Symbols, Pins, and Construction Transistors

Symbols, Pins, and Construction

Transistors are fundamentally three-terminal devices. On a bi-polar junction transistor (BJT), those pins are labeled collector (C), base (B), and emitter (E). The circuit symbols for both the NPN and PNP BJT are below:

The only difference between an NPN and PNP is the direction of the arrow on the emitter. The arrow on an NPN points out, and on the PNP it points in. A useful mnemonic for remembering which is which is:

NPN: Not Pointing iN

Backwards logic, but it works!

Transistor Construction

Transistors rely on semiconductors to work their magic. A semiconductor is a material that’s not quite a pure conductor (like copper wire) but also not an insulator (like air). The conductivity of a semiconductor – how easily it allows electrons to flow – depends on variables like temperature or the presence of more or less electrons. Let’s look briefly under the hood of a transistor. Don’t worry, we won’t dig too deeply into quantum physics.

A Transistor as Two Diodes

Transistors are kind of like an extension of another semiconductor component: diodes. In a way transistors are just two diodes with their cathodes (or anodes) tied together:

The diode connecting base to emitter is the important one here; it matches the direction of the arrow on the schematic symbol, and shows you which way current is intended to flow through the transistor.

The diode representation is a good place to start, but it’s far from accurate. Don’t base your understanding of a transistor’s operation on that model (and definitely don’t try to replicate it on a breadboard, it won’t work). There’s a whole lot of weird quantum physics level stuff controlling the interactions between the three terminals.

(This model is useful if you need to test a transistor. Using the diode (or resistance) test function on a multimeter, you can measure across the BE and BC terminals to check for the presence of those “diodes”.)

Transistor Structure and Operation

Transistors are built by stacking three different layers of semiconductor material together. Some of those layers have extra electrons added to them (a process called “doping”), and others have electrons removed (doped with “holes” – the absence of electrons). A semiconductor material with extra electrons is called an n-type (n for negative because electrons have a negative charge) and a material with electrons removed is called a p-type (for positive). Transistors are created by either stacking an n on top of a p on top of an n, or p over n over p.

Simplified diagram of the structure of an NPN. Notice the origin of any acronyms?

With some hand waving, we can say electrons can easily flow from n regions to p regions, as long as they have a little force (voltage) to push them. But flowing from a p region to an n region is really hard (requires a lot of voltage). But the special thing about a transistor – the part that makes our two-diode model obsolete – is the fact that electrons can easily flow from the p-type base to the n-type collector as long as the base-emitter junction is forward biased (meaning the base is at a higher voltage than the emitter).

The NPN transistor is designed to pass electrons from the emitter to the collector (so conventional current flows from collector to emitter). The emitter “emits” electrons into the base, which controls the number of electrons the emitter emits. Most of the electrons emitted are “collected” by the collector, which sends them along to the next part of the circuit.

A PNP works in a same but opposite fashion. The base still controls current flow, but that current flows in the opposite direction – from emitter to collector. Instead of electrons, the emitter emits “holes” (a conceptual absence of electrons) which are collected by the collector.

The transistor is kind of like an electron valve. The base pin is like a handle you might adjust to allow more or less electrons to flow from emitter to collector. Let’s investigate this

Introduction Transistors

Introduction

Transistors make our electronics world go ‘round. They’re critical as a control source in just about every modern circuit. Sometimes you see them, but more-often-than-not they’re hidden deep within the die of an integrated circuit. In this tutorial we’ll introduce you to the basics of the most common transistor around: the bi-polar junction transistor (BJT).

In small, discrete quantities, transistors can be used to create simple electronic switches, digital logic, and signal amplifying circuits. In quantities of thousands, millions, and even billions, transistors are interconnected and embedded into tiny chips to create computer memories, microprocessors, and other complex ICs.

Covered In This Tutorial

After reading through this tutorial, we want you to have a broad understanding of how transistors work. We won’t dig too deeply into semiconductor physics or equivalent models, but we’ll get deep enough into the subject that you’ll understand how a transistor can be used as either a switch or amplifier.

