1.

1 Ideal op-amp characteristics

Lecture 11
(A). Amplification of a difference
Introduction to Op-Amps
• Operational amplifiers (op-amps) amplify the
In this lecture: difference between two input voltages:
11.1. Ideal op-amp characteristics
11.2. The differential amplifier
• Introduction
(
Vout = Av V + − V − ,)
where
Recommended Books: o The gain AV of the op-amp is ideally
Sedra & Smith, Microelectronics, 4th Edition (or any edition!) infinite. Thus even the smallest
Johns & Martin, Analogue Integrated Circuit Design difference between the + and - inputs result in a large change in the
output
In this section
o V + is the voltage on the non-inverting input
We find out how to design a real operational transconductance amplifier
(OTA) (also called an operational amplifier) to behave like an ideal op- o V − is the voltage on the inverting input
amp. • AV is ideally infinite; in practice it is very large – for a 741 op-amp this is
typically 200 V/mV (that’s more than 100 dB). Thus even the smallest
difference between V + and V − is amplified (up to the positive supply
voltageVCC or down to the negative supply voltage VEE).
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(C) Zero output resistance

• Another strength of op-amps is that they
can deliver quite a heavy output current,
irrespective of the output voltage.
(B) Infinite input resistance
• The op-amp’s output looks like a voltage
• Op-amps consume very little current. source. No real voltage source is
Ideally, the input currents I − and I + perfect, however: as more current is
are zero, so we say that the input drawn, the output voltage drops slightly.
resistance is ideally infinite.
• This is often modeled as an internal
• The input currents to a real op-amp are resistance, or output resistance Rout.
vanishingly small (for a 741 op-amp this
is less than 7.5µA): hence it consumes • The lower Rout, the less of AV(v+-v-) is dropped across Rout, and more of it
almost no power. appears across RLOAD. This is good.
• The op-amp therefore does not load (draw current from) any circuit
supplying its inputs. • In an op-amp Rout is very small – ideally zero.
• The input resistance to a 741 is typically 2 MΩ. • This can be very useful, for instance, if a capacitor needs to be quickly
charged: a very heavy current is drawn for a short time.
Question
How many op-amps could be powered for the same price as a single 60W
light-bulb?
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(D) Virtual Short Circuit 1.2 The differential amplifier
• The first step is to consider the circuit at the heart of the op-amp, the
• Ideally: Since the voltage gain of an op- differential amplifier. To see how it works, consider the following
amp is ideally infinite, then any sizeable simplified circuit.
v+-v- causes an infinite vout
State 1: vin+=vin-
• Really: Since the voltage gain of an op-
amp is very large, then any sizeable v+-v- In this state, RVAR+=RVAR- and the
causes vout to go to one of the supply bias current is divided equally
rails: +VCC or –VEE. between the two branches: IBIAS
down the + side and IBIAS. The output
• Ideally: so to keep vout finite requires that v+ = v-. voltages are then

• Really: to keep vout between the supply rails requires that v+ ≈ v− v + out = v − out = VCC − I BIAS RL
• This strange condition is known as the virtual short circuit condition. This is the bias point for the output
When analyzing an op-amp we can assume that v+ = v−, even though voltage.
o no current flows between the inputs, and

o they must not be connected together!

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State 2: vin+>vin- + −
If ∆I could be related to v in and v in , then this would make a good
In this state,RVAR+ increases, so less current is drawn down the + side. Since differential voltage amplifier, whose gain is controlled by the resistor we
the total current is constant (=2IBIAS), more current is drawn down the – side. choose, RLOAD. How?
In other words:
Easy – Use MOSFETS
I + = I BIAS − ∆I
• In its active mode, a
I − = I BIAS + ∆I MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-
Semiconductor FET) acts like
And the change in output voltages is given by a voltage-controlled current
source.
∆v + out = ∆I × RLOAD • If we use two identical
∆v − out = −∆I × RLOAD MOSFETS, we can achieve
the kind of differential voltage
So the rise in the differential voltage is amplifying we want.

vout ( diff ) = ∆v + out − ∆v − out = ∆I × RLOAD − (− ∆I × RLOAD )

= 2∆I × RLOAD

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Small-signal analysis • We can then ignore the D.C. bias voltages and currents (VCC, IBIAS etc.),
and concentrate on the A.C. variations (id, vgs, vds etc.). This is called
small-signal analysis.

= • We will use the simplified hybrid-π small signal equivalent circuit for the
MOSFET -- notice that the (small-signal) output current id depends only on
the small-signal input gate-source voltage vgs.

• The constant of proportionality, gm, is called the transconductance of the

MOSFET, and depends on where the bias point is (See GE210 --
transistors notes!)

≈
• Recall: if we assume that the voltages change only a little around the D.C.
bias point, our (non-linear) MOSFETS look approximately linear.

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Remember: in small-signal analysis

• transistors look like current

sources
• D.C. current sources look like
open circuits or LARGE
resistors
• DC voltage sources look like
earths

So the small-signal equivalent

circuit of our differential amplifier
looks like this… where
+ +
v GS = v IN − vs
− −
v GS = v IN − vs

Next lecture: the diff-amp -- small-signal analysis & how to bias

END OF LECTURE
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