PP-NP-N junction

Semiconductors are materials whose conductivity lies between conductors

and insulators. Semiconductors are classified as intrinsic semiconductors and
extrinsic semiconductors. Extrinsic semiconductors are further classified as N-type
and P-type semiconductors.
The P-N junction is formed between the p-type and the n-type
semiconductors. In this session, let us know more about the P-N Junction.

What is P-N Junction?

Definition: A P-N junction is an interface or a boundary between two
semiconductor material types, namely the p-type and the n-type, inside a
semiconductor.
In a semiconductor, the P-N junction is created by the method of doping. The p-
side or the positive side of the semiconductor has an excess of holes, and the n-side
or the negative side has an excess of electrons. The process of doping is explained
in further detail in the next section.

Formation of P-N Junction

As we know, if we use different semiconductor materials to make a P-N
junction, there will be a grain boundary that would inhibit the movement of
electrons from one side to the other by scattering the electrons and holes and thus,
we use the process of doping. We will understand the process of doping with the
help of this example. Let us consider a thin p-type silicon semiconductor sheet. If
we add a small amount of pentavalent impurity to this, a part of the p-type Si will
get converted to n-type silicon. This sheet will now contain both the p-type region
and the n-type region and a junction between these two regions. The processes that
follow after forming a P-N junction are of two types – diffusion and drift. There is
a difference in the concentration of holes and electrons at the two sides of a
junction. The holes from the p-side diffuse to the n-side and the electrons from the
n-side diffuse to the p-side. These give rise to a diffusion current across the
junction.
Also, when an electron diffuses from the n-side to the p-side, an ionised donor is
left behind on the n-side, which is immobile. As the process goes on, a layer of
positive charge is developed on the n-side of the junction. Similarly, when a hole
goes from the p-side to the n-side, an ionized acceptor is left behind on the p-side,
resulting in the formation of a layer of negative charges in the p-side of the
junction. This region of positive charge and negative charge on either side of the
junction is termed as the depletion region. Due to this positive space charge region
on either side of the junction, an electric field with the direction from a positive
charge towards the negative charge is developed. Due to this electric field, an
electron on the p-side of the junction moves to the n-side of the junction. This
motion is termed the drift. Here, we see that the direction of the drift current is
opposite to that of the diffusion current.

Biasing Conditions for the P-N Junction Diode

There are two operating regions in the P-N junction diode:

 P-type
 N-type
There are three biasing conditions for the P-N junction diode, and this is based on
the voltage applied:

 Zero bias: No external voltage is applied to the P-N junction diode.

  Forward bias: The positive terminal of the voltage potential is connected to
the p-type while the negative terminal is connected to the n-type.
 Reverse bias: The negative terminal of the voltage potential is connected to
the p-type and the positive is connected to the n-type.

Forward Bias

When the p-type is connected to the battery’s positive terminal and the n-type
to the negative terminal, then the P-N junction is said to be forward-biased. When
the P-N junction is forward biased, the built-in electric field at the P-N junction
and the applied electric field are in opposite directions. When both the electric
fields add up, the resultant electric field has a magnitude lesser than the built-in
electric field. This results in a less resistive and thinner depletion region. The
depletion region’s resistance becomes negligible when the applied voltage is large.
In silicon, at the voltage of 0.6 V, the resistance of the depletion region becomes
completely negligible, and the current flows across it unimpeded.
Reverse Bias

When the p-type is connected to the battery’s negative terminal and the n-
type is connected to the positive side, the P-N junction is reverse biased. In this
case, the built-in electric field and the applied electric field are in the same
direction. When the two fields are added, the resultant electric field is in the same
direction as the built-in electric field, creating a more resistive, thicker depletion
region. The depletion region becomes more resistive and thicker if the applied
voltage becomes larger.

How does current flow in PN junction diode?

