Addis Ababa University

Addis Ababa Institute of Technology

School of Information Technology and Engineering
Fundamental of Electronics

Chapter 7
THE OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER
Operational Amplifiers
Magic Rules
Application Examples
INTRODUCTION
• In the previous chapters, you have studied a number of important
electronic devices.
• These devices, such as the diode and the transistor, are separate
devices that are individually packaged and interconnected in a
circuit with other devices to form a complete, functional unit.
Such devices are referred to as discrete components.
• Now you will begin the study of linear integrated circuits (ICs),
where many transistors, diodes, resistors, and capacitors are
fabricated on a single tiny chip of semi conductive material and
packaged in a single case to form a functional circuit.
• An integrated circuit, such as an operational amplifier (op-amp),
is treated as a single device.
• This means that you will be concerned with what the circuit does
more from an external viewpoint than from an internal,
component level viewpoint.
 Introduction
 Operational amplifiers (op amps) are pre-packaged
transistor amplifier building blocks designed for
analog signal processing.
 Op amp circuits are used to amplify, offset, filter, sum,
and buffer analog signals, among many other
functions.
 UCSD: Physics 121; 2012

Op-Amp Introduction
Op-amps (amplifiers/buffers in general) are drawn as
a triangle in a circuit schematic
There are two inputs
inverting and non-inverting
And one output
Also power connections (note no explicit ground)
divot on pin-1 end
V +

2 7
inverting input  6
output
non-inverting input +
3 4

V

Winter 2012 5
INTRODUCTION TO OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIERS
• Early operational amplifiers (op-amps)
were used primarily to perform mathematical operations such as
addition, subtraction, integration, and differentiation—thus the
term operational, were constructed with vacuum tubes and
worked with high voltages.
• Today’s op-amps
linear integrated circuits (ICs) that use relatively low dc supply
voltages and are reliable and inexpensive.
 An op amp has five terminals, the non-inverting input, inverting
input, output, positive supply, and negative supply.
 In this context, the non-inverting input is referred to as the plus
terminal, and the inverting input as the minus terminal.
 Typically, op amps are powered by bipolar supplies such as ±12
V or ±5 V.
 The op amp’s maximum output cannot exceed the supply voltage
range, and is usually at least 1V less than either supply limit.
 When the op amp’s output has reached its positive or negative
maximum, the output has “railed”. This condition should be
avoided in most instances.
 Op amp’s Circuits
The first order analysis of op amp circuits can be made
following two simple rules: (1) the plus and minus
terminals draw no current; and
(2) the output will produce whatever voltage is necessary
to equalize the voltages at the plus and minus terminals.
The prerequisites for using these rules are that the op amp
must be in negative feedback and the required output
must be within the valid output range of the op amp.
Note: Negative feedback is the process whereby a portion of the
output voltage of an amplifier is returned to the input with a phase
angle that opposes (or subtracts from) the input signal.
 Non-inverting Amplifier
 The input is applied to the op amp’s positive input.
 The output is fed back to the op amp’s negative input via the
resistive divider formed by R1 and R2.
 Note that for all practical purposes, the amplifier’s input impedance
is infinite.
 Since the feedback mechanism ensures that the positive and
negative terminals of the op amp are equivalent, the voltages at
the inputs are
Therefore, the transfer function from input to output is

A special case of the non-inverting amplifier is

when R1 is infinite and R2 is 0. This forms the
op amp voltage follower as shown previously
in Figure which has a net gain of 1.
Non-inverting amplifiers have extremely high
input impedance which makes them an
excellent buffer for high impedance signals.
This is because the input is fed directly to the
plus-terminal of the opamp which typically has
an input impedance on the order of
 Inverting Amplifier
 The input is applied to the resistor R1 which is connected
to the op amp’s minus terminal.
 The plus terminal is tied to ground while the output is fed
back to the negative terminal through resistor RF.
 Since no current flows into the minus terminal, all current
sourced from the source through R1 must be drained
through RF.
 The feedback mechanism ensures that voltages at the plus
and minus terminals are equal, which means that
• This amplifier is sometimes called
current-summing amplifier because all
current sourced into the negative input
will be drain via the feedback resistor.
• This property can be used to amplify
current based signal sources such as
photodiodes.
• In this case the output voltage is
simply
 The internal circuitry in an op amp is designed to give two basic
characteristics:
 very high impedance at the input terminals, and
very high differential gain from the input to the output.
 In fact, an ideal op amp has infinite input impedance and infinite
differential gain.
 For practical op amps, the differential gain exceeds and input
iimpedance is a few G(gain)Ω.
 At first, it may be difficult to understand how a very high gain
amplifier can be useful since a very small differential voltage will
send the output to rail to its maximum or minimum value.
 However, op amps are designed to operate in feedback, which
regulates the output voltage according to the input as a result of
amplifier’s configuration.
 The Ideal Op-Amp

