Applications
The 2N7000 has been referred to as a "FETlington" and as an "absolutely ideal hacker part." The word "FETlington" is a reference to the Darlington-transistor-like saturation characteristic.
A typical use of these transistors is as a switch for moderate voltages and currents, including as drivers for small lamps, motors, and relays. In switching circuits, these FETs can be used much like bipolar junction transistors, but have some advantages:
- low threshold voltage means no gate bias required
- high input impedance of the insulated gate means almost no gate current is required
- consequently no current-limiting resistor is required in the gate input
The main disadvantages of these FETs over bipolar transistors in switching are the following:
- susceptibility to cumulative damage from static discharge prior to installation
- circuits with external gate exposure require a protection gate resistor or other static discharge protection
- Non-zero ohmic response when driven to saturation, as compared to a constant junction voltage drop in a bipolar junction transistor
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