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EC6404 LINEAR INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
Question Bank
UNIT I BASICS OF OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIERS
Part - A
1. Define an Integrated circuit.
Ans. An integrated circuit(IC) is a miniature, low cost electronic circuit consisting of active and
passive components fabricated together on a single crystal of silicon. The active components
are transistors and diodes and passive components are resistors and capacitors.
2. Define current mirror with magnification.
Ans:
A current mirror is a circuit designed to copy a current through one active device by controlling
the current in another active device of a circuit, keeping the output current constant regardless of
loading. The current being 'copied' can be, and sometimes is, a varying signal current.
Conceptually, an ideal current mirror is simply an ideal inverting current amplifier that reverses
the current direction as well or it is a current-controlled current source (CCCS). The current
mirror is used to provide bias currents and active loads to circuits.Sometimes it is necessary to
have a circuit in which ratio of biasing currents in two transistors is required to be fixed. Such a
circuit is called current mirror circuit with magnification
3. Why open loop OP-AMP configurations are not used in linear applications?
Ans. The open loop gain of the op-amp is not a constant and it varies with changing the
temperature and variations in power supply. Also the bandwidth of the open loop op-amp is
negligibly small. For this reasons open loop OP-AMP configurations are not used in linear
applications.
4. Define virtual ground of an OP-Amp?
Ans. A virtual ground is a ground which acts like a ground. It is a point that is at the fixed
ground potential (0v), though it is not practically connected to the actual ground or common
terminal of the circuit.
5. Define input offset voltage.
Ans. A small voltage applied to the input terminals to make the output voltage as zero
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when the two input terminals are grounded is called input offset voltage.
6. Define input offset current. State the reasons for the offset currents at the input of the
op-amp.
Ans. The difference between the bias currents at the input terminals of the op-amp is
called as input offset current. The input terminals conduct a small value of dc current to bias the
input transistors. Since the input transistors cannot be made identical, there exists a difference in
bias currents.
7. Define CMRR of an op-amp.
Ans. The relative sensitivity of an op-amp to a difference signal as compared to a
common - mode signal is called the common -mode rejection ratio. It is expressed in decibels.
CMRR= Ad/Ac
8. What are the applications of current sources?
Ans. Transistor current sources are widely used in analog ICs both as biasing elements
and as load devices for amplifier stages.
9. Justify the reasons for using current sources in integrated circuits.
Ans.
(i) Superior insensitivity of circuit performance to power supply variations and
temperature.
(ii) More economical than resistors in terms of die area required providing bias
currents of small value.
(iii) When used as load element, the high incremental resistance of current source results
in high voltage gains at low supply voltages.
10. What is the advantage of widlar current source over constant current source?
Ans. Using constant current source output current of small magnitude (micro amp range)
is not attainable due to the limitations in chip area. Widlar current source is useful for obtaining
small output currents. Sensitivity of widlar current source is less compared to constant current
source.
11. Mention the advantages of Wilson current source.
Ans.
(i) Provides high output resistance.
(ii) Offers low sensitivity to transistor base currents.
12. Define sensitivity.
Ans. Sensitivity is defined as the percentage or fractional change in output current per
percentage or fractional change in power-supply voltage.
13. In practical op-amps, what is the effect of high frequency on its performance?
Ans. The open-loop gain of op-amp decreases at higher frequencies due to the presence of
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parasitic capacitance. The closed-loop gain increases at higher frequencies and leads to
instability.
14. What is the need for frequency compensation in practical op-amps?
Ans. Frequency compensation is needed when large bandwidth and lower closed loop
gain is desired. Compensating networks are used to control the phase shift and hence to improve
the stability.
15. Define slew rate.
Ans. The slew rate is defined as the maximum rate of change of output Voltage caused by
a step input voltage. An ideal slew rate is infinite which means that op-amp's output voltage
should change instantaneously in response to input step voltage.
16. Why IC 741 is not used for high frequency applications?
Ans. IC741 has a low slew rate because of the predominance of capacitance present in the
circuit at higher frequencies. As frequency increases the output gets distorted due to limited slew
rate.
17. What happens when the common terminal of V+ and V- sources is grounded?
Ans. If the common point of the two supplies is not grounded, twice the supply voltage
will get applied and it may damage the op-amp.
18. List the ideal op amp characteristics.
Ans. 1. Infinite Voltage gain A.
2. Infinite input Impedance.
3. Zero Output Impedance.
4. Zero Output Voltage
5. Infinite Bandwidth.
6. Infinite Common-mode Rejection ratio.
19. What is voltage follower?
Ans. A circuit in which output follows the input is called voltage follower.
20. Draw the pin diagram of IC 741.
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PART B
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Draw and explain about the equivalent circuit of OP-AMP.
List and explain the non-ideal DC characteristics of an operational amplifier.
Explain in detail about Widlar current source. Compare widlar and wilson current source.
What is current mirror? Explain current mirror with magnification.
Define CMRR. Draw the circuit of an Op-amp differential amplifier and give the
6.
expression for CMRR.
