INTEGRATED CIRCUIT OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER

An operational amplifier is intended to realize specific signal processing functions. For

example, the same operational amplifier, depending on the externally added components, can
be used as inverting or non - inverting amplifier, adder, difference amplifier, a differentiating
amplifier, an active filter, or an oscillator, among others. Applications of operational
amplifiers also include such functions as impedance transformers, regulators and signal
conditioning. They are versatile building blocks that can also be used in nonlinear
applications to realize functions such as logarithmic amplifiers, comparators, ideal rectifier
etc.
The early application of operational amplifiers was large’s in the area of analogue
computations and their cost was high. Currently these high – performance devices are
available at low cost and are widely used.
A simplified schematic of an integrator circuit operational amplifier is shown in the figure
below.

A differential amplifier (bipolar, JFEET or MOSFET) with active load is used as the input
stage of the IC operational amplifier. It provides a large value of differential gain with large
CMRR.

The level shifting circuit is necessary because coupling capacitors cannot be used in an
integrated circuit. The level – shifter provides a means of connecting together two nodes
within a circuit which are at different DC voltage levels, without loss of gain.
The single – ended gain stage uses an active load and provides additional gain. It may also
have internal feedback for frequency compensation of the amplifier.

The output is a push – pull class B stage which has a low output resistance, and is capable of
producing a large voltage swing across low values of load resistance.

Ideal operational amplifier

A common approach in analyzing basic features of circuits built with operational amplifiers is
to assume that the amplifiers are ideal. The ideal operational amplifier, whose symbol shown
below
Is a differential input, single – ended output device that is operated from bipolar supplies.
Differential output, as well as single supply operation, are possible, although not common.
The ideal op amp has the following features:
- infinite differential – mode gain
- zero common – mode gain
- infinite bandwidth
- zero bias current
- zero offset voltage
- infinite input impedance
- zero output impedance

Because of these characteristics, an infinitesimally small input voltage is required at one input
with respect to the other to force the amplifier output to change over its full range (within
supply voltages).
Hence, if one input is held at earth, the other cannot deviate from it under normal operating
conditions (i.e. with negative feedback applied) and becomes a “virtual earth.

Real operational amplifier

There are a number of important parameters which must be considered when selecting an
operational amplifier for a specific application. The more important of there are concerned
with the input bias current, the input offset voltage, the small – signal response, the rate at
which the output responds to a step response and the large – signal frequency response. Some
of the op amp parameters are discussed below.

Open – loop gain

This is one parameter where the typical op amp approaches the infinite gain ideal very closely
and typical gains of a few hundred thousands are quite common at gain to start to fall off
rapidly at low frequencies, e.g. 10Hz. The closed – loop gain is limited by the open – loop
gain and feedback theory indicates that the greater the difference between open and closed
loop gain, the greater the gain accuracy.

Input bias current

The inputs to an operational amplifier are the inputs to the differential amplifier, for example
the base terminals of bipolar transistors. For correct operation it is necessary that there is a DC
path for the base current. This current must flow in the components which are external to the
operational amplifier. The voltage drop resulting from these currents may affect also the
output voltage because of the large gain of the internal amplifiers.
The input bias current is defined as the average value for the two inputs, that is:
 I B1 + I B 2
IB =
2
Where IB1 And IB2 are the base currents for the emitter – coupled pair of transistors.
Ideally the currents should by equal, but in practice they will vary as a result of asymmetry
between both transistors. With a bipolar transistor differential amplifier IB is typically several
tens of µA. Greatly reduced input current is achieved by replacing the bipolar transistors with
field effect transistors, either JFETs (tens of pA) or MOSFETs (a fraction of pA).

Input offset current

The input offset current is a measure of how well the two emitter – coupled transistors are
matched.
It is given by:

IIO = | IB1 - IB2 |

For good quality amplifiers the value should be as small as possibly. For op amps with bipolar
transistor input stages it may be typically tens of nA. For a JFET input the offset current may
be 1-5pA, typically.
Another parameter associated with the input offset current is its temperature coefficient ∆IB2 /
∆T.

