UNIT 2 (Operational Amplifier)

Operational Amplifier

An operational amplifier(OP-Amp) is a multistage amplifier and consists of a differential amplifier

stage, a high-gain CE amplifier stage and class B push-pull emitter follower. An OP-Amp is an *integrated
circuit and is widely used in computers, as video and audio amplifiers in communication electronics.
Because of their multi-purpose use used in all branches of electronics, both digital and linear circuits

The standard operational amplifier (op-amp)

symbol is shown in Figure (a). It has two
input terminals, the inverting ( - ) input and
the non-inverting ( + ) input, and one output
terminal. The typical op-amp operates with
two dc supply voltages, one positive and the other negative, as shown in Figure (b).

Block Diagram of Operational Amplifier

An operational amplifier
(OP-Amp) is a circuit that
can perform such
mathematical operations
as addition, subtraction,
integration and
differentiation. Fig shows
the block diagram of an operational amplifier. Note that OP-Amp is a multistage amplifier. The three
stages are: differential amplifier input stage followed by a high-gain CE amplifier and finally the output
stage.
The key electronic circuit in an OP-Amp is the differential amplifier. A differential amplifier (DA) can
accept two input signals and amplifies the difference between these two input signals.
The following points may be noted about operational amplifiers (OP-Amps):

(i) The input stage of an OP-Amp is a differential amplifier (DA) and the output stage is
typically a class B push-pull emitter follower.
(ii) The internal stages of an OP-Amp are direct-coupled i.e., no coupling capacitors are used.
The direct coupling allows the OP-Amp to amplify d.c. as well as a.c. signals.
(iii) An OP-Amp has very high input impedance (ideally infinite) and very low output impedance
(ideally zero). The effect of high input impedance is that the amplifier will draw a very small current
(ideally zero) from the signal source. The effect of very low output impedance is that the amplifier
will provide a constant output voltage independent of current drawn from the source.
(iv) An OP-Amp has very high open-loop voltage gain (ideally infinite); typically more than 200,000.
(v) The OP-Amps are almost always operated with negative feedback. It is because the open loop
voltage gain of these amplifiers is very high and we can sacrifice the gain to achieve
the advantages of negative feedback including large bandwidth (BW) and gain stability

Basic Circuit of Differential Amplifier

Fig(i). shows the basic circuit of a differential amplifier. It consists of two transistors Q1 and Q2
that have identical characteristics. They share a common positive supply VCC, common emitter resistor RE
and common negative supply VEE. Note that the circuit is symmetrical. Fig(ii). shows the symbol of
differential amplifier. The differential amplifier (DA) is a two-input terminal device using at least two
transistors. There are two output terminals Vout1 and Vout2.
○

(ii) The DA transistors Q1 and Q2 are matched so that their characteristics are the same. The collector
resistors (RC1 and RC2) are also equal. The equality of the matched circuit components makes the DA
circuit arrangement completely symmetrical.

(iii) The signal to a differential amplifier (DA) in the following two ways: (a) The signal is applied to one
input of DA and the other input is grounded, is called single-ended input arrangement.

(b) The signals are applied to both inputs of DA, is called dual-ended or double-ended input arrangement.

(iv) The output from DA in the following two ways : (a) The output can be taken from one of the output
terminals and the ground, is called single-ended output arrangement. (b) The output can be taken
between the two output terminals (i.e., between the collectors of Q1 and Q2). In that case, it is called
double-ended output arrangement or differential output.
Operation of Differential Amplifier
The operation of single-ended input (i.e., signal is applied to one input of DA and the other input is
grounded) and double-ended output DA.
(i) Suppose the signal is applied to input 1 (i.e., base of transistor Q1) and input 2 (i.e., base of transistor
Q2) is grounded as shown in Fig. The transistor Q1 will act in two ways: as a common emitter

amplifier and as a common collector amplifier. As a common emitter amplifier, the input signal to Q1
(input 1) will appear at output 1 (i.e., collector of Q1) as amplified inverted signal as shown in Fig. As a
common collector amplifier, the signal appears on the emitter of Q1 in phase with the input and only
slightly smaller. Since the emitters of Q1 and Q2 are common, the emitter signal becomes input to Q2.
Therefore, Q2 functions as a common base amplifier. As a result, the signal on the emitter of Q2 will be
amplified and appears on output 2 (i.e., collector of Q2) in phase with the emitter signal and hence in
phase with the input signal (signal at input 1).
characteristics of ideal operational amplifier
1. Infinite input resistance
2. Zero output resistance
3. Infinite volatage gain and bandwidth
4. Infinite slew rate and CMRR
5. Zero offset
Common mode rejection ratio (CMRR)
The CMRR serves as a figure of merit of an op-amp and is defind as the ratio of the differential voltage

