OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER (OP-AMP)

• As name suggests Operational amplifier were initially used in analogue computers to performs a
mathematical operation, such as, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and so on.

• The typical op-amp is a dc amplifier with very high voltage gain, very high input impedance, and very
low output impedance.

• An IC op-amp is a complete functional block with external pins. By connecting these pins to supply
voltages and a few components, we can quickly build all kinds of useful circuits.

• The input circuit used in most op amps is the differential amplifier. This amplifier configuration
establishes many of the IC’s input characteristics.

• A typical op-amp is made up of three types of amplifier circuits: a differential amplifier, a voltage
amplifier, and a push-pull amplifier.
THE DIFFERENTIAL AMPLIFIER
• Transistors, diodes, and resistors are basic components in a typical ICs.
• Due to the small size of the capacitor in an IC, the designers cannot use coupling and bypass
capacitors the way a discrete circuit designer can.
• So it is preferred to use direct coupling between stages and also needs to eliminate the emitter
bypass capacitor without losing too much voltage gain.

• The design of differential amplifier (diff amp) is the key as it eliminates the need for an emitter
bypass capacitor.

• For this and other reasons, the diff amp is used as the input stage of almost every IC op amp.

 A differential amplifier is an amplifier that produces an output proportional to the difference of

two inputs.

 As you will see the differential amplifier has two outputs where the op-amp has only one
output. Also, there is a positive and a negative supply voltage (VCC and VEE).
 • It is two CE stages in parallel with a common emitter
resistor.
• The ac output voltage vout is defined as the voltage
between the collectors.

• This voltage is called a differential output

because it combines the two ac collector voltages
into one voltage that equals the difference of the
collector voltages.
• Ideally, the circuit has identical transistors and
equal collector resistors.

• Input v1 is called the noninverting input because vout is in phase with v1

• v2 is called the inverting input because vout is 180° out of phase with v2.

• In some applications, only the noninverting input is used and the inverting input is grounded and
vice versa.
Single-Ended Output:
• A differential output requires a floating load because neither end of the load can be grounded. This is
inconvenient in many applications since loads are often single-ended; that is, one end is grounded

• The ac output signal is taken from the collector on the right side. The collector resistor on the left
has been removed because it serves no useful purpose.

• The plus sign represents the noninverting input, and the minus sign is the inverting input.

• With a single-ended output, however, the voltage gain is half as much as with a differential output
because the output is coming from only one of the collectors.
Noninverting-Input Configurations:

Differential output. Single ended output.

Inverting-Input Configurations:
DC Analysis of a Diff Amp:

• A diff amp is sometimes called a long-tail pair because the

two transistors share a common resistor RE. The current
through this common resistor is called the tail current.
• It is assumed that the transistors are identically matched by
careful process control during manufacturing so that their dc
emitter currents are the same when there is no input signal.

B =

Effect of Base Resistors on Tail Current:

When base resistors are used, they have a negligible effect on the tail current in a well-designed diff
amp. When base resistors are included in the analysis, the equation for tail current becomes:
What are the currents and voltages in the present
diff amp?
AC Analysis of a Diff Amp:
Single-Ended Output Gain:

• Since Q2 is grounded the biasing resistor RE is in parallel with the re

of the right transistor.
• In any practical design, RE is much greater than re, we can ignore RE.

• Since the two resistances are equal, the voltage across each re is
half of the input voltage.
Noninverting input and differential-Output Gain

• The second minus sign appears because the vc1 signal is 180° out of phase with vc2.
Differential-Input Configurations:

• The differential-input configurations have both inputs active at the same time. The ac analysis can be
simplified by using the superposition theorem.

• Since we know how a diff amp behaves with noninverting and inverting inputs, we can combine the
two results to get the equations for differential-input configurations.

The output voltage for a noninverting input is:

The output voltage for an inverting input is:

By combining the two results, we get the equation for a differential input:
 What is the ac output voltage? If =300, what is
the input impedance of the diff amp?

What is the ac output voltage, =300, what is the

input impedance of the diff amp?
Input Characteristics of an Op Amp:
• We assume perfect symmetry in a diff amp for the analysis so far. But for accurate analysis we can
not take the two halves of a diff amp as identical.
• There are three important parameters we need to look into: input bias current, the input offset
current, and the input offset voltage.

