MANUEL S. ENVERGA S.

UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION

LUCENA, CITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

RESEARCH: OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIERS

Submitted by:

Quinto, Leslie Ann T.

A19 - 27121

BSCpE – III

Submitted to:

Mr. Sherwin Lagrama

Date : September 17, 2021

SCORE
 • INTRODUCTION TO OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER
Operational Amplifiers, or Op-amps as they are more commonly called, are one of the basic building
blocks of Analogue Electronic Circuits.
They are basically a voltage amplifying device designed to be used with components like capacitors and
resistors, between its in/out terminals. They are essentially a core part of analog devices. Feedback
components like these are used to determine the operation of the amplifier. The amplifier can perform
many different operations (resistive, capacitive, or both), giving it the name Operational Amplifier.
Operational amplifiers are linear devices that have all the properties required for nearly ideal DC
amplification and are therefore used extensively in signal conditioning, filtering or to perform
mathematical operations such as add, subtract, integration and differentiation.
An Operational Amplifier, or op-amp for short, is fundamentally a voltage amplifying device designed to
be used with external feedback components such as resistors and capacitors between its output and
input terminals. These feedback components determine the resulting function or “operation” of the
amplifier and by virtue of the different feedback configurations whether resistive, capacitive or both,
the amplifier can perform a variety of different operations.
An Operational Amplifier is basically a three-terminal device which consists of two high impedance
inputs. One of the inputs is called the Inverting Input, marked with a negative or “minus” sign, ( – ). The
other input is called the Non-inverting Input, marked with a positive or “plus” sign ( + ).
A third terminal represents the operational amplifiers output port which can both sink and source either
a voltage or a current. In a linear operational amplifier, the output signal is the amplification factor,
known as the amplifiers gain ( A ) multiplied by the value of the input signal and depending on the
nature of these input and output signals, there can be four different classifications of operational
amplifier gain.
Voltage – Voltage “in” and Voltage “out”
Current – Current “in” and Current “out”
Transconductance – Voltage “in” and Current “out”
Transresistance – Current “in” and Voltage “out”
Since most of the circuits dealing with operational amplifiers are voltage amplifiers, we will limit the
tutorials in this section to voltage amplifiers only, (Vin and Vout).
The output voltage signal from an Operational Amplifier is the difference between the signals being
applied to its two individual inputs. In other words, an op-amps output signal is the difference between
the two input signals as the input stage of an Operational Amplifier is in fact a differential amplifier as
shown below.
The operational amplifier is arguably the most useful single device in analog electronic circuitry. With
only a handful of external components, it can be made to perform a wide variety of analog signal
processing tasks. It is also quite affordable, most general-purpose amplifiers selling for under a dollar
apiece. Modern designs have been engineered with durability in mind as well: several “op-amps” are
manufactured that can sustain direct short-circuits on their outputs without damage.
One key to the usefulness of these little circuits is in the engineering principle of feedback, particularly
negative feedback, which constitutes the foundation of almost all automatic control processes. The
principles presented in this section, extend well beyond the immediate scope of electronics. It is well
worth the electronics student’s time to learn these principles and learn them well.
Integrated circuits, ICs have made a huge impact on the electronics scene – both analogue and digital
circuits have changed the face of electronics. Within the analogue electronics arena, none has made
more difference than the operational amplifier, or op-amp. The op-amp is a differential amplifier and it
is a very high-performance amplifier circuit block it enables many different electronic amplifier circuits
to be designed with the addition of just a handful of other components. The operational amplifier can
form the basis of a host of other circuits ranging from filters to timers, and oscillators to comparators
and astables. As such the operational amplifier is one of the most versatile building blocks available to
the analogue electronics circuit design engineer and hobbyist. One of the advantages of using op amp
circuits is that the electronic circuit design is often very easy whilst still yielding high performance
finished circuits.
Although the term operational amplifier has now become totally integrated into today's electronics
terminology, it may not be realised that it dates back to a paper published in 1947. This described work
that was undertaken using these amplifiers in analogue computers of the day.

