Electronic Devices

KEEE 2224
Lecture 9(b)
Junction Field-Effect Transistor
(JFET)
Dr. Ghafour Amouzad Mahdiraji
December 2012

Ideal Device Characteristics

Considering an ideal uniformly doped depletion mode pn JFET.

One can derive the ideal DC current-voltage relationship for both devices
by simply considering the two-sided device to be two JFETs in parallel.
We ignore any depletion region at the substrate of the one-sided device in
the ideal case.

Space Charge Width (n-channel pn JFET)

Assuming a simplified one-sided n-channel pn JFET with zero drain-tosource voltage.

If we assume the abrupt depletion approximation, then the space charge
width, h (or the induced depletion region width for the one-sided p+n
junction) is given by

VGS: the gate-to-source voltage, Vbi: the built-in potential barrier

For reverse-biased p+n junction, VGS must be a negative voltage.

Internal Pinchoff Voltage (n-channel pn JFET)

At pinchoff, h = a and the total potential across the p+n junction is called
the internal pinchoff voltage, denoted by Vp0.
a is the channel thickness between the p+ gate region and the substrate
define as
(13.3)

Internal pinchoff voltage is the total potential drop across the gate junction
at pinchoff and it is defined as a positive quantity.
The internal pinchoff voltage Vp0 is not the gate-to-source voltage to
achieve pinchoff.

Pinchoff Voltage (n-channel pn JFET)

The gate-to-source voltage that must be applied to achieve pinchoff is

described as the pinchoff voltage (Vp) and is also variously called the turnoff voltage or threshold voltage, which defined as
(13.4)

The gate-to-source voltage to achieve pinchoff in an n-channel depletion

mode JFET is negative; thus, Vp0 > Vbi.

The pinchoff voltage is the gate-to-source voltage that must be applied to

turn the JFET off and so must be within the voltage range of the circuit
design.

The pinchoff voltage must also be less than the breakdown voltage of the
junction.

Example 13.1

Space Charge Width (p-channel pn JFET)

Assuming a simplified one-sided p-channel pn JFET with zero drain-tosource voltage, the same geometry as the n-channel JFET we considered.
If we assume the abrupt depletion approximation, then the induced
depletion region width for the one-sided n+p junction is

For reverse-biased n+p junction, VGS must be a positive.

Internal Pinchoff Voltage (p-channel pn JFET)

The internal pinchoff voltage is again defined to be the total pn junction

voltage to achieve pinchoff, so that when h = a we have

The internal pinchoff voltage for p-channel device is also defined to be a

positive quantity.

The internal pinchoff voltage Vp0 is not the gate-to-source voltage to

achieve pinchoff.

Pinchoff Voltage (p-channel pn JFET)

The pinchoff voltage is again defined as the gate-to-source voltage to

achieve the pinchoff condition. For the p-channel depletion mode device,
the pinchoff voltage is

The pinchoff voltage for a p-channel depletion mode JFET is a positive

quantity.

Example 13.2

Space Charge Width (n-channel pn JFET)

with VDS Applied Voltage

So far, we have determined the pinchoff voltage for both n- and p-channel
JFETs considering zero drain-to-source voltage.
Now consider the case when both gate and drain voltage are applied.
In this case, the depletion region width will wary with distance through the
channel.
The depletion width h1 at the source end
is a function of Vbi and VGS but is not a
function of drain voltage.
The depletion width at the drain terminal
is given by

Here VGS is a negative quantity for the

n-channel device.

VDS(sat) (n-channel pn JFET)

with VDS Applied Voltage

Pinchoff at the drain terminal occurs when h2 = a.

At the point h2 = a, we reach what is known as the
saturation condition; thus, VDS = VDS(sat). Then

This can be rewritten as

Eq (13.12) gives the drain-to-source voltage to cause pinchoff at the

drain terminal.
The drain-to-source saturation voltage decreases with increasing
reverse-biased gate-to-source voltage.
We may note that Eq (13.12) has no meaning if |VGS| > |VP|.