The flow of electrons from the n-side towards the p-side of the junction takes
place when there is an increase in the voltage. Similarly, the flow of holes from the
p-side towards the n-side of the junction takes place along with the increase in the
voltage. This results in the concentration gradient between both sides of the
terminals. Due to the concentration gradient formation, charge carriers will flow
from higher concentration regions to lower concentration regions. The movement
of charge carriers inside the P-N junction is the reason behind the current flow in
the circuit.
V-I Characteristics of P-N Junction Diode

VI characteristics of P-N junction diodes is a curve between the voltage and

current through the circuit. Voltage is taken along the x-axis while the current is
taken along the y-axis. The above graph is the V-I characteristics curve of the P-N
junction diode. With the help of the curve, we can understand that there are three
regions in which the diode works, and they are:

 Zero bias
 Forward bias
 Reverse bias
When the P-N junction diode is in zero bias condition, there is no external voltage
applied and this means that the potential barrier at the junction does not allow the
flow of current.
When the P-N junction diode is in forward bias condition, the p-type is connected
to the positive terminal while the n-type is connected to the negative terminal of
the external voltage. When the diode is arranged in this manner, there is a
reduction in the potential barrier. For silicone diodes, when the voltage is 0.7 V
and for germanium diodes, when the voltage is 0.3 V, the potential barriers
decrease, and there is a flow of current.
When the diode is in forward bias, the current increases slowly, and the curve
obtained is non-linear as the voltage applied to the diode overcomes the potential
barrier. Once the diode overcomes the potential barrier, the diode behaves
normally, and the curve rises sharply as the external voltage increases, and the
curve obtained is linear.
When the P-N junction diode is in negative bias condition, the p-type is connected
to the negative terminal while the n-type is connected to the positive terminal of
the external voltage. This results in an increase in the potential barrier. Reverse
saturation current flows in the beginning as minority carriers are present in the
junction.
When the applied voltage is increased, the minority charges will have increased
kinetic energy which affects the majority charges. This is the stage when the diode
breaks down. This may also destroy the diode.

Applications of P-N Junction Diode

 P-N junction diode can be used as a photodiode as the diode is sensitive to

the light when the configuration of the diode is reverse-biased.
 It can be used as a solar cell.
 When the diode is forward-biased, it can be used in LED lighting
applications.
 It is used as rectifier in many electric circuits and as a voltage-controlled
oscillator in varactors.

Bipolar Transistor
The Bipolar Junction Transistor is a semiconductor device which can be used for
switching or amplification
Unlike semiconductor diodes which are made up from two pieces of
semiconductor material to form one simple pn-junction. The bipolar
transistor uses one more layer of semiconductor material to produce a device with
properties and characteristics of an amplfier.
If we join together two individual signal diodes back-to-back, this will give us two
PN-junctions connected together in series which would share a common Positve,
(P) or Negative, (N) terminal. The fusion of these two diodes produces a three
layer, two junction, three terminal device forming the basis of a Bipolar Junction
Transistor, or BJT for short.
 Transistors are three terminal active devices made from different semiconductor
materials that can act as either an insulator or a conductor by the application of a
small signal voltage. The transistor’s ability to change between these two states
enables it to have two basic functions: “switching” (digital electronics) or “amplification”
(analogue electronics). Then bipolar transistors have the ability to operate within three
different regions:
 Active Region – the transistor operates as an amplifier and Ic = β*Ib
 Saturation – the transistor is “Fully-ON” operating as a switch and Ic = I(saturation)

 Cut-off – the transistor is “Fully-OFF” operating as a switch and Ic = 0

The word Transistor is a combination of the two words Transfer Varistor which
describes their mode of operation way back in their early days of electronics
development. There are two basic types of bipolar transistor
construction, PNP and NPN, which basically describes the physical arrangement of
the P-type and N-type semiconductor materials from which they are made.
The Bipolar Transistor basic construction consists of two PN-junctions producing
three connecting terminals with each terminal being given a name to identify it
from the other two. These three terminals are known and labelled as
the Emitter ( E ), the Base ( B ) and the Collector ( C ) respectively.
 Bipolar Transistor Construction

The construction and circuit symbols for both the PNP and NPN bipolar transistor are given
above with the arrow in the circuit symbol always showing the direction of “conventional
current flow” between the base terminal and its emitter terminal. The direction of the arrow
always points from the positive P-type region to the negative N-type region for both
transistor types, exactly the same as for the standard diode symbol.