The operational amplifier has two inputs. One is called the inverting input and is marked with a "-" sign
on circuit schematic diagrams. The other is the non-inverting input and this is marked with a "+" sign.
The op amp is basically a differential amplifier because the output is proportional to the difference in
voltage between the two inputs.
By applying an input signal to the non-inverting input and negative feedback to the investing input, it is
possible to design a circuit that does not invert the sense of the input signal.
Inverting input: The operational amplifier inverting input is marked by a "-" sign on the circuit diagram.
A positive voltage applied to the inverting input will produce a negative swing at the output. Thus a sine
was applied to the inverting input, will appear inverted at the output.
By applying an input signal to the non-inverting input and negative feedback to the investing input, it is
possible to design a circuit that does not invert the sense of the input signal.
Inverting input: The operational amplifier inverting input is marked by a "-" sign on the circuit diagram.
A positive voltage applied to the inverting input will produce a negative swing at the output. Thus a sine
was applied to the inverting input, will appear inverted at the output.
By applying the signal and negative feedback to the inverting input of an operational amplifier, it is
possible to design a circuit where the output signal is the inverse of the input.
If the same voltage is applied to both inputs together then there should be no change at the output. In
fact the output is proportional to the difference between the inverting and non-inverting inputs. It is for
this reason that these amplifiers are often called differential amplifiers.
Like any electronics circuit design, those using operational amplifiers need to have a power supply.
Normally op-amps are supplied using dual, i.e. positive and negative supplies. Additionally the supply
lines are often not shown as they add confusion to the circuit diagram.
In most cases the operational amplifier will only need five connections for its operation - inverting, non-
inverting, output and the two power rails. Very occasionally a further three may be used. These are
usually for the "offset null" capability. This is used to reduce any DC offsets that may be present, and for
most applications these can be ignored and left disconnected.
Like any other form of electronic component, operational amplifiers are available in many varieties.Op
amps are available in many IC packages. Early op-amps like the µA709 were available in the circular 8 pin
metal cans, whilst later op-amps were available in 8 pin dual in line packages. Multiple op-amps were
also available in 14 pin DIL packages - there were even dual op-amps available in 8 pin DILs although
there was no access to offset null capabilities as there were insufficient pins on the package.

• INVERTING OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER

The Inverting Operational Amplifier configuration is one of the simplest and most commonly used op-
amp topologies.
Open Loop Gain, ( AVO ) of an operational amplifier can be very high, as much as 1,000,000 (120dB) or
more. However, this very high gain is of no real use to us as it makes the amplifier both unstable and
hard to control as the smallest of input signals, just a few micro-volts, (μV) would be enough to cause
the output voltage to saturate and swing towards one or the other of the voltage supply rails losing
complete control of the output.
As the open loop DC gain of an operational amplifier is extremely high we can therefore afford to lose
some of this high gain by connecting a suitable resistor across the amplifier from the output terminal
back to the inverting input terminal to both reduce and control the overall gain of the amplifier. This
then produces and effect known commonly as Negative Feedback, and thus produces a very stable
Operational Amplifier based system.
Negative Feedback is the process of “feeding back” a fraction of the output signal back to the input, but
to make the feedback negative, we must feed it back to the negative or “inverting input” terminal of the
op-amp using an external Feedback Resistor called Rƒ. This feedback connection between the output
and the inverting input terminal forces the differential input voltage towards zero.
This effect produces a closed loop circuit to the amplifier resulting in the gain of the amplifier now being
called its Closed-loop Gain. Then a closed-loop inverting amplifier uses negative feedback to accurately
control the overall gain of the amplifier, but at a cost in the reduction of the amplifiers gain.
This negative feedback results in the inverting input terminal having a different signal on it than the
actual input voltage as it will be the sum of the input voltage plus the negative feedback voltage giving it
the label or term of a Summing Point. We must therefore separate the real input signal from the
inverting input by using an Input Resistor, Rin.
As we are not using the positive non-inverting input this is connected to a common ground or zero
voltage terminal as shown below, but the effect of this closed loop feedback circuit results in the voltage
potential at the inverting input being equal to that at the non-inverting input producing a Virtual Earth
summing point because it will be at the same potential as the grounded reference input. In other words,
the op-amp becomes a “differential amplifier”.

