Study material for Viva 2 (Operational Amplifiers and Applications)
Closed Loop Amplifier
An output signal is feedback to the input either directly or via another network.
Signal feedback is of opposite or out of phase by 180° with respect to the input signal - feedback is
called negative feedback.
Negative feedback stabilizes the gain, increases the bandwidth, and changes the input and output
resistances.
Signal is fed back in phase with the input signal - feedback is called positive feedback. In positive
feedback the feedback signal aids input signal. - regenerative feedback.
Positive feedback is necessary in oscillator circuits.
Voltage series feedback - Non-inverting voltage feedback circuit.
With this type of feedback, input signal drives the non-inverting input of
an amplifier; a fraction of the output voltage is then fed back to the
inverting input.
Non-inverting amplifier with unity gain, is called voltage follower. Output voltage follows the input
voltage.
To obtain voltage follower, R1 is open circuited and Rf is shorted
in a negative feedback amplifier
Voltage shunt Feedback - Inverting voltage feedback circuit.
The input voltage drives the inverting terminal, and the amplified as well as inverted output signal is
also applied to the inverting input via the feedback resistor Rf .
The non-inverting terminal is grounded.
Resistor R1 is connected in series with the source.
The negative sign in equation indicates that the input and output
signals are out of phase by 180.
Therefore it is called inverting amplifier.
The gain can be selected by selecting Rf and R1 (even < 1).
Current to voltage converter and Inverter are special cases of inverting amplifier with feedback.
FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF 741 OP AMPs
Voltage gain is expressed in decibels.
Unity gain-Gain remains essentially constant from 0 Hz to the
break frequency thereafter rolls off at a constant rate, that is, 20
dB per decade (tenfold increase in frequency).
Bandwidth of the 741C is approximately 1 MHz and
has a single break frequency before the unity gain bandwidth.
The open loop bandwidth is the frequency band extending
from 0 Hz to fo, or simply fo. Hence the open-loop
bandwidthof the 741C is approximately 5 Hz.
High-frequency model of the op amp with a single break
frequency.
The open-loop gain magnitude
and phase angle
The gain rolls off at the rate of 20 dB/decade or the gain rolls off at the rate of 6 dB/octave, where
octave represents a two fold increase in frequency.
The unity gain of the 741C approximately 1 MHz ( gain of 0 dB a numerical gain of 1).
SLEW RATE
The slew is the maximum rate of change of output voltage
with respect to time, usually specified in V/ μs.
Ideally, we would like an infinity slew rate so that the op
amp's output voltage would change simultaneously with
the input.
Practical op-amps are able with slew rates from 0.1 V/ μs
to well above 1000 V/ μs.
Filters
A filter is a frequency selective circuit - passes a specified band of frequencies and blocks or
attenuates signals of frequencies out side this band.
Filters are classified as: Passive or active
Elements used in passive filters are resistors, capacitors and inductors.
Active filters, employ transistors or OPAMPs, in addition to the resistor and capacitors.
The main disadvantage of passive filters is that the amplitude of the output signal is less than that of
the input signal.
One way of restoring or controlling this loss of signal is by using amplification through the use
of Active Filters. In addition, the active filter is easier to tune or adjust.
No loading problem. Because of the high input resistance and low output resistance of the op-amp,
the active filter does not cause loading of the source or load.
Cost. Active filters are more economical than passive filters. This is because of the variety of cheaper
op-amps and the absence of inductors.
An ideal filter has an amplitude response that is unity for the frequencies that are of interest and zero
for other frequencies.
Frequency at which the response
changes from the fixed gain to zero is
called cutoff frequency.
Idealized responses
of the main type of filters:
Low pass filter
A low pass filter - constant gain from 0 Hz to a high cutoff frequency fH.
Bandwidth is fH.
At fH the gain is down by 3db. After that the gain decreases as
frequency increases.
Frequency range 0 to fH Hz is called pass band and beyond fH is called
stop band.
High pass filter
High pass filter has a constant gain from very high frequency to a low
cutoff frequency fL.
Below fL the gain decreases as frequency decreases.
At fL the gain is down by 3db.
Frequency range fL Hz to ∞ is called pass band and below fL is called stop
band.
For a filter that has an nth number order, it will have a subsequent roll-off rate of 20n dB/decade or 6n
dB/octave.
So a first-order filter has a roll-off rate of 20dB/decade (6dB/octave), a second-order filter has a roll-
off rate of 40dB/decade (12dB/octave), and a fourth-order filter has a roll-off rate of 80dB/decade
(24dB/octave), etc.
High-order filters, such as third, fourth, and fifth-order are usually formed by cascading together
single first-order and second-order filters.
Decades and Octaves
On the frequency scale, a Decade is a tenfold increase (multiply by
10) or tenfold decrease (divide by 10).
