Basic Op Amp Circuits

Manuel Toledo
INEL 5205 Instrumentation
August 13, 2008

Introduction

The operational amplifier (op amp or OA for short) is perhaps the most important building
block for the design of analog circuits. Combined with simple negative feedback networks,
op amps allow engineers to build many circuits in a simple fashion, at low cost and using
relatively few discrete components. Good knowledge of the op amp characteristics and
aplications is essencial for a sucessful analog engineer.

Op amps are differential amplifiers, and their output voltage is proportional to the difference of the two input voltages. The op amps schematic symbol is shown in the above figure.
The two input terminals, called the inverting and non-inverting, are labeled with - and +,
respectively. Most op amps are designed to work with two supplies usually connected to
positive and negative voltages of equal magnitute (like the uA741 which works with 15V ).
Some, however, work with a single-voltage supply. An example is the LM358. The supply
connections may or may not be shown in a schematic diagram.

Basic Op Amp Circuits

Ideal Op Amp Analysis

An ideal analysis assumes that
the op amp has infinite gain so the the loop gain A = and Af = 1/;
the input impedance is , so the input terminals drain no current;
negative feedback forces the voltage difference at the op amp inputs to vanish, and the
the inputs are virtually connected; when one of the two inputs is connected to ground,
the other one is said to be at virtual ground ;
the op amp output resistance is zero.
A few examples of the most common op amp circuits and their analysis assuming the
ideal op amp model follow.
1

Inverting amplifier
Since the op amp takes no input current, the same current flows through R1 and R2 . Because
the non-inverting input is grounded, a virtual ground exist in the inverting input by virtue of
the infinite gain and the negative feedback being used. Thus vi = i R1 and vo = i R2 .
2
.
It follows that the gain of the inverting amplifier is vvoi = R
R1
The input impedance Ri = R1 . To find the output impedance, apply a test current
source to the output and ground to vi . Because of virtual ground, no current flows through
R1 . Since no current flows into the inverting input, the current through R2 must be 0 as
well. Thus, independently of the test current, vo remains grounded in the ideal op amp.
Consecuently the output resistance is ideally 0.
Rf
R1

vi

vo

Summing amplifier
A KCL at the inverting input yields
v1
v2
vn
vo
+
+ ... +
=
R1 R2
Rn
Rf
Thus


vo =
v1
v2
v3

Rf
Rf
Rf
v1 +
v2 + ... +
vn
R1
R2
Rn

R1
Rf

R2
R3

vo

+
vn

Rn

Non-inverting amplifier
Since the two terminals must be at the same voltage,
i1 =
and

vi
R1

vi vo
R2
But no current flows into the inverting terminal, so i1 = i2 . Substituting into this equation
and solving for vo yields


R2
vo = 1 +
vi
R1
i2 =

Input impedance Ri is infinite. Output impedance is very low.

R2

Rf

vi

vo

Voltage follower or buffer amplifier

Since Rf = 0 and this configuration is the same than the non-inverting amplifier, the gain is
unity. The input impedance is, however, infinity. So this configuration elliminates loading,
allowing a source with a relatively large Thevenins resistance to be connected to a load with
a relatively small resistance.
+

vi

vo

Difference amplifier
This circuit provides an output voltage that is proportional to the difference of the two
inputs. Applying KCL at the inverting terminal yields
i1 =

v1 v
v vo
= i2 =
R1
R2

Solving for vo and reordering terms gives

vo =
Since v = v+ =

R1 + R2
R2
v
v1
R1
R1

R4
v,
R3 +R4 2

vo =

R1 + R2 R4
R2
v2
v1
R1 R3 + R4
R1

By choosing R1 = R3 and R2 = R4 one gets that

vo =

R2
(v2 v1 )
R1
R2

v1

R1

v2

vo

Current-to-voltage converter
Since the source current is can not flow into the amplifiers inverting input, it must flow
thorugh Rf . Since the inverting input is virtual ground,
vo = is Rf
Also, the virtual ground assumption implies that
Ri = 0
for this circuit.
Rf

is

vo

Voltage-to-current converter
In this cricuit, the load is not grounded but takes the place of the feedback resistor. Since
the inverting input is virtual ground,
iL = iin =

ZL

R1

vin

vin
R1

iin

iL
vo

Instrumentation amplifier
This amplifier is just two buffers followed by a differential amplifier. So it is a differential
amplifier but the two sources see an infinite resistance load.
R2

v1

v2

+
+

R1

R3

+
R4

vo

Integrator
Let vin be an arbitrary function of time. The current through the capacitor is iin =
From the capacitor law,
dvC
iC = C
dt
or
Z
Z
1
1
vo = vC =
iC dt =
vin dt
C
R1 C
C

R1

vin

vin
.
R1

iin

vo

Active low-pass filter

Here we assume that the input is sinusoidal. Thus we can use the concepts of impedance
and reactance and work in the frequency domain. Thus, the circuit is an inverting amplifier,
but the feedback resistor as been replaced with Zf , the parallel combination of R2 and C.
Therefore,
1
R
R2
sC 2
=
Zf = 1
1 + sCR2
+ R2
sC
From the expression for the inverting amplifiers gain,
vo (s) =

Zf
R2
1
=
vi (s)
R1
R1 1 + sCR2

which is small for s large.

