In day to day life, electricity plays an important role and so does the current. Current is the flow of charged particles like electrons or ions, through conductive materials such as metal wires.

The flow of current is determined in the circuit which includes wire, switch, battery, and an electronic gadget (mostly bulb), this is the most basic circuit, one can show for a basic explanation. The flow of current is seen when the switch is on.

Transistors have three terminals (emitter, base and collector) which enables it to connect to an external circuit. They are active components of integrated circuits.  Their working includes two PN diodes which are connected back to back, it adverts the intensity of current where it is much required.

There are two types of transistors mainly; BJT abbreviated for Bipolar junction transistor and FET abbreviated for Field-effect transistor.

BJT vs MOSFET

The main difference between BJT and MOSFET is that the BJT is used as a current control device whereas MOSFET is used as a voltage control device. Both of them are considered good options for amplification yet they have differences in their workings.

Comparison Table Between BJT and MOSFET

What is BJT?

BJT is an abbreviation of Bipolar junction transistors, it is a type of transistors which uses charged electrons and electron holes as well. It is a current-driven device.

BJT is used as an amplifier, oscillator or even as a switch in several things. It has three terminals or pins mainly; base, collector and emitter. The collector or emitter output is the function of current in the base.

Operation of BJT transistor is driven by the current in the base. BJT is bipolar hence there are two junctions named as ‘P’ and ‘ N’. There are two types of BJT; PNP transistors and NPN transistors. NPN has a charged electrons hole as their carrier whereas PNP carries charged electrons.

BJT uses semiconductors for both N-type and P-type junctions. Some of these applications of BJT are; audio amplifiers in stereo systems, power control circuits, AC inverters, power amplifiers, switch-mode power supply, AC motor speed controller, relay and drivers, etc..

BJT transistor consists of mainly four layers; the first layer is the emitter layer (n+) which is heavily doped, the second layer is the base layer (p) which is moderately doped, third layer collector drift region (n-) which is lightly doped, and the fourth layer collector region (n+) which is highly doped.

BJT is preferred for low current applications, as it has low switching frequency and has a negative temperature coefficient. The power handling capacity of current transistors is very large and thus, they dissipate power in the form of heat.

What is MOSFET?

MOSFET is an abbreviation of Metal Oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor. It is also known as metal oxide-silicon-transistors, it can be classified as a type of transistor which has insulated-gate field-effect transistors which are further fabricated by the controlled oxidation of semiconductor mostly with silicon and it is unipolar.

MOSFET is used for amplifying or switching the voltage within the circuit. The field produced by the voltage at the gate allows the flow of current between the source and the drain. The flow of current might get pinched-off by the voltage on the gates.  

MOSFET working depends upon the MOS capacitor which is the semiconductor surface between the source and the drain. their infinite input impedance allows the amplifier to catch almost all signals. It has three terminals; source, gain and drain.

One of the advantages of MOSFET is that it does not require input current to control the load current. MOSFETs are available in two basic forms; depletion type in which the transistor requires the gate-source voltage to switch the device off. And another one is the enhancement type in which transistors need gate-source voltage to switch on the device.  

Applications of MOSFET includes; radio-controlled applications (such as boats, drones, or helicopters), controlling the auto intensity of street lights, motor torque-speed control, industrial control environment, robotics, pairing with microcontrollers to establish systems that control lights, etc.

MOSFET is suitable for high power, current control applications and even for analogue and digital circuits. Its output is controlled by controlling the gate voltage. It has a positive temperature coefficient. They are more famous than BJT transistors.

Main Differences Between BJT and MOSFET

Conclusion

BJT and MOSFET are two different transistors, BJT is a transistor itself and MOSFET is a type of FET transistors. Both of them are used in different fields for different devices.  Both of them a used for amplifying, or switching the flow of current in the circuits. MOSFET is more used than BJT due to its high endurance of power. And is admired by industries more.

References

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