• has infinite voltage gain and infinite bandwidth.

• infinite input impedance (open) so that it does not load the
driving source.
• it has a zero output impedance.
• The input voltage, Vin, appears between the two input
terminals, and the output voltage is AvVin, as indicated by the
internal voltage source symbol.
 The Practical Op-Amp

• has very high voltage gain,.

• very high input impedance.
• very low output impedance.
• The input voltage, Vin, appears between the two input
terminals, and the output voltage is AvVin, as indicated by the
internal voltage source symbol.
 OP-AMP INPUT MODES AND PARAMETERS
• Input Signal Modes
• are determined by the differential amplifier input stage of
the op-amp.
• Differential Mode
• either one signal is applied to an input with the other input
grounded or two opposite-polarity signals are applied to the
inputs.

Single-ended differential mode.

The amplified difference between the two inputs appears on

the output. Equivalently,
 Common Mode
 In the common mode, two signal voltages of the same phase,
frequency, and amplitude are applied to the two inputs.
 When equal input signals are applied to both inputs, they tend to
cancel, resulting in a zero output voltage.

 This action is called common-mode rejection. Its importance lies in the

situation where
an unwanted signal appears commonly on both op-amp inputs.
 Common-mode rejection means that this unwanted signal will not appear on
the output and distort the desired signal.
 Common-mode signals (noise) generally are the result of the pick-up of
radiated energy on the input lines, from adjacent lines, the 60 Hz power line,
or other sources.
Example:
A certain op-amp has an open-loop differential voltage gain of 100,000 and a
common-mode gain of 0.2. Determine the CMRR and express it in decibels.

Maximum Output Voltage Swing (VO(p-p)) With no input signal, the output of
an opamp is ideally 0 V.
This is called the quiescent output voltage. When an input signal is applied,
the ideal limits of the peak-to-peak output signal are in practice, however, this
ideal can be approached but never reached. varies with the load connected to
the op-amp and increases directly with load resistance
For example, the Fairchild KA741 data sheet shows a typical

increases to ±14 V where RL = 10KΩ

Input Bias Current You have seen that the input terminals of a bipolar differential amplifier
are the transistor bases and, therefore, the input currents are the base currents.
The input bias current is the dc current required by the inputs of the amplifier to properly
operate the first stage. By definition, the input bias current is the average of both input
currents and is calculated as follows:

The concept of input bias current is illustrated in Figure

Input bias current is the average of the

two op-amp input currents.
Comparison of Op-Amp Parameters
 Why Use Negative Feedback?
o The inherent open-loop voltage gain of a typical op-amp is very high
(usually greater than 100,000).
o Therefore, an extremely small input voltage drives the op-amp into its
saturated output states. In fact, even the input offset voltage of the
op-amp can drive it into saturation. For example, assume VIN =1mV
and
Aol =100,000. Then,