VSD(sat) (p-channel pn JFET)

with VDS Applied Voltage

In a p-channel JFET, the voltage polarities are the reverse of those in the
n-channel device.
We can show that, in the p-channel JFET at saturation
(13.3)

where now the source is positive with respect to the drain.

Ideal DC Current-Voltage Relationship

(Depletion Mode JFET)

The pinchoff current is defined as

The pinchoff current would be the maximum drain current in the JFET if the zerobiased depletion regions could be ignored or if VGS and Vbi were both zero.

Eq (13.29) is the current-voltage relationship for the one-sided n-channel JFET in

the nonsaturation region and valid for 0 |VGS| |VP| and 0 VDS VDS(sat).
For the two-sided symmetrical JFET, the total drain current would be ID2 = 2ID1.
In the saturation region, the saturation drain current is determined by setting VDS =
VDS(sat) in Eq (13.29), so that

The ideal saturation drain current is independent of the drain-to-source voltage.

Approximation DC Current-Voltage Relationship

(Depletion Mode JFET)

Equations (13.29) and (13.35) are rather cumbersome to use in any hand
calculations.
With a good approximation, when the JFET is biased in the saturation
region, the I-V characteristics is given by
2

VGS

I D I DSS 1
VP

where IDSS is the saturation current when VGS = 0, or is the maximum

drain current.
The parameter VGS is the gate-to-source voltage and VP is the pinchoff
voltage.
For n-channel depletion mode JFET, both VGS and VP are negative and,
for the p-channel, both are positive.
This equation is used extensively in JFET applications.

Ideal DC Current-Voltage Relationship

(Depletion Mode JFET)

JFET Transconductance

The transconductance is the transistor gain of the JFET.

It indicates the amount of control that the gate voltage has on the drain
current.
The ideal drain current in the saturation region for an n-channel
depletion mode JFET is given by Eq (13.35). The transconductance in
the saturation region is then found to be

Using the current-voltage approximation given by Eq (13.14), we can

also write the transconductance as

Since VP is negative for the n-channel JFET, gms is positive.

Example 13.4

MESFET

So far in our discussion, we have explicitly considered the pn JFET.

The MESFET is the same basic device as JFET, except that the pn junction
is replaced by a Schottky barrier rectifying junction.

MESFETs are usually fabricated in

gallium arsenide.
We will neglect any depletion region that
may exist between the n channel and the
Simplified MESFET geometry
substrate.
Since the electron mobility in GaAs is much larger than the hole mobility, we
will concentrate our discussion on n-channel GaAs MESFETs or JFET.
The definition of internal pinchoff voltage, given by Eq (13.3), also applies to
these device.

(13.3)
In considering the enhancement mode JFET,
the term threshold voltage is commonly used
in place of pinchoff voltage. For this reason, we shall use the term threshold
voltage in our discussion of MESFETs.

(13.4)

MESFET

For the n-channel MESFET, the threshold voltage is defined from Eq. (13.4)
as

For an n-channel depletion mode, VT < 0,

and for the enhancement mode device, VT > 0.

Example 13.5

MESFET

The design of enhancement mode JFETs implies the use of narrow channel
thicknesses and low channel doping concentration to achieve the low
internal pinchoff voltage.
The precise control of the channel thickness and doping concentration
necessary to achieve internal pinchoff voltage of a few tenths of a volt
makes the fabrication of enhancement mode MESFETs difficult.

Example 13.6

MESFET I-V Characteristics

Ideally, the I-V characteristics of the enhancement mode device are the same
as the depletion mode device; the only difference is the relative values of the
internal pinchoff voltage.

The factor kn is called a conduction

parameter.
The form of Eq (13.47) is the same as for
a MOSFET.

Example 13.7

MESFET Transconductance

The transconductance of the enhancement mode device operating in the

saturation region can also be derived. Using Eq (13.47), we can write

The transconductance increases as VGS increases for the enhancement

mode device as it did for the depletion mode device.