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Module -3
Operational Amplifiers and Applications
Structure:

3.1 Introduction to Op-Amp, Op-Amp Input Modes

3.2 Op-Amp Parameters-CMRR, Input Offset Voltage and Current, Input Bias Current, Input
and Output Impedance, Slew Rate
3.3 Applications of Op-Amp –
 Inverting amplifier,
 Non-Inverting amplifier,
 Summer,
 Voltage follower,
 Integrator,
 Differentiator and
 Comparator
3.4 Outcomes

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3.1 Introduction to Op-Amp

As well as resistors and capacitors, Operational Amplifiers, or Op-amps as they are more
commonly called, are one of the basic building blocks of Analogue Electronic Circuits.
Operational amplifiers are linear devices that have all the properties required for nearly ideal
DC amplification and are therefore used extensively in signal conditioning, filtering or to
perform mathematical operations such as add, subtract, integration and differentiation.

An Operational Amplifier, or op-amp for short, is fundamentally a voltage amplifying

device designed to be used with external feedback components such as resistors and
capacitors between its output and input terminals. These feedback components determine the
resulting function or “operation” of the amplifier and by virtue of the different feedback
configuration s whether resistive, capacitive or both, the amplifier can perform a variety of
different operations, giving rise to its name of “Operational Amplifier”.
An Operational Amplifier is basically a three-terminal device which consists of two high
impedance inputs, one called the Inverting Input, marked with a negative or “minus” sign,
( - ) and the other one called the Non-inverting Input, marked with a positive or “plus” sign
( + ).

The Ideal Op-Amp

To illustrate what an op-amp is, let’s consider its ideal characteristics. A practical op-amp,
of course, falls short of these ideal standards, but it is much easier to understand and analyze
the device from an ideal point of view. First, the ideal op-amp has infinite voltage gain and
infinite bandwidth. Also, it has an infinite input impedance (open) so that it does not load the
driving source. Finally, it has a zero output impedance. Op-amp characteristics are illustrated
in Figure 1(a). The input voltage, Vin, appears between the two input terminals, and the

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output voltage is AvVin, as indicated by the internal voltage source symbol. The concept of
infinite input impedance is

Figure 1: Basic op-amp representations

The Practical Op-Amp

Although integrated circuit (IC) op-amps approach parameter values that can be treated as
ideal in many cases, the ideal device can never be made. Any device has limitations, and the
IC op-amp is no exception. Op-amps have both voltage and current limitations. Peakto- peak
output voltage, for example, is usually limited to slightly less than the two supply voltages.
Output current is also limited by internal restrictions such as power dissipation and
component ratings. Characteristics of a practical op-amp are very high voltage gain, very
high input impedance, and very low output impedance. These are labelled in Figure 1(b).
Another practical

consideration is that there is always noise generated within the op-amp. Noise is an undesired
signal that affects the quality of a desired signal. Today, circuit designers are using smaller
voltages that require high accuracy, so low-noise components are in greater demand. All
circuits generate noise; op-amps are no exception, but the amount can be minimized.

Internal Block Diagram of an Op-Amp A typical op-amp is made up of three types of

amplifier circuits: a differential amplifier, a voltage amplifier, and a push-pull amplifier, as
shown in Figure 2. The differential amplifier is the input stage for the op-amp. It provides
amplification of the difference voltage between the two inputs. The second stage is usually a
class A amplifier that provides additional gain. Some op-amps may have more than one
voltage amplifier stage. A push-pull class B amplifier is typically used for the output stage.

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Figure 3: Basic internal arrangement of an op-amp.

Op-amp input modes

Input Signal Modes

Recall that the input signal modes are determined by the differential amplifier input stage of
the op-amp. Differential Mode In the differential mode, either one signal is applied to an
input with the other input grounded or two opposite-polarity signals are applied to the inputs.
When an op-amp is operated in the single-ended differential mode, one input is grounded and
a signal voltage is applied to the other input, as shown in Figure 4(a). In the case where the
signal voltage is applied to the inverting input as in part (a), an inverted, amplified signal
voltage appears at the output. In the case where the signal is applied to the noninverting input
with the inverting input grounded, as in Figure 4(b), a noninverted, amplified signal voltage
appears at the output

Figure 4: Single-ended differential mode.

