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  • Author Author: fmilburn
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Simple Transistor Current Sources (and Sinks)

fmilburn

Current sources and sinks have applications in many circuits and there are many ways to make them.  This blog is a brief introduction to single transistor current sources.   Horowitz and Hill cover this material in a more detailed fashion in The Art of Electronics 3rd Edition in section 2.2.6 Current Sources. 

The figure below shows four different single transistor circuits.  The NPN transistor circuits are current sinks while the PNP circuit is a current source.

Transistor Current Sources

Three current source biasing methods for the transistor are shown:

Figure A:  A voltage divider is used to set the Vb to 1.6 Volts.  This is acceptable as long as the voltage divider is stiff enough but can cause problems if the source voltage or load varies excessively.

Figure B: Forward-biased diodes are used to set Vb to 1.2V.

Figure C: A 5.6V zener diode is used to set Vb.

The biasing resistor is sized to allow the transistor to come into conduction.  Knowing the voltage at the base of the transistor, Vb, the emitter voltage is easily calculated since it will be 0.6V below Vb. Ohm's Law can then be used to size the emitter resistor for the desired current.  The base current will be ignored since it is much smaller than the collector current.

Using the circuit in Figure B as an example:

Bias Voltage:  The two silicon diodes have approximately a 0.6V drop each, for a total of 1.2V

Emitter Voltage: Base Voltage - 0.6V = 1.2 - 0.6 = 0.6V

Collector Current: Emitter Voltage / 56 Ohms = 0.6 / 56 = 10.7mA

Figure D: The circuit uses forward-biased diodes as in Figure B, but for a PNP current sink.

In the short 3-minute video below, the circuit in Figure B is demonstrated on a breadboard.


These circuits perform well compared to a resistor biased from a fixed voltage such as commonly used for LEDs but as shown in the video they are not precision sources.  Improved circuits with additional transistors, op-amps, and IC current sources exist.  As an example, see the zero tempco constant current sources using the LM334Z in this design for a milliohm meter.  Horowitz and Hill also cover improved designs in The Art of Electronics.

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  • Hi Frank,

    It was definitely interesting, great demo, and everything was clear, including audio : )

    I thought you were using dedicated camera, until I read the content after viewing the video, and realized it was a camera in a phone. Great results.

  • in reply to shabaz

    Hi Shabaz,

    Thanks, I think the audio is “good enough” for me now although the transition between recorded bits can be improved. The newer phones do make good video in the right light - I bought an inexpensive attachment for my tripod to steady things. The sound quality on mine is not good though. Maybe that will be my excuse to buy a new camera. 

  • in reply to fmilburn

    Speaking of lights, I tried a few different lights (I cannot rely much on natural window lighting in this part of the world!) and it was all getting a bit much, too pricey, awkward to plug in multiple units or charge them and so on, and then I simplified it all. Now I nearly always use just one light, and it seems to work pretty good for project-sized lighting areas.

    I'm now using a ring light, the kind intended for beauty/makeup type stuff. It's about 14" in diameter. Ordinarily they are no good for photography because of the ring that gets visible in people's eyes, but if (like me) you're usually not facing the camera and only need to light up your circuits and maybe a hand or two, then I think it's a nice methods, since it's just a single light. 

    Mine is rechargeable but optionally can be plugged it. The non-rechargeable ones are probably better value for money if you're only working in one area.

    There is still occasionally the situation where there could be glare and visible ring reflecting off shiny desk, but I find that since I'm aware of that, I just remember to reposition it or move the camera angle slightly.

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  • in reply to fmilburn

    Speaking of lights, I tried a few different lights (I cannot rely much on natural window lighting in this part of the world!) and it was all getting a bit much, too pricey, awkward to plug in multiple units or charge them and so on, and then I simplified it all. Now I nearly always use just one light, and it seems to work pretty good for project-sized lighting areas.

    I'm now using a ring light, the kind intended for beauty/makeup type stuff. It's about 14" in diameter. Ordinarily they are no good for photography because of the ring that gets visible in people's eyes, but if (like me) you're usually not facing the camera and only need to light up your circuits and maybe a hand or two, then I think it's a nice methods, since it's just a single light. 

    Mine is rechargeable but optionally can be plugged it. The non-rechargeable ones are probably better value for money if you're only working in one area.

    There is still occasionally the situation where there could be glare and visible ring reflecting off shiny desk, but I find that since I'm aware of that, I just remember to reposition it or move the camera angle slightly.

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