Novel theory on the operation of bipolar junction transistor using internal photovoltaic effect model

Abstract

Bipolar junction transistor (BJT) such as PNP or NPN transistor was invented by W.B. Shockley at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1948. And for more than sixty years since the birth of BJT, operation of bipolar junction transistor has been explained by the behaviors of electrons and positive holes in the emitter, base and collector regions which compose the BJT. In contradiction to this conventional theory on the BJT, the author has recently dared to establish a novel hypothetical theory that the operation of the BJT can be explained by the light emission and the photovoltaic effect at the PN and NP junctions in the BJT. On the basis of this new hypothesis, he invented a novel amplifier consists of an infrared LED and a silicon photodiode excluding any transistor. The author named this original amplifier “DISTAR”. Using the DISTAR, we can design various “transistorless” amplifiers. This paper describes the new theory on the operation of BJT and introduces a practical voltage amplifier with G(gain)>40dB using the DISTAR.