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In the double-ended differential mode, two opposite-polarity (out-of-phase) signals are

applied to the inputs, as shown in Figure 5(a). The amplified difference between the two
inputs appears on the output. Equivalently, the double-ended differential mode can be
represented by a single source connected between the two inputs, as shown in Figure 5(b).

Figure 5: Double-ended differential mode.

Common Mode In the common mode, two signal voltages of the same phase, frequency, and
amplitude are applied to the two inputs, as shown in Figure 6. When equal input signals are
applied to both inputs, they tend to cancel, resulting in a zero output voltage.

This action is called common-mode rejection. Its importance lies in the situation where an
unwanted signal appears commonly on both op-amp inputs. Common-mode rejection means
that this unwanted signal will not appear on the output and distort the desired signal.
Common-mode signals (noise) generally are the result of the pick-up of radiated energy on
the input lines, from adjacent lines, the 60 Hz power line, or other sources.

Op-Amp Parameters

Common-Mode Rejection Ratio Desired signals can appear on only one input or with
opposite polarities on both input lines. These desired signals are amplified and appear on the
output as previously discussed. Unwanted signals (noise) appearing with the same polarity on

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both input lines are essentially cancelled by the op-amp and do not appear on the output. The
measure of an amplifier’s ability to reject common-mode signals is a parameter called the
CMRR (common-mode rejection ratio). Ideally, an op-amp provides a very high gain for
differential-mode signals and zero gain for common-mode signals. Practical op-amps,
however, do exhibit a very small common-mode gain (usually much less than 1), while
providing a high open-loop differential voltage gain (usually several thousand). The higher
the open-loop gain with respect to the common-mode gain, the better the performance of the
op-amp in terms of rejection of common-mode signals.

This suggests that a good measure of the op-amp’s performance in rejecting unwanted
common-mode signals is the ratio of the open-loop differential voltage gain, Aol, to the
common-mode gain, Acm. This ratio is the common-mode rejection ratio, CMRR.

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Input Offset Voltage The ideal op-amp produces zero volts out for zero volts in. In a
practical op-amp, however, a small dc voltage, VOUT(error), appears at the output when no
differential input voltage is applied. Its primary cause is a slight mismatch of the baseemitter
voltages of the differential amplifier input stage of an op-amp. As specified on an op-amp
datasheet, the input offset voltage, VOS, is the differential dc voltage required between the
inputs to force the output to zero volts. Typical values of input offset voltage are in the range
of 2 mV or less. In the ideal case, it is 0 V. The input offset voltage drift is a parameter related
to VOS that specifies how much change occurs in the input offset voltage for each degree
change in temperature. Typical values range anywhere from about per degree Celsius to about
per degree Celsius. Usually, an op-amp with a higher nominal value of input offset voltage
exhibits a higher drift.

Input Bias Current You have seen that the input terminals of a bipolar differential
amplifier are the transistor bases and, therefore, the input currents are the base currents. The
input bias current is the dc current required by the inputs of the amplifier to properly operate
the first stage. By definition, the input bias current is the average of both input currents and is
calculated as follows:

Figure 6: Input bias current is the average of the two op-amp input currents.

Input Impedance Two basic ways of specifying the input impedance of an op-amp are the
differential and the common mode. The differential input impedance is the total resistance
between the inverting and the noninverting inputs, as illustrated in Figure 7(a). Differential
impedance is measured by determining the change in bias current for a given change in

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differential input voltage. The common-mode input impedance is the resistance between each
input and ground and is measured by determining the change in bias current for a given
change in common-mode input voltage. It is depicted in Figure 7(b).

Figure 7: Op-amp input impedance.

Input Offset Current Ideally, the two input bias currents are equal, and thus their difference
is zero. In a practical op-amp, however, the bias currents are not exactly equal. The input
offset current, IOS, is the difference of the input bias currents, expressed as an absolute value.

Actual magnitudes of offset current are usually at least an order of magnitude (ten times) less
than the bias current. In many applications, the offset current can be neglected. However,
high-gain, high-input impedance amplifiers should have as little IOS as possible because the
difference in currents through large input resistances develops a substantial offset voltage, as
shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8: Effect of input offset current.

Output Impedance The output impedance is the resistance viewed from the
output terminal of the op-amp, as indicated in Figure 9.

