C.M.R.R.

ANALYSIS OF THE 3-OP-AMP INSTRUMENTATION AMPLIFIER

Indexing term: Operational amplifier The c.m.r.r. performance of the 3-op-amp instrumentation amplifier is analysed and shown to be, in general, no better than that of a single-op-amp differential amplifier. Only under rather special conditions does the more elaborate amplifier have a c.m.r.r. advantage.

If op-amps with matched c.m.r.r.s are used for Ax and A2 (such as the Precision Monolithics Mono-Op 10 matched pair), improved performance can be obtained with the instrumentation amplifier. Example: An instrumentation amplifier was designed and built with the following parameters: ^4^ = 100, .& = /?5=/?6 = RT= 10k2 (nominal value), with Rs adjustable. 741-type op-amps were used with the following measured cm.r.r.s: c.m.r.r.j = - l l l X 103, c.m.r.r.2 = 40 X 10 3 and c.m.r.r.3 = -52-5 X 103. Rs was used to obtain c.m.r.r. o ^ 100 dB, for which eqn. 3 predicts a c.m.r.r. of 140 dB. The measured c.m.r.r. was -2-4 X 104, in reasonable agreement with eqn. 7 which predicts -2-9 X 10 4 . Conclusion: The expression usually quoted for the cm.r.r. of the instrumentation amplifier of Fig. 1 overlooks an important defect of the amplifier, namely the conversion of a commonmode input level to a differential signal by the input buffer stage (Ah A2). The correct expression is given by eqn. 7, which shows that a significantly degraded c.m.r.r. performance can be expected unless the input op-amps have matched c.m.r.r.s.
M. A. SMITHER D. R. PUGH L. M. WOOLARD, JUN. Electrical Engineering Department Cullen College of Engineering University of Houston Houston, Tex. 77004, USA 11th August 1977

Introduction: Fig. 1 illustrates the popular 3-op-amp instrumentation amplifier. Several published accounts1"5 of the c.m.r.r. performance indicate, for the buffer with gain (amplifiers A\ and A2), a differential gain of *2 and a common-mode gain of (2) The overall c.m.r.r. is then erroneously computed as c.m.r.r. = c.m.r.r.' X c.m.r.r.0 = A'dc.m.r.T.o (3) where c.m.r.r.o refers to the c.m.r.r. of the output differential amplifier A3 and associated resistors. Based on eqn. 3, A'd should be large to take advantage of the 'free' c.m.r.r. available. (1)

References
1 STOUT, D. F., and KAUFMAN, M.: 'Handbook of operational amplifier circuit design' (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1976), section 9-2 2 ROBERGE, J. K.: 'Operational amplifiers; theory and practice' (Wiley, New York, 1975), pp. 450-451 3 SHEINGOLD, D. H.: 'Analog-digital conversion handbook' (Analog Devices, Norwood, Mass., 1972), p. 111-34 4 SMITH, J. I.: 'Modern operational circuit design' (Wiley, New York, 1971), pp. 124-126 5 GARRETT, P.: 'Optimize transducer/computer interfaces,' Electron. Des., 24th May 1977, 25, (11), pp. 178-181

Fig. 1 Three-op-amp instrumentation amplifier

C.M.R.R. analysis: The result of eqn. 3 overlooks a fundamental limitation to c.m.r.r. performance, namely the conversion of a common-mode signal at e+, e~ to a differential signal at eOi> 3)2 as a result of the finite c.m.r.r. of Ax and A2. For e+ = e~ = ecM, CQI = &QM \pt\ (1 > R\IR2)
^02 = ^CM 1^2(1 ' R3/R2)

tt2/\i//v2j
Qt 1JV3/j^jJ

(4)
v^/

INCLUSION OF CONDUCTIVITY IN SILICON S.A.W. COMPONENT DESIGN

Indexing terms: Equivalent circuits, Surface-acoustic-wave devices An equivalent circuit is described for a surface-acoustic-wave delay line utilising interdigital transducers in a multilayered medium with a conductive silicon substrate. Attention is paid to practical material parameters for the ultimate realisation of the monolithic integration of surface-acoustic-wave and electronic components on the same silicon slice.

where a,-= (c.m.r.r., l)/c.m.r.r.,- and c.m.r.r./ refers to the c.m.r.r. of the ith op-amp, defined, as usual, in terms of the change in input referred offset voltage caused by eCM- The differential signal applied to the output stage as a result of e CM is therefore
^02 CQI == CMAd(&2 l) (6)

which leads to the proper expression for the c-in.r.r. of the overall instrumentation amplifier as A'dc.m.i.r.o c.m.r.r. = +A'dc.m.T.i.o(ot2-(Xi)

(7)

assuming that RJR4 ^ RJRs, c.m.r.r.o in the usual manner.

any mismatch contributing to

Discussion: Eqn. 7 shows that the conventional expression (eqn. 3) is valid only -under special circumstances, namely when ctt = a2. If a worst-case assumption (c.m.r.r. 1 = c.m.r.r.2) is made, the c.m.r.r. is reduced to c.m.r.r^c.m,r.r. 1 /2 (8) which is 6 dB less than the c.m.r.r. obtainable with a standard 1-op-amp differential amplifier with perfectly matched resistors. 594

Definite limits are imposed on the permissible oxide thickness and silicon resistivity of silicon integrated circuits intended for volume production. A typical value of oxide thickness is 0-5 fjtm with an upper limit of 1/nm and a lower limit of 0 1 /im. Silicon resistivities normally range from 0 0 1 to lOOftcm. If it is intended to incorporate surface-acousticwave (s.a.w.) devices and electronic components monolithically on the same silicon slice, these are the practical material limits that must be faced by the s.a.w.-device designer. As is well known, s.a.w. generation and detection on a nonpiezoelectric substrate such as silicon necessitates a piezoelectric overlay.1'2 The electrical conductivity of the silicon3 adds a further complication. Of the four transducer configurations possible in such multilayered media,2 the structure illustrated in Fig. 1 was chosen because it is compatible with silicon planar technology and was considered to be the most Vol. 13 No. 20

ELECTRONICS LETTERS 29th September 1977