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Di erential Ampli er
FEBRUARY 1, 2019 BY ADMINISTRATOR — 2 COMMENTS

In this tutorial, we will learn about one of the important circuit in analog circuit design: a
Di erential Ampli er. It is essentially an electronic ampli er, which has two inputs and ampli es
the di erence between those two input voltages.

Operational Ampli er is internally a Di erential Ampli er with features like High Input
Impedance, Low Output Impedance etc. For more information on Op-Amp, read “Operational
Ampli er Basics“.

Table of Contents 
1. Introduction
2. Di erential Ampli er
2.1. Input Resistance
2.2. Di erential Gain
2.3. Common Mode Input
2.4. Common Mode Rejection Ratio (CMRR)
 3. Characteristics of a Di erential Ampli er
4. Di erential Ampli er as Comparator
5. Light Activated Switch using Di erential Ampli er
6. Di erential Ampli er Example
7. Di erential Ampli er Summary
8. Related Posts:

Introduction

The di erential pair or di erential ampli er con guration is a most widely used building block
in analogue integrated-circuit design. It is the input stage of every operational ampli er,
virtually.

A di erence ampli er or di erential ampli er ampli es the di erence between the two input
signals. An operational ampli er is a di erence ampli er; it has an inverting input and a non-
inverting input. But the open loop voltage gain of an operational ampli er is too high (ideally
in nite), to be used without a feedback connection.

So, a practical di erence ampli er uses a negative feedback connection to control the voltage
gain of the ampli er.

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Di erential Ampli er
The di erence ampli er shown in the above circuit is a combination of both inverting and non-
inverting ampli ers. If the non-inverting terminal is connected to ground, the circuit operates
as an inverting ampli er and the input signal V1 is ampli ed by – (R3 / R1).

Similarly, if the inverting input terminal is connected to ground, the circuit behaves as a non-
inverting ampli er. With the inverting input terminal grounded, R3 and R1 function as the
feedback components of a non-inverting ampli er.

Input V2 is potentially divided across resistors R2 and R4 to give VR4, and then VR4 is ampli ed
by (R3 + R1) / R1.

With V2 = 0,

VO1 = -(R3 / R1) * V1

With V1 = 0,

VR4 = {R4/(R2+R4)}*V2

and

VO2 = {(R1+R3)/R1}*VR4

Therefore,

VO2 = {(R1 + R3) / R1} * {R4 / (R2 + R4) } * V2

If the input resistances are chosen such that, R2 = R1 and R4 = R3, then
 VO2 = {R3 / R1} * V2

Now, according to superposition principle if both the input signals V1 and V2 are present, then
the output voltage is

VO = VO1 + VO2

 = {-(R3 / R1) * V1} + {R3 / R1} * V2

Which results in, 

VO = (R3 / R1) * {V2 – V1}

When the resistors R3 and R1 are of the same value, the output is the direct di erence of the
input voltages applied. By selecting R3 greater than R1, the output can be made an ampli ed
version of the di erence of the input voltages.

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Input Resistance
One problem with selecting the di erence ampli er resistors as R2 = R1 and R3 = R4 is that the
input resistances for both inverting ampli er and non-inverting ampli er are unequal.

The input resistance for voltage V1 is R1 as in the case of an inverting ampli er. For the non-
inverting input, i.e. for input voltage V2, the input resistance is (R2 + R4).

This di erence in the input resistances causes one of the input signals to be more ampli ed
than the other.
The output equation of the di erence ampli er VO, can be obtained by making the ratio R4 / R2
the same as R3 / R1, instead of making R2 = R1 and R4 = R3.

The input resistance di erence will not cause a problem if the signal source resistances are
much smaller than the input resistances. Also, it is usually desirable to have R2 = R1 and R4 = R3,
in order to minimize the input o set voltages.

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Di erential Gain
The di erential gain of a di erence ampli er is de ned as the gain obtained at the output
signal with respect to the di erence in the input signals applied. 

The output voltage of a di erence ampli er is given as,

VO = AD (V1 – V2)

where, AD = – (R3 / R1) is the di erential gain of the ampli er.

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Common Mode Input

A di erence ampli er ampli es the di erence between the two input voltages. Ideally, a
common mode input Vcm would make the inputs (V1 + Vcm) and (V2 + Vcm), which will result in
Vcm being cancelled out when the di erence of the two input voltages is ampli ed.

Since the output of a practical di erence ampli er depends upon the ratio of the input
resistances, if these resistor ratios are not exactly equal, then one input voltage is ampli ed by
a greater amount than the other input.

