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In the previous lecture, the near-ideal op amp and two of its more important applications
were introduced. It was established that the actual closed loop gain was very close to
what we called the ideal closed loop gain — that value of closed loop gain obtained under
the assumption that the loop gain Av is very much larger than unity. In this lecture, we
first define the fully ideal op amp and then show that analysing a linear op amp system
on the basis of the op amp being ideal directly yields the ideal closed loop gain
expression. The analysis task is greatly simplified.
Learning Outcomes:
On completing this lecture, you will be able to:
The approach taken in the previous lecture to analysing a circuit with a near-ideal op amp
was to put an expression for the closed loop gain in the form
Av
Acl Acl id
1 Av
and then assume (with good reason) that Av 1 so that Acl Acl id .
What we are now going to tackle is essentially a short-cut route to obtaining Acl id. The
approach starts by defining an ideal op amp as having all the properties of the
near-ideal op amp but with the open loop gain now being considered to be
indefinitely large and having the following consequence:
+
eD
e2 -
vO
e1
vO Av e D Av e2 e1
5-1
Now the output voltage is finite, lying within the limits of –VCC and +VCC. Therefore the
larger Av, the smaller eD e2 e1 . In the limit
Av e2 e1 0
ie e2 e1
This property, together with the assumption that the input resistance of the op amp is
indefinitely large, constitutes the main lever by which we can analyse any linear op amp
system. We illustrate the approach in the next section by re-visiting the two examples of
the previous lecture.
e2
+
e1 - i2
iIN R2
vI
vO
R1
vF
i1
As before e2 vI
R1
e1 v F vO
R2 R1
Negative feedback implies linear operation and if the op amp is deemed ideal then we can
take
e2 e1
This gives
5-2
R1
vI vO
R2 R1
Re-arranging we have
vO R R1 R
Acl id 2 1 2
vI R1 R1
i2 R2
vR2
R1 i1 iIN
-
e1
vR1
vI e2 +
vO
v R1 v I e1 v R 2 e1 vO
i1 and i2
R1 R1 R2 R2
Noting that e2 0 and the fact that the op amp is ideal gives e2 e1 , we have
vI vO
i1 and i2
R1 R1
v I vO
yielding for the closed loop gain
R1 R2
vO R
Acl id 2
vI R1
5-3
Again, the result is the same as for the previous lecture.
i2 R2
i1 R1
-
e1
i3 R3 e2
+
v1 i4
v2 vO
R4
We now investigate a circuit having two signal inputs, v1 and v2. The objective is to
determine the relationship between the system output vO and the signal inputs on the
basis that the op amp is ideal. Broadly speaking the approach is:
Equate i1 with i2 and i3 with i4 on the basis that RIN and therefore no current flows
into (or out of) either op amp input. We then make use of the infinite open loop gain
property to explore the consequences of e2 e1 .
R2 R1
e1 v1 vO
R1 R2 R1 R2
R4
e2 v2
R3 R4
R1 R4 R2
vO v2 v1
R1 R2 R3 R4 R1 R2
With four arbitrary resistors, we cannot say a great deal further about the relationship
between vO and v1 and v2. In practice, however, the four resistors are normally chosen to
satisfy the requirement that
5-4
R4 R2
R3 R1
R3 R1
R4 R2
R3 R
1 1 1
R4 R2
R3 R4 R1 R2
R4 R4 R2 R2
R3 R4 R1 R2
R4 R2
R4 R2
R3 R4 R1 R2
R1 R2 R2
vO v2 v1
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
R2
vO v2 v1
R1
The circuit amplifies the signal difference (v2 – v1) by the factor
R2 and hence is
R1
referred to as a differential amplifier. Note that this sensitivity to the input signal
R3 R1
difference is critically dependent on fulfilling the resistor ratio criterion .
R4 R2
Achieving this criterion is best approached by means of integrated circuit technology
when all the resistors would be manufactured together and if there was an error in one
resistor then the likelihood would be that there would be a similar error in the others.
5-5
5.5 The Integrator
We now wish to explore the operation of the following op amp circuit which incorporates a
capacitor.
