Instrumentation

1
Amplifiers
Course: Applied Electronics
Instructor: Ismail Amin Ali
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Duhok
2 Instrumentation Amplifiers
❑ An instrumentation amplifier (IA) amplifies the voltage
difference between its terminals.
❑ It is optimized for amplifying small differential signals
that may be riding on a large common mode voltages.

Input 1 +
R3 R5
 High input impedance A1
Gain set –
 High CMMR R1
–

 Low output offset R2 A3 Output

+
 Low output impedance Gain set – R4
A2
Input 2 + R6
3 Instrumentation Amplifiers
❑ A1 and A2 are noninverting configurations that provide
high input impedance and voltage gain.
❑ Op-amp A3 is used as a unity-gain differential amplifier
with high-precision resistors that are all equal in value
(R3 = R4 = R5 = R6).

Input 1 +
R3 R5
A1
Gain set –
R1
–
R2 A3 Output
+
Gain set – R4
A2
Input 2 + R6
4 Instrumentation Amplifiers
❑ IC of instrumentation amplifier is made up of three op
amps and several resistors.
❑ The gain is set by a single resistor that is connected
externally.
❑ The output voltage is the closed loop gain set by RG
multiplied by the voltage difference in the inputs.

+ Vcm
Vin1Input 1 +
R3 R5
A1
Gain set –
R1
–
RG R2 A3 Output
+
Gain set – R4
A2 Vout = Acl (Vin2 - Vin1)
+ Vcm
Vin2Input 2 + R6
5 Instrumentation Amplifiers Applications
❑ Used where a quantity is sensed by a remote sensor e.g. temperature,
pressure transducer and sensed signal is sent over a long line.
❑ Electrical noise produces common-mode voltages in the line.
❑ IA at the end of line amplifies only the small differential signal and reject
the common mode signal
6 Instrumentation Amplifiers Applications
❑ Op-amp A1 receives the differential input signal Vin1 on its
noninverting input and amplifies this signal with a voltage gain of
Av = 1 +R1/RG
❑ Op-amp A1 also has Vin2 as an input signal to its inverting input
through op-amp A2 and the path formed by R2 and RG. The input
signal Vin2 is amplified by op-amp A1 with a voltage gain of
Av =R1/RG
❑ The overall closed-loop gain of the instrumentation amplifier is
Acl = 1 +2R/RG
❑ Where R=R1=R2

❑ The external gain-setting resistor RG can be calculated for a

desired voltage gain:
7 Example: Instrumentation Amplifier
❑ An IA that is based on the three op-amp design is the
AD622. The formula for choosing RG is:
50.5 k
RG =
Av - 1

❑ What value of RG will set the gain to 35?

+V

(7)
(3)
+IN
(1)
(6)
RG AD622 Output
50.5 k 50.5 k (8)
RG = = (5)
REF
Av - 1 35 - 1 –IN
(2) (Output signal
common)
(4)

–V
8 AD622 Gain vs Frequency
❑ This graph shows how the gain varies with frequency
for gains of 1, 10, 100, and 1000. As the curves show,
the bandwidth decreases as the gain increases.
9 Degradation of CMR due to phase shifts

❑ Various types of transducers are used to sense temperature, strain, pressure, and other parameters
in many types of applications.
❑ Using coaxial cable, noise in the form of common-mode signals picked up from external sources
can be minimized, but not totally eliminated.
❑ Any common-mode signals that are induced on the signal lines are rejected because both inputs to
the amplifier have the same common-mode signal.
❑ However, when a shielded cable is used, there are stray capacitances distributed along its length
between each signal line and the shield. The differences in these stray capacitances, particularly at
higher frequencies, result in a phase shift between the two common-mode signals.
❑ The result is a degradation in the common-mode rejection of the amplifier because the two signals
are no longer in phase and do not completely cancel so that a differential voltage is created at the
amplifier inputs.
10 Shield Guard
❑ Guarding is a technique to reduce the effects of noise on the common mode operation of an
instrumentation amplifier operating in critical environments.
❑ The common-mode signal is fed back to the shield by a voltage-follower that drives the
common-mode signal onto the shield to eliminate the voltage difference between the signal
lines and the shield.
❑ The purpose is to eliminate voltage differences between the signal lines and the shield, virtually
eliminating leakage currents and cancelling the effects of the distributed capacitances so that
the common-mode voltages are the same in both lines.
❑ When the voltage between each signal line and the shield is zero, the leakage currents are also
zero and the capacitive reactances become infinitely large. An infinitely large XC implies a zero
capacitance.
11 Example: Instrumentation Amplifier with a
Guard Output
❑ Most instrumentation amplifiers can be configured externally to provide a
shield guard driver.
❑ Certain IC amplifiers, however, provide an internally generated guard
output that is intended for very critical environments.
❑ An example is the AD522, which is a precision IC instrumentation
amplifier designed for applications requiring high accuracy under worst-
case operating conditions and with very small signals. The pin labeled
DATA GUARD is the shield-guard output.