2/16/2025

FUNDAMENTAL OF ELECTRICAL AND

ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING
(EX 101)

Chapter 6: The Operational Amplifier and Oscillator

Er. Chaitya Shova Shakya

Senior Lecturer
Kathford International College of Engineering & Management

Chapter Outline
6.1 Operational Amplifier
• Basic model of OP amp
• Virtual ground concept
6.2 Op amp circuits: inverting amplifier, non-inverting amplifier, integrator,
differentiator, summing amplifier
6.3 Basic feedback theory; positive and negative feedback; concept of stability
6.4 Waveform generator using op-amp
• Square wave, triangular wave
• Sinusoidal waveform: Phase Shift oscillator and Wien bridge oscillator

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6.1 Operational Amplifier (OP amp)

• An op amp is a high-gain differential amplifier with very high input impedance and
low output impedance.
• Early op amps were used to perform mathematical operations such as addition,
subtraction, integration, and differentiation → operational amplifier.
• Applications:
– Amplification
– Analog computation (addition, subtraction etc)
– Instrumentation (dc or ac voltmeter)
– Voltage buffer
– Oscillator circuits and
– Active filter circuits etc.
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The op amp symbol and its terminals

• An op amp is a complex circuit consisting of many transistors, resistors and a capacitor,
available in IC form (Eg., IC 741).
• We consider the op amp as a circuit building block.
offset null
+VCC
1 −
Inverting input 1 − 3
3 2 +
Noninverting input 2 +
−VCC
offset null Simplified symbol
• Terminals of op amp:
– two input terminals (terminal 1, 2); one output terminal (terminal 3).
– two terminals for dc power supplies
– other terminals for frequency compensation and offset null.

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Characteristics of an ideal op amp

Definitions:
• Open-loop voltage gain: a voltage gain of an
amp with no external components.
• Input impedance: the impedance measured
between input terminals.
• Output impedance: the impedance between
output terminal and ground.
• Bandwidth: a range of frequency in which
amp provides equal gain.
• Common-mode rejection ratio: a measure of
an amplifier’s ability to reject common-mode
signals. It is a ratio of open loop differential
voltage gain to common mode gain.

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Basic model of an ideal op amp

• The model of an ideal op amp is an ideal voltage controlled voltage source.

Inverting input
1
−
i1 = 0
vDC 3
1
A ( v2 − v1 ) Output
+
-
2
+
i2 = 0
vDC
2 (Power-supply
common terminal)
Noninverting input

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Concept of virtual short circuit

Inverting input
1
−
i1 = 0
vDC 3
1
A ( v2 − v1 ) Output
+
-
2
+
i2 = 0
vDC
2 (Power-supply
common terminal)
Noninverting input

• A virtual short circuit means whatever voltage is at terminal 2 will automatically appears at terminal 1.
• If the terminal 2 is connected to ground, the terminal 1 is said to be at virtual ground.

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6.2 Op amp circuits

• The op amp configurations
– Inverting configuration
– Non-inverting configuration
• Op amp circuits
– inverting amplifier;
– non-inverting amplifier;
– integrator;
– differentiator;
– summing amplifier and their applications

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Inverting amplifier
i f = i1 Rf

i1 R1
−
vO
vDCI +
v1 = 0

• The - sign indicates that the amplifier provides

signal inversion.

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Non-inverting amplifier
vI
i f = i1 =
R1 Rf
vI
i1 =
R1 R1
−
v1 = vI + +
 R 
vO = 1 + 2  vI
vDCI
 R1 
−

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Integrator
i f = i1 C

i1 R 0
−
0V
+ +
vI ( tAC
) vO ( t )
−

• Inverting integrator is also known as Miller

integrator.

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Differentiator

i R

i C 0
−
0V
+ +
vI ( tAC
) vO ( t )
−

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Summing amplifier

i1 R1 i Rf
v1
i2 R2
v2 i 0
−
0
in + +
Rn vO
vn 0V
−

• Also known as a weighted summer.

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6.3 Basic feedback theory

• Feedback is a process of applying a fraction of output signal back to the input.
• In a block diagram of a feedback system,
– Open-loop gain of an amplifier A = vo / vi
– Feedback factor β = vf / vo + vi Amplifier vo
vs 
A
– The input signal and the feedback signal are +
vf
combined in the adder and produce the input
voltage for the basic amplifier. Feedback network

v i = vs + v f
• Types
– Positive (regenerative) feedback
feedback factor - amount of output signal
– Negative (degenerative) feedback fed back to the input

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• Positive (regenerative) feedback

– Feedback signal is in phase with the source signal → input signal to the basic
amplifier is increased.
– Positive feedback increases the gain of the amplifier and may cause oscillation in
the circuit.
– Used in oscillator circuit.
• Negative (degenerative) feedback
– Feedback signal is out of phase with the source signal → input signal to the basic
amplifier is reduced.
– Negative feedback provides decreased and stabilized voltage gain, higher input
impedance, lower output impedance, reduced noise and nonlinear distortion and
larger bandwidth
– Used in an amplifier circuit.
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Elementary feedback amplifier

• Consider a negative feedback system (feedback amplifier).

