ELECTRONICS (Phy2062)

(Phy2062
Prepared by:AmanuAndualem (Lecturer in HU)

CHAPTER THREE
Semiconductor Diodes
The PN junction

A p–n junction is a boundary or interface between two types of semiconductor materials

materials, p-
type and n-type, inside a single crystal of semiconductor. A PN-junction
junction is formed when an N
N-
type material is fused together with a P-type
P material
al creating a semiconductor diode
diode. The "p"
(positive) side contains an excess of holes,, while the "n" (negative) side contains an excess
of electrons in the outer shells of the electrically neutral atoms there. This allows electrical
current to pass through the junction only in one direction.p–n
direction. junctions aree elementary "building
blocks" of semiconductor electronic devices such as diodes, transistors, solar cells
cells, LEDs,
and integrated circuits;; they are the active sites where the electronic action of the device takes
place.

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Doped N-type and P-type semiconductor materials do very little on their own as they are
electrically neutral. However, if we join (or fuse) these two semiconductor materials together
they behave in a very different way.
When the N-type semiconductor and P-type semiconductor materials are first joined together a
very large density gradient exists between both sides of the PN junction. The result is that some
of the free electrons from the donor impurity atoms begin to migrate across this newly formed
junction to fill up the holes in the P-type material producing negative ions.
However, because the electrons have moved across the PN junction from the N-type silicon to
the P-type silicon, they leave behind positively charged donor ions ( ND ) on the negative side
and now the holes from the acceptor impurity migrate across the junction in the opposite
direction into the region where there are large numbers of free electrons.
As a result, the charge density of the P-type along the junction is filled with negatively charged
acceptor ions ( NA ), and the charge density of the N-type along the junction becomes positive.
This charge transfer of electrons and holes across the PN junction is known as diffusion. The
width of these P and N layers depends on how heavily each side is doped with acceptor
density NA, and donor density ND, respectively.
This process continues back and forth until the number of electrons which have crossed the
junction have a large enough electrical charge to repel or prevent any more charge carriers from
crossing over the junction. Eventually a state of equilibrium (electrically neutral situation) will
occur producing a “potential barrier” zone around the area of the junction as the donor atoms
repel the holes and the acceptor atoms repel the electrons.
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Since no free charge carriers can rest in a position where there is a potential barrier, the regions
on either sides of the junction now become completely depleted of any more free carriers in
comparison to the N and P type materials further away from the junction. This area around
the PN Junction is now called the Depletion Layer.
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 p-n junction diode and this is based on the voltage applied:
 Zero bias: There is no external voltage 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.
When the p-type is connected to the positive terminal of the battery 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.

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When the p-type is connected to the negative terminal of the battery and the n-type is connected
to the positive side then the p-n junction is said to be 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

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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 formation of the concentration gradient,
there will be a flow of charge carriers from higher concentration regions to lower concentration
regions. The movement of charge carriers inside the pn junction is the reason behind the current
flow in the circuit.
V-I Characteristics of PN Junction Diode

VI characteristics of PN junction diode 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
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graph is the VI characteristics curve of the PN 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 PN junction diode is under 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 PN junction diode is under 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 decreases 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 is overcoming the potential barrier. Once the potential
barrier is overcome by the diode, the diode behaves normal and the curve rises sharply as the
external voltage increases and the curve so obtained is linear.
When the PN junction diode is under 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 PN 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 rectifiers in many electric circuits and as a voltage-controlled oscillator in
varactors.

Ideal Diode Equation

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• Perfect conductor with zero voltage drops when the diode is forward biased.
• Open circuit, when the diode is reverse biased.

The diode equation gives an expression for the current through a diode as a function of voltage.
The Ideal Diode Law, expressed as:

I=Io( -1)
where:
I = the net current flowing through the diode;
I0 = "dark saturation current", the diode leakage current density in the absence of light;
V = applied voltage across the terminals of the diode;
q = absolute value of electron charge;
k = Boltzmann's constant; and
T = absolute temperature (K).

The "dark saturation current" (I0) is an extremely important parameter which differentiates one
diode from another. I0 is a measure of the recombination in a device. A diode with a larger
recombination will have a larger I0.

Note that:

 I0 increases as T increases; and

 I0 decreases as material quality increases.

PN Junction Breakdowns

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With increase in voltage there is a particular value, called the breakdown voltage, beyond which
the current increases rapidly. This is called junction breakdown. There are two main
mechanisms of junction breakdown, depending on the dopants concentration levels.Those two
phenomena are 1) Zener breakdown and 2) Avalanche breakdown
These two phenomena are quite like a natural occurrence. It even applies to our daily life while
lightning. We all know air is an insulator under normal conditions. But when lightning occurs
(an extremely high voltage), it charges the air molecules nearby and charges get transferred via
air medium. Now that’s a kind of electrical break down of an insulator. A similar kind of
situation arises in zener and avalanche breakdown as well.
Zener Breakdown
When we increase the reverse voltage across the pn junction diode, what really happens is that
the electric field across the diode junction increases (both internal & external). This results in a
force of attraction on the negatively charged electrons at junction. This force frees electrons from
its covalent bond and moves those free electrons to conduction band. When the electric field
increases (with applied voltage), more and more electrons are freed from its covalent bonds. This
results in drifting of electrons across the junction and electron hole recombination occurs. So a
net current is developed and it increases rapidly with increase in electric field.
Zener breakdown phenomena occurs in a pn junction diode with heavy doping & thin junction
(means depletion layer width is very small). Zener breakdown does not result in damage of
diode. Since current is only due to drifting of electrons, there is a limit to the increase in current
as well.

Avalanche Breakdown

Avalanche breakdown occurs in a pn junction diode which is moderately doped and has a thick
junction (means its depletion layer width is high). Avalanche breakdown usually occurs when we
apply a high reverse voltage across the diode (obviously higher than the zener breakdown
voltage,sayVz). So as we increase the applied reverse voltage, the electric field across junction
will keep increasing.If applied reverse voltage is Va and the depletion layer width is d;then the
generated electric field can be calculated as Ea =Va/d

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This generated electric field exerts a force on the electrons at junction and it frees them from
covalent bonds. These free electrons will gain acceleration and it will start moving across the
junction with high velocity. This results in collision with other neighboring atoms. These
collisions in high velocity will generate further free electrons. These electrons will start drifting
and electron-hole pair recombination occurs across the junction. This results in net current that
rapidly increases.

We learned that avalanche breakdown occurs at a voltage (Va) which is higher than zener
breakdown voltage (Vz). The reason behind this is simple. We know, avalanche phenomena
occurs in a diode which is moderately doped and junction width (say d) is high. A zener break
down occurs in a diode with heavy doping and thin junction (here d is small). The electric field
that occur due to applied reverse voltage (say V) can be calculated as E = V/d.