o Since the output level of an op-amp can never reach 100 V, it is

driven deep into saturation and the output is limited to its maximum
output levels, for both a positive and a negative input voltage of 1 mV.
Table summarizes the general effects of negative feedback on op-amp performance.
 O P-AMPS WITH N EGATIVE FEEDBACK
o An op-amp can be connected using negative feedback to stabilize the
gain and increase frequency response.
o Negative feedback takes a portion of the output and applies it back out
of phase with the input, creating an effective reduction in gain.
o This closed loop gain is usually much less than the open-loop gain and
independent of it.
o Closed-Loop Voltage Gain, Acl
The closed-loop voltage gain is the voltage gain of an op-amp with
external feedback.
o The amplifier configuration consists of the op-amp and an external
negative feedback circuit that connects the output to the inverting input.
o The closed-loop voltage gain is determined by the external component
values and can be precisely controlled by them.
E FFECTS OF N EGATIVE FEEDBACK ON O P-AMP I MPEDANCES
Negative feedback affects the input and output
impedances of an op-amp.
◆ The ideal op-amp has infinite input impedance, zero
output impedance, infinite open-loop
voltage gain, and infinite bandwidth.
◆ A practical op-amp has very high input impedance,
very low output impedance, and very high
open-loop voltage gain.
The effects on both inverting and noninverting
amplifiers are discuss in this section.
Impedances of the Non-inverting Amplifier
Input Impedance The input impedance of a non-inverting amplifier
can be developed with the aid of Figure.
For this analysis, assume a small differential voltage, Vd,
exists between the two inputs, as indicated. This means that you
cannot assume the op-amp’s input impedance to be infinite or the
input current to be zero.
Express the input voltage as

This equation shows that the input impedance of the

non- inverting amplifier configuration
with negative feedback is much greater than the
internal input impedance of the op-amp
itself (without feedback).
Output Impedance
An expression for output impedance of a non-inverting amplifier can
be developed with the aid of Figure.
Voltage-Follower Impedances
Since a voltage-follower is a special case of the non-inverting amplifier
configuration, the same impedance formulas are used but with B = 1.
 SUMMARY
◆The basic op-amp has three terminals not including power and ground:
inverting input (-), non-inverting (+) input, and output.
◆A differential amplifier forms the input stage of an op-amp.
◆Most op-amps require both a positive and a negative dc supply voltage.
◆The ideal op-amp has infinite input impedance, zero output impedance, infinite open-loop voltage
gain, and infinite bandwidth.
◆A practical op-amp has very high input impedance, very low output impedance, and very high open-
loop voltage gain.
◆Two types of op-amp input operation are the differential mode and the common mode.
◆Common mode occurs when equal in-phase voltages are applied to both input terminals.
◆The common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR) is a measure of an op-amp’s ability to reject common-
mode inputs.
◆Open-loop voltage gain is the gain of an op-amp with no external feedback connections.
◆Input offset voltage produces an output error voltage (with no input voltage).
◆Input bias current also produces an output error voltage (with no input voltage).
◆Input offset current is the difference between the two bias currents.
◆Slew rate is the rate in volts per microsecond at which the output voltage of an op-amp can change in
response to a step input.
◆Noise degrades the performance of an amplifier by the introduction of an unwanted signal.
◆Negative feedback occurs when a portion of the output voltage is connected back to the
inverting input such that it subtracts from the input voltage, thus reducing the voltage gain
but increasing the stability and bandwidth.
◆There are three basic op-amp configurations: inverting, noninverting, and voltage-
follower.
◆The three basic op-amp configurations employ negative feedback.
◆Closed-loop voltage gain is the gain of an op-amp with external feedback.
◆A non-inverting amplifier configuration has a higher input impedance and a lower output
impedance than the op-amp itself (without feedback).
◆An inverting amplifier configuration has an input impedance approximately equal to the
input resistor R i and an output impedance approximately equal to the output impedance of
the op-amp itself.
◆The voltage-follower has the highest input impedance and the lowest output impedance
of the three amplifier configurations.
◆All practical op-amps have small input bias currents and input offset voltages that
produce small output error voltages.
◆The input bias current effect can be compensated for with external resistors.
◆The input offset voltage can be compensated for with an external potentiometer between
the two offset null pins provided on the IC op-amp package and as recommended by the
manufacturer.
◆The closed-loop voltage gain is always less than the open-loop voltage gain.
◆The midrange gain of an op-amp extends down to dc.
◆The gain of an op-amp decreases as frequency increases above the critical
frequency.
◆The bandwidth of an op-amp equals the upper critical frequency.
◆The open-loop response curve of a compensated op-amp rolls off at above fc.
◆The internal RC lag circuits that are inherently part of the amplifier stages
cause the gain to roll off as frequency goes up.
◆The internal RC lag circuits also cause a phase shift between input and output
signals.
◆Negative feedback lowers the gain and increases the bandwidth.
◆The product of gain and bandwidth is constant for a given op-amp.
◆The gain-bandwidth product equals the frequency at which unity voltage gain
occurs.
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FOR FINAL EXAM
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