Solid State Electronic Devices, 7th Edition

6.1 Transistor Operation

We begin this section with a general discussion of amplification and switching, the basic circuit functions performed by transistors. The transistor is a three-terminal device with the important feature that the current through two terminals can be controlled by small changes we make in the current or voltage at the third terminal. This control feature allows us to amplify small a-c signals or to switch the device from an on state to an off state and back. These two operations, amplification and switching, are the basis of a host of electronic functions. This section provides a brief introduction to these operations, as a foundation for understanding both bipolar and field-effect transistors.

6.1.1 The Load Line

Consider ...