Input offset voltage

For an ideal amplifier the output voltage is zero if both of inputs are grounded. In practice, the
transistors in the differential amplifier stage are not perfectly matched and the output voltage
will not be zero. The offset voltage is the voltage which must be applied to either input
terminal to make the output zero. It is typically a few MV.

To cancel the offset it may be necessary to include some form of DC bias at the input which
can be adjusted (e.g. a potentiometer connected to the supply). Many operational amplifiers
have provision for the attachment of an external potentiometer which is used to cancel any
offset, as shown in the figure.

With the inputs grounded it is a simple matter to adjust the potentiometer to zero the output
voltage. However, it is better to choose an amplifier with small offset rather than use a
potentiometer which may change in value with time or temperature.

Another parameter associated with the input offset voltage is its temperature coefficient ∆IIO
/∆T.
 The parameters such as the differential – mode and the common – mode input resistance and
CMRR were discussed together with the differential amplifier.
The differential input resistance is at least a few MΩ and the input capacitance is 1-2pF or
less, typically.

Most general purpose op amps have a CMRR of least 70dB at DC but this is drastically
reduced as the input frequency is raised.

The open loop output resistance of op amps is typically tens of Ω but with negative feedback
applied it will be significantly reduced.

Small – signal response

The typical gain versus frequency response of an operational amplifier is shown below.

For many applications this type of frequency response is undesirable. Remember that each
increase in the slope of the curve by 20dB/decade results in an additional phase shift which
may increase by 90o (up to 270o for a slope of –60dB/decade).
If negative feedback is employed to control the gain, then at some frequency the signal which
is fed back to the input may have undergone such a large phase shift that the feedback is no
longer negative, but positive. Under these conditions the amplifier will become unstable and
may oscillate. A much more suitable response is one where the gain decreases uniformly with
frequency at a rate of –20dB/decade until the gain is decreased to unity, as shown in the
figure.
This shape of the curve corresponds to a simple RC network (1 – st order low pass filter). As
the phase shift associated with the 1 – st order transfer function cannot exceed 90o, the
amplifier is unconditionally stable for any amount of negative feedback.
Recall a simple relationship between kd0 , the corner frequency fC and the unity – gain
frequency f1 (or transition frequency fT):

fT = kd0. fC

The response shown in the figure above is typical of a class of operational amplifiers known
as (internally) compensated amplifiers. This frequency compensation is usually accomplished
by putting a small capacitor between the base and the collector of the single – ended gain
stage. Thanks to the Miller effect this capacitance will greatly increase.
For small – signal excitation the dynamic behavior of the compensated op amp can be
described by the following function:

kd 0
k d ( jω ) =
ω
1+ j
ωC
This means , in particular, that for a square wave input the output will have typically the
following waveform:

And the time constant of the exponential output is the

reciprocal of the corner frequency for the specified
closed – loop gain:
1
τ=
ωC

Large signal response

The capacitor which is used for frequency compensation limits the frequency response of an
operational amplifier, but it also limits the amplifier in another way. When a rapidly changing
signal (e.g. a voltage step) is applied to the input, the amplifier may became overdriven and
only the finite current will be available to charge and discharge this capacitor. In
consequence, there is a limit to the rate at which the output voltage can change. This limit is
known as the slew rate and is measured in volts per second:

⎛ dU OUT ⎞ I
SR = ⎜ ⎟ = max
⎝ dt ⎠ max C

For general purpose op amps SR is typically a few V/µs, but for special amplifiers it may
reach thousands of V/µs.
When a square wave of sufficiently large amplitude is applied to the input of op amp, then the
output will vary as a linear function rather than in an exponential way, as shown in the figure.

