Sallen-Key Lowpass filter calculator

BeB Hennink, National Semiconductor

This second order lowpass c alculator tool may be used for both discrete op-amps
as well as ICs with integrated gain stages such as LMP860X and LMP827X
families. All the green and yellow boxes require user-entry.

Iterating between the 2 steps below, the user quickly arrives at a final design.

Gain K of the amplifier
Desired Cut Off Frequency
First, in t he top section, enter your desired filter performance and choice of R1.
Tolerance
3 0.5 %
Ideal values for the other components will be calculated in the white boxes.
12000 Hz • A Q between 0.5 and 1/√2 is a good compromise between rise time and

Desired Q 0.7 settling time. Higher Q can result in overshoot that can drive an ADC into
75398.22 Tolerance saturation and can also make the filter more vulnerable to component
R1 = 7.500 kΩ 5.0 % tolerances, which in combination with higher gains might cause instability.
• If C1 and C2 end up impractically low, choose a higher value for R1
R2 = 7.653 kΩ • If C1 and C2 end up impractically high, choose a lower value for R1
C1 = 2.4757 nF
C2 = 1.2379 nF
Enter real components values below to calculate
resulting filter Cut Off Frequency and Q
Tolerance Next, in the bottom section, enter in the green boxes the standard values closest
Gain = 3.00 V/V 0.5 % to the ideal values above. The resulting cutoff frequency and Q are shown in the
R2 = 7.500 kΩ 5.0 % white boxes.
C1 = 2.2000 nF 5.0 % • A warning will be given if the filter -- realized with the selected component
C2 = 1.2000 nF 5.0 %
FALSE
values and their tolerances -- has a high potential for instability.
Result Cut Off Frequency 13060.4 Hz
Nominal Result Q 0.81
Effect of component tolerances
C1 range 2.0900 min 2.3100 max
C2 range 1.1400 min 1.2600 max
Cut Off frequency variation 11846.2 Hz 14471.4 Hz
Q variation 0.6885 0.9888

THE CONTENTS OF THIS DOCUMENT ARE PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION
(“NATIONAL”) PRODUCTS. NATIONAL MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY
OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS PUBLICATION AND RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MAKE CHANGES TO Copyright© 2009 National Semiconductor Corporation
SPECIFICATIONS AND PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE. NO LICENSE, WHETHER EXPRESS,
IMPLIED, ARISING BY ESTOPPEL OR OTHERWISE, TO ANY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IS GRANTED BY THIS
DOCUMENT.
4