Define Slew Rate. Explain the cause of slew rate and derive an expression for Slew rate
for an op-amp voltage follower.
UNIT- II APPLICATION OF OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIERS
Part - A
1. Mention some of the linear applications of op - amps.
Adder, subtractor, voltage -to- current converter, current -to- voltage converters,
instrumentation amplifier, analog computation, power amplifier, etc are some of the linear opamp circuits.
2. Mention some of the non - linear applications of op-amps.
Rectifier, peak detector, clipper, clamper, sample and hold circuit, log amplifier, anti - log
amplifier, multiplier are some of the non - linear op-amp circuits.
3. What are the areas of application of non-linear op- amp circuits?
1. Industrial instrumentation
2. Communication
3. Signal processing
4. What is the need for an instrumentation amplifier?
In a number of industrial and consumer applications, the measurement of physical
quantities is usually done with the help of transducers. The output of transducer has to be
amplified So that it can drive the indicator or display system. This function is performed by an
Instrumentation amplifier.
5. List the features of instrumentation amplifier.
1. High gain accuracy
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2. High CMRR
3. High gain stability with low temperature co-efficient
4Low dc offset
5. Low output impedance
7. What are the applications of V-I converter?
1. Low voltage dc and ac voltmeter
2. L E D
3. Zener diode tester
8. Define Band pass filter.
The band pass filter is the combination of high and low pass filters, and this allows a
specified range of frequencies to pass through.
9. What do you mean by a precision diode?
The major limitation of ordinary diode is that it cannot rectify voltages below the cut - in
voltage of the diode. A circuit designed by placing a diode in the feedback loop of an op - amp is
called the precision diode and it is capable of rectifying input signals of the order of mill volt.
10. Write down the applications of precision diode.
1. Half - wave rectifier
2. Full - Wave rectifier
3. Peak - value detector
4. Clipper
5. Clamper
11. Differentiate Schmitt trigger and comparator
Comparator
1. 1. It compares the input signal with 1.
references voltage then yields the
output voltage
2. 2. It need not consist of feedback
3. 3. comparator output need not to be
square wave
12. List the applications of Log amplifiers.
Schmitt trigger
1. It operates between two reference
points namely UTP<P.
2. 2. It employs positive feedback
3. 3. Its output is square wave.
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1. Analog computation may require functions such as lnx, log x, sin hx etc. These
functions can be performed by log amplifiers
2. Log amplifier can perform direct dB display on digital voltmeter and spectrum analyzer
3. Log amplifier can be used to compress the dynamic range of a signal
13. What are the limitations of the basic differentiator circuit?
1. At high frequency, a differentiator may become unstable and break into oscillations
2. The input impedance decreases with increase in frequency , thereby making the circuit
sensitive to high frequency noise.
14. What is a comparator?
A comparator is a circuit which compares a signal voltage applied at one input of an opamp with a known reference voltage at the other input. It is an open loop op - amp with output +
Vsat.
15. What are the applications of comparator?
1. Zero crossing detector
2. Window detector
3. Time marker generator
4. Phase detector
16. What is a Schmitt trigger?
Schmitt trigger is a regenerative comparator. It converts sinusoidal input into a square
wave output. The output of Schmitt trigger swings between upper and lower threshold voltages,
which are the reference voltages of the input waveform.
17. What is a multivibrator?
Multivibrators are a group of regenerative circuits that are used extensively in timing
applications. It is a wave shaping circuit which gives symmetric or asymmetric square output. It
has two states stable or quasi- stable depending on the type of multivibrator.
18. Compare monostable multivibrator and astable multivibrator?
Monostable multivibrator is one which generates a single pulse of specified
duration in response to each external trigger signal. It has only one stable state.
Application of a trigger causes a change to the quasi-stable state. An external trigger signal
generated due to charging and discharging of the capacitor produces the transition to the original
stable state
Astable multivibrator is a free running oscillator having two quasi-stable states. Thus,
there are oscillations between these two states and no external signal is required to produce the
change in state.
19. What is a bistable multivibrator?
Bistable multivibrator is one that maintains a given output voltage level unless an external
trigger is applied. Application of an external trigger signal causes a change of state, and this
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output level is maintained indefinitely until a second trigger is applied. Thus, it requires two
external triggers before it returns to its initial state
.20. What is a filter?
Filter is a frequency selective circuit that passes signal of specified band of frequencies
and attenuates the signals of frequencies outside the band
PART B
1.
(i) Design a first order Low-pass filter for cut-off frequency of 2 KHz and pass-band gain
of 2.
(ii) Explain a positive clipper circuit using an Op-amp and a diode with neat diagrams.
2. Draw and explain a simple Op-amp differentiator. Mention its limitations. Explain with a
neat diagram how it can be overcome in a practical differentiator.
3. How op-amp can be used as an antilog amplifier?
4. Explain briefly about op-amp integrator.
5. Draw and explain about voltage to current converter.
6. With neat circuit diagram explain about instrumentation amplifier.
7. Explain briefly abut Schmitt trigger with neat diagram.
8. Explain the following in briefly
(i) Precision diode (ii) Peak detector