So in a Zener breakdown, the electric field necessary to break electrons from covalent bond is
achieved with lesser voltage than in avalanche breakdown. The reason is thin depletion layer
width. In avalanche breakdown, the depletion layer width is higher and hence much more reverse
voltage has to be applied to develop the same electric field strength (necessary enough to break
electrons free)

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Diode Circuit Analysis
• For a real diode we use load line (graphical analysis)
• For an ideal diode, we use a deductive method:
1. Assume a set of states for the diodes
2. Solve the circuit to find the currents, iD, of diodes assumed to ON and the voltages, vD, of the
diodes assume to be OFF
3. Check to see if iDis positive for all diodes assumed to be ON and vDis negative for all diodes
assumed to be OFF
4. If this is true, then the solution is complete; otherwise return to step 1 by assuming a different
set of states for the diodes.
Example

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Solution:
1. Assume D1 off and D2 on.

2. Solve the circuit to find the currents, iD, of diodes assumed to ON and the voltages,
vD, of the diodes assume to be OFF ID2= Ω
= 0.5mA, OK POSITIVE vD1= 10 -

3 = 7 V NOT OK SHOULD BE NEGATIVE

3. NEED TO START OVER WITH ANOTHER ASSUMPTION
1. Assume D1 ON and D2 OFF

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 2. Solve the circuit to find the currents, iD, ofdiodes assumed to ON and the voltages,
vD,of the diodes assume to be OFFiD1= 10/10k = 1mA OK POSITIVEvD2= 3-10=
-7V OK NEGATIVE
3. SOLUTION FOUND!!!!
Diode as a Rectifier
A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which periodically
reverses direction, to direct current (DC), which flows in only one direction. The reverse
operation is performed by the inverter.The process is known as rectification, since it
"straightens" the direction of current.
The main application of p-n junction diode is in rectification circuits. These circuits are used to
describe the conversion of a.c signals to d.c in power supplies.
There are two primary methods of diode rectification:
 Half Wave Rectifier
 Full Wave Rectifier
Half Wave Rectifier
In a half-wave rectifier, one half of each a.c input cycle is rectified. When the p-n junction diode
is forward biased, it gives little resistance and when it is reversing biased it provides high
resistance. During one-half cycles, the diode is forward biased when the input voltage is applied
and in the opposite half cycle, it is reverse biased. During alternate half-cycles, the optimum
result can be obtained.

The half-wave rectifier has both positive and negative cycles. During the positive half of the
input, the current will flow from positive to negative which will generate only a positive half

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cycle of the a.c supply. When a.c supply is applied to the transformer, the voltage will be
decreasing at the secondary winding of the diode. All the variations in the a.c supply will reduce,
and we will get the pulsating d.c voltage to the load resistor.
In the second half cycle, the current will flow from negative to positive and the diode will be
reverse biased. Thus, at the output side, there will be no current generated, and we cannot get
power at the load resistance. A small amount of reverse current will flow during reverse bias due
to minority carriers.

The following are the uses of half-wave rectification:

 Power rectification: Half wave rectifier is used along with a transformer for power
rectification as powering equipment.
 Signal demodulation: A simple half wave diode rectifier can be used for signal
demodulation of amplitude modulated signals. The rectification process enables the
amplitude modulation to be recovered.
 Signal peak detector: Half wave rectifier is used for detecting the peak of the incoming
waveform.
Full Wave Rectifier
Full-wave rectifier circuits are used for producing an output voltage or output current which is
purely DC. The main advantage of a full-wave rectifier over half-wave rectifier is that such as
the average output voltage is higher in full-wave rectifier, there is less ripples produced in full-
wave rectifier when compared to the half-wave rectifier.
The full-wave rectifier utilizes both halves of each a.c input. When the p-n junction is forward
biased, the diode offers low resistance and when it is reversing biased it gives high resistance.

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The circuit is designed in such a manner that in the first half cycle if the diode is forward biased
then in the second half cycle it is reverse biased and so on.

There are two main types of full-wave rectifiers, and they are:
 Two diodes full-wave rectifier circuit (requires a center-tapped transformer and is used
in vacuum tubes)
 Bridge rectifier circuit (doesn’t require a centre-tapped transformer and is used along
with transformers for efficient usage). This is a specific form of full wave rectifier that
utilizes four diodes in a bridge topology. Bridge rectifiers are widely used, especially for
power rectification, and they can be obtained as a single component contains the four
diodes connected in the bridge format.

The following are the uses of full-wave rectifier:

 Full-wave rectifiers are used for supplying polarized voltage in welding and for this
bridge rectifiers are used.
 Full-wave rectifiers are used for detecting the amplitude of modulated radio signals.

Types of Diodes
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Diodes are electronic components functions as a one-way valve it means it allow current to flow
in one direction. These diodes are manufactured by the semiconductor materials germanium,
silicon and selenium. Operation of diode can be classified in two ways, if it allows the current
then it is forward biased otherwise it is reverse biased.

Let us now briefly see about few commonly used types of diodes.
1. Small Signal Diode
It is a small device with disproportional characteristics and whose applications are mainly
involved at high frequency and very low currents devices such as radios and televisions etc. To
protect the diode from contamination it is enveloped with a glass so it is also named as Glass
Passivated Diode which is extensively used as 1N4148.

The appearance of signal diode is very small when compared with the power diode. To indicate
the cathode terminal one edge is marked with black or red in color. For the applications at high
frequencies the performance of the small signal diode is very effective.

With respect to the functional frequencies of the signal diode the carrying capacity of the current
and power are very low which are maximum nearly at 150mA and 500mW.

The signal diode is a silicon doped semiconductor diode or a germanium doped diode but
depending up on the doping material the characteristics of the diode varies. In signal diode the
characteristics of the silicon doped diode is approximately opposite to the germanium doped
diode.

The silicon signal diode has high voltage drop at the coupling about 0.6 to 0.7 volts so, it has
very high resistance but low forward resistance. On other hand germanium signal diode has low
resistance due to low voltage drop nearly at 0.2 to 0.3 volts and high forward resistance. Due to
small signal the functional point is not disrupted in small signal diode.

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2. Large Signal Diode
These diodes have large PN junction layer. Thus the transformation of AC to DC voltages is
unbounded. This also increases the current forward capacity and reverse blocking voltage. These
large signals will disrupt the functional point also. Due to this it is not suitable for high frequency
applications.

The main applications of these diodes are in battery charging devices like inverters. In these
diodes the range of forward resistance is in Ohms and the reverse blocking resistance is in mega
Ohms. Since it has high current and voltage performance these can be used in electrical devices
which are used to suppress high peak voltages.

3. Zener Diode
It is a passive element works under the principle of zener breakdown. It is similar to normal
diode in forward direction, it also allows current in reverse direction when the applied voltage
reaches the breakdown voltage. It acts as voltage regulator.

4. Light Emitting Diode (LED)

These diodes convert the electrical energy in to light energy. First production started in 1968. It
undergoes electroluminescence process in which holes and electrons are recombined to produce
energy in the form of light in forward bias condition.

