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Shop By Category Home > Blog > Transistors: What Is The Difference Between BJT, FET And MOSFET?
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Electronics History
Jacks, Plugs & Posts BJTs, FETs and MOSFETs are all active semiconductor devices,
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Knobs also known as transistors. BJT is the acronym for Bipolar Junction
Transistor, FET stands for Field Effect Transistor and MOSFET is Guides
LEDs & Lamps
Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor. All three have
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Memory & Processors several subtypes, and unlike passive semiconductor devices such
Microphones as diodes, active semiconductor devices allow a greater degree LEDS
of control over their functioning.
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Op Amps Depending on their subtypes, operating frequency, current, Motors
voltage and power ratings, all the three types of transistors come
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in a large variety of packages, and all of them are susceptible to Newsworthy
Perf Boards & ESD or Electro Static Discharge. That means when you handle Op Amps
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Potentiometers charges destroying them. Potentiometers

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Soldering Irons & Solder
Guns The basic construction of a BJT is two PN junctions producing Switches
three terminals. Depending on the type of junctions, the BJT can
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be a PNP type or an NPN type. The three terminals are identied
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as the Emitter or E, the Base or B and the Collector or C. BJTs Transistors
Terminal Blocks usually function as current controlling switches. The three
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Test Equipment & Tools terminals can be connected in three types of connections within
an electronic circuit Common Base conguration, Common Wire
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Emitter conguration and Common Collector congurations. All
Thyristors & Triacs the three connections have their own functions, merits and Archives
Transformers demerits. The BJT is Bipolar because the transistor operates with Archives
both types of charge carriers, Holes and Electrons.
Transistors Select Month

Tubing The FET construction does not have a PN junction in its main
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current carrying path, which can be made from an N-type or a P-
Unclassied Electronic
type semiconductor material with high resistivity. A PN junction November 2017
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is formed on the main current carrying path, also called the M T W T F S S
Variacs
channel, and this can be made of either a P-type or an N-type 1 2 3 4 5
Varistors: MOV & ZOV material. The three leads of a FET are the Source (S), Drain (D)
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Vintage Parts and Gate (G), with Source and Drain forming the ends of the
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
channel and the Gate controlling the channel conductivity. Unlike
Voltage Regulators 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
the BJT, the FET is a unipolar device since it functions with the
Wire conduction of electrons alone for the N-channel type or on holes 27 28 29 30
Wirewound Resistors alone for a P-channel type. Oct
100W

The input impedance at the gate of an FET is very high, unlike the
BJT, which comparatively has much lower impedance.
Additionally, the conductivity of the channel depends on the
voltage applied to the Gate, essentially making it a voltage-
controlled device, unlike the BJT, which is current-controlled. The
voltage applied to the Gate controls the width of the channel,
allowing the FET to carry current between the Drain and Source
pins. The Gate voltage that cuts off the current ow between
 Drain and Source is called the pinch off voltage and is an
important parameter.

The MOSFET is a
special type of FET
whose Gate is
insulated from the
main current
carrying channel. It
is also called the
IGFET or the
Insulated Gate Field
N-Channel and P-Channel transistors
Effect Transistor. A
very thin layer of silicon dioxide or similar separates the Gate
electrode and this can be thought of as a capacitor. The
insulation makes the input impedance of the MOSFET even
higher than that of a FET. The working of the MOSFET is very
similar to the FET.

You can read more about transistors in depth here.

This entry was posted in Electronics History, Guides, Transistors

and tagged BJT, Customer Projects, electronic components, FET,
Guides, MOSFET, transistor by Andi.

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