Input Bias Current:

• In an op amp, the dc are slightly different for the two transistors, implying a slightly different base
current.

• The input bias current is defined as the average of the dc base currents.

Input Off set Current (IOS):

• The input offset current is defined as the difference of the dc base currents:

• This difference in the base currents indicates how closely the transistors are matched.
Effect of Base Current:
• The base current through RB produces a noninverting dc
input voltage of:

• When this false signal is amplified, an unwanted dc voltage

Verror appears across the output.

• One way to reduce the output error voltage is by using an equal

base resistance on the other side of the diff amp.

• Since Iin(off ) is usually less than 25 percent of Iin(bias), the input error
voltage is much less when equal base resistors are used. For this
reason, designers often include an equal base resistance on the
opposite side of a diff amp.
Input Offset Voltage (VOS):

• The input offset voltage is defined as the input voltage that

would produce the same output error voltage in a perfect diff
amp.

• For instance, if a diff amp has an output error voltage of 0.6 V

and a voltage gain of 300, the input offset voltage is:

Combined Effects: • Output of diff amp includes desired signal and error voltage.

Error Voltages:
The diff amp has Av =200, Iin(bias) =3 A, Iin(off) = 0.5 A, and Vin(off) =1 mV. What
is the output error voltage? If a matching base resistor is
used, what is the output error voltage.
Common-Mode Gain: • The same input voltage vin(CM) is being applied to each base.
This voltage is called a common-mode signal.

• If the diff amp is perfectly symmetrical, there is no ac output

voltage with a common-mode input signal because v1=v2.

• When a diff amp is not perfectly symmetrical, there will

be a small ac output voltage.

• This type of amplifier used to reject some types of unwanted

signal
• The connecting wires on the input bases act like small antennas. If the
diff amp is operating in an environment with a lot of electromagnetic
interference, each base acts like a small antenna that picks up an
unwanted signal voltage.

The common mode voltage gain, Which is always less than 1.

Common-Mode Rejection Ratio:

The higher the CMRR, the better. A high CMRR means that the diff amp
is amplifying the wanted signal and discriminating against the common-
mode signal.
 what is the common-mode voltage gain?

Av = 150, and v1 = 1 mV and the base leads are picking

up a common-mode signal of 1 mV, what is the output voltage?
Slew Rate, SR:
• The maximum rate of change of the output voltage in response to a step input voltage is the slew
rate of an op-amp.

• The slew rate is dependent upon the high frequency response of the amplifier stages within the op-
amp.

• The high frequency response is limited only by the junction capacitances of the transistors.

• The width of the input pulse must be sufficient to allow the output to “slew” from its lower limit
to its upper limit
• As you can see, a certain time interval, Δt, is required for the output voltage to go from its
lower limit -Vmax to its upper limit +Vmax, once the input step is applied.

where ΔVout = +Vmax - (-Vmax). The unit of slew rate is volts per microsecond (V/s).
For the given output voltage determine the slew rate?
Integrated circuit:

P-type crystal Cut into slices and Annealed in furnace Pure O2 is blown on
Polished one side with pentavalent gas the surface to form
to form an epitaxial SiO2 layer for protection
layer of n-type

Cut into rectangular area for separate chips

Integrated circuit:

Part of the SiO2 layer is etched trivalent atoms are Oxygen is again blown
diffused into the epitaxial over the surface to form
layer inside a furnace the complete SiO2
Integrated circuit:

trivalent atoms are Oxygen is again blown

Again etched diffused to form base over the surface to form
the complete SiO2
Integrated circuit:

Same procedure can be followed to make transistor, diode and resistor.

NEGATIVE FEEDBACK:
 Negative feedback is one of the most useful concepts in electronics, particularly in op-amp
applications.
 Negative feedback is the process whereby a portion of the output voltage of an amplifier is returned to
the input with a phase angle that opposes (or subtracts from) the input signal.

 When negative feedback is present, the noninverting and inverting inputs are nearly identical.
 The circuit that uses this type of negative feedback is called a voltage-controlled voltage source (VCVS).
• Assume a 1.0 mV input signal is applied to the noninverting terminal and the open-loop gain of the op-
amp is 100,000.

• The amplifier responds to the voltage at its noninverting input terminal and moves the output
toward saturation.

