THERMAL RUNAWAY IN TRANSISTORS
Thermal Runaway and the use of Heat sink in BJT The maximum average power in which a transistor can dissipate depends upon the construction of transistor and lie in the range of few milliwatts and 200W. The maximum power is limited by the temperature that the collector Base junction can withstand. The maximum power dissipation is usually specified for the transistor enclosure is 25 degree celsius. The junction temperature may increase either because of rise in ambient temperature or because of self heating. The problem of self heating arises due to dissipation of power at the collector junction. The leakage current Icbo is extremely temperature dependent and increases with the rise in temperature of collector-base junction. With the increase in collector current Ic, collector power dissipation increases which raises the junction temperature that leads to further increase in collector current Ic. The process is cumulative and may lead to the eventual destruction of transistor. This phe...