In this Inverting Amplifier circuit the operational amplifier is connected with feedback to produce a
closed loop operation. When dealing with operational amplifiers there are two very important rules to
remember about inverting amplifiers, these are: “No current flows into the input terminal” and that “V1
always equals V2”. However, in real world op-amp circuits both of these rules are slightly broken.
This is because the junction of the input and feedback signal ( X ) is at the same potential as the positive
( + ) input which is at zero volts or ground then, the junction is a “Virtual Earth”. Because of this virtual
earth node the input resistance of the amplifier is equal to the value of the input resistor, Rin and the
closed loop gain of the inverting amplifier can be set by the ratio of the two external resistors.
We said above that there are two very important rules to remember about Inverting Amplifiers or any
operational amplifier for that matter and these are.
No Current Flows into the Input Terminals
The Differential Input Voltage is Zero as V1 = V2 = 0 (Virtual Earth)
Then by using these two rules we can derive the equation for calculating the closed-loop gain of an
inverting amplifier, using first principles.
The Closed-Loop Voltage Gain of an Inverting Amplifier is given as.

and this can be transposed to give Vout as:

The negative sign in the equation indicates an inversion of the output signal with respect to the input as
it is 180o out of phase. This is due to the feedback being negative in value.
The equation for the output voltage Vout also shows that the circuit is linear in nature for a fixed
amplifier gain as Vout = Vin x Gain. This property can be very useful for converting a smaller sensor
signal to a much larger voltage.
This indicates that the voltage gain of the inverting amplifier is decided by the ratio of the feedback
resistor to the input resistor with the minus sign indicating the phase-reversal. Further, it is to be noted
that the input impedance of the inverting amplifier is nothing but Ri.
Another useful application of an inverting amplifier is that of a “transresistance amplifier” circuit. A
Transresistance Amplifier also known as a “transimpedance amplifier”, is basically a current-to-voltage
converter (Current “in” and Voltage “out”).

The simple light-activated circuit above, converts a current generated by the photo-diode into a voltage.
The feedback resistor Rƒ sets the operating voltage point at the inverting input and controls the amount
of output. The output voltage is given as Vout = Is x Rƒ. Therefore, the output voltage is proportional to
the amount of input current generated by the photo-diode.
In an inverting amplifier circuit, the operational amplifier inverting input receives feedback from the
output of the amplifier. Assuming the op-amp is ideal and applying the concept of virtual short at the
input terminals of op-amp, the voltage at the inverting terminal is equal to non-inverting terminal. The
non-inverting input of the operational amplifier is connected to ground. As the gain of the op amp itself
is very high and the output from the amplifier is a matter of only a few volts, this means that the
difference between the two input terminals is exceedingly small and can be ignored. As the non-
inverting input of the operational amplifier is held at ground potential this means that the inverting
input must be virtually at earth potential.
It is called Inverting Amplifier because the op-amp changes the phase angle of the output signal exactly
180 degrees out of phase with respect to input signal. Same as like before, we use two external resistors
to create feedback circuit and make a closed loop circuit across the amplifier.
In the Non-inverting configuration, we provided positive feedback across the amplifier, but for inverting
configuration, we produce negative feedback across the op-amp circuit.
Inverting amplifiers exhibit excellent linear characteristics which make them ideal as DC amplifiers.
Moreover, they are often used to convert input current to the output voltage in the form of
Transresistance or Transimpedance Amplifiers. Further, these can also be used in audio mixers when
used in the form of Summing Amplifiers.
 • NON-INVERTING OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIERS
The second basic configuration of an operational amplifier circuit is that of a Non-inverting
Operational Amplifier design.
In this configuration, the input voltage signal, ( VIN ) is applied directly to the non-inverting ( + ) input
terminal which means that the output gain of the amplifier becomes “Positive” in value in contrast to
the “Inverting Amplifier” circuit we saw in the last tutorial whose output gain is negative in value. The
result of this is that the output signal is “in-phase” with the input signal.
Feedback control of the non-inverting operational amplifier is achieved by applying a small part of the
output voltage signal back to the inverting ( – ) input terminal via a Rƒ – R2 voltage divider network,
again producing negative feedback. This closed-loop configuration produces a non-inverting amplifier
circuit with very good stability, a very high input impedance, Rin approaching infinity, as no current
flows into the positive input terminal, (ideal conditions) and a low output impedance.
Non-inverting amplifier is an op-amp-based amplifier with positive voltage gain.
A non-inverting operational amplifier or non-inverting op-amp uses an op-amp as the main element.
The op amp has two input terminals (pins). One is inverting denoted with a minus sign (-), and other is
non-inverting denoted with a positive sign (+).
When we apply any signal to the non – inverting input, it does not change its polarity when it gets
amplified at the output terminal.
So, in that case, the gain of the amplifier is always positive.
Non-inverting Operational Amplifier Configuration

