PHYS 536

The Golden Rules of Op Amps

Introduction
The purpose of this experiment is to illustrate the “golden rules” of negative
feedback for a variety of circuits. These concepts permit you to create and
understand a vast number of practical circuits using only two simple rules. The
op-amps used in this experiment are fully compensated, i.e. the open-loop phase
shift is less than 135◦ to reduce the danger of oscillation. However, for future
applications you should remember that a compensated op-amp can oscillate if
additional phase shift is introduced accidentally in the feedback loop.

Characteristics of an Ideal Op Amp

The ideal op amp has the following characteristics:
1. The open loop gain (A), the gain when there is no feedback in the op amp
circuit, is infinite.
2. The input impedance is infinite, implying that no current flows between
the inverting and non-inverting terminals of the op amp.
3. There is no output impedance, so the output voltage is independent of the
output current.
4. The op amp has infinite bandwidth, so the frequency response is flat.
5. The op amp has no input offset voltage, that is when the inverting and
non-inverting inputs are shorted together, the output voltage is zero.
6. Since the inputs draw no current, and have no input offset voltage, v+ ≈
v− .
7. The output can change infinitely fast, that is the output is not slew rate
limited.
The most important of these rules in terms of circuit analysis are that the inputs
draw no current and the inverting (v− ) and non-inverting (v+ ) input voltages
are approximately the same. So, the key rules to analyzing op amps are as
follows:
1. v− ≈ v+

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 2. i− = i+ = 0

A Simple Example: The Inverting Op Amp

A simple example of these rules can be examined using the inverting op amp
as shown in Fig. 1. To begin the analysis, consider the voltage at the non-
inverting (+) input of the op amp. From the characteristics of the ideal op
amp, it is known that no current flows in to or out of the inputs. Because of
this, no current flows through resistor R3 , so there is no voltage drop across this
resistor. The voltage v+ must then be equal to the voltage before the resistor.
Since the other side of R3 is connected to ground, v+ = 0.
Further, since v+ ≈ v− , v− = 0. Now, analyzing the node at the non-inverting
input, it can be shown that

vo − v− vi − v−
+ =0
R2 R1
vo vi
+ =0
R2 R1
R2
vo = − vi
R1

Slew Rate
In practical op amps, the rate at which the output voltage can change is limited.
The maximum rate of change of the op amp output voltage is called the slew
V
rate. The slew rate for the 741 op amp is typically 0.7 µs . The maximum peak
to peak output voltage obtainable is given by

ΔV
Δt
Vmax,pp = (1)
πf

Gain Bandwidth Product

Op amps also have finite bandwidth owing to capacitance within the op amp’s
circuitry. This is characterized by the gain bandwidth product. The bandwidth
(B), closed loop gain (G0 ), and unity gain frequency (fT ) obey the relationship

G0 B = fT (2)

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The closed loop gain is the expected gain with feedback. The inverting op amp,
for example, has a closed loop gain of − R 2
R1 . The bandwidth is distance from 0
Hz to fbc , the point at which the closed loop gain decreased by a factor of √12 .
For an op amp with feedback,

G0
G= (3)
1 + fjfb c

1 Performance of Op Amps at High Frequency

Figure 1: High frequency performance circuit

In this section you will compare the performance of a general purpose 741 op-
amp to a relatively high speed 318 op-amp in the non-inverting amplifier circuit
shown below. Always use bypass capacitors, and turn off the power supplies
before components are changed.
1. Calculate the mid frequency closed-loop gain. For both op-amps, calculate
the closed loop break frequency and the maximum amplitude signal that
can be obtained at fbc without slew rate distortion. Use the op amp
properties given in Table 1. Include these calculations in your laboratory
report.
2. Use the slew rate to calculate the rise and fall time of an output pulse
whose amplitude is 10V. Draw a sketch of Vo for a 10 kHz input square
wave. Include these calculations in your laboratory report.

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 Op Amp Slew Rate fT
318 70 V/μs 15 MHz
741 0.5 μs 1.2 MHz

Table 1: Op amp properties

3. Build the circuit of Fig. 1. Use R1 = 1.1 kΩ, R2 = 10 kΩ, and R3 = 1 kΩ.
4. Check the circuit you just built. When there is no input, you should have
V0 ≤ 0.1 V. Apply a 1 kHz sine wave and check that the gain conforms to
theory.
5. Use a 741 op-amp and a 1 V, square wave input signal. It is good practice
to observe the input and output signals simultaneously. Measure fbc .
Be sure that the signal amplitude does not exceed the slew-limit in the
frequency range you are using.
6. After you measure fbc , increase the size of the signal and observe the
amplitude at which slew-rate distortion becomes evident. Next, use a 10
kHz square wave and adjust the signal amplitude so that is approximately
10 V. Measure the positive and negative slew rate.
7. Repeat the previous steps using a 318 op amp. You should observe a large
increase in the gain at the closed-loop break-frequency fbc , which indicates
that the phase shift of the 318 exceeds 90 degrees in this frequency range.
You also see that the 318 has better high frequency gain than the 741.
The slew rate of the 318 is so large that you probably cannot observe
slew-rate distortion in this circuit. The output rise and fall for a square
wave are much faster for the 318 than for the 741. Observe this fact, but
it is not necessary to measure the slew rate or sketch. You should also
notice a damped overshoot on the output pulse, which is caused by the
excess phase shift.