+ vi Amplifier vo
vs 
A
+
vf
Feedback network


Close loop gain of negative feedback

• The quantity Aβ is called a loop gain and it is represented by L → L= Aβ

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Concept of stability
• Generally both amplifier gain and feedback factor is a function of frequency.
• So, the loop gain is also a function of frequency and is a complex number.

• Under certain condition, if the negative feedback becomes a positive feedback, the
stability of the amplifier is determined by the magnitude of the loop gain.

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6.4 Oscillator

• Oscillator is a circuit that produces an output signal without any input to it.
• It is basically an amplifier with a positive feedback.
• Based on the waveforms generated, oscillator could be
– Sinusoidal oscillator or linear oscillator
– Non-sinusoidal or relaxation or nonlinear oscillator
• Square waveform
• Triangular waveform
• Pulse waveform
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Oscillation criterion for sinusoidal oscillator

• Sinusoidal oscillator employs a positive feedback loop consisting of an amplifier and
a frequency-selective network.
• The closed loop transfer function for positive feedback system is given by

A ( j ) + vi vo
Acl ( j ) = vs  Amplifer
1 − A ( j )  ( j ) + A
vf
where, L ( j ) = A ( j )  ( j )
= A ( j )  ( j ) e
j ( ) Frequency selective
network


• If the loop gain is unity at a specific frequency, the closed loop gain will be infinite -
the circuit will have a finite output for zero input signal → an oscillator.
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Oscillation criterion for sinusoidal oscillator (contd..)

• The condition for a sinusoidal oscillation is stated as

“at frequency ω0, the magnitude of the loop gain should be unity and the phase
of the loop gain should be zero”.
L ( j0 ) = A ( j0 )  ( j0 ) e
j (0 )
= 10

where, ω0 = frequency of oscillation.

• This is known as Barkhausen criterion for oscillation.

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Wien bridge oscillator for sinusoidal waveform

• Wien bridge oscillator is a circuit that generates sinusoidal waveform of

desired amplitude and frequency.

• In the circuit,
– Basic amplifier = non-inverting amplifier

– Positive feedback = a lead-lag network

• We will find A and β.

• The gain of non-inverting amp is A = 1 + R2 R1

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Now let us find the feedback factor β of the lead lag network.

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RC phase shift oscillator

• A sinusoidal oscillator.
• Basic amplifier = inverting amplifier

• Feedback network = 3 cascaded RC

ladder network with same values of
R and C
– Provides 180◦ phase shift
• Total phase shift around loop is 360◦

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Derivation of feedback ratio:

At node 1,

Similarly at node 2,

At node 3,

Simplifying the expression in terms of vf and vo , we get feedback factor as

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Square wave generator

• Square wave generator is an oscillator circuit that generates square wave of desired
amplitude and frequency. R
• The positive feedback is provided by R1 and R2. C
−
v− vO
R1
• Feedback factor  = +
R1 + R2 v+
R2
• The feedback voltage v+ =  vO R1

• It utilizes the fact that the op amp saturates with positive feedback i.e., its output
voltage is either at +Vsat (positive saturation level) or at -Vsat.
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R
C
• The cycle repeats itself. v−
−
vO
• Thus, the circuit oscillates and +
v+
produces a square waveform at
R2
the output. R1

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Expression of time period

t = T/2

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Triangular wave generator

• Triangular wave generator is an oscillator that generates triangular waveform.
• Triangular waveform can be obtained simply by integrating the square wave.
R5
R3
C2
C1
− v1 R4
v− −
+ A2 v2
+
v+
R2
R1

Note: R5 is used to avoid the saturation of the op amp 2 at low frequencies.

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Any question?

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Basic specifications of IC 741:

Pinout of IC 741 • Power Supply: Requires a Minimum voltage of
5V and can withstand up to 18V
• Input Impedance: About 2 MΩ
• Output impedance: About 75 Ω
• Voltage Gain: 200,000 for low frequencies (200
V/mV)
• Maximum Output Current: 20 mA
• Recommended Output Load: Greater than 2
kΩ
• Input Offset: Ranges between 2 mV and 6 mV
• Slew Rate: 0.5 V/µS (It is the rate at which an
Op-Amp can detect voltage changes)
The high input impedance and very small output
impedance makes IC 741 a near ideal voltage
amplifier.

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