Bipolar Transistor Configurations

As the Bipolar Transistor is a three terminal device, there are basically three possible
ways to connect it within an electronic circuit with one terminal being common to both the
input and output signals. Each method of connection responding differently to its input
signal within a circuit as the static characteristics of the transistor vary with each circuit
arrangement.
 Common Base Configuration – has Voltage Gain but no Current Gain.
 Common Emitter Configuration – has both Current and Voltage Gain.
 Common Collector Configuration – has Current Gain but no Voltage Gain.
The Common Base (CB) Configuration
As its name suggests, in the Common Base or grounded base configuration,
the BASE connection is common to both the input signal AND the output signal. The input
signal is applied between the transistors base and the emitter terminals, while the
corresponding output signal is taken from between the base and the collector terminals as
shown. The base terminal is grounded or can be connected to some fixed reference voltage
point.
The input current flowing into the emitter is quite large as its the sum of both the base
current and collector current respectively therefore, the collector current output is less than
the emitter current input resulting in a current gain for this type of circuit of “1” (unity) or less,
in other words the common base configuration “attenuates” the input signal.

The Common Base Transistor Circuit

This type of amplifier configuration is a non-inverting voltage amplifier circuit, in that the
signal voltages Vin and Vout are “in-phase”. This type of transistor arrangement is not very
common due to its unusually high voltage gain characteristics. Its input characteristics
represent that of a forward biased diode while the output characteristics represent that of an
illuminated photo-diode.
Also this type of bipolar transistor configuration has a high ratio of output to input resistance
or more importantly “load” resistance ( RL ) to “input” resistance ( Rin ) giving it a value of
“Resistance Gain”. Then the voltage gain ( Av ) for a common base configuration is
therefore given as:

Common Base Voltage Gain

The Common Emitter (CE) Configuration

In the Common Emitter or grounded emitter configuration, the input signal is applied
between the base and the emitter, while the output is taken from between the collector and
the emitter as shown. This type of configuration is the most commonly used circuit for
transistor based amplifiers and which represents the “normal” method of bipolar transistor
connection.
The common emitter amplifier configuration produces the highest current and power gain of
all the three bipolar transistor configurations. This is mainly because the input impedance is
LOW as it is connected to a forward biased PN-junction, while the output impedance is
HIGH as it is taken from a reverse biased PN-junction.

The Common Emitter Amplifier Circuit

In this type of configuration, the current flowing out of the transistor must be equal to the
currents flowing into the transistor as the emitter current is given as Ie = Ic + Ib.
As the load resistance ( RL ) is connected in series with the collector, the current gain of the
common emitter transistor configuration is quite large as it is the ratio of Ic/Ib. A transistors
current gain is given the Greek symbol of Beta, ( β ).
As the emitter current for a common emitter configuration is defined as Ie = Ic + Ib, the ratio
of Ic/Ie is called Alpha, given the Greek symbol of α. Note: that the value of Alpha will
always be less than unity.
Since the electrical relationship between these three currents, Ib, Ic and Ie is determined by
the physical construction of the transistor itself, any small change in the base current ( Ib ),
will result in a much larger change in the collector current ( Ic ).
Then, small changes in current flowing in the base will thus control the current in the
emitter-collector circuit. Typically, Beta has a value between 20 and 200 for most general
purpose transistors. So if a transistor has a Beta value of say 100, then one electron will
flow from the base terminal for every 100 electrons flowing between the emitter-collector
terminal.

The Common Collector (CC) Configuration

In the Common Collector or grounded collector configuration, the collector is connected to
ground through the supply, thus the collector terminal is common to both the input and the
output. The input signal is connected directly to the base terminal, while the output signal is
taken from across the emitter load resistor as shown. This type of configuration is
commonly known as a Voltage Follower or Emitter Follower circuit.
The common collector, or emitter follower configuration is very useful for impedance
matching applications because of its very high input impedance, in the region of hundreds
of thousands of Ohms while having a relatively low output impedance.

NPN Transistor
In the previous tutorial we saw that the standard Bipolar Transistor or BJT, comes in two
basic forms. An NPN (Negative-Positive-Negative) configuration and a PNP (Positive-
Negative-Positive) configuration. That is: an NPN transistor and a PNP transistor types.
The most commonly used transistor configuration is the NPN Transistor. We also learnt
that the junctions of the bipolar transistor can be biased in one of three different ways
– Common Base, Common Emitter and Common Collector.
In this tutorial about bipolar transistors we will look more closely at the “Common Emitter”
configuration using the Bipolar NPN Transistor with an example of the construction of a
NPN transistor along with the transistors current flow characteristics is given below.

