Peak Electronics DCA75 User Manual page 16

Atlas DCA Pro User Guide
Base-Emitter Voltage Drop
The DC characteristics of the base-emitter
junction are displayed, both the base-emitter
forward voltage drop (V
current (I ) used for the measurement.
B
V BE =0.703V
at I B =5.00mA
The forward base-emitter voltage drop can aid in the identification of silicon or
germanium devices. Germanium devices can have base-emitter voltages as low
as 0.2V, Silicon types exhibit readings of about 0.7V and Darlington transistors
can exhibit readings of about 1.2V because of the multiple base-emitter
junctions being measured.
It is important to note that the DCA Pro does not perform the base-
emitter voltage drop tests at the same base current as that used for the
current gain measurement. V
approximately 5mA. The base current used during the gain
measurement is equal to I
) and the base
BE
This example shows an NPN base-
emitter voltage (V
base test current (I
is measured at a base current of
BE
/h .
C FE
Page 16
April 2015 – Rev 1.4
I B
V BE
) of 0.703V for a
BE
) of 5mA.
B