R2
C

R1

vin
iin

vo

Differentiator
Here the input current is determined by the capacitor law,
iin = C

dvin
dt

Thus
vo = Rf iin = Rf C

dvin
dt

Rf

vin

vo

Active high-pass filter

Like in the low-pass filter, we consider vin to be sinusoidal and apply impedance concepts.
The configuration is again like the inverting amplifier, but the resistor R1 as been replaced
with Z1 , which is R1 in series with C. Thus
Z1 = R1 +
and
vo =

sR1 C + 1
1
=
sC
sC

Rf
sCRf
=
Z1
sR1 C + 1

which is small for s small.

R1

vin

R2

iin

vo

Precision half-wave rectifier

In this circuit, the diode conducts when the op amp output is positive and larger than 0.7V ,
0.7
volts, where Aopenloop
i.e. when the non-inverting inputs exceeds the inverting by Aopenloop
represents the op amp open-loop gain, taken to be infinity for an ideal device. Thus as soon
as the input becomes negative, the diode conducts and the output becomes virtual ground.
If the input is positive, the diode is an open circuit and the output is directly connected to
the input.
The circuit is used to rectify signals whose amplitude is smaller than the 0.7V required
to forward-bias the diode.
vin

vo

Logarithmic Amplifier
Here output and diodes voltage are equal in magnitude and of opposite signs. Since
 
vD
iD IS exp
VT
6

where VT is the thermal voltage, equal to 25mV at room temperature. It follows that
vo = vD = VT (log(vin /R1 ) logIs )
and is thus proportional to the logarithm off the input.
R1

vin
iin

vo

Anti-logarithmic Amplifier
The current iIN is given by

vD
VT

vIN
VT

iD IS exp
or
iIN IS exp

Thus the output voltage is


vO = iIN Rf IS Rf exp

vIN
VT

R1

vin
iin

vo

Comparator
An op amp can be used as a comparator in a circuit like the one shown below. This is a
non-linear circuit in which the output saturates to about 90 % of the positive and negative
supply voltages. The polarity of the output voltage depends on the sign of the differential
input, vi vREF .
The sketch shows non-ideal characteristics tipically found in op amps. The offset voltage,
vOF F SET , is on the order of few millivolts and causes the transition from low to high to be
slightly displaced from the origin. vOF F SET can be negative or positive, and is zero in an
ideal op amp. The posibility of having voltages between plus and minus vSAT , a consecuense
of the finite gain of practical op amps, is also shown. This part of the curve would be vertical
if the op amp is ideal. Special integrated circuits (like the MC1530) are specially build to
be used as comparators and minimize these non-ideal effects.

vO
+VSAT

vi

vOFFSET

vO

vi-vREF
-VSAT

vREF

Zero-crossing Detector
If the inverting input of a comparator is connected to ground, the devices output switches
from positive to negative saturation when the input goes from positive to negative, and
viceversa. Output vO1 on the following sketch displays this vehavior.
vi

vO1
vi

vO1

vO2
C

vO3

vO2

RL
vO3

Timing-marker Generator
If an RC network is connected to the output of a zero-crossing detector, capacitor charging
and discharging produce the waveform vO2 shown in the above sketch. This signal is rectified
to produce the waveform labeled vO3 . The circuit is called a timing-markers generator, or
TMG, for obvious reasons.

Phase Meter
Combining two TMG and an adder, as shown in the following figure, one can build the so
called phase meter. The time difference T1 is proportional to the phase difference between
the two sinusoidal inputs.

v1

v2
v1

TMG
vO

v2

TMG

vO

T1

Square Wave Generator

This circuit is an oscillator that generates a square wave. It is also known as an astable
multivibrator. The op amp works as a comparator. Lets assume that the op amp output
goes high on power-on, thus making vO = +VZ . The capacitor charges with a time constant
3
= RC. When the capacitor voltage reaches vO = R2R+R
, the op amp output switches
3
low, and vO = VZ as shown in the graph.
vO
vO

vO

R1

R2
vO

vO

R3

VZ

VZ

Real Op Amps

Error Function
Linear op-amp circuits use negative feedback and thus can be described by the theory of
feedback systems. A general negative-feedback system can be represented by the following
block diagram:

wi

wS

wO

LOAD

wF
!

Since
O = A (S O )
we can solve for Af =

O
S

to get
A
1 + A
A 1
=
T 1 + T1

Af =

= Aideal

1
1+

1
T

where
Aideal = lim Af =
A

A
T

Since the loop gain T is equal to A,

Aideal =
and
Af =

1 1
1+

1
T

The quantity
1
1+

1
T

is known as the error function and gives a direct indication of how much the system departs
from the ideal.
Equivalently, the loop gain T can also be used to quantify the difference between real and
ideal op amp behavior. A full feedback analysis for the non-inverting and inverting amplifier
configurations give the results that are summarized in the following table;
non-inverting
T

R22
R1
a rd
ro +R22 rd +R11 R1 +R2

10

inverting
2 ||rd
a R1r||R
o +R2