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Chapter 3: Problem 2

What is the major difference between a bipolar and a unipolar device?

Short Answer

Expert verified
The major difference between bipolar and unipolar devices is that bipolar devices use both types of charge carriers (electrons and holes) in their operation, while unipolar devices use only one type of charge carrier.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding Bipolar devices

Bipolar devices are electronic components that use both types of charge carriers, electrons, and holes to operate. The most common example of a bipolar device is a Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT). In a BJT, both electrons and holes are involved in carrying charge.
02

Understanding Unipolar devices

On the contrary, unipolar devices are electronic components that use only one type of charge carriers to operate. They can be either electron-only (n-channel device) or hole-only (p-channel device). The most common example of a unipolar device is a Field Effect Transistor (FET). In a FET, only one kind of charge carrier is primarily involved in carrying charge.
03

Identifying the major difference

The major difference between bipolar and unipolar devices is thus based on the type of charge carriers they utilize for operation. Bipolar devices use both electrons and holes, while unipolar devices operate with only one type of charge carrier. Therefore, the transistor operating principles in both cases are different.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

a. Given an \(\alpha_{\mathrm{dc}}\) of \(0.998\), determine \(I_{C}\) if \(I_{E}=4 \mathrm{~mA}\). b. Determine \(\alpha_{\mathrm{dc}}\) if \(I_{E}=2.8 \mathrm{~mA}\) and \(I_{B}=20 \mu \mathrm{A}\). c. Find \(I_{E}\) if \(I_{B}=40 \mu \mathrm{A}\) and \(\alpha_{\mathrm{dc}}\) is \(0.98\).

From memory, sketch the transistor symbol for a \(p n p\) and an \(n p n\) transistor, and then insert the conventional flow direction for each current.

From memory only, sketch the common-base BJT transistor configuration (for \(n p n\) and \(p n p\) ) and indicate the polarity of the applied bias and resulting current directions.

From memory only, sketch the common-emitter configuration (for \(n p n\) and \(p n p\) ) and insert the proper biasing arrangement with the resulting current directions for \(I_{B}, I_{C}\), and \(I_{E}\).

If the emitter current of a transistor is \(8 \mathrm{~mA}\) and \(I_{B}\) is \(1 / 100\) of \(I_{C}\), determine the levels of \(I_{C}\) and \(I_{B}\).
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