TP 3: CIRCUITS WITH OPERATIONALL AMPLIFIERS

Objective: This lab session is intended to study signal amplification, an essential function of the
electronics and instrumentation. This function can be performed using an operational amplifier
(op-amp).

Necessary components for the lab session:

- Operational Amplifier 𝐿𝑀741
- Resistors: 1 𝑘𝛺, 10 𝑘𝛺 and 100 𝑘𝛺
- Capacitor: 100 𝑛𝐹

I. Introduction
In its ideal version (figure 1), analog amplification consists in transforming a signal 𝑒(𝑡) into a signal
𝑠(𝑡) which is proportional to 𝑒(𝑡): 𝑠(𝑡) = 𝐴. 𝑒(𝑡) where 𝐴 is a constant whose modulus |𝐴| is
generally desired greater than 1. 𝐴 is called the amplifier's gain.

e(t) A s(t)

amplificateur figure 1

Assume an input signal 𝑒(𝑡) of triangular shape, the output signal 𝑠(𝑡) is still triangular and its
amplitude is 𝐴 times larger than that of 𝑒(𝑡) as shown in figure 2 with 𝐴 = −2.

e(t)
s(t)
2a o
ao
t

figure 2

The reality is more complex. Indeed, it is difficult to realize such an ideal amplifier, that ensures a
constant gain regardless of the signal 𝑒(𝑡). Actually, there is a distortion between the input and output
signals. This can be explained by the presence of two phenomena in the amplification: the
non-linearity and the dispersion.
• the non-linearity reflects the fact that the gain 𝐴 is a function of the amplitude of the input signal.
• the dispersion reflects the fact that the gain is not constant over the entire frequency spectrum of
the input signal (see appendix at end of document). That is to say that 𝐴 depends of the frequency
of the sine waves constituting the signal 𝑒(𝑡).
To better understand this, let us take as an example the analog audio amplifier of a Hi-Fi system. The
sinusoidal signals the latter must amplify faithfully are all those in the band of audible frequency, of
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Lab Phys 2206 – Lebanese University – Faculty of Science III
some tens of Hz (bass) to several tens of kHz (treble). On the other hand, the amplitude of the signals
it must amplify are of the order of mV (signals from the transducer reading head), and after
amplification, the amplitudes are of the order of a few Volts (signals to transmit to the loudspeakers).
We can imagine without difficulty, since it was not designed for this, that this same amplifier may
not be as loyal to amplify signals of an amplitude of 10 V... the output signal would reach 10000 V.
From a graphical point of view, starting from a certain input signal amplitude, there will be a
phenomenon of saturation: the amplitude of the output signal will no longer increase once we reach
a certain value 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑥 , regardless of the amplitude of the input signal exceeding 𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑥 , as shown in
figure 3.
e(t)
s(t)
s max
e > e max
t

figure 3

On the other hand, it is conceivable that an amplifier cannot amplify with the same gain a sinusoidal
signal of frequency 100 Hz like one of 1 GHz. The electronic components of which the amplifier is
composed all have a limited bandwidth, the origins of which are at the same time physical and
conceptual. This limitation will be reflected on the bandwidth of the amplifier that will be itself
limited. Figure 4 shows for example the evolution of the real value of |𝐴| as a function of frequency
for an amplifier of ideal gain equal to100.

|A| dB

40 idéal
20 réel

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 logf
figure 4

As a summary, to fully characterize an amplifier, it is necessary to study its gain in the frequency
domain as well as a function of the amplitude of the involved signal.

II. Voltage amplification using circuits with an operational amplifier

The operational amplifier used is an Op-Am from the series 741. It is a widespread, low-cost and
low-performance Op-Am, quite satisfactory for many applications. Figure 5 shows the connection
diagram of the circuit 741:

figure 5
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Second year physics
Lab Phys 2206 – Lebanese University – Faculty of Science III
Attention: The operational amplifier must be powered, in all this part with +𝑉𝑐𝑐 = +12𝑉 and
−𝑉𝑐𝑐 = −12𝑉.
A) Set the function generator (GBF) using the oscilloscope in order to obtain a triangular signal
having an amplitude 𝑈𝑒 = 250 𝑚𝑉 and a frequency 𝑓 = 1 𝑘𝐻𝑧. Make the circuit of figure 6, with
𝑅1 = 1 𝑘𝛺 and 𝑅2 = 10 𝑘𝛺. Don't forget to power the op-amp. The voltage 𝑢𝑒 (𝑡) issued by the
generator will be viewed on the channel 𝑋 of the oscilloscope while the output 𝑢𝑠 (𝑡) will be visualized
on the channel 𝑌.
R2

-
R1 +
u (t) u (t)
e s
figure 6

1) Plot on the same waveform, with the best suited scales, the voltages 𝑢𝑒 (𝑡) and 𝑢𝑠 (𝑡).
Determine experimentally the gain 𝐴 of this amplifier circuit.
2) Compare the value of the measured gain with that predicted by the calculation. How can the
obtained sign for the expression of A be reflected on the oscilloscope? Explain why.

B) We will study now a non-inverter amplifier. Make the circuit of figure 7, where we choose again
𝑅1 = 1 𝑘𝛺 and 𝑅2 = 10 𝑘𝛺. We suppose always working with a triangular input voltage 𝑢𝑒 (𝑡) of
frequency 𝑓 = 1 𝑘𝐻𝑧.

+
-
u e (t)
R2 u (t)
s
R1
figure 7

1) Measure the amplitude of the output signal 𝑢𝑠 (𝑡) for the amplitudes of 𝑈𝑒 entry located
between 50 𝑚𝑉 and 2 𝑉. Take a dozen of values in this range of amplitude, and put the
results in a table in which you also specify the gain obtained for each measurement.
2) Draw the curve giving the output amplitude 𝑈𝑠 as a function of the amplitude of the input
signal 𝑈𝑒 . Sketch also the gain 𝐴 in function of 𝑈𝑒 . Deduce an average value of the gain
𝐴 and the area of linear operation of the amplifier. Comment on your results.
3) Replace the resistor 𝑅2 of 10 𝑘𝛺 with one of 100 𝑘𝛺. Calculate the new gain. We use a
sinusoidal input signal for which we set the amplitude 𝑈𝑒 to 50 𝑚𝑉. Vary the frequency
of the sinusoidal signal from 100 𝐻𝑧 to 100 𝑘𝐻𝑧 (take two points per decade: 1 𝑘𝐻𝑧,
5 𝑘𝐻𝑧, 10 𝑘𝐻𝑧, 50 𝑘𝐻𝑧, etc.). Watch and comment on the evolution of the gain. Draw
approximately the amplitude ‖𝐴‖ expressed in dB (𝐴𝑑𝐵 = 20 𝑙𝑜𝑔 ‖𝐴‖) on Bode's
diagram.
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Second year physics
Lab Phys 2206 – Lebanese University – Faculty of Science III
III. Integrator
We consider the integrator circuit given in figure 8 with: 𝑅1 = 1 𝑘𝛺, 𝑅2 = 100 𝑘𝛺 and 𝐶 = 100 𝑛𝐹.

R1 R2
-
+
ue us
figure 8

Make the circuit. Predict then observe experimentally the response of this integrator for the three
following signals (amplitude, signals' shape and dc component of the output signals):

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Second year physics
Lab Phys 2206 – Lebanese University – Faculty of Science III