Experiment

Static characteristics of Bipolar Junction Transistor

(Common Emitter Configuration)

1 Objectives
To study the input and output characteristics of an NPN transistor in Common Emitter
mode and determine transistor parameters.

2 Circuit components/equipment
1. Transistor (BC 547 or equivalent)
2. Resistors (2 Nos.)
3. Multimeters (3 Nos.)
4. DC power supply
5. Connecting wires
6. Breadboard.

3 Theory
A Bipolar Junction Transistor, or BJT is a three terminal device having two PN- junctions
connected together in series. Each terminal is given a name to identify it and these are
known as the Emitter (E), Base (B) and Collector (C). 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. Bipolar Transistors are “CURRENT” amplifying or current control devices that
control the amount of current flowing through them in proportion to the amount of
biasing current applied to their base terminal. The principle of operation of the two
transistor types NPN and PNP, is exactly the same the only difference being in the
biasing (base current) and the polarity of the power supply for each type. The symbols
for both the NPN and PNP bipolar transistor are shown above along with the direction of
conventional current flow. The direction of the arrow in the symbol shows current flow
between the base and emitter terminal, pointing from the positive P- type region to the
negative N-type region, exactly the same as for the standard diode symbol. For normal
operation, the emitter-base junction is forward-biased and the collector-base junction is
reverse-biased.

1
 Figure 1: Schematic diagrams of PNP and NPN transistors.

Transistor configurations

There are three possible configurations possible when a transistor is connected in a

circuit:

1. Common base
2. Common emitter
3. Common collector.

We will be focusing on the common emitter configurations in this experiment. The

behavior of a transistor can be represented by DC current-voltage (I-V) curves, called
the static characteristic curves of the device. The three important characteristics of a
transistor are:

1. Input characteristics
2. Output characteristics
3. Transfer Characteristics.

These characteristics give information about various transistor parameters, e.g. input
and output dynamic resistance, current amplification factors, etc.

Common Emitter Transistor Characteristics

In a common emitter configuration, emitter is common to both input and output as shown
in its circuit diagram (Figure 1).

1. Input Characteristics: The variation of the base current IB with the base-
emitter voltage VBE keeping the collector-emitter voltage VCE fixed, gives the
input characteristic in CE mode.
Input Dynamic Resistance (ri ): This is defined as the ratio of change in base
emitter voltage (∆VBE ) to the resulting change in base current (∆IB ) at constant

2
 collector-emitter voltage (VCE ). This is dynamic and it can be seen from the input
characteristic, its value varies with the operating current in the transistor:

∆VBE
ri =
∆IB VCE

The value of ri can be anything from a few hundred to a few thousand ohms.

2. Output Characteristics: The variation of the collector current IC with the

collector- emitter voltage VCE is called the output characteristic. The plot of
IC versus VCE for different fixed values of IB gives one output characteristic.
Since the collector current changes with the base current, there will be different
output characteristics corresponding to different values of IB .
Output Dynamic Resistance (ro ): This is defined as the ratio of change in
collector- emitter voltage ∆VCE to the change in collector current ∆IC at a constant
base current IB .
∆VCE
ro =
∆IC IB

3. Transfer Characteristics: The transfer characteristics are plotted between the

input and output currents (IB versus IC ), keeping a constant collector-emitter
voltage (VCE ). Both IB and IC increase proportionately.

4. Current amplification factor (β): This is defined as the ratio of the change
in collector current to the change in base current at a constant collector-emitter
voltage VCE when the transistor is in active state.

∆IC
βac =
∆IB VCE

This is also known as small signal current gain and its value is very large. The
ratio of IC and IB gives us what is called βdc of the transistor. Hence,

∆IC
βdc =
∆IB VCE

Since IC increases with IB almost linearly, the values of both βac and βdc are
nearly equal.

4 Circuit diagram
The circuit diagram is shown in Figure 2.

3
 Figure 2: NPN transistor in CE configuration.

5 Procedure
Input characteristics

1. Note down the code of the transistor.

2. Identify different terminals (E, B and C) and the type (PNP/NPN) of the transistors.
For any specific information refer to the datasheet of the transistors.

3. Now configure the CE circuit using the NPN transistor as per the circuit diagram.
Use RB = 100 kΩ and RC = 1 kΩ.

4. For input characteristics, first fix the voltage VCE by adjusting VCC to the minimum
possible position. Now vary the voltage VBB slowly (say, in steps of 0.2 V) and
measure current IB and voltage VBE using a multimeter. If VCE varies during
measurement, bring it back to the set value.

5. Repeat the above step for another value of VCE say, 2 V.

6. Plot the graph IB vs. VBE .

Output characteristics

1. First fix IB = 0, i.e. VRB = 0. Vary the collector voltage VCC in steps of say 1 V
and measure VCE and the corresponding IC using multimeters.

2. Repeat the above step for at least 5 different values of IB by adjusting VBB . You
may need to adjust VBB continuously during measurement in order to maintain a
constant IB .

3. Plot the graph IC vs. VCE .

4
 Table 1: Input characteristics.

Sl. No. VCE = V

VBE (V) IB (µA)
1
2
...
10

4. To plot transfer characteristics, select a suitable voltage VCE well within the active
region of the output characteristics, which you have tabulated already (no need to
take further data). Plot a graph between IC and the corresponding IB at the chosen
voltage VCE .

6 Observations
Transistor code: , RB = , RC =

Table 2: Output characteristics.

Sl. IB1 = 0 IB2 = IB3 = IB4 = IB5 =

No.
VCE IC VCE IC VCE IC VCE IC VCE IC
(V) (mA) (V) (mA) (V) (mA) (V) (mA) (V) (mA)
1
2
...
10

Table 3: Transfer characteristics. VCE = V.

Sl. No. IB (µA) IC (µA)

1
2
3
4
5

7 Graphs
Plot the input, output and transfer characteristics for each configuration.

5
 1. Input characteristics: Plot VBE ∼ IB , for different VCE and determine the input
dynamic resistance in each case at suitable operating points.

2. Output characteristics: Plot VCE ∼ IC , for different IB and determine the output
dynamic resistance in each case at suitable operating points in the active region.

3. Transfer characteristics: Plot IB ∼ IC , for a fixed VCE and determine βac .

8 Calculation
1. Small-signal current gain: βac = ∆IC /∆IB with the VCE at a constant voltage.

2. Dynamic input resistance: It is given by ∆VBE /∆IB at constant VCE

3. Dynamic output resistance: It is given as ∆VCE /∆IC at constant IB

9 Results

10 Precautions