gain(Ad) to the common mode voltage gain Acm CMRR  Ad . The Ad is the gain of the op-amp when two
ACM

different voltages are applied at the two inputs and is same as the large signal voltage gain. ACM is the gain of
the op-amp when the two terminals of the op-amp are applied with the same voltages from the same source.
slew rate: Indicates how fast the output of an op-amp can change in response to changes in the input frequency
Application of operational amplifier
Inverting amplifier
An OP amplifier can be operated as an inverting amplifier as shown in Fig. An input signal Vin is
applied through input resistor Ri to the inverting input. The output is fed back to the same inverting input
through feedback resistor Rf. The noninverting input is grounded. Note that the resistor Rf provides the
negative feedback. Since the input signal is applied to the inverting input (–), the output will be inverted
(i.e. 180° out of phase) as compared to the input. Hence the name inverting amplifier.

Voltage gain. An OP-amp has an infinite input

impedance. This means that there is zero current
at the inverting input. If there is zero current
through the input impedance, then there must be
no voltage drop between the inverting and
noninverting inputs. This means that voltage at
the inverting input (–) is zero (point A) because
the other input (+) is grounded. The 0V at the
inverting input terminal (point A) is referred to
as virtual ground. This condition is illustrated
in Fig. 25.47. The point A is said to be at virtual
ground because it is at 0V but is not physically
connected to the ground (i.e. VA = 0V).

Referring to the Fig, the current I1 to the inverting input is zero. Therefore the current Iin flowing through
Ri entirely flows through feedback resistor Rf. In other words, If = Iin
Voltage across Ri Vin  VA Vin  0 Vin
I in    
Ri Ri Ri Ri

Voltage across R f VA  Vout 0  Vout Vout

If    
Rf Rf Rf Rf

Vout Vin
sin ce I f  I in , 
Rf Ri

Vout Rf
voltage gain, ACL  
Vin Ri
The following points may be noted about the inverting amplifier :
(i) The closed-loop voltage gain (ACL) of an inverting amplifier is the ratio of the feedback resistance
Rf to the input resistance Ri. The closed-loop voltage gain is independent of the OP-amp’s
internal open-loop voltage gain. Thus the negative feedback stabilizes the voltage gain.

(ii) The inverting amplifier can be designed for unity gain. Thus if Rf = Ri, then voltage gain,
ACL = –1. Therefore, the circuit provides a unity voltage gain with 180° phase inversion.
(iii) If Rf is some multiple of Ri, the amplifier gain is constant. For example, if Rf = 10 Ri, then
ACL = –10 and the circuit provides a voltage gain of exactly 10 along with a 180° phase inversion
 from the input signal. If we select precise resistor values for Rf and Ri, we can obtain a wide
range of voltage gains. Thus the inverting amplifier provides constant voltage gain.

Noninverting Amplifier

There are times when we wish to have an output

signal of the same polarity as the input signal. In this case,
the OP-amp is connected as non-inverting amplifier as
shown in Fig. The input signal is applied to the non-
inverting input (+). The output is applied back to the input
through the feedback circuit formed by feedback resistor
Rf and input resistance Ri. Note that resistors Rf and Ri
form a voltage divide at the inverting input (–). This
produces *negative feedback in the circuit. Note that Ri is grounded. Since the input signal is applied to
the non-inverting input (+), the output signal will be non-inverted i.e., the output signal will be in phase
with the input signal. Hence, the name non-inverting amplifier.

Voltage gain. If we assume that we are not at saturation, the potential at point A is the same as Vin. Since
the input impedance of OP-amp is very high, all of the current that flows through Rf also flows through
Ri. Keeping these things in mind
Voltage across Ri= Vin - 0; voltage across Rf = Vout - Vin ; Current through Ri = Current through Rf
Vin  0 Vout  Vin
or  ; Vin R f  Vout Ri  Vin Ri
Ri Rf
Vin ( R f  Ri )  Vout Ri
Vout R f  Ri Rf
  1
Vin Ri Ri
Rf
ACL 1 
Ri
The following points may be noted about the non-inverting amplifier :
If the output voltage increases, the voltage at the inverting input will also increase. Since the
voltage being amplified is the difference between the voltages at the two input terminals, the differential
voltage will decrease when the output voltage increases. Therefore, the circuit provides negative feedback

The voltage gain of non-inverting amplifier also depends upon the values of Rf and Ri.
(ii) The voltage gain of a non-inverting amplifier can be made equal to or greater than 1.