Inverting Amplifier, we said that for an ideal op-amp “No current flows into the input terminal” of the
amplifier and that “V1 always equals V2”. This was because the junction of the input and feedback signal
( V1 ) are at the same potential.
In other words the junction is a “virtual earth” summing point. Because of this virtual earth node the
resistors, Rƒ and R2 form a simple potential divider network across the non-inverting amplifier with the
voltage gain of the circuit being determined by the ratios of R2 and Rƒ.
Non-inverting Voltage Follower
In this non-inverting circuit configuration, the input impedance Rin has increased to infinity and the
feedback impedance Rƒ reduced to zero. The output is
connected directly back to the negative inverting input so
the feedback is 100% and Vin is exactly equal to Vout
giving it a fixed gain of 1 or unity. As the input voltage Vin
is applied to the non-inverting input, the voltage gain of
the amplifier is therefore given as:
Since no current flows into the non-inverting input
terminal the input impedance is infinite (ideal conditions)
so zero current will flow through the feedback loop. Thus any value of resistance may be placed in the
feedback loop without affecting the characteristics of the circuit as no current flows through it so there
is zero voltage drop across it resulting in zero power loss.
As the input impedance is extremely high, the unity gain buffer (voltage follower) can be used to provide
a large power gain as the extra power comes from the op-amps supply rails and through the op-amps
output to the load and not directly from the input. However in most real unity gain buffer circuits there
are leakage currents and parasitic capacitances present so a low value (typically 1kΩ) resistor is required
in the feedback loop to help reduce the effects of these leakage currents providing stability especially if
the operational amplifier is of a current feedback type.
The voltage follower or unity gain buffer is a special and very useful type of Non-inverting amplifier
circuit that is commonly used in electronics to isolated circuits from each other especially in High-order
state variable or Sallen-Key type active filters to separate one filter stage from the other. Typical digital
buffer IC’s available are the 74LS125 Quad 3-state buffer or the more common 74LS244 Octal buffer.
One final thought, the closed loop voltage gain of a voltage follower circuit is “1” or Unity. The open
loop voltage gain of an operational amplifier with no feedback is Infinite. Then by carefully selecting the
feedback components we can control the amount of gain produced by a non-inverting operational
amplifier anywhere from one to infinity.
Thus far we have analysed an inverting and non-inverting amplifier circuit that has just one input signal,
Vin. In the next tutorial about Operational Amplifiers, we will examine the effect of the output voltage,
Vout by connecting more inputs to the amplifier. This then produces another common type of
operational amplifier circuit called a Summing Amplifier which can be used to “add” together the
voltages present on its inputs.
In a non-inverting amplifier, there exists a virtual short between the two input terminals. A virtual short
is a short circuit for voltage, but an open-circuit for current. The virtual short uses two properties of an
ideal op-amp:
Since RIN is infinite, the input current at both the terminals is
zero.
Since Open Loop Gain AOL is infinite, the difference voltage
(V1 – V2) is always zero.
Although virtual short is an ideal approximation, it gives
accurate values when used with heavy negative feedback. As
long as the op-amp is operating in the linear region (not
saturated, positively or negatively), the open-loop voltage gain approaches infinity and a virtual short
exists between two input terminals.
Because of the virtual short, the inverting input voltage follows the non-inverting input voltage. If the
non-inverting input voltage increases or decreases, the inverting input voltage immediately increases or
decreases to the same value. This action is often referred to as “Bootstrapping”.
TAKE NOTE:
- A non-inverting amplifier uses a voltage-divider-bias negative feedback connection.
- The voltage gain is always greater than one.
- The voltage gain is positive, indicating that for AC input, the output is in-phase with the input
signal and for DC input, the output polarity is the same as the input polarity.
- The voltage gain of the non-inverting op-amp depends only on the resistor values and is
independent of the open-loop gain of the op-amp.
- The desired voltage gain can be obtained by choosing the appropriate values of the resistors.

