Early eect

is the same.

VCE1
VBE

B
p

We

p
VBE

active region

iC

vBE

saturation region

n
We

VA

vCE

Figure 2. The Early voltage (VA) as seen in the outputcharacteristic plot of a BJT.

Base-narrowing has two consequences that aect the current:

There is a lesser chance for recombination within the

smaller base region.

depletion
regions

The charge gradient is increased across the base,

and consequently, the current of minority carriers
injected across the emitter junction increases.

VCE2

Both these factors increase the collector or output current of the transistor with an increase in the collector voltage. This increased current is shown in Figure 2. Tangents to the characteristics at large voltages extrapolate
backward to intercept the voltage axis at a voltage called
the Early voltage, often denoted by the symbol VA.

Figure 1. Top: NPN base width for low collectorbase reverse

bias; Bottom: narrower NPN base width for large collectorbase
reverse bias. Hashed areas are depleted regions.

The Early eect is the variation in the width of the base

in a bipolar junction transistor (BJT) due to a variation in
the applied base-to-collector voltage, named after its discoverer James M. Early. A greater reverse bias across 1 Large-signal model
the collectorbase junction, for example, increases the
collectorbase depletion width, decreasing the width of In the forward active region the Early eect modies the
collector current ( IC ) and the forward common-emitter
the charge neutral portion of the base.
current gain ( F ), as typically described by the following
In Figure 1 the neutral (i.e. active) base is green, and
equations:[1][2]
the depleted base regions are hashed light green. The
neutral emitter and collector regions are dark blue and
(
)
the depleted regions hashed light blue. Under increased
VBE
VCE
collectorbase reverse bias, the lower panel of Figure 1 IC = IS 1 +
e VT
VA
shows a widening of the depletion region in the base and
)
(
VCE
the associated narrowing of the neutral base region.
F = F0 1 +
VA
The collector depletion region also increases under reverse bias, more than does that of the base, because the Where
collector is less heavily doped. The principle governing
these two widths is charge neutrality. The narrowing of
VCE is the collectoremitter voltage
the collector does not have a signicant eect as the col VT is the thermal voltage kT/q ; see thermal voltage:
lector is much longer than the base. The emitterbase
role in semiconductor physics
junction is unchanged because the emitterbase voltage
1

2 SMALL-SIGNAL MODEL
VA is the Early voltage (typically 15 V to 150 V;
smaller for smaller devices)
F0 is forward common-emitter current gain at zero
bias.

Some models base the collector current correction factor on the collectorbase voltage VCB (as described in
base-width modulation) instead of the collectoremitter
voltage VCE.[3] Using VCB may be more physically plausible, in agreement with the physical origin of the eect,
which is a widening of the collectorbase depletion layer
that depends on VCB. Computer models such as those
used in SPICE use the collectorbase voltage VCB.[4]

to be replaced by n in all expressions below. The following assumptions are involved when deriving ideal currentvoltage characteristics of the BJT[7]
Low level injection
Uniform doping in each region with abrupt junctions
One-dimensional current
Negligible recombination-generation
charge regions

in

space

Negligible electric elds outside of space charge regions.

It is important to characterize the minority diusion currents induced by injection of carriers.

Small-signal model

With regard to pn-junction diode, a key relation is the

The Early eect can be accounted for in small-signal cir- diusion equation.
cuit models (such as the hybrid-pi model) as a resistor
dened as[5]
d2 pB (x)
pB (x)
=
dx2
L2B
VA + VCE
VA
rO =

A solution of this equation is below, and two boundary

IC
IC
conditions are used to solve and nd C1 and C2 .
in parallel with the collectoremitter junction of the transistor. This resistor can thus account for the nite output
x
resistance of a simple current mirror or an actively loaded
x
pB (x) = C1 e LB + C2 e LB
common-emitter amplier.
In keeping with the model used in SPICE and as discussed The following equations apply to the emitter and collector
region, respectively, and the origins 0 , 0 , and 0 apply
above using VCB the resistance becomes:
to the base, collector, and emitter.
rO =

VA + VCB
IC

nB (x ) = A1 e LB + A2 e

x
L

which almost agrees with the textbook result. In either

nc (x ) = B1 e + B2 e
formulation, rO varies with DC reverse bias VCB , as is
observed in practice.
A boundary condition of the emitter is below:
In the MOSFET the output resistance is given in
ShichmanHodges model[6] (accurate for very old tech( 1
)
nology) as:
nE (0 ) = nEO e kT qVEB 1
x
LB

1 + VDS
1
rO =
=
ID
ID

1
+ VDS

x
L
B

The values of the constants A1 and B1 are zero due to the

following conditions of the emitter and collector regions
as x 0 and x 0 .

where VDS = drain-to-source voltage, ID = drain current and = channel-length modulation parameter, usunE (x ) 0
ally taken as inversely proportional to channel length L.
nc (x ) 0
Because of the resemblance to the bipolar result, the terminology Early eect often is applied to the MOSFET
Because A1 = B1 = 0 , the values of nE (0 ) and
as well.
nc (0 ) are A2 and B2 , respectively.

