Physical Principles Involved in Transistor Action* (1949)

The transitor in the form described herein consists of two-point contact electrodes, called emitter and collector, placed in close proximity on the upper face of a small block of germanium. The base electrode, the third element of the triode, is a large area low resistance contact on the lower face. Each point contact has characteristics similar to those of the high-back-voltage rectifier. When suitable d-c. bias potentials are applied, the device may be used to amplify a-c. signals. A signal introduced between the emitter and base appears in amplified form between collector and base. The emitter is biased in the positive direction, which is that of easy flow. A larger negative or reverse voltage is applied to the collector. Transistor action depends on the fact that electrons in semi-conductors can carry current in two different ways: by excess or conduction electrons and by defect “electrons” or holes. The germanium used is n-type, i.e. the carriers are conduction electrons. Current from the emitter is composed in large part of holes, i.e. of carriers of opposite sign to those normally in excess in the body of the block. The holes are attracted by the field of the collector current, so that a large part of the emitter current, introduced at low impedance, flows into the collector circuit and through a high-impedance load. There is a voltage gain and a power gain of an input signal. There may be current amplification as well. The influence of the emitter current, I <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">e</inf> , on collector current, I <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">e</inf> , is expressed in terms of a current multiplication factor, α, which gives the rate of change of I <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">e</inf> with respect to I <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">e</inf> at constant collector voltage. Values of α in typical units range from about 1 to 3. It is shown in a general way how α depends on bias voltages, frequency, temperature, and electrode spacing. There is an influence of collector current on emitter current in the nature of a positive feedback which, under some operating conditions, may lead to instability. The way the concentrations and mobilities of electrons and holes in germanium depend on impurities and on temperature is described briefly. The theory of germanium point contact rectifiers is discussed in terms of the Mott-Schottky theory. The barrier layer is such as to raise the levels of the filled band to a position close to the Fermi level at the surface, giving an inversion layer of p-type or defect conductivity. There is considerable evidence that the barrier layer is intrinsic and occurs at the free surface, independent of a metal contact. Potential probe tests on some surfaces indicate considerable surface conductivity which is attributed to the p-type layer. All surfaces tested show an excess conductivity in the vicinity of the point contact which increases with forward current and is attributed to a flow of holes into the body of the germanium, the space charge of the holes being compensated by electrons. It is shown why such a flow is to be expected for the type of barrier layer which exists in germanium, and that this flow accounts for the large currents observed in the forward direction. In the transistor, holes may flow from the emitter to the collector either in the surface layer or through the body of the germanium. Estimates are made of the field produced by the collector current, of the transit time for holes, of the space charge produced by holes flowing into the collector, and of the feedback resistance which gives the influence of collector current on emitter current. These calculations confirm tie general picture given of transistor action.