The temperature dependence of the DC base and collector currents in silicon bipolar transistors

1 November 1976

journal article
Published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices

Vol. 23 (11) , 1218-1224
https://doi.org/10.1109/T-ED.1976.18582

Abstract

Detailed measurements have been made of the base and collector-current characteristics of both n-p-n and p-n-p silicon transistors as a function of temperature. The collector current shows ideal behavior over the temperature range -60 to 150°C in thatI_{C} \infin \exp (eV_{BE}/kT). On the other hand, the base current is nonideal:I_{B} \infin \exp (eV_{BE}/nkT), wheren > 1.0. The nonideality of IBis the main source of the temperature dependence ofh_{FE} = I_{C}/I_{B}. There is no evidence for bandgap narrowing in the devices we have investigated. The temperature dependence of the collector current is given byI_{C} \infin T_{m} \exp (-e E_{g0}/kT) \exp (eV_{BE}/kT), wherem = 1.4or 1.7 for n-p-n or p-n-p devices, respectively.E_{g0} = 1.19 \pm 0.01eV. This result is consistent with the findings of others. The base current is a complicated function of temperature due to the presence of nonideal components.

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