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Earlier they used in inductor lamps but now in recent applications they are using in
environmental and task handling. Mostly used in applications like aviation lighting, traffic
signals, camera flashes.Light emitting diodes are available in various colors like- orange, red,
yellow, amber, green, white& blue. Blue & white LEDsare more costly in comparison to other
LEDs. The color of a Light emitting diodes is decided by the semi-conductorsubstance, not by
the coloring the plastic of the body.

5. Constant Current Diodes

It is also known as current-regulating diode or constant current diode or current-limiting diode or
diode-connected transistor. The constant current diode symbol is shown below.

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6. Schottky Diode
In this type of diode the junction is formed by contacting the semiconductor material with metal.
Due to this the forward voltage drop is decreased to min. The semiconductor material is N-type
silicon which acts as an anode and the metal acts as a cathode whose materials are chromium,
platinum, tungsten etc.Due to the metal junction these diodes have high current conducting
capability thus the switching time reduces. So, Schottky has greater use in switching
applications. Mainly because of the metal- semiconductor junction the voltage drop is low which
in turn increase the diode performance and reduces power loss. So, these are used in high
frequency rectifier applications. The symbol of Schottky diode is as shown below.

 Shockley Diode
 Step Recovery Diodes
 Tunnel Diodes
Varactor Diodes
 PIN Diodes
 LASER Diode
 Transient Voltage Suppression Diodes
 Gold Doped Diodes

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 Super Barrier Diodes
 Point Contact Diodes
Peltier Diodes
 Gunn Diode
 Vacuum Diodes
 Avalanche Diode
 Crystal Diode
The symbols of different types of diode are shown below

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 CHAPTER FOUR
Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT)
PNP and NPN Transistors
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electronic signals and electrical
power. Transistors are one of the basic building blocks of modern electronics.It is composed
of semiconductor material usually with at least three terminals for connection to an external
circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals controls the current
through another pair of terminals. Because the controlled (output) power can be higher than the
controlling (input) power, a transistor can amplify a signal.

A bipolar junction transistor (BJT) is a type of transistor that uses both electrons and electron
holes as charge carriers. In contrast, a unipolar transistor, such as a field-effect transistor, uses
only one kind of charge carrier. A bipolar transistor allows a small current injected at one of its
terminals to control a much larger current flowing between two other terminals, making the
device capable of amplification or switching.

BJTs use two junctions between two semiconductor types, n-type and p-type, which are regions
in a single crystal of material.There are two basic types of bipolar transistorconstruction, NPN
and PNP, 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 witheach terminal being given a name to identify it from the other two.
These three terminals are known and labeled asthe Emitter ( E ), the Base ( B ) and the Collector
( C ) respectively.
NPN transistor has a piece of P-type silicon (the base) sandwiched between two pieces of N-
type (the collector and emitter). In a PNP transistor, the types of the layers are reversed.

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Emitter: Heavily doped: emit or inject electrons (holes in case of PNP transistor) in to the base.
Base: Lightly doped: passes most of these electrons (holes in PNP) from emitter on to collector.
Collector: Moderately doped: collects electrons (holes in PNP) from base.

The Surprising Action of Transistor

A transistor has two PN-junctions.
 The junction between the emitter and the base and is called the emitter-base junction or
simply the emitter junction.
 The junction between the collector and the base and is called the collector-base junction
or simply the collector junction.

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22
The Working of a Transistor
Let's see how it works in the case of an n-p-n transistor.
Let's give names to the three electrical contacts. We'll call the two contacts joined to the two
pieces of n-type silicon the emitter and the collector, and the contact joined to the p-type silicon
we'll call the base. When no current is flowing in the transistor, we know the p-type silicon is
short of electrons (shown here by the little plus signs, representing positive charges) and the two
pieces of n-type silicon have extra electrons (shown by the little minus signs, representing
negative charges).

Another way of looking at this is to say that while the n-type has a surplus of electrons, the p-
type has holes. Normally, the holes in the base act like a barrier, preventing any significant
current flow from the emitter to the collector while the transistor is in its "off" state.A transistor
works when the electrons and the holes start moving across the two junctions between the n-type
and p-type silicon.
Let's connect the transistor up to some power. Suppose we attach a small positive voltage to the
base, make the emitter negatively charged, and make the collector positively charged. Electrons
are pulled from the emitter into the base—and then from the base into the collector. And the
transistor switches to its "on" state:

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The small current that we turn on at the base makes a big current flow between the emitter and
the collector. By turning a small input current into a large output current, the transistor acts like
an amplifier. But it also acts like a switch at the same time. When there is no current to the base,
little or no current flows between the collector and the emitter. Turn on the base current and big
current flows. So the base current switches the whole transistor on and off. Technically, this type
of transistor is called bipolar because two different kinds (or "polarities") of electrical charge
(negative electrons and positive holes) are involved in making the current flow.
We can also understand a transistor by thinking of it like a pair of diodes. With the base positive
and the emitter negative, the base-emitter junction is like a forward-biased diode, with electrons
moving in one direction across the junction (from left to right in the diagram) and holes going
the opposite way (from right to left). The base-collector junction is like a reverse-biased diode.
The positive voltage of the collector pulls most of the electrons through and into the outside
circuit (though some electrons do recombine with holes in the base).
When it works as an amplifier, in other words, it's a kind of current booster. That comes in
really useful in things like hearing aids, one of the first things people used transistors for. A
hearing aid has a tiny microphone in it that picks up sounds from the world around you and turns
them into fluctuating electric currents. These are fed into a transistor that boosts them and
powers a tiny loudspeaker, so you hear a much louder version of the sounds around you.
Biasing Single Stage BJT Amplifier configurations
 Common base configuration: no current gain but voltage gain.
 Common emitter configuration: current gain and voltage gain.
 Common collector configuration: current gain but no voltage gain.
1. Common Baseconfiguration

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In this configuration we use base as common terminal for both input and output signals. The
configuration name itself indicates the common terminal. Here the input is applied between the
base and emitter terminals and the corresponding output signal is taken between the base and
collector terminals with the base terminal grounded. Here the input parameters are VEB and
IE and the output parameters are VCB and IC. The input current flowing into the emitter terminal
must be higher than the base current and collector current to operate the transistor, therefore the
output collector current is less than the input emitter current.
The current gain is generally equal or less than to unity for this type of configuration. The input
and output signals are in-phase in this configuration. The amplifier circuit configuration of this
type is called as non-inverting amplifier circuit. The construction of this configuration circuit is
difficult because this type has high voltage gain values.
The common base circuit is mainly used in single stage amplifier circuits, such as microphone
pre amplifier or radio frequency amplifiers because of their high frequency response. The
common base transistor circuit is given below.

