ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces common types of transistors and discusses their basic function and modes of operation. In switching applications, the transistor switches between cutoff and saturation modes, whereas the proper mode of operation for a transistor in linear applications is the active mode. Bipolar junction transistors and metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET) are the two most popular types of transistors in academia and industry. It was mentioned that the PNP transistor is the complementary counterpart of the NPN transistor. MOSFETs are known as the dominant type of transistor in the industry and currently used to make electronic integrated circuits. For a negative-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (NMOS) transistor to be in triode mode, the gate-source voltage should be greater than the threshold voltage, and the drain-source voltage should be smaller than the minimum drain-source voltage. The positive-channel metal-oxide semiconductor transistor is considered as the complementary counterpart of the NMOS transistor.