In addition to the distortion which is produced in a square wave or pulse waveform, distortion
resulting from slew rate also occur in a sine wave. For a sine wave the maximum rate of
change occur when the signal is crossing zero:

⎛ dU ⎞
⎟ = (U m sin ωt )t =0 = ωU m
d
⎜
⎝ dt ⎠ max dt

To avoid distortion of the output sine wave the following condition must be satisfied:
ωU m ≤ SR

For example, if SR=1v/µs, then to produce an undistorted sine wave output which has a peak
amplitude of 10 V the frequency of the signal must not exceed the value:
V
1 ⋅ 10 6
SR S ≅ 16kHz
f max = =
2Π U m 2Π ⋅ 10V

BASIC OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER APPLICATIONS

A variety of simple circuits can be constructed from one or more operational amplifiers plus
some external resistors. In most cases, to determine the function realized by the circuit it is
acceptable to assume that the op amp is ideal. This means in particular, that to produce an
output voltage which is between the supply voltages, the required input differential voltage
tends to zero:

u out
u out = k d ⋅ u d ud = ⎯
⎯→ 0 because kd ⎯
⎯→ ∞
kd

For example, if kd = 105 for a real amplifier, then to produce an output of 10V the required
input differential voltage is 100µV, which is usually smaller by a few orders of magnitude
than all the remaining voltages in the circuit (e.g uin = 1V if the required closed – loop gain is
10) and can be ignored.

In such analyses the following equivalent circuit of the ideal operational amplifier can be
assumed:

Without feedback and zero input differential voltage the output voltage uout is undefined.
When negative feedback is applied, the op amp adjusts its output voltage in such a way that
the signal fed back through the feedback network reduces the input differential voltage to a
value vary closed to zero.

Non inverting amplifier

The non – inverting amplifier is shown in the figure below.

The resistors R1 and R2 act as a potential divider. When a voltage is applied to the non –
inverting input the amplifier adjusts its output voltage so that the signal fed back to the
inverting input of the op amp reduces the input differential voltage to almost zero.

R1
ud ≈ 0 ⎯
⎯→ u1 ≈ 1 +
R1 + R2

The closed – loop gain of the amplifier is:

u2 R
ku = = 1+ 2
u1 R1

The gain is a positive number (no phase inversion) and depends on the ratio of two resistors,
which could be precision components. If their temperature coefficients are similar, the
variations of resistance resulting from temperature change can cancel each other.

If the op amp is assumed to be ideal the input resistance of the non – inverting amplifier is
infinite and the output resistance is zero.

Rin ⎯
⎯→ ∞ Rout = 0

In terms of negative feedback topologies this circuit is an example of voltage – series

feedback.

Now, using the expressions derived from feedback theory, we can estimate the input and the
output resistance of a real amplifier.

If, for example , Rind =1MΩ, kd0 = 105 and β=0.1 (kuf = 10) (β=R1/(R1+R2)

Then the input differential resistance becomes increased to the following closed – loop value:

Rindf = Rind (1 + k d 0 β ) ≅ 10GΩ

And the input resistance of the amplifier becomes determined by the input common – mode
resistance, which is usually 100 – 1000 times greater than Rind.
If the open – loop output resistance of the op am is:

Rout = 100Ω

Then the closed – loop output resistance of the non – inverting amplifier becomes:
Rout
Rout = ≅ 10mΩ
1 + kd 0 β
f

Unity gain buffer

The unity gain buffer amplifier is a special case of the non – inverting amplifier in which R1 is
increased to infinity and R2 reduces to zero. The resulting circuits is shown below.

The closed – loop gain is given by:

R2 0
ku = 1 + = 1+ = 1
R1 ∞
Notice that if the open – loop gain of the op amp is finite, then:

u d = u1 − u 2 and u2 = kd ud
u2 k
so ku = = d
u1 k d + 1
10 5
For k d 0 = 10 5 ku = = 0.99999
10 5 + 1

The unity gain buffer provides a means for connecting a circuit which has a high output
impedance to a low – impedance load without any loss of signal, and without any phase
inversion.

Inverting amplifier

The circuit for an inverting amplifier is shown below.