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Current gain in common base configuration is given as
α = Output current/Input current
α = IC/IE
The voltage gain for this configuration of circuit is given below.
AV = Vout/Vin = (IC*RL) / (IE*Rin)

2. Common collector configuration

In this configuration we use collector terminal as common for both input and output signals. This
configuration is also known as emitter follower configuration because the emitter voltage follows
the base voltage. This configuration is mostly used as a buffer. These configurations are widely
used in impedance matching applications because of their high input impedance.
In this configuration the input signal is applied between the base-collector region and the output
is taken from the emitter-collector region. Here the input parameters are VBC and IB and the
output parameters are VEC and IE. The common collector configuration has high input impedance
and low output impedance. The input and output signals are in phase. Here also the emitter
current is equal to the sum of collector current and the base current. Now let us calculate the
current gain for this configuration.

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The common collector transistor circuit is shown below. This common collector configuration is
a non inverting amplifier circuit. The voltage gain for this circuit is less than unity but it has
large current gain because the load resistor in this circuit receives both the collector and base
currents.

Now let us calculate the current gain for this configuration.

Current gain,Ai = output current/Input current
Ai = IE/IB
Ai = (IC + IB)/IB
Ai = (IC/IB) + 1
Ai = β + 1

3. Common Emitter configuration

In this configuration we use emitter as common terminal for both input and output. This common
emitter configuration is an inverting amplifier circuit. Here the input is applied between base-

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emitter region and the output is taken between collector and emitter terminals. In this
configuration the input parameters are VBE and IB and the output parameters are VCE and IC.
This type of configuration is mostly used in the applications of transistor based amplifiers. In this
configuration the emitter current is equal to the sum of small base current and the large collector
current. i.e. IE = IC + IB. We know that the ratio between collector current and emitter current
gives current gain alpha in Common Base configuration similarly the ratio between collector
current and base current gives the current gain beta in common emitter configuration.

This configuration is mostly used one among all the three configurations. It has medium input
and output impedance values. It also has the medium current and voltage gains. But the output
signal has a phase shift of 1800 i.e. both the input and output are inverse to each other.

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Now let us see the relationship between these two current gains.
Current gain (α) = IC/IE
Current gain (β) = IC/IB
Collector current IC =α IE = βIB

Analysis of Transistor Circuits at DC

DC analysis of a common-emitter amplifier circuit begins with determining the dc bias values
and then removing coupling and bypass capacitors, the load resistor, and the signal source to
produce a dc equivalent circuit by applying Thevenin's theorem and Kirchhoff's voltage law.
 To analyze BJT circuit with D.C. sources, we must follow these five steps:
1. Assume an operating mode
2. Enforce the equality conditions of that modes
3. Analyze the circuit with the enforced conditions
4. Check the inequality conditions of the mode for consistency with original assumptions. If
consistent the analysis is complete, if it is inconsistent, go to step 5.
5. Modify your original assumption and repeat all steps.
ASSUME

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We can assume active, saturation, or cutoff.
ENFORCE
Active
For active region, we must enforce two equalities
a. Since the base-emitter junction is forward biased in the active region, we enforce these
equalities.
VBE=0.7V (npn)
VEB=0.7V (pnp)
b. We likewise know that in the active region, the base and collector current is directly
proportional, and thus we enforce the equality:

ᵦ
IC= IB

We can equivalently enforce this condition with either of the equalities.

IC=αIE, IE=(β+1)IB
Saturation

For saturation region, we must likewise enforce two equalities

a. Since the base-emitter junction is forward biased , we again enforce these equalities

VBE=0.7V (npn)
VEB=0.7V (pnp)
b. Likewise, since the collector-base junction is reverse biased, we enforce these equalities
VCB=-0.5V (npn)
VBC=-0.5V (pnp)
Note that from KVL, the above two enforced equalities will require that these equalities
be true.
VCE=0.2V (npn)
VEC=0.2V (pnp)
For saturation, you need explicitly enforce any two of these three equalities, the third will
be automatically enforced via KVL.

Cutoff

For a BJT in cutoff, both the junctions are reverse biased implies no current flow. So, we
enforce the following equalities.

30
 IB=0

IC=0

IE=0

ANALYZE

Active

The task in D.C analysis of a BJT in active mode is to find one unknown current and one
additional unknown voltage.

a. in addition the relationship ic=ᵦiB, we have a second relationship

IE=IB+IC
This of course is a consequence of KCL, and is true regardless of the BJT
mode.
b. In addition to VBE=0.7V (VEB=0.7V), we have a second useful
relationship.
VCE=VCB+VBE (npn)
VEC=VBC+VEB (pnp)
This of course is the consequence of KVL, and is true regardless of BJT
mode.

Saturation

For the saturation mode, we know all the BJT voltages, but know nothing about BJT currents.

Thus, for an analysis of circuit with a BJT in saturation, we need to find any two of the three
quantities.

iB, iC, or iE

We can then use KCL to find the third.

Cutoff

Cutoff is the opposite of saturation, we know all of the BJT currents (all are zero), but we know
nothing about BJT voltages.

Thus, for an analysis of circuit with a BJT in cutoff, we need to find any two of the three
quantities.

VBE, VCB, VCE (npn)

VEB, VBC, VEC (pnp)

31
We can then use KVL to find the third

CHECK
Active

We must check two separate inequalities after analysing a circuit with BJT that we assumed to be
operating in active mode. One inequality involves BJT voltages, the other BJT currents.

a. In the active region, the collector- base junction is off (i.e. reverse biased). Therefore, we
must check our analysis results to see if they are consistent with:
VCB>0 (npn)
VBC>0 (pnp)
Since VCE=VCB+0.7, we find that an equivalent inequality is:
VCE>0.7 (npn)
VEC>0.7 (pnp)
We need to check one of these two inequalities.
b. In the active region, the base-emitter junction is on (i.e. forward biased). Therefore we
must check the results of our analysis to see if they are consistent with:
IB>0

Since the active mode constants α and β are always positive values.

IC>0 and IE>0

Saturation

Here we must check inequalities involving BJT currents.

a. We know that saturation mode; the ratio of collector current to base current will be less
than beta.
IC<βIB
b. We know that both PN junctions are forward biased, hence we check to see all the
currents are positive.
IB>0
IC>0
IE>0

Cutoff

For cutoff we must check two BJT voltages.

a. Since the EBJ is reverse biased, we check;

VBE<0 (npn)
VEB<0 (pnp)

32
 b. Likewise, since the CBJ is also reverse biased, we check;
VCB>0 (npn)
VBC>0 (pnp)

MODIFY

If one or more of the BJTs are not in active mode, then it must be either cutoff or saturation. We
must change our assumption and start completely over.

Circuit analysis

1. Know the BJT symbols and current voltage definitions

2. Know what quantities must be determined for each assumption (eg. For active mode, you
must determine one BJT current and one BJT voltage).
3. Write separate equations for the BJT and the remainder of the circuit (KVL, KCL, ohm’s
law).
4. Write the KVL equation for the circuit’s base-emitter leg. In other words write KVL that
includes VBE.
5. If you get stuck, try working the problem backward.