C
iC
iR R vC
-
vR e1
e2
vI +
vO
The approach taken will be very similar to that adopted for the inverter but first we need
to consider a suitable current-voltage relationship for the capacitor. Simply saying that
1
the capacitor represents an impedance of restricts our consideration to pure
j C
sinusoidal signals; we would be interested in a more fundamental perspective and
consequently we characterise the current-voltage relationship of the capacitor by
iC
vC C
dvC
iC C
dt
where iC is the current through the capacitor and vC is the voltage across the capacitor.
v I e1 d e1 vO
C
R dt
Noting the infinite open loop gain giving e2 e1 and e2 0 , we have e1 0 and so
vI dv
C O
R dt
5-6
1
dvO v I dt
RC
Integrating both sides and denoting the initial value of output voltage by VO 0 , we have
t
1
RC 0
vO v I dt VO 0
That is, the output voltage is proportional to the time integral of the input signal voltage.
Suppose, for example, that vI is constant at some negative level –E and that the initial
output voltage is zero, then the output voltage as a function of time is given by
E dt
1
vO
RC 0
E
t
RC
E
That is, the output voltage increases linearly with time at the rate of volts per sec.
RC
ET
This is illustrated below. After T seconds, the output voltage will have reached K
RC
volts.
vI
t
0 T
-E
vO
t
0 T
5-7
Example 5.1: An integrator uses a resistor of value R = 10kΩ and a capacitor of
value C = 0.01µF. The input signal is a square wave of 2V amplitude and 1kHz frequency
as shown below. Determine the output signal waveform.
vI
+E
t
0 T/2 T 2T
-E
vO
+K
t
0 T/2 T 2T
-K
T
For 0t the system integrates the positive constant level E 2V and thus
2
produces a negative-going linear waveform;
T
For t T the system integrates the negative constant level E 2V and thus
2
produces a positive-going waveform.
Joining up these two half-cycles results in a triangular output waveform as shown above.
We might also note that since the DC or average value of the input is zero and the
integral of zero is zero, the output triangular waveform will be symmetrical about zero. It
thus remains to compute the amplitude K of the output waveform.
T
Consider the interval 0t
2
T
2
E dt
1
vO VO 0 gives
RC 0
5-8
E T
K K
RC 2
ET
2K
2 RC
ET
K
4RC
1
With the data as supplied and noting that T 3
10 3 s , we obtain
10
K
210 3
0.5 101 5V
4
4 10 10 8
That is, the triangular waveform oscillates between -5V and +5V with a 1ms period.
iD D
iR R vD
-
vR e1
e2
vI +
vO
The lay out of the circuit is very similar to that of the inverting amplifier or the integrator
except that, in place of the feedback resistor R2 (of the inverter) or the capacitor C (of the
integrator), we have a new component labelled D. In principle, and assuming the op amp
to be ideal, in order to work out the relationship between vO and vI all we need is a
mathematical expression for the current-voltage relationship of device D. The same circuit
analysis approach can be taken as was employed for the analysis of the inverter or the
integrator.
5-9
iD
vD D
v
i D I S exp D where IS and VT are (temperature-dependent) constants.
VT
Typical values of these constants for room temperature are I S 10 15 A and VT 26mV
Resulting in an iD versus vD characteristic as follows:
iD
3.5mA
vD
0.75V
Assuming that electronic circuits typically operate with currents of the order of milliamps,
the plot is seen to rise very sharply (exponentially, in fact) in the vicinity of 0.75V.
Returning now to the task of analysing the op amp circuit at the beginning of this section,
we note as before:
v I e1 e v
iR iD or I S exp 1 O
R VT
v
v I RI S exp O
VT
vO
ln v I ln RI S
VT
5-10
Re-arranging we get
vO
ln RI S ln v I
VT
vO VT ln RI S VT ln v I
That is, the output voltage is proportional to the log of vI and this is what gives the circuit
its title of logarithmic amplifier.
We have consistently employed two key features of an ideal op amp, RIN and
Av , for the analysis of a variety of op amp circuits. Each time we directly get an
expression for what we previously termed the ideal closed loop gain or for the output
voltage that would result from Acl id . If greater accuracy is required, the appropriate
Av
expression can always be multiplied by . However, the intent here has been to
1 Av
introduce the range of possible applications of the op amp and to focus on the dominant
mode of operation associated with the op amp being considered ideal.
5-11