be varied primarily by the adjustment of VBB and RB. Care should
be exercised not to exceed the maximum power rating of the given
transistor

B. Measurement of Input characteristics

1) The base or input characteristics are to be obtained for VCE =0,
1.0, 3.5V.
2) For each value of VCE , record IB varying VBE. About 8 points
should be taken for each value VCE. Plot IB vs VBE using suitable
scale. Do not exceed IB = 250µA for VCE =0V. For the other values
of VCE, the maximum value of IB should be taken to be the one
corresponding to IE

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 Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
Electrical Engineering Lab II [ Eceg – 2205] Electrical & Computer Engineering Department

6. Data sheet

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 Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
Electrical Engineering Lab II [ Eceg – 2205] Electrical & Computer Engineering Department

June, 2011 Page | 50

 Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
Electrical Engineering Lab II [ Eceg – 2205] Electrical & Computer Engineering Department

June, 2011 Page | 51