Example:

For the following circuit, determine IB, IC, IE and VCB, VCE, VBE.

33
1. Let’s assume the BJT is in active region.
2. For active region, we have;

ᵦ
VBE=0.7V and IC= IB =99IB
3. The base-emitter KVL equation is;
5.7-10IB-VBE-10IE=0

34
 ᵦ
But, IE= ( +1)IB

Inserting the device equations into B-E KVL equations

IB=23.8µA

IC=2.356mA

IE=2.380mA

We could have likewise written the C-E KVL:

10.7-IC(1)-VCE-IE(2)=0

Thus, we get;

VCE=3.58V

VCB=2.88V

4. Check to see if your results are consistent with your assumption

IB=23.8µA>0

VCE=3.58V>0.7

Therefore, our assumption is correct.

35
 CHAPTER FIVE
Field Effect Transistor
The Junction Field Effect Transistor (JFET), Common Source and Common Drain
Amplifier

The field-effect transistor (FET) is a type of transistor that uses an electric field to control the
flow of current. FETs are devices with three terminals: source, gate, and drain. Field effect
transistors generally display very high input impedance at low frequencies.FETs are also known
as unipolar transistors since they involve single-carrier-type operation(electrons in N-channel
and holes in Pchannel). That is, FETs use either electrons or holes as charge carriers in their
operation, but not both.
 Source (S): provides carriers
 Gate (G): control carriers flow
 Drain (D): receive carriers
The connections at either end of the device are known as the source and drain. The electric field
to control the current is applied to a third electrode known as a gate. As it is only the electric
field that controls the current flowing in the channel, the device is said to be voltage operated and
it has high input impedance, usually many mega ohms. This can be a distinct advantage over the
bipolar transistor that is current operated and has much lower input impedance.Hence the current
from source to drain can be controlledby the application of potential (I.eelectric field) on the
gate.That is why the device is called field effect transistor.
The section of silicon through which the current flows is called the channel, and it consists of
one type of silicon, either N-type or P-type.
N channel:is a channelin whichcharge carriers are electrons. The gate terminals are made up of
P material. Depending on the voltage quantity and type (negative or positive) determines how the
transistor operates whether it turns on or off.
P-Channel use holes flow as the charge carrier, which has less mobility than electron flow. And
therefore, they have higher resistance and are less efficient. In other words, a P-Channel will get
hotter than an N-Channel with higher loads.This consists of the n-substrate in the middle with
light doping concentration.

36
37
There are two types of Field effect transistor:
1. MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor): in which the junction
isreplaced by a Schottky barrier.
2. JFET (Junction Field Effect Transistor): in which the gate voltage controls the
depletion width of a reverse-biased p–n junction;

38
JFET (Junction Field Effect Transistor):

The junction FET or JFET uses a reverse biased diode junction to provide the gate connection.
The structure consists of a semiconductor channel which can be either N-type or P-type. A
semiconductor diode is then fabricated onto the channel in such a way that the voltage on the
diode affects the FET channel.

In operation this is reverse biased and this means that it is effectively isolated from the channel -
only the diode reverse current can flow between the two. The JFET is the most basic type of
FET, and the one that was first developed. However it still provides excellent service in many
areas of electronics.The Junction FET is a voltage controlled device. In other words, voltages
appearing on the gate control the operation of the device.
The thickness of this layer varies in accordance with the magnitude of the reverse bias on the
junction. In other words when there is a small reverse bias the depletion layer only extends a
small way into the channel and there is a large area to conduct current.

39
When a large negative bias is placed on the gate, the depletion layer increases, extending further
into the channel, reducing the area over which current can be conducted.

With increasing bias the depletion layer will eventually increase to the degree that it extends
right across the channel, and the channel is said to be cut off.

When a current flows in the channel the situation becomes slightly different. With no gate
voltage electrons in the channel (assuming an n-type channel) will be attracted by the positive
potential on the drain, and will flow towards it enabling a current to flow within the device, and
hence within the external circuit.

The magnitude of the current is dependent upon a number of factors and included the cross
sectional area of the channel, its length and conductivity (i.e. the number of free electrons in the
material) and the voltage applied.

From this it can be seen that the channel acts as a resistor, and there will be a voltage drop along
its length. As a result of this it means that the p-n junction becomes progressively more reverse
biased as the drain is approached. Consequently the depletion layer takes becomes thicker nearer
the drain as shown.

As the reverse bias on the gate is increased a point is reached where the channel is almost closed
off by the depletion layer. However the channel never completely closes. The reason for this is
that the electrostatic forces between the electrons cause them to spread out, giving a counter
effect to the increase in thickness of the depletion layer.

After a certain point the field around the electrons flowing in the channel successfully opposes
any further increase in the depletion layer. The voltage at which the depletion layer reaches its
maximum is called the pinch off voltage.

40
When a voltage Vds is applied across the drain and source terminals and voltage applied across
the gate and source Vgs is zero (i.e gate circuit is open) as shown in fig., the two pn junction
establish a very thin depletion layer. Thus a large amount of electrons will flow from source to
drain through a wide channelformed between the two depletion layers. When a reverse Vgs is
applied across the gate and source as shown in fig. the width of thedepletion layer is
increased.This reduces the width of the conducting channel therebydecreasing the conduction
(flow of electrons) through it.
MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor):
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 and is therefore 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.

41
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.
Unlike the FET, a MOSFET has no gate diode rather it forms a capacitor. The capacitor has gate
and channel as electrodes and the oxide layer as dielectric. Because of this property, the device
can be operated with negative as well as positive gatevoltage.When negative voltage is applied to
the gate, electrons accumulate on it. Theseelectrons repel the conduction electrons in the n-
channel.Therefore the number of conduction electrons available for current conductionthrough
the channel will reduce. The greater the negative potential on the gate, thelesser is the current
conduction from source to drain. However in this case if thegate is given positive voltage, more
electrons are made available in the n- channel.Consequently, current from source to drain
increases.
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

42
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 is that MOSFETs are available in two basic forms:

 Depletion Type – the transistor requires the Gate-Source voltage, (VGS) to switch the
device “OFF”. The depletion mode MOSFET is equivalent to a “Normally Closed” switch.
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 Type – the transistor requires a Gate-Source voltage, (VGS) to switch the
device “ON”. The enhancement mode MOSFET is equivalent to a “Normally Open”
switch.
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.

43
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 p-channel
enhancement mode MOSFET: +VGS turns the transistor “OFF”.

44
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

45
direction of the arrow pointing to this channel line indicates whether the conductive channel is a
P-type or an N-type semiconductor device.

