Emitter

nounStandard termElectronics

The emitter is one of the three terminals of a bipolar junction transistor.

In a bipolar junction transistor, the emitter is the heavily doped region that injects charge carriers into the base. The current flowing out of or into this terminal is the sum of the base and collector currents. It is typically marked with an arrow in circuit schematics to indicate the direction of conventional current flow.

Heard on the job

Tie the emitter directly to ground for this common-emitter amplifier stage.