UJT
A Unijunction transistor is a three terminal semiconductor switching device.this device has a unique characteristics that when it is triggered , the emitter current increases regeneratively until is limited by emitter power supply the unijunction transistor can be employed in a variety of applications switching pulse generator saw tooth generator etc.
Construction It consists of an N type silicon bar with an electrical connection on each end the leads to these connection are called base leads. Base 1 B1 Base 2 B2 the bar between the two bases nearer to B2 than B1. A pn junction is formed between a p type emitter and Bar.the lead to the junction is called emitter lead E. Operation
The device has normally B2 positive w.r.t B1 If voltage VBB is applied between B2 and B1 with emitter open. Voltage gradient is established along the n type bar since emitter is located nearer to B2 more than half of VBB appears between the emitter and B1. the voltage V1 between emitter and B1 establishes a reverse bias on the pn junction and the emitter current is cut off. A small leakage current flows from B2 to emitter due to minority carriers If a positive voltage is applied at the emitter the pn junction will remain reverse biased so long as the input voltage is less than V1 if the input voltage to the
emitter exceeds V1 the pn junction becomes forward biased.under these conditions holes are injected from the p type material into the n type bar these holes are repelled by positive B2 terminal and they are attracted towards B1 terminal of the bar. This accumulation of holes in the emitter to B1 region results in the degrees of resistance in this section of the bar the internal voltage drop from emitter to b1 is decresed hence emitter curret Ie increases as more holes are injected a condition of saturation will eventually be reached at this point a emitter current limited by emitter power supply only . the devices is in on state. If a negative pulse is applied to the emitter , the pn junction is reverse biased and the emitter current is cut off. The device is said to be off state.
Characteristics of UJT
The curve between Emitter voltage Ve and emitter current Ie of a UJT at a given voltage Vbb between the bases this is known as emitter characterstic of UJT Initially in the cut off region as Ve increases from zero ,slight leakage current flows from terminal B2 to the emitter the current is due to the minority carriers in the reverse biased diode .
Above a certain value of Ve forward Ie begins to flow , increasing until the peak voltage Vp and current Ip are rreached at point P. After the peak point P an attempt to increase Ve is followed by a sudden increases in emitter current Ie with decrease in Ve is a neagative resistance portion of the curve The negative portion of the curve lasts until the valley point V is reached with valley point voltage Vv.and valley point current Iv after the valley point the device is driven to saturation the difference Vp-Vv is a measure of a switching efficiency of UJT fall of Vbb decreases
Advantages of UJT
It is a Low cost device It has excellent characteristics It is a low-power absorbing device under normal operating conditions
Unijunction transistor: Although a unijunction transistor is not a thyristor, this device can trigger larger thyristors with a pulse at base B1. A unijunction transistor is composed of a bar of N-type silicon having a P-type connection in the middle. See Figure below(a). The connections at the ends of the bar are known as bases B1 and B2; the P-type mid-point is the emitter. With the emitter disconnected, the total resistance RBBO, a datasheet item, is the sum of RB1 and RB2 as shown in Figure below(b). RBBO ranges from 4-12k for different device types. The intrinsic standoff ratio is the ratio of RB1 to RBBO. It varies from 0.4 to 0.8 for different devices. The schematic symbol is Figure below(c)
Unijunction transistor: (a) Construction, (b) Model, (c) Symbol
The Unijunction emitter current vs voltage characteristic curve (Figure below(a) ) shows that as VE increases, current IE increases up IP at the peak point. Beyond the peak point, current increases as voltage decreases in the negative resistance region. The voltage reaches a minimum at the valley point. The resistance of RB1, the saturation resistance is lowest at the valley point. IP and IV, are datasheet parameters; For a 2n2647, IP and IV are 2A and 4mA, respectively. [AMS] VP is the voltage drop across RB1 plus a 0.7V diode drop; see Figure below(b). VV is estimated to be approximately 10% of VBB.
Unijunction transistor: (a) emitter characteristic curve, (b) model for VP . The relaxation oscillator in Figure below is an application of the unijunction oscillator. RE charges CE until the peak point. The unijunction emitter terminal has no effect on the capacitor until this point is reached. Once the capacitor voltage, VE, reaches the peak voltage point VP, the lowered emitter-base1 E-B1 resistance quickly discharges the capacitor. Once the capacitor discharges below the valley point VV, the E-RB1 resistance reverts back to high resistance, and the capacitor is free to charge again.
Unijunction transistor relaxation oscillator and waveforms. Oscillator drives SCR. During capacitor discharge through the E-B1 saturation resistance, a pulse may be seen on the external B1 and B2 load resistors, Figure above. The load resistor at B1 needs to be low to not affect the discharge time. The external resistor at B2 is optional. It may be replaced by a short circuit. The approximate frequency is given by 1/f = T = RC. A more accurate expression for frequency is given in Figure above. The charging resistor RE must fall within certain limits. It must be small enough to allow IP to flow based on the VBB supply less VP. It must be large enough to supply IV based on the VBB supply less VV. [MHW] The equations and an example for a 2n2647:
