2N4401 transistor

The 2n4401 is an NPN general-purpose transistor that has applications at the motor driver and higher speed switching operations, in this article we explain the electrical specifications of the 2n4401 transistor based on its datasheet.

Electrical specifications of 2n4401 transistor

• Collector to emitter voltage (V_CE) is 40V
• Collector to base voltage (V_CB) is 60V
• Emitter to base voltage (V_EB) is 6V
• Collector to emitter saturation (V_{CE (sat)}) is 4 to 0.75V
• Collector current (I_C) is 600mA
• Power dissipation (P_D) is 625mW
• Transition frequency (T_F) is 250MHz
• DC current gain is 20 to 300hFE
• Small signal gain is 40 to 500hFE
• Input impedance (h_ie) is 15kΩ
• Maximum temperature is -55 to +150°C

PINOUT & PACKAGE details of 2n4401 transistor

Pin01 – emitter

Pin02 – base

Pin03 – collector

The PINOUT pattern of the 2n4401 transistor is EBC and the package used is TO-92, it’s is a common component package used for general purpose transistors and they are made with plastic and epoxy.

2n4401 SMD version

The KN2222AS, FJX2222A, DXT2222A, and MMBT2222AT are the SMD equivalent transistors for 2n4401, the electrical specifications of these transistors are the same as 2n4401 transistor.

SMD transistor package

The KN2222AS (SOT-23), FJX2222A (SOT-323), DXT2222A (SOT-89) and MMBT2222AT (SOT-523F) are the package used for each SMD 2n4401 equivalent transistor.

2n4401 transistor datasheet

Datasheet

Electrical characteristics & application description of 2n4401 transistor

Voltage characteristics

Collector to emitter voltage is 40V, collector to base voltage is 60V, and emitter to base voltage is 6V, the transistor terminal voltage values shows that they are general-purpose transistors.

Saturation voltage

The collector to emitter saturation voltage is 0.4v to 0.75v, the saturation voltage shows that this transistor is suitable for switching applications.

Current characteristics

The collector current is 600mA, it is the maximum load allowed at this transistor

DC current gain 

The DC gain value is 20 to 300hFE, the gain value of the transistor shows the power produce by the transistor at the output, the 2n4401 transistor is also called a general-purpose transistor.

Small signal gain is 40 to 500hFE, the small-signal application is always double the real gain of the transistor.

Transition frequency 

The transition frequency of the 2n4401 transistor is 250MHz, it is called the maximum frequency allowable at this transistor.

Power dissipation & max temperature

The maximum power dissipation value is 625Mw, the dissipation value shows that it is a low power transistor and the max storage or operating temperature is -55 to +150°C.

Input impedance

The input impedance value at 2n4401 transistor is 15kΩ, which means at the circuit this transistor acts as a 15kΩ resistor, and also the input impedance is very useful.

Applications of 2n4401 transistor

• Motor speed controlling device
• RF circuit applications
• Preamp applications
• Switching circuits
• Inverter circuits
• Rectifier circuits
• Darlington pair circuits
• Motor driver circuits

2n4401 transistor equivalent

The transistors such as ECG123AP, BC538, MPSW01A, PN4033, and 2SC1008 are the equivalent transistors for 2n4401, each of the transistors at this had the same specifications.

But some of the specs like PINOUT details and voltage & current are been different from the 2n4401 transistor, so check and verify before the replacement.

2N4401 vs 2N2222

Characteristics	2N4401	2N2222
Collector to base voltage (VCB)	60V	60V
Collector to emitter voltage (VCE)	40V	30V
Emitter to base voltage (VEB)	6V	5V
Collector to emitter saturation voltage (VCE (sat))	0.4 to 0.75V	0.4V
Collector current (IC)	600mA	800mA
Collector leakage current (ICB)	–	10uA
Power dissipation	625mW	500mW
Junction temperature (TJ)	-55 to 150°C	-65 to 200°C
Transition frequency (FT)	250MHZ	250MHZ
Noise (NF)	–	–
Gain (hFE)	20 to 300hFE	30 to 300hFE
Package	TO-92	TO-18
SMD version	KN2222AS FJX2222A	BCW65 FMMT2222 KN2222S

 

The electrical comparison table of 2n4401 vs 2n2222 shows that both transistors had almost the same characteristics, very small variations are been spotted at the voltage and current characteristics.

And due to the usage of the TO-18 package at 2n2222 transistor, the storage and operating temperature are higher at it.

The SMD versions of each transistor had much more similarity

2n4401 vs 2n3904 vs BC547

Characteristics	2N4401	2N3904	BC547
Collector to base voltage (VCB)	60V	60V	50V
Collector to emitter voltage (VCE)	40V	40V	45V
Emitter to base voltage (VEB)	6V	6V	6V
Collector to emitter saturation (VCE (sat))	0.4 to 0.75V	0.2 to 0.3V	90 to 600mV
Collector current (IC)	600mA	200mA	100mA
Collector cut-off current (ICEX)	0.1uA	50uA	15uA
Power dissipation	625mW	625mW	500mW
Input impedance (hie)	15kΩ	10kΩ	–
Junction temperature (TJ)	-55 to 150°C	-55 to 150°C	-65 to +150°C
Transition frequency (FT)	250MHZ	300MHZ	300MHz
Noise (NF)	–	5dB	10dB
Gain (hFE)	20 to 300hFE	30 to 300hFE	110 to 800hFE
Package	TO-92	TO-92	TO-92
SMD versions	KN2222AS MMBT2222AT	MMBT3904 PZT3904	BC847 BC847W BC850

 

The electrical comparison table of 2n4401 vs 2n3904 vs BC547 shows that each transistor is the general-purpose transistor that had lower power specifications.

• Voltage specs of each transistor had the almost same value and it is good for a general-purpose transistor.
• Current specs of 2n4401 transistor are better than 2n3904 vs BC547, due to this reason the load handling is high at 2n4401.
• Saturation voltage of 2n4401 vs 2n3904 have moderate value, but at BC547 transistor it is way better, so BC547 is very good at switching applications.
• The transition frequency of the 2n4401 transistor is lesser than 2n3904 vs BC547
• The maximum DC gain of the BC547 transistor is higher than 2n4401 vs 2n3904, this is BC547 have more amplifier applications.

PNP Complementary 2N4401 transistor

The 2n4403 is the PNP complementary of the 2n4401 NPN transistor, the applications of both transistors are at the Darlington pair.

Characteristics curves of 2n4401 transistor

The figure shows the DC gain characteristics of the 2n4401 transistor, the graph is plotted with normal current vs collector current.

The curves are been plotted on a specific temperature and voltage value, as we can see the temperature is raising when the gain value increases.

The DC gain vs collector characteristic is more like in parabolic shape, so the curve will increase and decrease on its whole operation.

The figure shows the collector saturation characteristic curve of 2n4401 transistor, the graph is plotted with the collector to emitter voltage vs base current.

At different collector current values, the base current will increase and the curve changes its shape of operation.