ON THE COMMON-EMITTER BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE OF BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTORS

In bipolar junction transistors, it was believed that the common emitter breakdown voltage can be derived from the equation alpha(F)M = 1, where M is the collector-base multiplication factor, and alpha(F) is the static pin factor. When this condition holds, the collector current rises steeply and it is limited by the external resistance and the capability of the power supply or the device is destroyed. However, the common-emitter current-voltage characteristics with the base open can also be derived from alpha(F)M = 1. In the common-emitter configuration with the base open, the I-V output characteristics show that the collector current is finite. In this paper we resolve the conflict of using alpha(F)M = 1 and derive the output characteristics and the breakdown condition on a rigorous physical basis.