Common Source, Drain, and Gate Amplifier

In electronics, a common-source amplifier is one of three basic single-stage field-effect
transistor (FET) amplifier topologies, typically used as a voltage or transconductance amplifier.
The easiest way to tell if a FET is common source, common drain, or common gate is to examine
where the signal enters and leaves. The remaining terminal is what is known as "common". In
this example, the signal enters the gate, and exits the drain. The only terminal remaining is the
source. This is a common-source FET circuit. The analogous bipolar junction transistor circuit
may be viewed as a transconductance amplifier or as a voltage amplifier. (See classification of
amplifiers). As a transconductance amplifier, the input voltage is seen as modulating the current
going to the load. As a voltage amplifier, input voltage modulates the current flowing through
the FET, changing the voltage across the output resistance according to Ohm's law. However, the
FET device's output resistance typically is not high enough for a reasonable transconductance
amplifier (ideally infinite), nor low enough for a decent voltage amplifier (ideally zero). Another
major drawback is the amplifier's limited high-frequency response. Therefore, in practice the
output often is routed through either a voltage follower (common-drain or CD stage), or a current
follower (common-gate or CG stage), to obtain more favorable output and frequency
characteristics. The CS–CG combination is called a cascode amplifier.

46
In electronics, a common-drain amplifier, also known as a source follower,, is one of three basic
single-stage field effect transistor (FET) amplifier topologies, typically used as a voltage buffer.
In this circuit (NMOS) the gate terminal of the transistor serves as the input, the source is the
output, and the drain is common to both (input and output), hence its name. The
analogous bipolar junction transistor circuit is the common-collector
collector amplifier
amplifier. This circuit is
also commonly called a "stabilizer."

In addition, this circuit is used to transform impedances. For example, the Thévenin resistance of
a combination of a voltage follower driven by a voltage source with high Thévenin resistance is
reduced to only the output resistance of the voltage follower (a small resistance). That resistance
reduction makes the combination a more ideal voltage source. Conversely, a voltage follower
inserted between a driving stage and a high load (i.e. a low resistance) presents an infinite
resistance (low load) to the driving stage—an
stage advantage
ge in coupling a voltage signal to a large
load.

47
In electronics, a common-gate
gate amplifier is one of three basic single--stage field-effect
transistor (FET) amplifier topologies, typically used as a current buffer or voltage amplifier. In
this circuit the source terminal of the transistor serves as the input, the drain is the output and the
gate is connected to ground, or "common," hence its name. The analogous bipolar junction
transistor circuit is the common-base
base amplifier.
amplifier

Advantages
A
A FET is a voltage controlled device. In which the output current (drain current) is controlled
by the input (gate) voltage, therefore it has the following importantadvantages.
 FET has a very high input impedance which shows a high degree of isolation be
between the
input and output circuit.
 The operation of FET depends upon the majority carriers (i.e. electron in n-channel
channel and holes
in P-channel
channel FET) which do not cross junctions.Therefore, the inherent
inherent noise of tubes (because
of high temperatureoperation) and those of ordinary transistor are not present in a FET.
 In FET the risk of thermal runway is avoided since it has a negative temperature coefficient of
resistance.
 A FET has smaller size, longer life and higher efficiency.
Disadvantages
 Since FET has high input impedance the gate voltage has less voltage and has less control
over the drain current. Therefore FET amplifier has much less voltage gain than a bipolar
amplifier.

48
 CHAPTER SIX
Operational Amplifiers and Oscillations
Introduction:
No electronic system can work without an amplifier. It is just because of the enlargement or the
amplification of the signal picked up by microphone that we can enjoy music. We are able to
hear the news or football match on radio receiver and also we are able to watch and listen (Audio
and Visual) programs on TV because the radioreceiver or TV catches the weak signal through
antenna and amplifies it. Amplification means enlargement of a weak signal by an electronic
circuit withoutany distortion in the signal. The electronic circuit or device which amplifies the
signal is known as Amplifier.
We know if emitter-base junction of a transistor is forward biased and collector-base junction is
reverse biased it can work in active region. This biasing is called DC biasing which is required
for a transistor to work as an amplifier. Active region is the only region in which by carefully
choosing the operating point transistor can amplify the input weak signal and produce the fruitful
output without distortion.
After proper DC biasing AC signal to be amplified is feed to the input of a transistorwhich is
amplified by the transistor as perits configuration. Now the transistor works as an amplifier.
Amplifier is more precisely an electronic device that increases the voltage, current or power of
an input signal with the aid of transistor by furnishing the additional power from a separate
power source. When only one transistor is used in a transistoramplifier to amplify weak input
signal then it is known as Single Stage Amplifier. A practical amplifier generally uses a number
of stages for amplification and is known as Multistage Amplifier.

49
Single stage transistor amplifier

Multi stage transistor amplifier

50
Feedback in Amplifier
When a fraction of output is feedback to the input circuit, it is known asfeedback. The fraction of
output may either be current or voltage. A feedback amplifier consists of two parts: an amplifier
and a feedback circuit.
There are two types of feedback: (1) Positive feedback (2) Negative feedback.
(1) Positive Feedback: If the feedback voltage (or current) is so applied that it increases the
input voltage (or current) then it is called positive feedback.
 In this case applied feedback voltage is in phase with input voltage.
 It is also known as regenerative or direct feedback.
 Positive feedback is used in oscillator circuits.
(2) Negative Feedback: If the feedback voltage (or current) is so applied that it reduces
theamplifier input then it is called negative feedback.
 In this case applied feedback voltage is 180 degree out of phase with input voltage.
 It is also known as degenerative or inverse feedback.
 Negative feedback is frequently used in amplifier circuits.

Any amplifier is characterized with the following characteristics:

 Input Resistance
 Output Resistance
 Voltage Gain
 Current Gain
 Power Gain
 Phase Reversal
Oscillators
Any circuit that generates an alternative voltage is calledan oscillator. Output of an oscillator
may be a sine wave, square wave,sawtooth wave or pulses.

51
Electronic oscillators may bebroadly divided into following two groups:
(i) Sinusoidal (or Harmonic) Oscillators: Whichproduce an output having sine wave form.
(ii) Non-Sinusoidal Oscillators: They produce anoutput which has rectangular, square or
sawtooth waveform or is of pulse shape.
Sinusoidal Oscillators may be damped and undamped.
(i) Damped Oscillations: Oscillations whoseamplitude keeps decreasing (or decaying)
withtime are called damped or decaying oscillations.
(ii) Undamped Oscillations: Oscillations whoseamplitude remains constant i.e. does
notchange with time are called undampedoscillations.

Operational Amplifiers
Operational amplifiers are linear devices that have all the properties required for nearly ideal DC
amplification and are therefore used extensively in signal conditioning, filtering or to perform
mathematical operations such as add, subtract, integration and differentiation.
Operational Amplifier, or op-amp for short, is fundamentally a voltage amplifying device
designed to be used with external feedback components such as resistors and capacitors between
its output and input terminals. These feedback components determine the resulting function or
“operation” of the amplifier and by virtue of the different feedback configurations whether
resistive, capacitive or both, the amplifier can perform a variety of different operations, giving
rise to its name of “Operational Amplifier”.

