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Chapter 03
Operational Amplifier

The contents of the chapter are as follows:-

1. Ideal and practical op-amp characteristics

2. Saturable property of an op-amp, Virtual short

3. Op-amp applications: Comparator

4. Inverting amplifier

5. Non inverting amplifier

6. Voltage follower, Integrator, Differentiator

7. Adder, Subtractor

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1. Introduction

In this chapter we will introduce a general purpose integrated circuit (IC),

the Operational Amplifier (Op-Amp), which is a most versatile and widely
used linear integrated circuit. The Op-Amp is a direct-coupled high-gain
amplifier to which feedback is added to control its overall response
characteristics.
The standard Op-Amp symbol is shown in left-hand figure below fig 1.1 It
has two input terminals, the inverting (-) input and the non-inverting (+)
input. The typical Op-Amp operates with two dc supply voltages, one
positive and the other negative, as shown in the right-hand figure below.
Usually these dc voltage terminals are left off the schematic symbol for
simplicity but are always understood to be there. The pin diagram of IC741
is shown in fig 1.2

Schematic Symbol

Inverting
Input
Inverting
V2 V+
Input
-
-
Output VIN
A A
+ + VOUT
V1 V-
Non-inverting
Input
Non-inverting
Input

Fig 1.1 Schematic Symbol of an OP-Amp

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Fig 1.2 Pin diagram of IC741

2. Properties of an ideal Op-Amp:

1. Infinite Input Impedance: The ideal Op-amp does not draw any current
from the voltage sources connected to its input terminals. This implies that
the input impedance of an Op-amp is infinity.

2. Zero Output Impedance: The voltage at the output terminal is

independent of the current drawn from it i.e. output impedance is zero.
Hence the Op-amp can drive an infinite number of devices.

3. Infinite Bandwidth: This implies that the amplifier can amplify any
frequency from zero to infinity without attenuation. In other words, the
ideal Op-amp will amplify signals of any frequency with equal gain.

4. Infinite Voltage Gain: The open-loop voltage gain of an ideal Op-amp is

very large, i.e., infinity.

5. Perfect Balance: The output voltage is zero when equal voltages are
present at the two input terminals.

6. Infinite CMRR: This means that the output common-mode noise voltage
is zero.

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7. Infinite Slew Rate: Slew rate indicates the rapidity with which the output
of an Op-amp changes in response to the changes in input frequency. (how
fast the output of op-amp is going to respond for any change in input)

8. Temperature: The characteristics do not change with temperature.

3. Characteristics of a Practical Op-Amp

In practice the IC Op-Amp falls short of the ideal characteristics, however
the following applies
 Very HIGH input resistance
 Very LOW output resistance
 Very large Open Loop Voltage Gain
For example, a popular 741 Op-Amp has the following characteristics:
 Open-Loop voltage gain  200,000
 Input impedance  2 M
 Output impedance  75 
 Bandwidth for unit gain  1 MHz
 CMRR  90dB
 Slew rate  0.5V/s

4. Saturable Property of an Op-Amp:

„A‟ is a constant for a particular Operational Amplifier and is known as the
open-loop gain since there is no feedback loop connecting the output
terminal to the input terminal, which is the basic circuit of an op-amp.

This op-amp senses the difference between the input signals and amplifies
the difference between the input signals. The output Vo is given by;

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Vo = A*(V2 - V1) ---(i)

Hence, if V1= 0, Vo = A*V2 ---------- (ii)
And if V2= 0, Vo = - A*V1 --------(iii)

The open-loop voltage gain of an ideal op-amp is infinity; then, substituting

A = ∞ in eq‟s (ii) & (iii) above, the output Vo of the op- amp should range
from +∞ to -∞ However, in practice, Vo is limited by the magnitudes of the
power supply voltages.
As the supply voltages are ± 15V, the opamp has the property to saturate
the output at ±15 V. Output cannot be produced exceeding the saturation
voltage levels. If the gain is 105 , then Vd =V0/A = ± 150µV. Thus only for
the differential input of few µV the output saturates to ±Vsat depending on
which input V1 or V2 is dominating.