• DIFFERENTIAL AMPLIFIER
The differential amplifier amplifies the voltage difference present on its inverting and non-inverting
inputs.
Thus far we have used only one of the operational amplifiers inputs to connect to the amplifier, using
either the “inverting” or the “non-inverting” input terminal to amplify a single input signal with the
other input being connected to ground.
But as a standard operational amplifier has two inputs, inverting and no-inverting, we can also connect
signals to both of these inputs at the same time producing another common type of operational
amplifier circuit called a Differential Amplifier.
Basically, as we saw in the first tutorial about operational amplifiers, all op-amps are “Differential
Amplifiers” due to their input configuration. But by connecting one voltage signal onto one input
terminal and another voltage signal onto the other input terminal the resultant output voltage will be
proportional to the “Difference” between the two input voltage signals of V1 and V2.
Then differential amplifiers amplify the difference between two voltages making this type of operational
amplifier circuit a Subtractor unlike a summing amplifier which adds or sums together the input
voltages. This type of operational amplifier circuit is commonly known as a Differential Amplifier
configuration.
The equation of differential amplifier is:
Vout = R3 / R1 ( V2 – V1 )
The input signals to a differential amplifier, in general, contain two components; the ‘common-mode’
and ‘difference-mode’ signals. The common-mode signal is the average of the two input signals and the
difference mode is the difference between the two input signals. Ideally, the differential amplifier
should affect the difference-mode signal only. However, the common-mode signal is also amplified to
some extent. The common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR) is defined as the ratio of the difference signal
voltage gain to the common-mode signal voltage gain. For a good-quality differential amplifier the CMRR
should be very large.
If all the resistors are all of the same ohmic value, that is: R1 = R2 = R3 = R4 then the circuit will become
a Unity Gain Differential Amplifier and the voltage gain of the amplifier will be exactly one or unity. Then
the output expression would simply be Vout = V2 – V1.
Also note that if input V1 is higher than input V2 the output voltage sum will be negative, and if V2 is
higher than V1, the output voltage sum will be positive.
The Differential Amplifier circuit is a very useful op-amp circuit and by adding more resistors in parallel
with the input resistors R1 and R3, the resultant circuit can be made to either “Add” or “Subtract” the
voltages applied to their respective inputs. One of the most common ways of doing this is to connect a
“Resistive Bridge” commonly called a Wheatstone Bridge to the input of the amplifier.