• Immediately, a fraction of this output is returned to the inverting terminal through the feedback path.

• If the feedback signal reaches 1.0 mV, there is nothing left for the op-amp to amplify! Thus, the feedback
signal tries in matching the input signal. The gain is controlled by the amount of feedback used.

• Now suppose something happens that reduces the internal gain of the op-amp.

• So the output signal to drop a small amount, returning a smaller signal to the inverting input via the
feedback path.
• This means the difference between the signals is larger than it was.

• The output increases, compensating for the original drop in gain. The net change in the output is so
small, it can hardly be measured.

• The main point is that any variation in the amplifier is immediately compensated for by the
negative feedback, resulting in a very stable, predictable output.
Use of Negative Feedback:

 As you have seen, the inherent open-loop gain of a typical op-amp is very large. Therefore, an
extremely small difference in the two input voltages drives the op-amp into its saturated output states.
In fact, even the input offset voltage of the op-amp can drive it into saturation.

 The usefulness of an op-amp operated in this manner is severely restricted and is generally limited to
comparator applications.
 With negative feedback, the overall closed-loop voltage gain can be reduced and controlled so that
the op-amp can function as a linear amplifier.

 In addition to providing a controlled, stable voltage gain, negative feedback also provides for control
of the input and output resistances and amplifier bandwidth.

 Since negative feedback takes a portion of the output and applies it back out of phase with the input, it
creates an effective reduction in gain, called closed-loop gain, which is usually much less than the
open-loop gain and independent of it.
Open-Loop Voltage Gain (Aol)
• The open-loop voltage gain of the op-amp is the internal voltage gain of the device and represents
the ratio of output voltage to input voltage when there are no external components.

• The open-loop voltage gain is set entirely by the internal design.

• Open-loop voltage gain can range to 200,000 or more. Data sheets often refer to the open-loop
voltage gain as the large-signal voltage gain.

Closed-Loop Voltage Gain (Acl)

• The closed-loop voltage gain is the voltage gain of an op-amp with negative feedback.

• The amplifier configuration consists of the op-amp and an external feedback network that
connects the output to the inverting input.

• The closed-loop voltage gain is then determined by the component values in the feedback network
and can be precisely controlled by them
Noninverting Amplifier:

• The input signal is applied to the noninverting (+) input. A portion of the output is applied back to the
inverting (-) input through the feedback network.

• The feedback fraction, B, is determined by Rf and Ri, which form a voltage-divider.

The differential voltage at the input,

• This input differential voltage is forced to be very small as a result of the negative feedback.

• The ratio of the output voltage to the input voltage is the closed-loop gain
• The closed-loop voltage gain, Acl(NI), of the noninverting (NI) amplifier is not dependent on the
op-amp’s open-loop gain but can be set by selecting proper values of Ri and Rf.
Determine the closed-loop voltage gain?
Voltage-Follower

• The voltage-follower configuration is a special case of the noninverting amplifier where all of the
output voltage is fed back to the inverting input by a straight connection.

Since B = 1,

• The most important features of the voltage-follower configuration are its very high input resistance
and its very low output resistance. These features make it a nearly ideal buffer amplifier for
interfacing high-resistance sources and low-resistance loads.
Inverting Amplifier

• The input signal is applied through a series input resistor (Ri) to the inverting input. Also, the
output is fed back through Rf to the inverting input. The noninverting input is grounded.

• The ideal op-amp parameters, in particular, the infinite input resistance, implies that there is no
current out of the inverting input.

• If there is no current through the input resistance, then there must be no voltage drop between the
inverting and noninverting inputs.

• This zero voltage at the inverting input terminal is referred to as virtual ground.
 • Since there is no current at the inverting input, the
current through Ri and the current through Rf are
equal

Also, the voltage across Rf equals to Vout because of virtual ground, and therefore,

Since If = Iin,

• The closed-loop gain is independent of the op-amp’s internal open-loop gain. Thus, the negative
feedback stabilizes the voltage gain.
Determine the value of Rf required to produce a closed-loop voltage gain of -100.
Resistances of a Noninverting Amplifier

• Negative feedback in a noninverting configuration increases the input resistance and

decreases the output resistance
What will be the input and output resistance of a voltage follower?
Resistances of an Inverting Amplifier

Because of the virtual ground at the inverting input.