Junction Field Effect Transistor

The Junction Field Effect Transistor, or JFET, is a voltage controlled three terminal unipolar
semiconductor device available in N-channel and P-channel configurations

The Junction Field Effect Transistor is a unipolar device in which current flow between its
two electrodes is controlled by the action of an electric field at a reverse biased pn-junction.
In the Bipolar Junction Transistor tutorials, we saw that the output Collector current of the
transistor is proportional to input current flowing into the Base terminal of the device. This
makes the bipolar transistor a “CURRENT” operated device (Beta model) as a smaller
current can be used to switch a larger load current.
The Field Effect Transistor, or simply FET however, uses the voltage that is applied to
their input terminal, called the Gate to control the current flowing through them resulting in
the output current being proportional to the input voltage. As their operation relies on an
electric field (hence the name field effect) generated by the input Gate voltage, this then
makes the Field Effect Transistor a “VOLTAGE” operated device.

The Field Effect Transistor is a three terminal unipolar semiconductor device that has very
similar characteristics to those of their Bipolar Transistor counterparts. For example, high
efficiency, instant operation, robust and cheap and can be used in most electronic circuit
applications to replace their equivalent bipolar junction transistors (BJT) cousins.
Field effect transistors can be made much smaller than an equivalent BJT transistor and
along with their low power consumption and power dissipation makes them ideal for use in
integrated circuits such as the CMOS range of digital logic chips.
We remember from the previous tutorials that there are two basic types of bipolar transistor
construction, NPN and PNP, which basically describes the physical arrangement of the P-
type and N-type semiconductor materials from which they are made. This is also true of
FET’s as there are also two basic classifications of Field Effect Transistor, called the N-
channel FET and the P-channel FET.
The field effect transistor is a three terminal device that is constructed with no PN-junctions
within the main current carrying path between the Drain and the Source terminals. These
terminals correspond in function to the Collector and the Emitter respectively of the bipolar
transistor. The current path between these two terminals is called the “channel” which may
be made of either a P-type or an N-type semiconductor material.
The control of current flowing in this channel is achieved by varying the voltage applied to
the Gate. As their name implies, Bipolar Transistors are “Bipolar” devices because they
operate with both types of charge carriers, Holes and Electrons. The Field Effect Transistor
on the other hand is a “Unipolar” device that depends only on the conduction of electrons
(N-channel) or holes (P-channel).
The Field Effect Transistor has one major advantage over its standard bipolar transistor
cousins, in that their input impedance, ( Rin ) is very high, (thousands of Ohms), while the
BJT is comparatively low. This very high input impedance makes them very sensitive to
input voltage signals, but the price of this high sensitivity also means that they can be easily
damaged by static electricity.
There are two main types of field effect transistor, the Junction Field Effect
Transistor or JFET and the Insulated-gate Field Effect Transistor or IGFET), which is
more commonly known as the standard Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect
Transistor or MOSFET for short.

The Junction Field Effect Transistor

We saw previously that a bipolar junction transistor is constructed using two PN-junctions in
the main current carrying path between the Emitter and the Collector terminals.
The Junction Field Effect Transistor (JUGFET or JFET) has no PN-junctions but instead
has a narrow piece of high resistivity semiconductor material forming a “Channel” of either
N-type or P-type silicon for the majority carriers to flow through with two ohmic electrical
connections at either end commonly called the Drain and the Source respectively.
There are two basic configurations of junction field effect transistor, the N-channel JFET
and the P-channel JFET. The N-channel JFET’s channel is doped with donor impurities
meaning that the flow of current through the channel is negative (hence the term N-channel)
in the form of electrons.
Likewise, the P-channel JFET’s channel is doped with acceptor impurities meaning that the
flow of current through the channel is positive (hence the term P-channel) in the form of
holes. N-channel JFET’s have a greater channel conductivity (lower resistance) than their
equivalent P-channel types, since electrons have a higher mobility through a conductor
compared to holes. This makes the N-channel JFET’s a more efficient conductor compared
to their P-channel counterparts.
We have said previously that there are two ohmic electrical connections at either end of the
channel called the Drain and the Source. But within this channel there is a third electrical
connection which is called the Gate terminal and this can also be a P-type or N-type
material forming a PN-junction with the main channel.
The relationship between the connections of a junction field effect transistor and a bipolar
junction transistor are compared below.