(iii) The voltage gain of a non-inverting amplifier will always be greater than the gain of an equivalent
inverting amplifier by a value of 1. If an inverting amplifier has a gain of 150, the equivalent
noninverting amplifier will have a gain of 151.

(iv) The voltage gain is positive. This is not surprising because output signal is in phase with the input
signal.
Summing Amplifiers
A summing amplifier is an inverted OP-amp that can accept two or more inputs. The output
voltage of a summing amplifier is proportional to the negative of the algebraic sum of its input voltages.
Hence the name summing amplifier. Fig.
Shows a three-input summing amplifier
but any number of inputs can be used.
Three voltages V1, V2 and V3 are applied to
the inputs and produce currents I1, I2 and
I3. Using the concepts of infinite
impedance and virtual ground, the
inverting input of the OP-amp is at virtual ground (0V) and there is no current to the input. This means
that the three input currents I1, I2 and I3 combine at the summing point A and form the total current (If)
which goes through Rf as shown in Fig. If = I1 + I2 + I3

When all the three inputs are applied, the output voltage is, Vout   I f R f   R f ( I1  I 2  I3 )
V V V 
Vout   R f  1  2  3 
 R1 R2 R3 
Rf
if R1  R2  R3  Rthen Vout   (V1  V2  V3 )
R
Thus the output voltage is proportional to the algebraic sum of the input voltages (of course neglecting
negative sign). An interesting case results when the gain of the amplifier is unity. In that case,
Rf = R1 = R2 = R3 and output voltage is Vout = – (V1 + V2 + V3). Thus, when the gain of summing amplifier
is unity, the output voltage is the algebraic sum of the input voltages.

OP-Amp Integrators
An integrator is a circuit that performs
integration of the input signal. The output of an
integrator is proportional to the area of the input
waveform over a period of time. The most popular
application of an integrator is to produce a ramp
output voltage (i.e. a linearly increasing or
decreasing voltage). Fig. shows the circuit of an
OP-amp integrator. It consists of an OP-amp, input resistor R and feedback capacitor C. Note that the
feedback component is a capacitor instead of a resistor.
Comparator
A Comparator is a circuit which compares
a signal voltage applied at one input of an op-amp
with a known reference voltage at the other input .
It is basically an open loop op-amp with output
±Vsat(=VCC). In figure the reference voltage Vref is
applied to the (+) input and Vin is applied to (-)
input. For a sinusoidal input voltage, the output
waveform is shown in figure.

Schmitt Trigger [Regenerative Comparator]

In comparator the feedback is not used and the op-amp is used in the open loop mode. As open
loop gain of op-amp is large, very small noise voltages also can cause triggering of the comparator, to
change its state. Such a false triggering may cause lot of problems in the applications of comparator as
Instrumentation amplifier
The two non-inverting amplifiers form a
differential input stage acting as buffer
amplifiers with a gain of 1 + 2R2/R1 for
differential input signals and unity gain
for common mode input signals. Since
amplifiers A1 and A2 are closed loop
negative feedback amplifiers, we can
expect the voltage at Va to be equal to
the input voltage V1. Likewise, the
voltage at Vb to be equal to the value
at V2.
As the op-amps take no current
at their input terminals (virtual earth),
the same current must flow through the
three resistor network
of R2, R1 and R2 connected across the
op-amp outputs. This means then that
the voltage on the upper end of R1 will
be equal to V1 and the voltage at the
lower end of R1 to be equal to V2
This produces a voltage drop
across resistor R1 which is equal to the
voltage difference between
inputs V1 and V2, the differential input
voltage, because the voltage at the
summing junction of each
amplifier, Va and Vb is equal to the
voltage applied to its positive inputs.
However, if a common-mode voltage is applied to the amplifiers inputs, the voltages on each side
of R1 will be equal, and no current will flow through this resistor. Since no current flows through R1
(nor, therefore, through both R2 resistors, amplifiers A1 and A2 will operate as unity-gain followers
(buffers). Since the input voltage at the outputs of amplifiers A1 and A2 appears differentially across the
three resistor network, the differential gain of the circuit can be varied by just changing the value of R1.
The voltage output from the differential op-amp A3 acting as a subtractor, is simply the difference
between its two inputs ( V2 – V1 ) and which is amplified by the gain of A3which may be one, unity,
(assuming that R3 = R4). Then we have a general expression for overall voltage gain of the
instrumentation amplifier circuit as:

 R   2R 
Vout   4  1  2  (V2  V1 )
 R3   R1 