When Vin > Vref the voltage at the non-inverting (+) terminal is greater
than the voltage at the inverting (-) terminal and hence Vo = + Vsat it being
approximately equal to +Vcc Therefore, when Vin crosses Vref the output
voltage V0 changes instantaneously from one saturation level i.e. from
+Vcc to -VEE or from -VEE to +Vcc.

A time-varying signal Vin is applied to the non-inverting terminal through

a resistor R, and the reference voltage Vref of 1 V is applied to the
inverting terminal through resistor R1. When Vin < Vref the voltage at the
inverting (-) terminal is greater than the voltage at the non inverting (+)
terminal and hence Vo = -Vsat it being approximately equal to -VEE.
shown in the figure. 4.1

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Fig 4.1 Saturable property of an Op-amp.

5. Op-Amp as Comparator:
A comparator circuit shown in fig 5.1 compares a signal voltage with a
reference voltage. An Op-Amp comparator is an open loop Op-Amp. The
reference voltage is applied to one of its input terminals, and the signal to
be compared is applied to the other input terminal. Depending upon which
of the two voltages is greater, the output voltage is held at the positive or
negative saturation voltage.

Fig 5.1 Op-amp as Comparator

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6. Concept of Virtual Ground

An Op-Amp has a very high gain typically order of 10 5. If power supply
voltage Vcc =15V Then maximum input voltage which can be applied V d
= Vcc /A d = 15/ 10 5 = 150 µ V i.e. Op -Amp can work as a linear -VCC
+VCC +Vout +Vin +Vi -Vi Slope: A d 5 i.e. Op -Amp can work as a linear
amplifier from +Vi to –Vi as shown in fig 6.1 , if input voltage is less than
150 µV. Above that Op-Amp saturates. if V1 is grounded then V 2 cannot
be more than 150 µV which is very very small and close to ground.
Therefore V2 can also be considered at ground if V1 is at ground.
Physically V 2 is not connected to the ground yet we considered V2 at
ground that is called virtual ground.

Fig 6.1 Virtual Ground

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7. Need for Negative Feedback

As the Open-Loop Voltage Gain of the Op-Amp is very large, an extremely
small difference in the two input voltages drives the Op-Amp into its
saturated output states, i.e. it will cause the output voltage to go all the way
to its extreme positive or negative voltage limit. As this is seldom
desirable the full gain of the Op-Amp is not usually applied to an input,
instead negative feedback (using external resistors) is applied to reduce the
overall gain through signal feedback.

Rf

R1 if

-
i1

V1
A
V2
+ VOUT

Fig 7.1 Op-amp With Negative Feedback

Where:
VIN is the input signal
Vf is a portion of the output signal fed back to the inverting input
Acl the closed loop gain is the voltage gain with negative feedback
The Op-Amp responds to the voltage VIN at its non-inverting input, which
moves the output towards saturation. However, a fraction of this output is
returned to the inverting terminal through the feedback path. As the
feedback signal approaches the value of VIN  there is nothing left for the
Op-Amp to amplify as

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Vf – VIN  0
Thus the feedback signal tries (but never quite succeeds) in matching the
input signal and thus the gain is controlled by the amount of feedback used.
8. Op-Amp Applications

8.1 The Basic Inverting Amplifier:

A signal VIN is applied through a series resistor R1 to the inverting input as
shown below. The output is fed back through R2 to the inverting input.
The non-inverting input is grounded.

Rf

R1 if

V1 -
i1

Vin
A
V2
+ VOUT

Fig 8.1 Inverting Amplifier

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The Closed Loop Gain (ACl) is defined as the gain with feedback applied
Basic Inverting Amplifier
 Closed Loop Gain Rf
ACl = 
(ACl) is: R1
 Input Resistance is RIN = R1
ideally

Derive the Closed Loop Gain the Basic Inverting Amplifier:

VIN  V 1 V 1  VOUT
i1  and: if 
R1 Rf
i1 = if
VIN  V 1 V 1  VOUT
 
R1 Rf

By Virtual Short V1 = V2, from circuit diagram V2 = 0

 VIN

VOUT
R1 Rf
 VINRf = -VOUTR1
 Rf

VOUT
R1 VIN

VOUT Rf
ACl = 
VIN R1

Where ACl is the Closed Loop Gain and is defined as the gain with
feedback applied
Note that A, the gain of the op-amp without feedback, is called the Open
Loop Gain