Biasing of the Junction Field Effect Transistor Amplifier

This common source (CS) amplifier circuit is biased in class “A” mode by the
voltage divider network formed by resistors R1 and R2. The voltage across
the Source resistor RS is generally set to be about one quarter of VDD, ( VDD /4 )
but can be any reasonable value.
The required Gate voltage can then be calculated from this RS value. Since
the Gate current is zero, (IG = 0) we can set the required DC quiescent voltage
by the proper selection of resistors R1 and R2.
The control of the Drain current by a negative Gate potential makes
the Junction Field Effect Transistor useful as a switch and it is essential
that the Gate voltage is never positive for an N-channel JFET as the channel
current will flow to the Gate and not the Drain resulting in damage to the
JFET. The principals of operation for a P-channel JFET are the same as for
the N-channel JFET, except that the polarity of the voltages need to be
reversed.
 In the next tutorial about Transistors, we will look at another type of Field
Effect Transistor called a MOSFET whose Gate connection is completely
isolated from the main current carrying channel.

The MOSFET
MOSFET’s operate the same as JFET’s but have a gate terminal that is electrically isolated from the
conductive channel.

As well as the Junction Field Effect Transistor (JFET), there is another type of Field Effect
Transistor available whose Gate input is electrically insulated from the main current carrying
channel. The MOSFET is a type of semiconductor device called an Insulated Gate Field
Effect Transistor.
The most common type of insulated gate FET which is used in many different types of
electronic circuits is called the Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect
Transistor or MOSFET for short.
The IGFET or MOSFET is a voltage controlled field effect transistor that differs from a JFET
in that it has a “Metal Oxide” Gate electrode which is electrically insulated from the main
semiconductor n-channel or p-channel by a very thin layer of insulating material usually
silicon dioxide, commonly known as glass.
This ultra thin insulated metal gate electrode can be thought of as one plate of a capacitor.
The isolation of the controlling Gate makes the input resistance of the MOSFET extremely
high way up in the Mega-ohms ( MΩ ) region thereby making it almost infinite.
As the Gate terminal is electrically isolated from the main current carrying channel between
the drain and source, “NO current flows into the gate” and just like the JFET, the MOSFET
also acts like a voltage controlled resistor where the current flowing through the main
channel between the Drain and Source is proportional to the input voltage. Also like the
JFET, the MOSFETs very high input resistance can easily accumulate large amounts of
static charge resulting in the MOSFET becoming easily damaged unless carefully handled
or protected.
Like the previous JFET tutorial, MOSFETs are three terminal devices with
a Gate, Drain and Source and both P-channel (PMOS) and N-channel (NMOS) MOSFETs
are available. The main difference this time is that MOSFETs are available in two basic
forms:
 Depletion Type – the transistor requires the Gate-Source voltage, ( V ) to switch the
GS

device “OFF”. The depletion mode MOSFET is equivalent to a “Normally Closed” switch.
 Enhancement Type – the transistor requires a Gate-Source voltage, ( V ) to switch GS

the device “ON”. The enhancement mode MOSFET is equivalent to a “Normally Open”
switch.
The symbols and basic construction for both configurations of MOSFETs are shown below.
The four MOSFET symbols above show an additional terminal called the Substrate and is
not normally used as either an input or an output connection but instead it is used for
grounding the substrate. It connects to the main semiconductive channel through a diode
junction to the body or metal tab of the MOSFET.
Usually in discrete type MOSFETs, this substrate lead is connected internally to the source
terminal. When this is the case, as in enhancement types it is omitted from the symbol for
clarification.
The line in the MOSFET symbol between the drain (D) and source (S) connections
represents the transistors semiconductive channel. If this channel line is a solid unbroken
line then it represents a “Depletion” (normally-ON) type MOSFET as drain current can flow
with zero gate biasing potential.
If the channel line is shown as a dotted or broken line, then it represents an “Enhancement”
(normally-OFF) type MOSFET as zero drain current flows with zero gate potential. The
direction of the arrow pointing to this channel line indicates whether the conductive channel
is a P-type or an N-type semiconductor device.
Basic MOSFET Structure and Symbol

