Junction Transistor - Introduction

Introduction

BJTs come in two types, or polarities, known as PNP and NPN based on the doping types of the three main terminal regions. An NPN transistor comprises two semiconductor junctions that share a thin p-doped anode region, and a PNP transistor comprises two semiconductor junctions that share a thin n-doped cathode region.

In typical operation, the base–emitter junction is forward biased, which means that the p-doped side of the junction is at a more positive potential than the n-doped side, and the base–collector junction is reverse biased. In an NPN transistor, when positive bias is applied to the base–emitter junction, the equilibrium is disturbed between the thermally generated carriers and the repelling electric field of the n-doped emitter depletion region. This allows thermally excited electrons to inject from the emitter into the base region. These electrons diffuse through the base from the region of high concentration near the emitter towards the region of low concentration near the collector. The electrons in the base are called minority carriers because the base is doped p-type, which makes holes the majority carrier in the base.

To minimize the percentage of carriers that recombine before reaching the collector–base junction, the transistor's base region must be thin enough that carriers can diffuse across it in much less time than the semiconductor's minority carrier lifetime. In particular, the thickness of the base must be much less than the diffusion length of the electrons. The collector–base junction is reverse-biased, and so little electron injection occurs from the collector to the base, but electrons that diffuse through the base towards the collector are swept into the collector by the electric field in the depletion region of the collector–base junction. The thin shared base and asymmetric collector–emitter doping is what differentiates a bipolar transistor from two separate and oppositely biased diodes connected in series.