Find the values of the input and output resistances. Determine the closed-loop voltage gain.
COMPARATORS:
• Operational amplifier used to compare the amplitude of one voltage with another is called as
comparator.

• This means comparator is a circuit that can determine if an input voltage exceeds a certain level.

• In this application, the op-amp is used in the open-loop configuration, with the input voltage on one
input and a reference voltage on the other.

• When an op-amp is used as a comparator, there is no negative feedback; and the op-amp output will
be saturated in one of two states.

• Comparators are specialized op-amps designed with low bias current and fast switching times . Low
bias current is an important specification for comparators because bias current can cause switching
points to change if the current is in external resistors.

• Comparators often have other built-in features, such as hysteresis (two switching points) with an
external pin to control the thresholds.

• They have very stable internal reference voltage that is compensated for temperature variations.
Zero-Level Detection

• Inverting input is grounded and the signal is applied to the noninverting input.

• As the input signal crosses the 0 V reference point, the output suddenly switches from one saturated
state to the other.

• When the sine wave is negative, the output is at its maximum negative level. When the sine wave
crosses 0, the amplifier is driven to its opposite state and the output goes to its maximum positive
level.
• The zero-level detector can be used as a squaring circuit to produce a square wave from a sine
wave.
Nonzero-Level Detection:

• Zero-level detector can be modified to detect voltages other than zero by connecting a fixed
reference voltage to the inverting input.
• As long as the input voltage is less than reference voltage the
output remains at the maximum negative level.
• When the input voltage exceeds the reference voltage, the
output goes to its maximum positive state.
Draw the output showing its proper relationship to the input signal. Assume that the maximum output
level of the op-amp is 12 V.
Schmitt Trigger:
• Schmitt trigger is a comparator with hysteresis where the input voltage is large enough to drive the
device into its saturated states.
• When the input voltage exceeds a certain threshold value or trigger point, the device switches to one
of its saturated output states.
• When the input falls back below another threshold value, the device switches back to its other
saturated output state.
• A positive feedback loop is used in case of a Schmitt Trigger.
• When the comparator is positively saturated, a positive voltage is
fed back to the noninverting input. This positive feedback voltage
holds the output in the high state.

• When the output voltage is negatively saturated, a negative

voltage is fed back to the noninverting input, holding the output
in the low state.
Hysteresis:

• If the output is positively saturated, the reference voltage is +BVsat.

So the input voltage must be increased to slightly more than
+BVsat to switch the output voltage from positive to negative.

• Once the output is in the negative state, it will remain there

indefinitely until the input voltage becomes more negative than -
BVsat. Then, the output switches from negative to positive.

• The unusual response is called hysteresis.

• The trip points are defined as the two input voltages where the output voltage changes states.

The upper trip point (UTP) has the value, The lower trip point (LTP) has the value:

• The difference between these trip points is called as the hysteresis

• Hysteresis is desirable in a Schmitt trigger because it prevents noise from causing false triggering. If
the peak-to-peak noise voltage is less than the hysteresis, the noise cannot produce false triggering.
SUMMING AMPLIFIERS:
• The summing amplifier has two or more inputs, and its output voltage is proportional to the
negative of the algebraic sum of its input voltages.
• The summing amplifier is a variation of the inverting op-amp configuration.

That will be the current through Rf.

Lets choose all resistor to be equal

For n inputs,
Determine the output voltage?

Determine the output voltage?

Averaging Amplifier:
• An averaging amplifier, which is a variation of a summing amplifier, can produce the negative value
of the mathematical average of the input voltages.
• This is done by setting the ratio equal to the reciprocal of the number of inputs.

Determine Vout.
What is the output voltage?

Vout=-4.9V
The Op-Amp Integrator:

• An op-amp integrator simulates mathematical integration, which is basically a summing process that
determines the total area under the curve of a function.
• The feedback element is a capacitor that forms an RC circuit with the input resistor.

• This expression has the form of an equation for a

straight line beginning at zero with a constant
slope of IC/C.

