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The field-effect transistor (FET) is a type of transistor that uses an electric field to control the flow of current. FETs are devices with three terminals: source, gate, and drain. FETs control the flow of current by the application of a voltage to the gate, which in turn alters the conductivity between the drain and source. Looking for the definition of FET? Find out what is the full meaning of FET on Abbreviations.com! 'Field Effect Transistor' is one option - get in to view more @ The Web's largest and most authoritative acronyms and abbreviations resource. FET synonyms, FET pronunciation, FET translation, English dictionary definition of FET. Federal estate tax 2. Federal excise tax 3. Field effect transistor 4. Frozen embryo transfer American Heritage® Dictionary of the English.

In this article, we compare and contrast bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) and field effect transistors (FETs).

Though both are transistors and have 3 leads and achieve similar functions, they're fundamentally different in composition. Thus, there are several key differencesbetween the 2 transistors.

The table below pinpoints many of the differences between BJTs and FETs.

So the above table is a good, brief explanation of some of the differences between bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) and field effect transistors (FETs). Below we'll go over the table in more depth, so that you can get a better in-detailed explanation, if you feel the above lacked. We'll go in order.

So the first thing is how both transistors operate. BJTs are current-controlled devices. This means that BJTs are switched on by a current going through the base of the transistor. This base current then turns the BJT on, allowing for a much greater flow of current from the collector to the emitter of the transistor. FETs, on the other hand, are voltage-controlled. Voltage, not current, either turns the FET on or off. FETs have such high input impedance that they practically draw no current into the gate terminal. Instead they are entirely voltage-controlled.

The second difference is the input impedance. Input impedance is the amount of resistance that a transistor offers on its input terminal. For BJTs, this would be the base terminal; for FETs, this would be the gate terminal. BJTs offer much less resistance to their input terminal than FETs. Because of this much lower resistance, it draws current from the power supply powering the base. This is an effect called loading. Loading is when the power source circuit is affected by a second circuit, in this case the transistor circuit, which is drawing current from it. This small amount of currentdrawn, which then combines with the much larger current flowing from the other 2 leads can alter dynamics of the power source circuit. So BJTs offer less protection against this loading effect than FETs. FETs have very large input impedances, such as on the order of 10¹⁴ Ω, which is several teraohms (something you almost never hear about). With such high input impedance, the FETpractically draws no current to its input gate terminal. Therefore, since practically no current is drawn from the power supply circuit, the power supply circuit is not loaded down. It's as if the power supply circuit and the transistor circuit are well isolated and do not interfere with each other. Therefore, better power control is achieved with FETs with less interference of one circuit onto another.

A third difference between BJTs and FETs is the gain (or transconductance). Transconductance is defined as the milliamp per volt ratio of the small change in the current output from an electronic device to the small change of voltage input. In other words, it is the gain of the transistor circuit. This is where BJTs have an advantage. BJTs have greater transconductance, meaning you are able to get more current output per unit power applied. The transconductance of FETs is much lower. So if you use the same amount of power at the input for both a BJT and FET transistor, the BJTtransistor will produce more gain. This is why BJTs are more popular for amplifier circuits. They produce gain than a FET can. This is why in the case of simple amplifier circuits, the use of a BJT is preferred and FETs are rarely used. For simple amplifiers, FETs are really only used only when it is desired for there to be extremely high input impedance.

In terms of manufacturing size, FETs can be manufactured to be much smaller than BJTs. This makes them moreefficient in commercial circuit design. Being that FETs are smaller, they take up less space on a chip. Thus, the sizeof a electronic product can be much smaller, which is what electronic design companies want a lot of times. Smaller devices, many times, can be more convenient, consumer-friendly, and FETs allow this. BJTs, on the other hand, require larger sizes generally than FETs.

In terms of expense, FETs, especially MOFSFETs, are more expensive to manufacture than BJTs. FETs normally are at a higher price point, but not significant enough to push away from them. This is just a slight drawback.

For a number of reasons, such as those listed above, FETs are more widely used and more popular than BJTs. FETs can be manufactured smaller and load the power supply less.

So while BJTs are used widely in hobby electronics and many times too in some consumer electronics and have the advantage of being able to produce higher gains than FETS, FETs still offer many advantages for large-scale commercial devices. When it comes to consumer products, FETs areoverwhelmingly preferred due tosize, high input impedance, as well as other factors. Intel, one of the largest chip makers in the world, uses practically only FET transistors to build its chips which power billions of devices in the world.

Thus, this is a brief overview of FETs vs BJTs.

Related Resources

JFET vs MOSFET (Transistors)
Types of Transistors
Difference between an NPN and a PNP Transistor
Transistor Schematic Symbols

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FETs have a few disadvantages like high drain resistance, moderate input impedance and slower operation. To overcome these disadvantages, the MOSFET which is an advanced FET is invented.

MOSFET stands for Metal Oxide Silicon Field Effect Transistor or Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor. This is also called as IGFET meaning Insulated Gate Field Effect Transistor. The FET is operated in both depletion and enhancement modes of operation. The following figure shows how a practical MOSFET looks like.

Construction of a MOSFET

The construction of a MOSFET is a bit similar to the FET. An oxide layer is deposited on the substrate to which the gate terminal is connected. This oxide layer acts as an insulator (sio₂ insulates from the substrate), and hence the MOSFET has another name as IGFET. In the construction of MOSFET, a lightly doped substrate, is diffused with a heavily doped region. Depending upon the substrate used, they are called as P-type and N-type MOSFETs.