The construction of the Metal Oxide Semiconductor FET is very different to that of the
Junction FET. Both the Depletion and Enhancement type MOSFETs use an electrical field
produced by a gate voltage to alter the flow of charge carriers, electrons for n-channel or
holes for P-channel, through the semiconductive drain-source channel. The gate electrode
is placed on top of a very thin insulating layer and there are a pair of small n-type regions
just under the drain and source electrodes.
We saw in the previous tutorial, that the gate of a junction field effect transistor, JFET must
be biased in such a way as to reverse-bias the pn-junction. With a insulated gate MOSFET
device no such limitations apply so it is possible to bias the gate of a MOSFET in either
polarity, positive (+ve) or negative (-ve).
This makes the MOSFET device especially valuable as electronic switches or to make logic
gates because with no bias they are normally non-conducting and this high gate input
resistance means that very little or no control current is needed as MOSFETs are voltage
controlled devices. Both the p-channel and the n-channel MOSFETs are available in two
basic forms, the Enhancement type and the Depletion type.

Depletion-mode MOSFET
The Depletion-mode MOSFET, which is less common than the enhancement mode types
is normally switched “ON” (conducting) without the application of a gate bias voltage. That is
the channel conducts when VGS = 0 making it a “normally-closed” device. The circuit symbol
shown above for a depletion MOS transistor uses a solid channel line to signify a normally
closed conductive channel.
For the n-channel depletion MOS transistor, a negative gate-source voltage, -VGS will
deplete (hence its name) the conductive channel of its free electrons switching the transistor
“OFF”. Likewise for a p-channel depletion MOS transistor a positive gate-source
voltage, +VGS will deplete the channel of its free holes turning it “OFF”.
In other words, for an n-channel depletion mode MOSFET: +VGS means more electrons and
more current. While a -VGS means less electrons and less current. The opposite is also true
for the p-channel types. Then the depletion mode MOSFET is equivalent to a “normally-
closed” switch.

Enhancement-mode MOSFET
The more common Enhancement-mode MOSFET or eMOSFET, is the reverse of the
depletion-mode type. Here the conducting channel is lightly doped or even undoped making
it non-conductive. This results in the device being normally “OFF” (non-conducting) when
the gate bias voltage, VGS is equal to zero. The circuit symbol shown above for an
enhancement MOS transistor uses a broken channel line to signify a normally open non-
conducting channel.
For the n-channel enhancement MOS transistor a drain current will only flow when a gate
voltage ( VGS ) is applied to the gate terminal greater than the threshold voltage ( VTH ) level in
which conductance takes place making it a transconductance device.
The application of a positive (+ve) gate voltage to a n-type eMOSFET attracts more
electrons towards the oxide layer around the gate thereby increasing or enhancing (hence
its name) the thickness of the channel allowing more current to flow. This is why this kind of
transistor is called an enhancement mode device as the application of a gate voltage
enhances the channel.
Increasing this positive gate voltage will cause the channel resistance to decrease further
causing an increase in the drain current, ID through the channel. In other words, for an n-
channel enhancement mode MOSFET: +VGS turns the transistor “ON”, while a zero or -
VGS turns the transistor “OFF”. Thus the enhancement-mode MOSFET is equivalent to a
“normally-open” switch.
The reverse is true for the p-channel enhancement MOS transistor. When VGS = 0 the device
is “OFF” and the channel is open. The application of a negative (-ve) gate voltage to the p-
type eMOSFET enhances the channels conductivity turning it “ON”. Then for an p-channel
enhancement mode MOSFET: +VGS turns the transistor “OFF”, while -VGS turns the transistor
“ON”.
Introduction to the Amplifier
An amplifier is an electronic device or circuit which is used to increase the magnitude of the signal applied
to its input.

Amplifier is the generic term used to describe a circuit which produces and increased
version of its input signal. However as we will see in this introduction to the amplifier tutorial,
not all amplifier circuits are the same as they are classified according to their circuit
configurations and modes of operation.
In “Electronics”, small signal amplifiers are commonly used devices as they have the ability
to amplify a relatively small input signal, for example from a Sensor such as a photo-device,
into a much larger output signal to drive a relay, lamp or loudspeaker for example.
There are many forms of electronic circuits classed as amplifiers, from Operational
Amplifiers and Small Signal Amplifiers up to Large Signal and Power Amplifiers. The
classification of an amplifier depends upon the size of the signal, large or small, its physical
configuration and how it processes the input signal, that is the relationship between input
signal and current flowing in the load.
The type or classification of an Amplifier is given in the following table.