• But the capacitor voltage in a simple RC circuit is exponential, not linear, as the charging current
continuously decreases as the capacitor charges and causes the rate of change of the voltage to
continuously decrease.
• The key thing about using an opamp with an RC circuit to form an integrator is that the capacitor’s
charging current is made constant, thus producing a straight-line (linear) voltage rather than an
exponential voltage.
• The magnitude of the output signal is determined by the length of time a voltage is present at its input
as the current through the feedback loop charges or discharges the capacitor as the required negative
feedback occurs through the capacitor.
 If Vin is constant Iin also constant.

• The constant IC charges the capacitor linearly and produces a linear voltage across VC.
• The positive side of the capacitor is held at 0 V by the virtual ground of the op-amp. The voltage on
the negative side of the capacitor decreases linearly from zero as the capacitor charges.
• When a constant input voltage in the form of a step or
pulse is applied, the output ramp decreases negatively
until the op-amp saturates at its maximum negative level.
• The rate at which the capacitor charges, and
therefore the slope of the output ramp, is set by
the ratio IC/C
Calculate the rate of change of the output voltage during the time the capacitor is charging?

Calculate the total change in voltage. Describe the output and draw the waveform.
The Op-Amp Differentiator:

• An op-amp differentiator simulates mathematical differentiation, which is a process of determining

the instantaneous rate of change of a function.

• A differentiator produces an inverted output that is

proportional to the rate of change of the input voltage
• The output is negative when the input is a positive-going ramp and positive when the input is a negative-
going ramp.
• During this positive slope of the input, the capacitor is charging from the input source and the
constant current through the feedback resistor.

• During the negative slope of the input, the current is in the opposite direction because the capacitor is
discharging.

• Since VC/t is the slope of the input, if the slope increases, Vout increases and vice versa.

• So, the output voltage is proportional to the slope (rate of change) of the input.

• The constant of proportionality is the time constant RfC.

The input waveform is taken from the output of the previous integrator. Draw the output waveform.
OSCILLATORS:
The Wien-Bridge Oscillator:

• The Wien-bridge oscillator is an electronic oscillator that can produce low distortion sine waves over a
wide range of frequencies.

• The Wien-bridge oscillator is the standard oscillator circuit for low to moderate frequencies in the
range of 5 Hz to about 1 MHz. It is often used in commercial audio generators and is usually preferred
for other low-frequency applications

• A fundamental part of the Wien-bridge oscillator is

a lead-lag circuit.

• R1 and C1 and together form the lag portion of the

circuit; R2 and C2 form the lead portion of the circuit.
Lag Circuit (By-pass circuit):

• The output phasor can lag the input phasor by an angle between 0° and 90°

Lead Circuit (coupling circuit):

• The output phasor can lead the input phasor by an angle between 0° and 90°.

• A sinusoidal oscillator always uses some kind of phase-shifting circuit to produce oscillation at
one frequency.
• At lower frequencies, the lead circuit dominates due to the high reactance of C2.

• As the frequency increases, XC2 decreases, thus allowing the output voltage to increase.

• At some specified frequency, the response of the lag circuit takes over, and the decreasing value
of causes the output XC1 voltage to decrease.
• The frequency where the output is maximum is the resonant frequency fr.

• At this frequency, the feedback fraction B reaches a maximum value of 1⁄3 and the
phase shift will be zero.

• The feedback has a maximum value at the resonant frequency. At this frequency, XC = R:

• At resonant frequency fr, at which the phase shift through the circuit is zero and the attenuation is 1⁄3.
Below fr the lead circuit dominates and the output leads the input. Above fr the lag circuit dominates
and the output lags the input.
• A voltage divider is used in the negative feedback loop.

• The Wien-bridge oscillator circuit can be viewed as a noninverting amplifier configuration with the
input signal fed back from the output through the lead-lag circuit.
• The closed-loop gain of the amplifier is determined by the voltage divider.
Positive Feedback Conditions for Oscillation:
• For the circuit to produce a sustained sinusoidal output (oscillate), the phase shift around the positive
feedback loop must be zero and the gain around the loop must be unity.

• The zero phase-shift condition is met when the frequency is fr because the phase shift through the
lead-lag circuit is zero and there is no inversion from the noninverting input of the op-amp to the
output.
• The unity-gain condition in the feedback loop is met when

• This offsets the 1⁄3 attenuation of the lead-lag circuit, thus making the total gain around the
positive feedback loop equal to 1
• To achieve a closed-loop gain of 3,
Start-Up Conditions

• Initially, the closed-loop gain of the amplifier itself must be more than three until the output signal
builds up to a desired level. The gain of the amplifier must then decrease to 3 so that the total gain
around the loop is 1 and the output signal stays at the desired level, thus sustaining oscillation.
A Square-Wave Relaxation Oscillator:
• Its operation is based on the charging and
discharging of a capacitor.