With the input signal applied the op amp adjusts its output voltage so that the input
differential voltage ud is reduced to a value close to zero. As the non – inverting input of the
op amp is also near zero – it is a virtual ground (ground potential but there is no connection to
ground).

In consequence, the voltage drops across R1 and R2are u1 and u2, respectively. Applying KCL

u1 u 2
+ =0
R1 R2
to the inverting terminal gives:

And
u2 R
ku = =− 2
u1 R1

The sign “-“ confirm the fact that the output is 180o out of phase with respect to the input.

The input and the output resistance of the inverting amplifier with an ideal op amp are:

u1
Rin = = R1 Rout = 0
i1

Summing amplifier

The virtual ground associated with the inverting amplifier can be used as a summing junction
to combine the currents from a number of sources, as shown in the following figure.

U1 U 2 U U
+ + ... + n + out = 0
R1 R2 Rn RF

n
RF
U out = −∑ ui
i =1 Ri
From this equation it can be seen that the output is a weighted sum of the input voltages.

Differential (Difference) amplifier

An amplifier that produces an output which is proportional to the difference of the inputs is
shown below.

The potential of the non – inverting input results from the input voltage U1, which is divided
by R1R2:

R2
U + = U1
R1 + R2

The op amp adjusts its output voltage to make the potentials of both inputs almost equal:
R4 R3
U− = U2 + U out ( from sup erposition theorem)
R3 + R4 R3 + R4

U_ ≅ U+

R2 R4 R3
U1 ≅ U2 + U OUT
R1 + R2 R3 + R4 R3 + R4

R3 + R4 R2 R
U OUT = U1 − 4 U 2
R3 R1 + R2 R3

It can be seen from this equation that for any arbitrary choice of resistors both signals are
taken with different weights. It is usually required that the signals are directly subtracted and
the result is possibly amplified. To satisfy this the following condition should be fulfilled:

The same result could also be obtained by using the superposition theorem:
 R3 + R4 R2 R R1 R3
= 4 ⎯
⎯→ =
R3 R1 + R2 R3 R2 R4

And finally:
R2
U OUT = (U 1 − U 2 )
R1

The same result could also be obtained by using the superposition theorem:

R2 ⎛ R4 ⎞ R
U OUT = k1U 1 |U 2 =0 + k 2U 2 |U1 =0 = ⎜⎜1 + ⎟⎟U 1 − 4 U 2
R1 + R2 ⎝ R3 ⎠ R3

This circuit is simple but has some disadvantages.

The condition

Must be closely maintained because, otherwise, the CMRR of the circuit can be significantly
reduced. This is particularly a problem when the gain of the circuit is to be adjusted because
two precision resistors have to be changed at the same time. Another disadvantage of this
difference amplifier is its relatively low input resistance.

Instrumentation amplifier

The performance of the simple difference amplifier can be improved by the addition of a non
– inverting amplifier to each of the difference amplifier inputs. The circuit is shown in the
following figure.
Resistors R1, R2 of the difference amplifier are precisely set to achieve a large value of
CMRR.
The output voltage of this amplifier is:

U OUT =
R1
(
R2 '
U 1 − U 2' )

Assuming that the input differential voltages of the amplifiers on the left are close to zero we
get:

u1 − u 2
i≅
RG

u1 − u 2
u1' = u1 + iR3 = u1 + R3
RG

' u − u2
u = u 2 − iR3 = u 2 − 1 R3
2 RG

Substituting the last two expressions to the first one we finally get:
R2 ⎛ R ⎞
U OUT = ⎜⎜1 + 2 3 ⎟⎟(U 1 − U 2 )
R1 ⎝ RG ⎠

The gain of the instrumentation amplifier can easily be adjusted by changing RG only. The
input resistance for both sources is very high.

In a practical instrumentation amplifier the three operational amplifiers together with the
resistors R1, R2 and R3 are mounted in a single package with the resistor RG being left as an
external component to control gain.

Instrumentation amplifiers are used to measure a very small differential voltage in the
presence of a large common – mode signal (e.g. from a remote transducer).