Introduction to the Amplifier – Classification Amplifier

Type of Frequency of
Type of Signal Classification
Configuration Operation

Small Signal Common Emitter Class A Amplifier Direct Current (DC)

Audio Frequencies
Large Signal Common Base Class B Amplifier
(AF)

Common Collector Class AB Amplifier Radio Frequencies (RF)

Class C VHF, UHF and SHF

Amplifier Frequencies

Ideal Amplifier Model

The amplified difference between the input and output signals is known as the Gain of the
amplifier. Gain is basically a measure of how much an amplifier “amplifies” the input signal.
For example, if we have an input signal of 1 volt and an output of 50 volts, then the gain of
the amplifier would be “50”. In other words, the input signal has been increased by a factor
of 50. This increase is called Gain.
Amplifier gain is simply the ratio of the output divided-by the input. Gain has no units as its a
ratio, but in Electronics it is commonly given the symbol “A”, for Amplification. Then the gain
of an amplifier is simply calculated as the “output signal divided by the input signal”.
Amplifier Gain
The introduction to the amplifier gain can be said to be the relationship that exists between
the signal measured at the output with the signal measured at the input. There are three
different kinds of amplifier gain which can be measured and these are: Voltage
Gain ( Av ), Current Gain ( Ai ) and Power Gain ( Ap ) depending upon the quantity being
measured with examples of these different types of gains are given below.

Amplifier Gain of the Input Signal

Current Amplifier Gain

Power Amplifier Gain

Generally, amplifiers can be sub-divided into two distinct types depending upon their power
or voltage gain. One type is called the Small Signal Amplifier which include pre-amplifiers,
instrumentation amplifiers etc. Small signal amplifies are designed to amplify very small
signal voltage levels of only a few micro-volts (μV) from sensors or audio signals.
The other type are called Large Signal Amplifiers such as audio power amplifiers or power
switching amplifiers. Large signal amplifiers are designed to amplify large input voltage
signals or switch heavy load currents as you would find driving loudspeakers.
Introduction to the Amplifier of Power Amplifiers
The Small Signal Amplifier is generally referred to as a “Voltage” amplifier because they
usually convert a small input voltage into a much larger output voltage. Sometimes an
amplifier circuit is required to drive a motor or feed a loudspeaker and for these types of
applications where high switching currents are needed Power Amplifiers are required.
As their name suggests, the main job of a “Power Amplifier” (also known as a large signal
amplifier), is to deliver power to the load, and as we know from above, is the product of the
voltage and current applied to the load with the output signal power being greater than the
input signal power. In other words, a power amplifier amplifies the power of the input signal
which is why these types of amplifier circuits are used in audio amplifier output stages to
drive loudspeakers.
The power amplifier works on the basic principle of converting the DC power drawn from the
power supply into an AC voltage signal delivered to the load. Although the amplification is
high the efficiency of the conversion from the DC power supply input to the AC voltage
signal output is usually poor.
The perfect or ideal amplifier would give us an efficiency rating of 100% or at least the
power “IN” would be equal to the power “OUT”. However, in reality this can never happen
as some of the power is lost in the form of heat and also, the amplifier itself consumes
power during the amplification process. Then the efficiency of an amplifier is given as:
The Zener Diode
A Semiconductor Diode blocks current in the reverse direction, but will suffer from premature breakdown
or damage if the reverse voltage applied across becomes too high

However, the Zener Diode or “Breakdown Diode”, as they are sometimes referred too, are
basically the same as the standard PN junction diode but they are specially designed to
have a low and specified Reverse Breakdown Voltage which takes advantage of any
reverse voltage applied to it.
The Zener diode behaves just like a normal general-purpose diode consisting of a silicon
PN junction and when biased in the forward direction, that is Anode positive with respect to
its Cathode, it behaves just like a normal signal diode passing the rated current.
However, unlike a conventional diode that blocks any flow of current through itself when
reverse biased, that is the Cathode becomes more positive than the Anode, as soon as the
reverse voltage reaches a pre-determined value, the zener diode begins to conduct in the
reverse direction.
This is because when the reverse voltage applied across the zener diode exceeds the rated
voltage of the device a process called Avalanche Breakdown occurs in the semiconductor
depletion layer and a current starts to flow through the diode to limit this increase in voltage.
The current now flowing through the zener diode increases dramatically to the maximum
circuit value (which is usually limited by a series resistor) and once achieved, this reverse
saturation current remains fairly constant over a wide range of reverse voltages. The
voltage point at which the voltage across the zener diode becomes stable is called the
“zener voltage”, ( Vz ) and for zener diodes this voltage can range from less than one volt to
a few hundred volts.
The point at which the zener voltage triggers the current to flow through the diode can be
very accurately controlled (to less than 1% tolerance) in the doping stage of the diodes
semiconductor construction giving the diode a specific zener breakdown voltage, ( Vz ) for
example, 4.3V or 7.5V. This zener breakdown voltage on the I-V curve is almost a vertical
straight line.
Zener Diode I-V Characteristics