• The op-amp’s inverting input is the capacitor

voltage and the noninverting input is a portion of
the output fed back through resistors.

• When the circuit is first turned on, the capacitor is

uncharged, and thus the inverting input is at 0 V.

• So the output is positive maximum, and the

capacitor begins to charge toward Vout through R1.
Phase-Shift Oscillator:

Phase-shift oscillator with three lead circuits in the feedback path.

Phase-shift oscillator with three lag circuits.

 Active Filters
• As we have seen in RC/RL/RLC circuit, filters are used in almost all communication systems.

• A filter passes one band of frequencies while rejecting another.

• A filter can be either passive or active.

• Passive filters are built with resistors, capacitors, and inductors. They are generally used above 1 MHz,
have no power gain, and are relatively difficult to tune.

• Active filters are built with resistors, capacitors, and op amps. They are useful below 1 MHz, have
power gain, and are relatively easy to tune.

• Filters are usually categorized by the manner in which the output voltage varies with the frequency of
the input voltage.

• The categories of active filters are low-pass, high-pass, and band-pass.

Low-Pass Active Filters:
• A low-pass filter passes all frequencies from zero to the cutoff frequency and blocks all frequencies
above the cutoff frequency.
• With a low-pass filter, the frequencies between zero and the cutoff frequency are called the
passband. The frequencies above the cutoff frequency are called the stopband. The roll-off region
between the passband and the stopband is called the transition.

• An ideal low-pass filter has zero attenuation (signal loss) in the passband, infinite attenuation in
the stopband, and a vertical transition.
• As you can see the input circuit is a single low-
pass RC circuit, and unity gain is provided by the
op-amp with a negative feedback loop.

• A filter with one RC circuit that produces a -20

dB/decade roll-off beginning at cutoff frequency is
said to be a single-pole or first-order filter. The term “-
20 dB/decade” means that the voltage gain decreases
by ten times (-20 dB) when the frequency increases
by ten times
 1
Cutoff frequency: 𝑓𝑐 =
2𝑅𝐶
• When the frequency increases above the cutoff frequency, the capacitive reactance decreases and
reduces the noninverting input voltage. As the frequency approaches infinity, the capacitor becomes
a short and there is zero input voltage.

Low-pass filter with voltage gain:

Voltage gain:

Cutoff frequency:

What is the voltage gain and cutoff frequency?

Low-Pass Two-Pole Filters (second order):
• The two-pole filter uses two RC circuits to produce a roll-off rate of -40 dB/decade.

The critical frequency of this filter can be calculated using the formula:

We choose C1 = 2C2 and R1 = R2

So that it result in a gain of 0.707 (-3 dB) at the critical frequency.

The larger C1 is with respect to C2, the more the positive feedback.
This makes gain greater than 0.707, peaking appears in the frequency response.
Tuning the critical frequency:

• Two-pole low-pass filter with values chosen to produce

a response with a critical frequency of 1 kHz.

fc = 2 kHz fc = 500 Hz
Calculate the capacitance values required to produce a 3 kHz critical frequency?
High-Pass Active Filters:

• Ideally, a high-pass filter passes all frequencies above without limit, as indicated in In practice, of
course, such is not the case.
• All op-amps inherently have internal RC circuits that limit the amplifier’s response at high frequencies.
High-Pass Two-Pole Filters

• This filter has a roll-off rate of -40 dB/decade below fc.

Here also we take R2 = 2R1 and C1 = C2 so that we

will get a gain of 0.707 (-3 dB) at fc.

𝑅2
𝑄 = 0.5 = 0.707
𝑅1
Calculate the resistance values required to produce a critical frequency of 5.5 kHz.
Band-Pass Filter:
Determine the bandwidth and centre frequency?
Bandstop Filter (Notch filter)

This type of filter passes all frequencies from zero up to the lower cutoff frequency. Then, it
blocks all the frequencies between the lower and upper cutoff frequencies. Finally, it passes all
frequencies above the upper cutoff frequency.