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Figure 9: Output Impedance

Slew Rate 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.
Slew rate is measured with an op-amp connected as shown in Figure 10(a). This
particular op-amp connection is a unity-gain, non inverting configuration. It
gives a worst-case (slowest) slew rate. Recall that the high frequency
components of a voltage step are contained in the rising edge and that the upper
critical frequency of an amplifier limits its response to a step input. For a step
input, the slope on the output is inversely proportional to the upper critical
frequency. Slope increases as upper critical frequency decreases.

Figure 10 : Slew-rate measurement.

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3.3 Applications of Op-Amp

 Inverting Amplifier

An op-amp connected in a closed-loop configuration as a noninverting amplifier with a

controlled amount of voltage gain is shown in Figure . The input signal is applied to the
noninverting (+) input. The output is applied back to the inverting input through the feedback
circuit (closed loop) formed by the input resistor Ri and the feedback resistor Rf. This creates
negative feedback as follows. Resistors Ri and Rf form a voltage-divider circuit, which
reduces Vout and connects the reduced voltage Vf to the inverting input. The feedback
voltage is expressed as

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, as shown in
Figure . As you can see, the straight feedback connection has a voltage gain of 1 (which
means there is no gain). The closed-loop voltage gain of a noninverting amplifier is as
previously derived. Since B

1 for a voltage-follower, the closed-loop voltage gain of the voltage-follower is 1/B (-)

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Acl(VF) 1

Integrator Circuit
As its name implies, the Op-amp Integrator is an Operational Amplifier circuit that
performs the mathematical operation of Integration, that is we can cause the output to
respond to changes in the input voltage over time as the op-amp integrator produces an output
voltage which is proportional to the integral of the input voltage.
In other words 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.

We know from first principals that the voltage on the plates of a capacitor is equal to the
charge on the capacitor divided by its capacitance giving Q/C. Then the voltage across the
capacitor is outputVout therefore: -Vout = Q/C. If the capacitor is charging and discharging,
the rate of charge of voltage across the capacitor is given as:

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But dQ/dt is electric current and since the node voltage of the integrating op-amp at its
inverting input terminal is zero, X = 0, the input current I(in) flowing through the input
resistor, Rin is given as:

The current flowing through the feedback capacitor C is given as:

Assuming that the input impedance of the op-amp is infinite (ideal op-amp), no current flows
into the op-amp terminal. Therefore, the nodal equation at the inverting input terminal is
given as:

From which we derive an ideal voltage output for the Op-amp Integrator as:

To simplify the math’s a little, this can also be re-written as:

Differentiator Circuit

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Figure.2.20 Opamp differentiator

The input signal to the differentiator is applied to the capacitor. The capacitor blocks any DC
content so there is no current flow to the amplifier summing point, X resulting in zero output
voltage. The capacitor only allows AC type input voltage changes to pass through and whose
frequency is dependant on the rate of change of the input signal.
At low frequencies the reactance of the capacitor is “High” resulting in a low gain ( Rƒ/Xc )
and low output voltage from the op-amp. At higher frequencies the reactance of the capacitor
is much lower resulting in a higher gain and higher output voltage from the differentiator
amplifier.
However, at high frequencies an op-amp differentiator circuit becomes unstable and will start
to oscillate. This is due mainly to the first-order effect, which determines the frequency
response of the op-amp circuit causing a second-order response which, at high frequencies
gives an output voltage far higher than what would be expected. To avoid this the high
frequency gain of the circuit needs to be reduced by adding an additional small value
capacitor across the feedback resistor Rƒ.
Ok, some math’s to explain what’s going on!. Since the node voltage of the operational
amplifier at its inverting input terminal is zero, the current, i flowing through the capacitor
will be given as:

The charge on the capacitor equals Capacitance x Voltage across the capacitor

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The rate of change of this charge is

but dQ/dt is the capacitor current i

from which we have an ideal voltage output for the op-amp differentiator is given as:

Therefore, the output voltage Vout is a constant -Rƒ.C times the derivative of the input
voltage Vinwith respect to time. The minus sign indicates a 180o phase shift because the input
signal is connected to the inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier.

3.4 OUTCOMES
 Design simple circuits like amplifiers (inverting and non inverting), comparators,
adders, integrator and differentiator using OPAMPS.
 Compile the different building blocks in digital electronics using logic gates and
implement

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