An Operational Amplifier is basically a three-terminal device which consists of two high

impedance inputs. One of the inputs is called the Inverting Input, marked with a negative or

52
“minus” sign, ( – ). The other input is called the Non-inverting Input, marked with a positive or
“plus” sign ( + ).
A third terminal represents the operational amplifiers output port which can both sink and source
either a voltage or a current. In a linear operational amplifier, the output signal is the
amplification factor, known as the amplifiers gain ( A ) multiplied by the value of the input
signal and depending on the nature of these input and output signals, there can be four different
classifications of operational amplifier gain.

 Voltage – Voltage “in” and Voltage “out”

 Current – Current “in” and Current “out”

 Transconductance – Voltage “in” and Current “out”

 Transresistance – Current “in” and Voltage “out”

Since most of the circuits dealing with operational amplifiers are voltage amplifiers, we will
limit this section to voltage amplifiers only, (Vin and Vout).

The output voltage signal from an Operational Amplifier is the difference between the signals
being applied to its two individual inputs. In other words, an op-amps output signal is the
difference between the two input signals as the input stage of an Operational Amplifier is in fact
a differential amplifier as shown below.

Open Loop Amplifiers

The open-loop gain of an electronic amplifier is the gain obtained when no overall feedback is
used in the circuit.
The open-loop gain of many electronic amplifiers is exceedingly high (by design)
an ideal operational amplifier (op-amp) has infinite open-loop gain. Normally, negative
feedback is applied around an amplifier with high open-loop gain, to reduce the gain of the
complete circuit to a desired value.
One of the significant difference between the open loop and closed loop control system is that
in an open loop system the desired output does not depend on the control action. While in
the closed loop system the desired output depends on the control action of the system.

The definition of open-loop gain (at a fixed frequency) is

53
 =

where − is the input voltage difference that is being amplified. (The dependence on
frequency is not displayed here.)
There are three open – loop configurations of op-amp namely. differential amplifier,
Inverting amplifier and Non-inverting amplifier.

The Ideal Operational Amplifier

To facilitate the understanding of op amp circuits, we will assume ideal op amps. An op amp is
ideal if it has the following characteristics:
1. Infinite open-loop gain,

The main function of an operational amplifier is to amplify the input signal and
the more open loop gain it has the better. Open-loop gain is the gain of the op-
amp without positive or negative feedback and for such an amplifier the gain
will be infinite but typical real values range from about 20,000 to 200,000.

2. Infinite input resistance,

Input resistance is the ratio of input voltage to input current and is assumed to
be infinite to prevent any current flowing from the source supply into the
amplifiers input circuitry ( IIN = 0 ). Real op-amps have input leakage currents
from a few pico-amps to a few milli-amps.

3. Zero output resistance.

The output resistance of the ideal operational amplifier is assumed to be zero acting as a
perfect internal voltage source with no internal resistance so that it can supply as much
current as necessary to the load. This internal resistance is effectively in series with the
load thereby reducing the output voltage available to the load. Real op-amps have output
resistance in the 100-20kΩ range.

54
 4. Infinite Bandwidth, (BW

An ideal operational amplifier has an infinite frequency response and can

amplify any frequency signal from DC to the highest AC frequencies so it is
therefore assumed to have an infinite bandwidth. With real op-amps, the
bandwidth is limited by the Gain-Bandwidth product (GB), which is equal to
the frequency where the amplifiers gain becomes unity.

5. Zero Offset Voltage, (VIO)

The amplifiers output will be zero when the voltage difference between the inverting
and the non-inverting inputs is zero, the same or when both inputs are grounded.
Real op-amps have some amount of output offset voltage.

Inverting Amplifier
It is a useful op amp circuits that often serve as modules for designing more complex circuits.
An inverting amplifier reverses the polarity of the input signal while amplifying it. A key feature
of the inverting amplifier is that both the input signal and the feedback are applied at the
inverting terminal of the op amp. Notice that the gain is the feedback resistance divided by the
input resistance which means that the gain depends only on the external elements connected to
the op amp.

55
There are two very important rules to remember about inverting amplifiers, these are: “No
current flows into the input terminal” and that “V1 always equals V2”(Virtual Earth). However,
in real world op-amp circuits both of these rules are slightly broken.
This is because the junction of the input and feedback signal is at the same potential as the
positive (+) input which is at zero volts or ground then, the junction is a “Virtual Earth”.
Then by using these two rules we can derive the equation for calculating the closed-loop gain of
an inverting amplifier, using first principles.
Current ( i ) flows through the resistor network as shown.

56
 =− x

The negative sign in the equation indicates an inversion of the output signal with respect to the
input as it is 180o out of phase. This is due to the feedback being negative in value.
The equation for the output voltage Vout also shows that the circuit is linear in nature for a fixed
amplifier gain as Vout = Vin x Gain. This property can be very useful for converting a smaller
sensor signal to a much larger voltage.
Another useful application of an inverting amplifier is that of a “transresistance amplifier”
circuit. A Transresistance Amplifier also known as a “transimpedance amplifier”, is basically a
current-to-voltage converter (Current “in” and Voltage “out”). They can be used in low-power
applications to convert a very small current generated by a photo-diode or photo-detecting device
etc, into a usable output voltage which is proportional to the input current.

57
Non-inverting Amplifier
Another important application of the op amp is the non-inverting amplifier. A non-inverting
amplifier is an op amp circuit designed to provide a positive voltage gain.The result of this is that
the output signal is “in-phase” with the input signal. In this case, the input voltage Viis applied
directly at the non-inverting input terminal.The gain depends only on the external resistors.

Then using the formula to calculate the output voltage of a potential divider network, we can
calculate the closed-loop voltage gain ( AV ) of the Non-inverting Amplifier as follows:

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We can see from the equation above that the overall closed-loop gain of a non-inverting
amplifier will always be greater but never less than one (unity), it is positive in nature and is
determined by the ratio of the values of Rƒ and R2.
If the value of the feedback resistor Rƒ is zero, the gain of the amplifier will be exactly equal to
one (unity). If resistor R2 is zero, the gain will approach infinity, but in practice it will be limited
to the operational amplifiers open-loop differential gain, (AO).