The following figure shows the construction of a MOSFET.

The voltage at gate controls the operation of the MOSFET. In this case, both positive and negative voltages can be applied on the gate as it is insulated from the channel. With negative gate bias voltage, it acts as depletion MOSFET while with positive gate bias voltage it acts as an Enhancement MOSFET.

Classification of MOSFETs

Depending upon the type of materials used in the construction, and the type of operation, the MOSFETs are classified as in the following figure.

After the classification, let us go through the symbols of MOSFET.

The N-channel MOSFETs are simply called as NMOS. The symbols for N-channel MOSFET are as given below.

The P-channel MOSFETs are simply called as PMOS. The symbols for P-channel MOSFET are as given below.

Now, let us go through the constructional details of an N-channel MOSFET. Usually an NChannel MOSFET is considered for explanation as this one is mostly used. Also, there is no need to mention that the study of one type explains the other too.

Construction of N- Channel MOSFET

Let us consider an N-channel MOSFET to understand its working. A lightly doped P-type substrate is taken into which two heavily doped N-type regions are diffused, which act as source and drain. Between these two N+ regions, there occurs diffusion to form an Nchannel, connecting drain and source.

A thin layer of Silicon dioxide (SiO₂) is grown over the entire surface and holes are made to draw ohmic contacts for drain and source terminals. A conducting layer of aluminum is laid over the entire channel, upon this SiO₂ layer from source to drain which constitutes the gate. The SiO₂ substrate is connected to the common or ground terminals.

Because of its construction, the MOSFET has a very less chip area than BJT, which is 5% of the occupancy when compared to bipolar junction transistor. This device can be operated in modes. They are depletion and enhancement modes. Let us try to get into the details.

Working of N - Channel (depletion mode) MOSFET

For now, we have an idea that there is no PN junction present between gate and channel in this, unlike a FET. We can also observe that, the diffused channel N (between two N+ regions), the insulating dielectric SiO₂ and the aluminum metal layer of the gate together form a parallel plate capacitor.

If the NMOS has to be worked in depletion mode, the gate terminal should be at negative potential while drain is at positive potential, as shown in the following figure.

When no voltage is applied between gate and source, some current flows due to the voltage between drain and source. Let some negative voltage is applied at V_GG. Then the minority carriers i.e. holes, get attracted and settle near SiO₂ layer. But the majority carriers, i.e., electrons get repelled.

With some amount of negative potential at V_GG a certain amount of drain current I_D flows through source to drain. When this negative potential is further increased, the electrons get depleted and the current I_D decreases. Hence the more negative the applied V_GG, the lesser the value of drain current I_D will be.

The channel nearer to drain gets more depleted than at source (like in FET) and the current flow decreases due to this effect. Hence it is called as depletion mode MOSFET.

Working of N-Channel MOSFET (Enhancement Mode)

The same MOSFET can be worked in enhancement mode, if we can change the polarities of the voltage V_GG. So, let us consider the MOSFET with gate source voltage V_GG being positive as shown in the following figure.

When no voltage is applied between gate and source, some current flows due to the voltage between drain and source. Let some positive voltage is applied at V_GG. Then the minority carriers i.e. holes, get repelled and the majority carriers i.e. electrons gets attracted towards the SiO₂ layer.

With some amount of positive potential at V_GG a certain amount of drain current I_D flows through source to drain. When this positive potential is further increased, the current I_D increases due to the flow of electrons from source and these are pushed further due to the voltage applied at V_GG. Hence the more positive the applied V_GG, the more the value of drain current I_D will be. The current flow gets enhanced due to the increase in electron flow better than in depletion mode. Hence this mode is termed as Enhanced Mode MOSFET.

P - Channel MOSFET

The construction and working of a PMOS is same as NMOS. A lightly doped n-substrate is taken into which two heavily doped P+ regions are diffused. These two P+ regions act as source and drain. A thin layer of SiO₂ is grown over the surface. Holes are cut through this layer to make contacts with P+ regions, as shown in the following figure.

Working of PMOS

When the gate terminal is given a negative potential at V_GG than the drain source voltage V_DD, then due to the P+ regions present, the hole current is increased through the diffused P channel and the PMOS works in Enhancement Mode.

When the gate terminal is given a positive potential at V_GG than the drain source voltage V_DD, then due to the repulsion, the depletion occurs due to which the flow of current reduces. Thus PMOS works in Depletion Mode. Though the construction differs, the working is similar in both the type of MOSFETs. Hence with the change in voltage polarity both of the types can be used in both the modes.

This can be better understood by having an idea on the drain characteristics curve.

Drain Characteristics

The drain characteristics of a MOSFET are drawn between the drain current I_D and the drain source voltage V_DS. The characteristic curve is as shown below for different values of inputs.

Gets Meaning

Actually when V_DS is increased, the drain current I_D should increase, but due to the applied V_GS, the drain current is controlled at certain level. Hence the gate current controls the output drain current.

Transfer Characteristics

Transfer characteristics define the change in the value of V_DS with the change in I_D and V_GS in both depletion and enhancement modes. The below transfer characteristic curve is drawn for drain current versus gate to source voltage.

Comparison between BJT, FET and MOSFET

What Is A Fet

Now that we have discussed all the above three, let us try to compare some of their properties.

As Bad As It Gets Meaning

So far, we have discussed various electronic components and their types along with their construction and working. All of these components have various uses in the electronics field. To have a practical knowledge on how these components are used in practical circuits, please refer to the ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS tutorial.