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We see that, as expected, the gain is negative and that the gain depends
only on the ratio of the resistor values and not on the amplifier itself.
V = V- - V+ and as shown above if A ->  then V -> 0
 V- = V+
In the configuration above, we have V+ grounded so therefore
V- = 0
We cannot actually ground the inverting terminal but since its potential is
V- = 0, we say that a “virtual ground” exists at the inverting input
terminal.
Since V- is at virtual ground the input impedance seen by the signal source
generating VIN is (ideally) R1 ohms.

8.2 The Basic Non-Inverting Amplifier:

The input signal is applied to the non-inverting (+) input. A portion of the
output signal is applied back to the inverting (-) input through the feedback
network. This constitutes negative feedback.
if Rf

R1
i1 i-
-

A
+ VOUT
VIN

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Fig 8.2 Non-Inverting Amplifier

Basic Non-inverting Amplifier

 Closed Loop Gain ACl = 1 Rf
R1
(ACl) is:
 Input Resistance is RIN = 
ideally
Derive the Closed Loop Gain of the Basic Non-inverting Amplifier:
VIN VOUT  VIN
i1 = and if =
R1 Rf
VIN VOUT  VIN
=> 
R1 Rf
=> VINRf = VOUTR1 – VINR1
=> VIN(Rf + R1)= VOUTR1
VOUT R1  R 2 Rf
=>   1
VIN R1 R1
The Closed Loop Gain ACl = 1 Rf
(ACl) is: R1

8.3 The Voltage Follower: (Unity Gain Buffer Amplifier)

The Voltage Follower is a special case of the non-inverting Amplifier,
where all of the output voltage is fed back to the inverting terminal by a
straight connection as shown below.

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-
V
A
+ VOUT
VIN

Fig 8.3 Voltage Follower

Voltage Follower Amplifier

 Closed Loop Gain ACl = 1
(ACl) is:
 Input Resistance is RIN = 
ideally

VOUT = V

By virtual short Vin = V

 VOUT = VIN
It Unity Gain Buffer Amplifier is called a Voltage Follower since V IN =
VOUT. The most important features of the voltage-follower configuration
are its very high input impedance and its very low output impedance.
Therefore, it may be used to allow a signal from a high impedance source
to be coupled to a low impedance load.

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8.4 The Summing Amplifier or Op-amp as a Adder

The Summing Amplifier is another type of operational amplifier circuit
configuration that is used to combine the voltages present on two or more
inputs into a single output voltage. We saw previously in the inverting
operational amplifier that the inverting amplifier has a single input voltage,
( Vin ) applied to the inverting input terminal. If we add more input
resistors to the input, each equal in value to the original input resistor, Rin
we end up with another operational amplifier circuit called a Summing
Amplifier, “summing inverter” or even a “voltage adder” circuit as shown
below.

Fig 8.4 Summing Amplifier

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8.5 The Integrator Amplifier

The previous application showed that how an operational amplifier can be

used as part of a positive or negative feedback amplifier or as an adder or
Subtractor type circuit using just pure resistances in both the input and the
feedback loop

By replacing this feedback resistance with a capacitor we now have an

RC Network connected across the operational amplifiers feedback path
producing another type of operational amplifier circuit commonly called an
Op-amp Integrator circuit as shown below.

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Fig 8.5 Op-amp as a integrator

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.

If the capacitor is charging and discharging, the rate of charge of voltage

across the capacitor is given as:

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:

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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:

8.6 The Differentiator Amplifier

The basic Op-amp Differentiator circuit is the exact opposite to that of
the Integrator Amplifier circuit.

This operational amplifier circuit performs the mathematical operation of

Differentiation that is it “produces a voltage output which is directly
proportional to the input voltage’s rate-of-change with respect to time“.

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Fig 8.6 Differentiator Amplifier

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 dependent on the rate of change of the input signal.

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

The rate of change of this charge is

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but dQ/dt is the capacitor current i

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

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