The Zener Diode is used in its “reverse bias” or reverse breakdown mode, i.e. the diodes
anode connects to the negative supply. From the I-V characteristics curve above, we can
see that the zener diode has a region in its reverse bias characteristics of almost a constant
negative voltage regardless of the value of the current flowing through the diode.
This voltage remains almost constant even with large changes in current providing the
zener diodes current remains between the breakdown current IZ(min) and its maximum current
rating IZ(max).
This ability of the zener diode to control itself can be used to great effect to regulate or
stabilise a voltage source against supply or load variations. The fact that the voltage across
the diode in the breakdown region is almost constant turns out to be an important
characteristic of the zener diode as it can be used in the simplest types of voltage regulator
applications.
The function of a voltage regulator is to provide a constant output voltage to a load
connected in parallel with it in spite of the ripples in the supply voltage or variations in the
load current. A zener diode will continue to regulate its voltage until the diodes holding
current falls below the minimum IZ(min) value in the reverse breakdown region.

The Zener Diode Regulator

Zener Diodes can be used to produce a stabilised voltage output with low ripple under
varying load current conditions. By passing a small current through the diode from a voltage
source, via a suitable current limiting resistor (RS), the zener diode will conduct sufficient
current to maintain a voltage drop of Vout.
We remember from the previous tutorials that the DC output voltage from the half or full-
wave rectifiers contains ripple superimposed onto the DC voltage and that as the load value
changes so to does the average output voltage. By connecting a simple zener stabiliser
circuit as shown below across the output of the rectifier, a more stable output voltage can
be produced.

Zener Diode Regulator

Resistor, RS is connected in series with the zener diode to limit the current flow through the
diode with the voltage source, VS being connected across the combination. The stabilised
output voltage Vout is taken from across the zener diode.
The zener diode is connected with its cathode terminal connected to the positive rail of the
DC supply so it is reverse biased and will be operating in its breakdown condition.
Resistor RS is selected so to limit the maximum current flowing in the circuit.
With no load connected to the circuit, the load current will be zero, ( IL = 0 ), and all the
circuit current passes through the zener diode which in turn dissipates its maximum power.
Also a small value of the series resistor RS will result in a greater diode current when the
load resistance RL is connected and large as this will increase the power dissipation
requirement of the diode so care must be taken when selecting the appropriate value of
series resistance so that the zener’s maximum power rating is not exceeded under this no-
load or high-impedance condition.
The load is connected in parallel with the zener diode, so the voltage across RL is always
the same as the zener voltage, ( VR = VZ ).
There is a minimum zener current for which the stabilisation of the voltage is effective and
the zener current must stay above this value operating under load within its breakdown
region at all times. The upper limit of current is of course dependant upon the power rating
of the device. The supply voltage VS must be greater than VZ.
One small problem with zener diode stabiliser circuits is that the diode can sometimes
generate electrical noise on top of the DC supply as it tries to stabilise the voltage. Normally
this is not a problem for most applications but the addition of a large value decoupling
capacitor across the zener’s output may be required to give additional smoothing.
Then to summarise a little. A zener diode is always operated in its reverse biased condition.
As such a simple voltage regulator circuit can be designed using a zener diode to maintain
a constant DC output voltage across the load in spite of variations in the input voltage or
changes in the load current.
The zener voltage regulator consists of a current limiting resistor RS connected in series with
the input voltage VS with the zener diode connected in parallel with the load RL in this
reverse biased condition. The stabilised output voltage is always selected to be the same as
the breakdown voltage VZ of the diode.