This tutorial is split into a series of sections, covering:

Symbols, Pins, and Construction – Explaining the differences between the transistor’s three pins.
Extending the Water Analogy – Going back to the water analogy to explain how a transistor acts like a valve.
Operation Modes – An overview of the four possible operating modes of a transistor.
Applications I: Switches – Application circuits showing how transistors are used as electronically controlled switches.
Applications II: Amplifiers – More application circuits, this time showing how transistors are used to amplify voltage or current.
There are two types of basic transistor out there: bi-polar junction (BJT) and metal-oxide field-effect (MOSFET). In this tutorial we’ll focus on the BJT, because it’s slightly easier to understand. Digging even deeper into transistor types, there are actually two versions of the BJT: NPN and PNP. We’ll turn our focus even sharper by limiting our early discussion to the NPN. By narrowing our focus down – getting a solid understanding of the NPN – it’ll be easier to understand the PNP (or MOSFETS, even) by comparing how it differs from the NPN.

Suggested Reading

Before digging into this tutorial, we’d highly recommend giving these tutorials a look-through:

Voltage, Current, Resistance, and Ohm’s Law – An introduction to the fundamentals of electronics.
Electricity Basics – We’ll talk a bit about electricity as the flow of electrons. Find out how those electrons flow in this tutorial.
Electric Power – One of the transistors main applications is amplifying – increasing the power of a signal. Increasing power means we can increase either current or voltage, find out why in this tutorial.
Diodes – A transistor is a semiconductor device, just like a diode. In a way, it’s what you’d get if you stacked two diodes together, and tied their anodes together. Understanding how a diode works will go a long way towards uncovering the operation of a transistor.

Introduction to Capacitors

Introduction to Capacitors

Just like the Resistor, the Capacitor, sometimes referred to as a Condenser, is a simple passive device that is used to “store electricity”.

The capacitor is a component which has the ability or “capacity” to store energy in the form of an electrical charge producing a potential difference (Static Voltage) across its plates, much like a small rechargeable battery.



There are many different kinds of capacitors available from very small capacitor beads used in resonance circuits to large power factor correction capacitors, but they all do the same thing, they store charge.



In its basic form, a capacitor consists of two or more parallel conductive (metal) plates which are not connected or touching each other, but are electrically separated either by air or by some form of a good insulating material such as waxed paper, mica, ceramic, plastic or some form of a liquid gel as used in electrolytic capacitors. The insulating layer between a capacitors plates is commonly called the Dielectric.

A Typical Capacitor
Due to this insulating layer, DC current can not flow through the capacitor as it blocks it allowing instead a voltage to be present across the plates in the form of an electrical charge.



The conductive metal plates of a capacitor can be either square, circular or rectangular, or they can be of a cylindrical or spherical shape with the general shape, size and construction of a parallel plate capacitor depending on its application and voltage rating.



When used in a direct current or DC circuit, a capacitor charges up to its supply voltage but blocks the flow of current through it because the dielectric of a capacitor is non-conductive and basically an insulator. However, when a capacitor is connected to an alternating current or AC circuit, the flow of the current appears to pass straight through the capacitor with little or no resistance.



There are two types of electrical charge, positive charge in the form of Protons and negative charge in the form of Electrons. When a DC voltage is placed across a capacitor, the positive (+ve) charge quickly accumulates on one plate while a corresponding negative (-ve) charge accumulates on the other plate. For every particle of +ve charge that arrives at one plate a charge of the same sign will depart from the -ve plate.



Then the plates remain charge neutral and a potential difference due to this charge is established between the two plates. Once the capacitor reaches its steady state condition an electrical current is unable to flow through the capacitor itself and around the circuit due to the insulating properties of the dielectric used to separate the plates.



The flow of electrons onto the plates is known as the capacitors Charging Current which continues to flow until the voltage across both plates (and hence the capacitor) is equal to the applied voltage Vc. At this point the capacitor is said to be “fully charged” with electrons. The strength or rate of this charging current is at its maximum value when the plates are fully discharged (initial condition) and slowly reduces in value to zero as the plates charge up to a potential difference across the capacitors plates equal to the source voltage.



The amount of potential difference present across the capacitor depends upon how much charge was deposited onto the plates by the work being done by the source voltage and also by how much capacitance the capacitor has and this is illustrated below.

Capacitor

C is for capacitor



It goes without saying that you should unplug the power cable and battery while doing a repair, but simply removing the power source doesn’t mean there isn’t a chance of getting shocked. Capacitors store charge. They can be found on power supplies and scattered throughout circuitry. While a shock from most capacitors in consumer electronics isn’t fatal, they can still give you a decent jump. When working with electronics, be sure not to grab capacitors directly or touch them with any conductive material.

If you plan on replacing a capacitor, you may need to discharge the capacitor first. If that’s the case, use our guide to build a capacitor discharge tool. Discharge time varies with size. It is important to give the tool enough time to discharge the capacitor completely.