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What is the purpose of a resistor in the feedback path of a unity gain buffer?
I often see unity-gain followers with a resistor in the feedback path. For an ideal op-amp, of course, there is no current into the input,
and this resistor does nothing. What is its effect with a real op-amp, and how do I choose its value?
What does R1 do in this circuit?
op-amp
asked Jan 31 '13 at 22:11
nibot
826 5 18
14 The designer owns stock in a resistor company. Olin Lathrop Jan 31 '13 at 22:54
3 Answers
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1 of 4 10/27/2014 3:44 PM
You will rarely see a circuit with just one resistor as you show it; usually there will be another
resistor (or equivalent source resistance) of the same value on the noninverting input, too.
Most (nonideal) opamps have a finite input resistance, and this means that a tiny current flows
into or out of the input terminals. This current is called "input bias current", and it varies with
the voltage at the inputs. Since most opamp circuits use negative feedback to keep the two
inputs at the same voltage, this means that for any given voltage, the current through both
inputs will be the same.
The current through each input flows through whatever resistance is connected to that input,
and this introduces a voltage shift at the input. If the resistance at the two inputs is different,
this voltage shift will be different, too, and the difference between those two shifts will appear
as an additional input offset error in the operation of the circuit.
For this reason, an effort is made in all opamp circuits to make sure that the resistances
connected to the two inputs are the same, eliminating this additional source of error. Even in a
unity-gain buffer, if the source resistance is 100, a 100- resistor will be used in the feedback
path.
edited Jan 31 '13 at 22:56 answered Jan 31 '13 at 22:51
Dave Tweed
47k 5 55 99
This is definitely one reason to include the resistor, but it seems . there are others nibot Feb 4 '13 at 16:28
Here's an excerpt from the , showing that the answer is more involved than
equalizing the impedances seen by the two inputs:
OP27 data sheet
And another example, from the AD797 data sheet:
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edited Feb 4 '13 at 16:26 answered Feb 1 '13 at 16:34
nibot
826 5 18
One reason the feedback resistor may be used is to match the output impedance of Vin. Real
Op-amps have input current bias and input current offset.
Take for example this representative circuit:
Here, I've create a more realistic model of an op-amp by adding current sources which simulate
the current flowing into a real op-amp's terminals. The difference between the two input
currents is the offset input current.
The input voltage at the positive input terminal actually is:
Through ideal op-amp action, the negative input terminal voltage is the same. We can then
calculate the resultant output voltage:
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3 of 4 10/27/2014 3:44 PM
By closely matching R1 and R2 the effect of input bias current is effectively nulled. Note that
this doesn't solve input offset current, though. To solve both problems ensure that the
resistance of R1 and R2 are both small. This will solve both of the issues of input offset current
and input bias current. With a small enough R1 there may not be any need for an actual
discrete matched R2, though you will of course get better results if there is one.
edited Jan 31 '13 at 23:10 answered Jan 31 '13 at 22:58
helloworld922
5,503 1 15 32


Doh! My bad :P Of course an ideal op-amp input terminal can't have any current flowing in/out. Schematic should be
fixed now. helloworld922 Jan 31 '13 at 23:06
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