Consequently, the common mode voltage Vcm will not be completely cancelled. Because it is
practically impossible to match resistor ratios perfectly, there is likely to be some common
mode output voltage.  

With the common mode input voltage present, the output voltage of the di erential ampli er
is given as,

VO = AdVd + Ac Vc
 Where Vd = the di erence voltage V1-V 2

Vc = the common mode voltage (V1+V2)/2

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Common Mode Rejection Ratio (CMRR)

The ability of a di erential ampli er to reject common mode input signals is expressed in
terms of common mode rejection ratio (CMRR). The common mode rejection ratio of a
di erential ampli er is mathematically given as the ratio of di erential voltage gain of the
di erential ampli er to its common mode gain.

CMRR = | Ad / Ac|

Ideally, the common mode voltage gain of a di erential ampli er is zero. Hence the CMRR is
ideally in nite.

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Characteristics of a Di erential Ampli er

High Di erential Voltage Gain
Low Common Mode Gain
High Input Impedance
Low Output Impedance
High CMRR
Large Bandwidth
Low o set voltages and currents

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Di erential Ampli er as Comparator

A di erential ampli er circuit is a very useful op-amp circuit, since it can be con gured to
either “add” or “subtract” the input voltages, by suitably adding more resistors in parallel with
the input resistors.
A Wheatstone bridge di erential ampli er circuit design is as shown in the gure above. This
circuit behaves like a di erential voltage comparator.

By connecting one input to a xed voltage and the other to a thermistor (or a light-dependent
resistor), the di erential ampli er circuit detects high or low levels of temperature (or intensity
of light) as the output voltage becomes a linear function of the changes in the active leg of the
resistive bridge network.

A Wheatstone bridge di erential ampli er can also be used to nd the unknown resistance in
the resistive bridge network, by comparing the input voltages across the resistors.

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Light Activated Switch using Di erential Ampli er

The circuit shown in the gure above acts as a light-dependent switch, which turns the output
relay either “on” or “o ” as the intensity of the light falling upon the light-dependent resistor
(LDR) exceeds or falls below a pre-set value at the non-inverting input terminal V2.

The voltage V2 is determined by the variable resistor VR1. The resistors R1 and R2 act as a
potential divider network. A xed reference voltage is applied to the inverting input, through R1
and R2.

The same circuit can be modi ed to detect variations in temperature, simply by replacing the
LDR by a Thermistor. By interchanging the positions of LDR and VR1, the circuit can be made to
detect dark or light (or heat or cold with the use of a thermistor).

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Di erential Ampli er Example

Determine the output voltage of a di erential ampli er for the input voltages of 300µV and
240µV. The di erential gain of the ampli er is 5000 and the value of CMRR is (i) 100 and (ii) 105

The di erential ampli er for the given data is represented as shown in the gure.

i) CMRR = Ad / Ac

100 =5000 / Ac

Ac = 50

Vd = V1 – V2 = 300µV – 240µV = 60µV

Vc = (V1 + V2)/2 = 540µV / 2 = 270 µV

               VO = Ad Vd + Ac Vc

                                                = [5000 x 60 + 50 x 270] µV
                                       VO = 313500 µV = 313.500 mV

ii) CMRR = 105 

Ac = Ad / CMRR = 5000 / 105 = 0.05 

VO = AdVd + Ac Vc = [5000×60 + 0.05×270] µV

VO = 300013.5 µV

Note: Ideally, Ac iszero. So the output is only AdVd, which results in VO = 5000 x 60 µV = 300mV.

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Di erential Ampli er Summary

A di erential ampli er also known as di erence ampli er is a useful op-amp
con guration that ampli es the di erence between the input voltages applied.
A di erential ampli er is a combination of both inverting and non-inverting ampli ers. It
uses a negative feedback connection to control the di erential voltage gain.
The di erential voltage gain of the ampli er is dependent on the ratio of the input
resistances. Therefore, by choosing the input resistances carefully, it is possible to
accurately control the gain of the di erence ampli er.
The common mode gain of a di erential ampli er is ideally zero. But due to mismatch in
the resistor values, there will be a very small common mode output voltage and a nite
common mode gain.
By suitably modifying the resistor connections at the input terminals, a di erence
ampli er can be made to add, subtract and compare the input voltage levels applied.

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Previous  Post – Summing Ampli er

Next Post – Instrumentation Ampli er

Related Posts:
Non Inverting Operational Ampli ers
Summing Ampli er
Operational Ampli er Applications
Instrumentation Ampli er Basics and Applications