Operational Amplifiers

A Linear IC circuit

Operational Amplifier (op-amp)

An op-amp is a high-gain amplifier that has high

input impedance and low output impedance. An ideal op-amp has infinite gain and input impedance and zero output impedance. An integrated circuit (IC) contains a number of components on a single piece of semiconductor. Most op-amps are IC chips.

The 741 Operational Amplifier

Op-Amp Input/Output
We consider the op-

amp as a single component with input and output characteristics. Two signal inputs:
! Inverting ! Non-inverting

Two dc power supply

leads (+ and !) One output lead

Op-Amp Packages

The Operation of Op-amps

The input stage of an op-amp is a

differential amplifier. The op-amp amplifies the difference between the two input terminal voltages.
Vdiff =V2 !V1
V1 V2

! +

Op-Amp Output
The output of the amplifier is determined by
! ! ! ! The gain of the amplifier. The polarity relationship between V1 and V2. The values of the supply voltages, +V and -V. The load resistance

Op-Amp Gain
The maximum possible gain of an op-amp

is called the open-loop gain AOL. Generally AOL is greater than 10,000. Typical values are on the order of 200,000. An ideal op-amp would have infinite gain.

Input/Output Polarity
The output polarity follows the sign of Vdiff. If V2 V1 > 0 the output polarity will be positive. If V2 V1 < 0 the output polarity will be negative.

V1 V2

! +

Supply Voltages
The supply voltages determine the limits of output

voltage swing. No matter what the gain and input voltages the output value can not exceed +V or V. In practice the maximum output voltage is slightly less than the supply voltages.
! For resistive loads > 10k" the output voltages are about 1V less than the supply voltages. ! For resistive loads > 2k" the output voltages are about 2V less than the supply voltages.

Open Loop Op-amp Use

As the open loop gain of most op-amps is

extremely large the output of an open-loop circuit is either the maximum positive or negative voltage.
+15 V

V1 V2

! +
-15 V

#+ 14 V Vout = " !$ 14 V

V2 > V1 V2 < V1

Feedback Circuits

Feedback
Most op-amp circuits are designed to use

feedback. Feedback is defined as taking a portion of the output of a circuit and coupling or feeding it back into the input. If the output fed back is in phase with the input then the circuit has positive feedback. If the output fed back is out of phase with the input then the circuit has negative feedback.

Negative Feedback
Most amplifiers use negative feedback. Disadvantages: ! decreased gain. Advantages: ! increased circuit stability, ! increased input impedance, ! decreased output impedance, ! increased frequency bandwidth at constant gain.

Negative Voltage Feedback

A fraction B < 1 of the output voltage is subtracted from the input voltage.

v" = vin ! Bvout

vin

v$
AOL

vout

-B

Negative Voltage Feedback

The closed loop gain, Av, is defined as

The closed loop gain can be calculated from two equations

v$ vin
#

AOL

vout

-B

Negative Voltage Feedback

Solving for Av gives

Usually the open-loop gain is so large that we can approximate:

v$ vin
#

AOL

vout

-B

Negative Feedback
The gain of the amplifier circuit

depends only on B, the fraction of output voltage fed back. B can be made very constant so that the amplifier has great gain stabilization. Example: B could be determined by two resistors in a voltage divider relationship.

vout

R1

Bvout

R2

Negative Feedback Impedance

The input and output impedance is also

changed by the feedback.

Op-Amp Circuits With Negative Feedback

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Non-Inverting Amplifier
Using Kirchoffs rule, Ohms Law, and our knowledge of

op-amps we can derive a closed loop-voltage gain for the non-inverting amplifier circuit shown below.
i2 i1

R2
i

R1 vin

v1 v2

vout

Non-Inverting Amplifier
As the input resistance of the op-amp is very large we can

neglect i.
The output voltage is given by the voltage difference and

the open-loop gain.

i2 i1

R2
i

R1 vin

v1 v2

vout

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Non-Inverting Amplifier
Combining the previous equations we find:

Av =

v out AOL ( R1 + R2 ) = v in ( AOL + 1) R1 + R2

If the open-loop gain is very large:

!
i2 i1

R2
i

R1 vin

v1 v2

vout

Inverting Amplifier
Using Kirchoffs rule, Ohms Law, and our knowledge of

op-amps we can derive a closed loop-voltage gain for the inverting amplifier circuit shown below
i2 i1

R2
i v1 v2

R1 vin

vout

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Inverting Amplifier
The output voltage is related to the voltage difference.

Neglecting i and combining the equations gives

i2 i1

R2
i v1 v2

R1 vin

vout

Inverting Amplifier
For a very large open-loop gain

becomes
i2 i1

R2
i v1 v2

R1 vin

vout

13

The Two Golden Rules of Op-Amp Circuits

Notice in both derivations two approximations were made: (1)

the input current i flowing into the op-amp was neglected compared to other currents; and (2) the open-loop op amp gain AOL was assumed to be very large compared to the gain with feedback. These two approximations can be extended to form two golden rules for analyzing an op-amp circuits with negative feedback.
Op-Amp Current Rule (OACR): The current into or out of each

op-amp input terminal is approximately zero. Op-Amp Voltage Rule (OAVR): The voltage difference between the two op-amp input terminals is approximately zero.

Op-Amp Current Rule

The OACR basically says that the input

impedance of the op-amp is much higher than the external input impedance from the input terminal to ground. For BJT op-amps input impedance is on the order of 10M!. For FET op-amps input impedance is on the order of 1012 !.

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Op-Amp Voltage Rule

The OAVR is the equivalent of saying that the open-loop

gain is infinite. The output of the op-amp can never be greater than the supply voltage (~15V) which means that (v2-v1 ) must be less that 150 "V for a typical AOL or the output will be saturated. Therefore if the op-amp is not saturated then the difference between the input terminals must be nearly zero. The rule says that in an actual op amp circuit the negative feedback plus the high gain of the op-amp effectively zeros the difference between the two inputs.

Non-inverting Amp
OACR: i1 = i2

OAVR: v1 = v2 = vin
i2 i1

R2

R1 vin
v1 v2

vout

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Inverting Amp
OACR: i1 = i2

OAVR: v1 = v2 = 0
i2 i1

R2

R1 vin
v1 v2

vout

Instrumentation Amplifier

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Peak Detection Amplifier

Positive Feedback

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Positive Feedback Circuits

Rather than placing a portion of the output

back into the inverting input a portion of the output is sent back to the non-inverting terminal to produce positive feedback.

Positive Feedback Circuits

Oscillators

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Positive Feedback Circuits

Oscillators

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