October 2002
Intermediate to advanced
432 pages
9h 20m
English
The circuit shown in Fig. B.9 is used in the parameter-determination project for measuring the base current with the collector open. The collector is tied to the output channel voltage, which holds the collector – base junction in reverse bias, and therefore in the active mode. The configuration is effectively a diode (open collector) with two terminals, base and emitter, and the diode current is the base current. The base current is that of the active-mode transistor, because the collector – base junction is maintained in a reverse-bias state. Note that according to (B.12), base-current magnitude does not otherwise depend on the value of the base – collector voltage. ...