Wheatstone Bridge Differential Amplifier

The standard Differential Amplifier circuit now becomes a differential voltage comparator by
“Comparing” one input voltage to the other. For example, by connecting one input to a fixed voltage
reference set up on one leg of the resistive bridge network and the other to either a “Thermistor” or a
“Light Dependant Resistor” the amplifier circuit can be used to detect either low or high levels of
temperature or light as the output voltage becomes a linear function of the changes in the active leg of
the resistive bridge.
Light Activated Differential Amplifier
Here the circuit above acts as a light-activated switch which turns the output relay either “ON” or “OFF”
as the light level detected by the LDR resistor exceeds or falls below some pre-set value. A fixed voltage
reference is applied to the non-inverting input terminal of the op-amp via the R1 – R2 voltage divider
network.
The voltage value at V1 sets the op-amps trip point with a feed back potentiometer, VR2 used to set the
switching hysteresis. That is the difference between the light level for “ON” and the light level for “OFF”.
The second leg of the differential amplifier consists of a standard light dependant resistor, also known as
a LDR, photoresistive sensor that changes its resistive value (hence its name) with the amount of light on
its cell as their resistive value is a function of illumination.
The LDR can be any standard type of cadmium-sulphide (cdS) photoconductive cell such as the common
NORP12 that has a resistive range of between about 500Ω in sunlight to about 20kΩ or more in the dark.
The NORP12 photoconductive cell has a spectral response similar to that of the human eye making it
ideal for use in lighting control type applications. The photocell resistance is proportional to the light
level and falls with increasing light intensity so therefore the voltage level at V2 will also change above
or below the switching point which can be determined by the position of VR1.
Then by adjusting the light level trip or set position using potentiometer VR1 and the switching
hysteresis using potentiometer, VR2 an precision light-sensitive switch can be made. Depending upon
the application, the output from the op-amp can switch the load directly, or use a transistor switch to
control a relay or the lamps themselves.
It is also possible to detect temperature using this type of simple circuit configuration by replacing the
light dependant resistor with a thermistor. By interchanging the positions of VR1 and the LDR, the circuit
can be used to detect either light or dark, or heat or cold using a thermistor.
One major limitation of this type of amplifier design is that its input impedances are lower compared to
that of other operational amplifier configurations, for example, a non-inverting (single-ended input)
amplifier.
Each input voltage source has to drive current through an input resistance, which has less overall
impedance than that of the op-amps input alone. This may be good for a low impedance source such as
the bridge circuit above, but not so good for a high impedance source.
One way to overcome this problem is to add a Unity Gain Buffer Amplifier such as the voltage follower
seen in the previous tutorial to each input resistor. This then gives us a differential amplifier circuit with
very high input impedance and low output impedance as it consists of two non-inverting buffers and
one differential amplifier. This then forms the basis for most “Instrumentation Amplifiers”.

Instrumentation Amplifier
Instrumentation Amplifiers (in-amps) are very high gain differential amplifiers which have a high input
impedance and a single ended output. Instrumentation amplifiers are mainly used to amplify very small
differential signals from strain gauges, thermocouples or current sensing devices in motor control
systems.
Unlike standard operational amplifiers in which their closed-loop gain is determined by an external
resistive feedback connected between their output terminal and one input terminal, either positive or
negative, “instrumentation amplifiers” have an internal feedback resistor that is effectively isolated from
its input terminals as the input signal is applied across two differential inputs, V1 and V2.
A differential amplifier (also known as a difference amplifier or op-amp subtractor) is a type of electronic
amplifier that amplifies the difference between two input voltages but suppresses any voltage common
to the two inputs. A differential amplifier is an analog circuit with two inputs (V1 and V2) and one output
(V0) in which the output is ideally proportional to the difference between the two voltages.
There are two different types of differential amplifier circuits:
- BJT Differential Amplifier – This is a differential amplifier built using transistors, either Bipolar
Junction Transistors (BJTs) or Field Effect Transistors (FETs)
- Opamp Differential amplifiers built using Operational Amplifiers.
A BJT differential amplifier circuit made of two BJTs (Q1 and Q2) and two power supplies of opposite
polarity, VCC and –VEE which uses three resistors among which two are the collector resistors, RC1 and
RC2 (one for each transistor) while one is the emitter resistor RE common to both transistors.
An Op-Amp operating in differential mode can readily act as a subtractor amplifier as it results in an
output voltage given by:
Differential Amplifier equation Where V1 and V2 represent the voltages applied at its inverting and non-
inverting input terminals (can be taken in any order) and Ad refers to its differential gain.
As per this equation, the output of the Op-amp must be zero when the voltages applied at its terminals
are equal to each other.
However, practically it will not be so as the gain will not be the same for both of the inputs.
REFERENCE:
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/differential-amplifier
- https://www.electrical4u.com/differential-amplifier/
- https://www.electronicshub.org/non-inverting-operational-
amplifiers/#:~:text=A%20non%2Dinverting%20amplifier%20is,like%20a%20voltage%20follow
er%20circuit
- https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/opamp/opamp_5.html
- https://www.electronicshub.org/non-inverting-operational-amplifiers/