2.1

Currentvoltage characteristics

The expressions are derived for a PNP transistor. For

an NPN transistor, n has to be replaced by p, and p has

( qVEB
) x

nE (x ) = nE0 e kT 1 e LE
( qVCB
) x

nC (x ) = nC0 e kT 1 e LC

3
Expressions of IEn and ICn can be evaluated.

IEn
ICn


dE (x ) 
= qADE
dx x =0
( qVCB
)
DC
nC0 e kT 1
= qA
LC

Because insignicant recombination occurs, the second

derivative of pB (x) is zero. There is therefore a linear
relationship between excess hole density and x .

pB (x) = D1 x + D2
The following are boundary conditions of pB .
pB (0) = D2
pB (W ) = D1 W + pB (0)
with W the base width. Substitute into the above linear
relation.

pB (x) =

1
[pB (0) pB (W )] x + pB (0)
W

With this result, derive value of IEp .

IEp (0) = qADB

dpB
|x=0
dx

3 References and notes

[1] R.C. Jaeger and T.N. Blalock (2004). Microelectronic Circuit Design. McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 317. ISBN
0-07-250503-6.
[2] Massimo Alioto and Gaetano Palumbo (2005). Model and
Design of Bipolar and Mos Current-Mode Logic: CML,
ECL and SCL Digital Circuits. Springer. ISBN 1-40202878-4.
[3] Paolo Antognetti and Giuseppe Massobrio (1993).
Semiconductor Device Modeling with Spice. McGraw-Hill
Professional. ISBN 0-07-134955-3.
[4] Orcad PSpice Reference Manual named PSpcRef.pdf, p.
209. This manual is included with the free version of Orcad PSpice, but they do not maintain a copy on line. If the
link given here expires, try Googling PSpcRef.pdf.
[5] R.C. Jaeger and T.N. Blalock (2004). Microelectronic Circuit Design (Second Edition ed.). McGraw-Hill Professional. pp. Eq. 13.31, p. 891. ISBN 0-07-232099-0.
[6] The Shichman-Hodges Enhancement MOSFET Model
and SwitcherCAD III SPICE, Report NDT14-08-2007,
NanoDotTek, 12 August 2007
[7] R S Muller, Kamins TI & Chan M (2003). Device electronics for integrated circuits (Third ed.). New York: Wiley. p. 280 . ISBN 0-471-59398-2.

4 See also

qADB
IEp (0) =
[pB (0) pB (W )]
W

Small-signal model

Use the expressions of IEp , IEn , pB (0) , and pB (W )

to develop an expression of the emitter current.

pB (W ) = pB0 e

qVCB
kT
qVEB

pB (0) = pB0 e kT
[(
)
) D
( qVCB
)]
DE nE0
DB pB0 ( qVEB
B
IE = qA
+
e kT 1
pB0 e kT 1
LE
W
W
Similarly, an expression of the collector current is derived.
ICp (W ) = IEp (0)
IC = ICp (W ) + ICn (0 )
)
[
( qVEB
) (D n
)]
DB pB0 ( qVCB
DB
C C0
kT
kT
pB0 e
+
e
IC = qA
1
1
W
LC
W
An expression of the base current is found with the previous results.
IB = IE IC
[
( qVEB
( qVCB
) D
)]
DE
C
kT
kT
nE0 e
nC0 e
IB = qA
1 +
1
LE
LC

5 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

5.1

Text

Early eect Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early%20effect?oldid=632517788 Contributors: Giftlite, Leonard G., Chowbok, Rich
Farmbrough, Wtshymanski, Kenyon, GregorB, Nimur, SmackBot, Bluebot, MalafayaBot, Henning Makholm, Andrei Stroe, Pramod.s,
Rogerbrent, Dicklyon, Bwpach, Yves-Laurent, Shirulashem, RockMFR, Rebthered, Inductiveload, Spinningspark, PixelBot, Brews ohare,
Shizaru, Addbot, JackieBot, Citation bot, GrouchoBot, FrescoBot, Pinethicket, Keesal, ClueBot NG, Snotbot, Helpful Pixie Bot, ChrisGualtieri, Dexbot and Anonymous: 19

5.2

Images

File:Early_effect_(NPN).svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Early_effect_%28NPN%29.svg License:

Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Inductiveload
File:Early_effect_(graph_-_I_C_vs_V_CE).svg Source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Early_effect_
%28graph_-_I_C_vs_V_CE%29.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Inductiveload

5.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0