Bipolar transistors are so named because their operation involves both electrons and holes. These two kinds of charge carriers are characteristic of the two kinds of doped semiconductor material; electrons are majority charge carriers in n-type semiconductors, whereas holes are majority charge carriers in p-type semiconductors. In contrast, unipolar transistors such as the field-effect transistors have only one kind of charge carrier.
Charge flow in a BJT is due to diffusion of charge carriers across a junction between two regions of different charge concentrations. The regions of a BJT are called emitter, collector, and base.
BJTs come in two types, or polarities, known as PNP and NPN based on the doping types of the three main terminal regions. An NPN transistor comprises two semiconductor junctions that share a thin p-doped anode region, and a PNP transistor comprises two semiconductor junctions that share a thin n-doped cathode region