For example, 2 to 20Hz represents one decade.
An Octave is a doubling (multiply by 2) or halving (divide by 2) of
the frequency scale. For example, 10 to 20Hz represents one
octave.
First Order Low Pass Filter:
First order low pass Butter-worth filter - uses an RC network for
filtering,
Op-amp is used in non-inverting configuration - R1 and Rf decides
gain of the filter.
Low pass filter has a nearly constant gain Af from 0 Hz to high cut
off frequency fH.
At fH the gain is 0.707 Af and after fH it decreases at a constant rate
with an increases in frequency.
fH is called cutoff frequency because the gain of filter at this
frequency is reduced by 3dB from 0Hz.
Filter Design
A low pass filter can be designed using the following steps:
• Choose a value of high cutoff frequency fH.
• Select a value of C less than or equal to 1 µF.
• Calculate the value of R using
Finally, select values of R1 and RF to set the desired gain using
Second Order Low-Pass Butterworth filter
A stop-band response having a 40-dB/decade at the cut-off frequency is obtained with the second-
order low-pass filter.
A first order low-pass filter can be converted into a second-order low-pass filter by using an
additional RC network.
First Order High Pass Butterworth filter
This is formed by interchanging R and C in low pass filter.
The lower cut off frequency is fL.
This is the frequency at which the magnitude of the gain is 0.707
times its pass band value.
All frequencies higher than fL are pass band frequencies with the highest frequency determined by the
closed loop bandwidth of the OPAMP.
Frequency response curve of High pass filter
Applications of Active High Pass Filters are in audio amplifiers, equalizers or speaker systems.
If the two filters (high and low) band pass are connected
in series it becomes wide band filter whose gain
frequency response.
Inverting summer
With three input voltages Va, Vb & Vc configuration.
Depending upon the value of Rf and the input resistors Ra, Rb, Rc the circuit can be used as a summing
amplifier, scaling amplifier, or averaging amplifier.
The output voltage is equal to the negative sum of all the inputs
times the gain of the circuit Rf/ R, hence the circuit is called a summing amplifier.
When Rf = R then the output voltage is equal to the negative sum of all inputs.
Vo= - (Va+ Vb+ Vc)
If each input voltage is amplified by a different factor in other words weighted differently at the
output, the circuit is called then scaling amplifier.
The circuit can be used as an averaging circuit, in which the output voltage is equal to the average of
all the input voltages.
The circuit can be used as an averaging circuit, in which the output voltage is equal to the average of
all the input voltages.
In this case, Ra= Rb= Rc = R and Rf / R = 1 / n where n is the number of inputs.
Here Rf / R = 1 / 3.
Vo = - (Va+ Vb + Vc) / 3
In all these applications input could be either ac or dc.
Noninverting configuration
If the input voltages are connected to non inverting input
through resistors, then the circuit can be used as a summing or
averaging amplifier through proper selection of Ra, Rb, Rc and Rf
Let Ra = Rb = Rc = R
This shows that the output is equal to the average of all input voltages times the gain of the circuit (1+
Rf / R1), hence the name averaging amplifier.
If (1+ Rf/ R1) is made equal to 3 then the output voltage becomes sum of all three input voltages.
Vo = Va + Vb + Vc .
Hence, the circuit is called summing amplifier.
Differential Amplifier – Subtractor
R1 = R2 = R3 = Rf then the circuit will become a
Unity Gain Differential Amplifier or Subtractor
Output expression would simply be
Vout = Vb – Va
Integrator
A circuit in which the output voltage waveform is the integral of the input voltage waveform
is called integrator.
The output voltage is directly proportional to the
negative integral of the input voltage and inversely
proportional to the time constant RC.
If the input is a sine wave the output will be cosine wave.
If the input is a square wave, the output will be a triangular wave.
Practical Integrator
The stability and the low-frequency roll-off problems can be
corrected by the addition of a resistor RF.
The addition of a large value resistor, Rf across the capacitor, C
gives the circuit the characteristics of an inverting amplifier with
finite closed-loop gain of Rf/R1 at very low frequencies while acting
as an integrator at higher frequencies. At high frequencies, the
capacitor acts as a short circuit and by-passes the resistor Rf.
RF limits the low frequency gain and minimizes the error voltage at the output.
Frequency response
The frequency responses of the practical and basic
integrator
Frequency fa is the frequency at which gain is reduced by
3 dB from its maximum value. Hence frequency fa is also
called as 3dB frequency.
fa = 1/(2πRFC) =≫Break frequency or Corner frequency
fb is the frequency at which the gain is 0 dB (or unity gain
frequency) and is given by
fb = 1/(2πRC)
The integrator is most commonly used in analog computers and analog-to-digital (ADC) and signal
waveshaping circuits.