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 Chapter Seven
Digital Circuits
Number systems and Logic gates
To learn and understand about the digital logic design, the initial knowledge we require is to
differentiate between analog and digital. The following are fews that differentiate between
analog and digital.
• Analog information is made up of a continuum of values within a given range.
• At its most basic, digital information can assume only one of two possible values: one/zero,
on/off, high/low, true/false, etc.
• Digital Information is less susceptible to noise than analog information
• Exact voltage values are not important, only their class (1 or 0)
• The complexity of operations is reduced, thus it is easier to implement them with high accuracy
in digital form.
Digital means electronic technology that generates, stores, and processes data in terms of two
states: positive and non-positive. Positive is expressed or represented by the number 1 and non-
positive by the number 0.
A „digital system‟ is a data technology that uses discrete (discontinuous) values represented by
high and low states known as bits. By contrast, non-digital (or analog) systems use a continuous
range of values to represent information. Although digital representations are discrete, the
information represented can be either discrete, such as numbers, letters or icons, or continuous,
such as sounds, images, and other measurements of continuous systems.
There are many systems in which numbers can be expressed. The decimal number system is
familiar to us. In this system the base is 10 and the digits are 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.
The following are other number systems which are more popular in use:

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Most of the digital computers use binary, octal and Hexa-decimal systems.

BINARY
Binary describes a numbering scheme in which there are only two possible values for each digit:
0 and 1. The term also refers to any digital encoding/decoding system in which there are exactly
two possible states. In digital data memory, storage, processing, and communications, the 0 and
1 values are sometimes called "low" and "high," respectively.
Most of the computing devices use binary numbering to represent electronic circuit voltage state,
(i.e., on/off switch), which considers 0 voltage input as off and 1 input as on.
This is also known as the base-2 number system (The base-2 system is a positional notation with
a radix of 2), or the binary numbering system. Few examples of binary numbers are as follows:
00, 011, 102
binary number such as 11100 (2810) can be expressed as successive powers
of 2:
111002 = 1 × 24 + 1 × 23 + 1 × 22 + 0 × 21 + 0 × 20=28
The largest number which can be represented by nbits is 2n − 1. For example, with 4
bits the largest number is 11112 = 15.
The most significant bit (MSB) is the bit representing the highest power of 2, and the
LSB represents the lowest power of 2.
• 10
• 111
• 10101
OCTAL NUMBERS
The Octal Number System is another type of computer and digital base number system. The
Octal Numbering System is very similar in principle to the hexadecimal numbering system
except that in Octal, a binary number is divided up into groups of only 3 bits, with each group or
set of bits having a distinct value of between 000 (0) and 111 ( 7 ). Octal numbers therefore have
a range of just “8” digits, (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) making them a Base-8 numbering system.

HEXADECIMAL NUMBERING SYSTEM

The one main disadvantage of binary numbers is that the binary string equivalent of a large
decimal base-10 number can be quite long. When working with large digital systems, such as

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computers, it is common to find binary numbers consisting of 8, 16 and even 32 digits which
makes it difficult to both read and write without producing errors especially when working with
lots of 16 or 32-bit binary numbers. One common way of overcoming this problem is to arrange
the binary numbers into groups or sets of four bits (4-bits). A group of 4 bits will be representing
24 = 16 combinations. To represent 16 sequences of 4 bit each we can use 16 symbols say 0, 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E & F. decimal system.
Equivalent of A is 10, B is 11, c is 12, D is 13, E is 14 and F is 15. These groups of 4-bits uses
another type of numbering system also commonly used in computer and digital systems called
Hexadecimal Numbers.
The “Hexadecimal” or simply “Hex” numbering system uses the Base of 16 system and are a
popular choice for representing long binary values because their format is quite compact and
much easier to understand compared to the long binary strings of 1‟s and 0‟s.
Being a Base-16 system, the hexadecimal numbering system therefore uses 16 (sixteen) different
digits with a combination of numbers from 0 through to 15. In other words, there are 16 possible
digit symbols.

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Logic gates
Logic gates are the building blocks of digital electronics. The fundamental logic gatesinclude the
INVERT (NOT), AND, NAND, OR, NOR, exclusive OR (XOR), and exclusive NOR (XNOR)
gates. Each of these gates performs a different logical operation.

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Combinational Logic

Logic circuits for digital systems may be combinational or sequential. A combinational circuit
consists of input variables, logic gates, and output variables. Combinational logic involves
combining logic gates together to form circuits capableof enacting more useful, complex
functions.

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Multiplexes and decoders
Decoder is a combinational circuit that hasninput lines and maximum of 2n output lines. One of
these outputs will be active High based on the combination of inputs present, when the decoder
is enabled. That means decoder detects a particular code. The outputs of the decoder are nothing
but the min termsof n input variables (lines), when it is enabled.
2 to 4 Decoder:
2 to 4 Decoder has two inputs A1& A0 and four outputs Y3, Y2, Y1 & Y0. The block diagram of
2 to 4 decoder is shown in the following figure.

One of these four outputs will be 1 for each combination of inputs when enable, E is 1. The
Truth table of 2 to 4 decoder is shown below.

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Therefore, the outputs of 2 to 4 decoder are nothing but the min terms of two input variables
A1& A0, when enable, E is equal to one. If enable, E is zero, then all the outputs of decoder will

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be equal to zero. Similarly, 3 to 8 decoder produces eight min terms of three input variables A2,
A1 & A0 and 4 to 16 decoder produces sixteen min terms of four input variables A3, A2, A1 &
A0.

Multiplexes
Multiplexer is a combinational circuit that has maximum of 2ndata inputs, n selection lines and
single output line. One of these data inputs will be connected to the output based on the values of
selection lines.
Since there are n selection lines, there will be 2n possible combinations of zeros and ones. So,
each combination will select only one data input.
4x1 Multiplexer has four data inputs I3, I2, I1& I0, two selection lines s1 & s0 and one output Y.
The block diagram of 4x1 Multiplexer is shown in the following figure.

One of these 4 inputs will be connected to the output based on the combination of inputs present
at these two selection lines. Truth table of 4x1 Multiplexer is shown below.

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The circuit diagram of 4x1 multiplexer is shown in the following figure.

Latches and Clocked Flip-flops

The basic memory cell is a circuit that stores one bit of information. This one bit memory
element is called aflip-flop or latch, since it latches(or locks) data in it.A flip flop has two

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outputs, Q and that are always complements of each other. It can exist in two stablestates; set

and reset. In set state, Q is HIGH(logic 1) and is LOW(logic 0). In reset state is
HIGH(logic 1)and Q is LOW(logic 0). For a flip flop to act as a memory device, it should retain
the information stored in it.Thus, if it is in set state it should remain set and if it is in reset state, it
should remain reset.
Specially, these examples are called SR (set-reset") flip-flops, or SRlatches.

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 The state described by the last row is clearly problematic, since Q and Q-should not bethe
same value. Thus, the S = R = 1 inputs should be avoided. From the truth table, we can
develop a sequence such as the following:

1. R = 0, S = 1)Q = 1 (set)

2. R = 0, S = 0)Q = 1 (state retained: \memory")

3. R = 1, S = 0)Q = 0 (reset)

4. R = 0, S = 0)Q = 1 (Q = 1 state retained)

In alternative language, the first operation writes a true state into one bit of memory. It can
subsequently be read until it is erased by the reset operation of the third line.

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