2 Ramp Generator
During this portion of the experiment, you will build a ramp generator. This
circuit utilizes resistors and capacitors to provide a ramped voltage which is reset
during each period of the input square wave. When the square wave voltage
vi is negative, the electrons that flow through R2 are pulled in to the feedback
capacitor Cf by the op amp. D1 prevents current from flowing through R1
during this part of the input voltage’s cycle. The output voltage vo increases
linearly as Cf charges. When vi goes positive, a large current flows through
R1 which rapidly discharges Cf . When vo reaches -0.6 V, D2 is forward biased,
shorting out Cf , and the output voltage stays at a constant -0.6 V.

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 Figure 2: Ramp Generator

1. Build the circuit in Fig. 2. Use R1 = 1 kΩ, R2 = 51 kΩ, R3 = 1 kΩ, and

Cf = 100 pF. Use 1N914 diodes for D1 and D2 .
2. Apply a 50 kHz, 10 Vpp square wave to your circuit using the signal
generator. Sketch the output voltage. Record the slope of the ramp and
its amplitude.
3. For your lab report, derive an equation for the output voltage of the ramp
generator. Using this equation, predict the slope and amplitude of the
ramp. Compare the values calculated to your measured values.

3 Summing Circuit
The summing circuit will combine two signals and the output voltage will be
the sum of the signals with unity gain, assuming that all resistors are of the
same value.
1. Build the circuit in Fig. 3. For all resistors, use R = 1 kΩ. Do not connect
v2 initially. Use a 10 kHz, 5 Vpp sine wave for v1 .
2. Observe vo and v1 . What is the gain?
3. Attach the TTL/CMOS output of the signal generator to the point marked
v2 .
4. Observe v2 on the oscilloscope.
5. Observe and sketch vo .

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 Figure 3: Summing Circuit

4 Reactance in the Feedback Loop

A capacitor is included in the feedback loop of the following inverting amplifier.
The parallel 100 kΩ resistor is needed to set the quiescent conditions. It does
not affect the signal when Xc  Rf . The gain is given by

vo Rf 1 Xc
=−   2 ≈ − R1 (4)
vi R1 R
1 + Xfc

And the phase by

Xc
tan φ = − (5)
Rf

1. Calculate the gain and expected phase shift of this circuit for a frequency
of 1.6 kHz and 16 kHz if R1 = 1 kΩ, R2 = 1 kΩ, Rf = 100 kΩ, and
Cf = 0.01 μF.
2. Build the circuit in Fig. 4. Use R1 = 1 kΩ, R2 = 1 kΩ, Rf = 100 kΩ, and
Cf = 0.01 μF.
3. Measure the gain and phase shift for the circuit. Use a 1 Vpp 1.6 kHz sine
wave and a 1 Vpp 16 kHz sine wave.

5 Feedback Difference Amplifier

This circuit yields a gain of

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 Figure 4: Reactance in the feedback loop

vo R2
= (v2 − v1 ) (6)
vi R1

that is, it amplifies the difference between input voltages v1 and v2 . For the
circuit to work properly, the resistance in the feedback loop must be exactly
equal to the series combination of R4 and R5 .
1. Build the circuit in Fig. 5. Use R1 = 1 kΩ, R2 = 10 kΩ, R3 = 1 kΩ,
R4 = 5.1 kΩ, and for R5 use a 10 kΩ trimpot.
2. Connect points A and B. Apply a 1 Vpp, 1 kHz sine wave to both points.
3. While observing vo , adjust the trimpot until vo is as small as possible,
which will usually be no smaller than 10 mV.
4. Remove the connection between points A and B.
5. Connect point B to ground, and apply a 1 Vpp, 1 kHz sine wave to point
A. You should see that the output is the input voltage amplified 10 times.

Required Components
• Op Amps: (1) 741, (1) 318
• Capacitors: (1) 0.01 μF, (1) 100 pF
• Resistors: (4) 1 kΩ, (1) 1.1 kΩ, (1) 5.1 kΩ, (1) 10 kΩ, (1) 51 kΩ, (1) 100
kΩ
• Diodes: (4) 1N914

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 Figure 5: Feedback difference amplifier

• Trimpots: (1) 10 kΩ