Differentiator
A circuit in which the output voltage waveform is the
differentiation of input voltage is called differentiator
Capacitor, C is connected to the input terminal of the inverting
amplifier while the Resistor, Rf forms the negative feedback
element across the operational amplifier.
A square wave input produces spikes at output.
A cosine wave input will produce a sine wave output,
A triangular input will produce a square wave output. Frequency response of basic differentiator
The magnitude of gain A is
|A| = |2πfRC|
Thus the gain A is directly proportional to frequency f.
▪ At low frequency, the gain is also low.
▪ As frequency increases, gain also increases linearly at the
rate of 20dB/decade.
The frequency fa is nothing but the 0 dB (or unity gain) frequency for differentiator.
fa=1/2πRC
Limitations
▪ As the frequency changes, the gain changes.
▪ At high frequencies: this basic differentiator circuit becomes
unstable and starts to oscillate;
▪ the circuit becomes sensitive to noise, that is, when amplified, noise dominates the
input/message signal.
To reduce the high frequency gain of the circuit, an extra resistor, R1 is added to the input and a
small value of capacitor Cf is added across the feedback resistor Rƒ. Here R1 and Cf are called as
compensating components.
From the basic differentiator, the 0 dB frequency
fa is given as
fa = 1/2πRFC1
The frequency fb as
fb = 1/(2πRFCF )
Since R1C1 = RFCF we get
fb = 1/(2πRFCF ) = 1/(2πR1C1)
Design of Practical differentiator
A practical differentiator can be designed by
implementing the following steps:
1. Select fa equal to the highest frequency of the input signal to be differentiated. Then,
assuming a value of C1 < 1 µF, calculate the value of RF.
2. Choose fb = 20fa and calculate the values of R1 and CF so that R1C1 = RFCF.
The differentiator is most commonly used in wave shaping circuits to detect high frequency
components in an input signal and also as a rate-of-change detector in FM modulators.
Phase shift oscillators
Oscillators
An oscillator - described as a source of alternating voltage.
The oscillator requires no external signal to initiate or maintain the energy
conversion process.
An output signals is produced as long as source of DC power is connected.
The two requirements for oscillation:
1. The magnitude of the loop gain Aβ must be least 1
2. The total phase shift of the loop gain Aβ must be equal to 0˚ or 360˚.
If the amplifier causes a phase shift of 180®, the feedback circuit must provide an additional phase
shift of 180® so that the total phase shift around the loop is 360®.
The type of waveform generated by an oscillator depends on the components in the circuit and hence
may be sinusoidal, square, or triangular.
The frequency of oscillation is determined by the components in the feedback circuit.
Phase shift oscillator
Phase shift oscillator consists of an op-amp as amplifier stage
and three RC cascaded networks as feedback circuit.
Op-amp is operated in inverting mode - output signal of the
op-amp is shifted by 180 degrees to the input signal appeared
at inverting terminal.
Feedback RC network - phase shift of 60 degrees each, hence
total phase shift provided by the three RC network is 180˚.
fo = 0.065/RC
At this frequency, the gain must be at least 29.
RF = 29R1
Design phase shift oscillator for given fo
Choose C < 1 µF. Then,
R = 0.065/ fo
To prevent loading of the amplifier because of RC networks, consider R1 ≥ R. Then
RF = 29R1
Use RF as potentiometer and adjust to get output waveform.
Op-amp 741 can be used at lower frequencies (< 1 kHz).
555 timer IC
The 555 timer IC is an integrated
circuit (chip) used in a variety
of timer, pulse generation, and oscillator applications.
555 TIMER-MONOSTABLE - Monostable circuit is switching circuit having one stable state and one
quasistable state.
555 TIMER-ASTABLE - Since neither output state is stable, this circuit is said to be astable and is often
referred to as a free-running multivibrator or astable multivibrator.
The frequency of oscillation as well as the duty cycle are accurately controlled by two external
resistors and a single timing capacitor.
To specify how unsymmetrical the output
is, duty cycle defined as
The output frequency is
If RA is much smaller then RB, the duty cycle
approaches 50%.
T = 0.693(RA + 2RB)C
Without reducing RA = 0, the astable multivibrator can be used to produce a square wave output
simply by connecting diode D across resistor RB.
▪ The duty cycle of an astable multivibrator is always greater than 50%.
▪ A square wave is obtained as the output of an astable multivibrator when the duty cycle is
50% exactly.
▪ Duty cycle of 50% or anything less than that is not possible with the IC 555 as an astable
multivibrator. Some modifications are to be made to the circuit. The modification is to add
two diodes.
One diode in parallel to the resistor R2 with cathode facing the capacitor and another diode in series
with the resistor R2 with anode facing the capacitor.
By adjusting the values of the resistors R1 and R2, a duty cycle in the range of 5% to 95% can be
obtained including the square wave output.