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BJT vs FET: Key Differences Explained

The document outlines the differences between Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs) and Field-effect Transistors (FETs), highlighting that BJTs are current-controlled devices using both minority and majority carriers, while FETs are voltage-controlled and use either holes or electrons. BJTs have three terminals: base, emitter, and collector, whereas FETs have source, drain, and gate terminals. Additionally, BJTs were the first type of transistor to be commercially mass-produced.

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84 views2 pages

BJT vs FET: Key Differences Explained

The document outlines the differences between Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs) and Field-effect Transistors (FETs), highlighting that BJTs are current-controlled devices using both minority and majority carriers, while FETs are voltage-controlled and use either holes or electrons. BJTs have three terminals: base, emitter, and collector, whereas FETs have source, drain, and gate terminals. Additionally, BJTs were the first type of transistor to be commercially mass-produced.

Uploaded by

zeeshan sarwar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Difference Between BJT and FET

Transistors can be categorized according to their structure, and two of the more commonly known
transistor structures, are the BJT and FET.

A bipolar junction transistor is a three terminal semiconductor device consisting of two p-n
junctions which is able to amplify and switch a signal. It is a current controlled device. The three
terminals of the BJT are the base, collector and emitter. A signal of small amplitude if applied to
the base is available in the amplified form at the collector of the transistor. This is the
amplification provided by the BJT.

BJT further divided into two types NPN and PNP.

Figure 3.7: Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) and its symbols

BJT, or Bipolar Junction Transistor, was the first kind to be commercially mass-produced. BJTs conduct
using both minority and majority carriers, and its three terminals have corresponding names ‘“ the base,
emitter, and collector. It basically consists of two P-N junctions – the base-collector and the base-emitter
junctions. A material called the base region, which is a thin intervening semiconductor, separates these
two junctions.

Bipolar Junction Transistors are extensively useful in amplifying devices, because collector and
emitter currents are effectively controlled by the small current at the base. They are named as
such, because the current which is controlled, goes through two types of semi-conductor
materials ‘“ the P and N. Current, essentially, consists of both hole and electron flow, in separate
parts of the bipolar transistor. BJTs basically function as regulators of currents. A small current
is regulating a larger current. However, for them to properly operate as current regulators, the
base currents and the collector currents must be moving in the right directions.

FET, or Field-effect Transistor, also controls the current between two points, but it uses a
different method to the BJT. As the name suggests, FETs’ function is dependent on the effects of
electric fields, and on the flow, or movement, of electrons in the course of a particular type of
semi-conductor material. FETs are sometimes referred to as unipolar transistors, based on this
fact.

FET uses either holes (P channel), or electrons (N channel), for conduction, and it has three
terminals – source, drain, and gate – with the body connected to the source in most cases. In
many applications, FET is basically a voltage controlled device, due to the fact that its output
attributes are established by the field that is dependent on the applied voltage.

Summary:
1. The BJT is a current-controlled device since its output is determined on the input current,
while FET is considered as a voltage-controlled device, because it depends on the field effect of
the applied voltage.

2. The BJT (Bipolar Junction Transistor) uses both the minority and majority carriers (holes and
electrons), while FETs, which are sometimes called unipolar transistors, uses either holes or
electrons for conduction.

3. BJT’s three terminals are named the base, emitter, and collector, while FET’s are named the
source, drain, and gate.

4. BJTs are the first type to be commercially massed produced.

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