Introduction to

Op-Amp
Op-Amp Characteristics
History
1967-
Present: IC
1965: Based Op-
Monolithic Amp
1961: Op-Amp
Discrete IC
1953: based Op-
Commercial Amp
1946: Op-Amp
Vacuum
Tube Op-
Amp
Op-Amp
741
Introduction
• Op-Amp is a very high gain amplifier fabricated on integrated circuit.
• Combination of many transistors, FETs, resistors in a pinhead space
• Finds application in:
• audio amplifier
• signal generator
• signal filters
• biomedical instrumentation etc.
• Advantages of Op-Amp over transistor amplifier
• less power consumption; costs less; more compact; more reliable
• higher gain can be obtained
• easy design
The ideal
Infinite voltage gain

• a voltage difference at the two inputs is magnified infinitely

• in truth, something like 200,000

Op-Amp • means difference between + terminal and  terminal is

amplified by 200,000!

Infinite input impedance

• no current flows into inputs

• in truth, about 1012  for FET input op-amps
+ VCC
V+ Zero output impedance
+ • rock-solid independent of load
V Vout
 • roughly true up to current maximum (usually 5–25 mA)

- VEE Infinitely fast (infinite bandwidth)

• in truth, limited to few MHz range

• slew rate limited to 0.5–20 V/s
Parameter Ideal Op-Amp Real Op-Amp
Differential Voltage Gain ∞
Gain Bandwidth Product (Hz) ∞
Input Resistance (R) ∞
Output Resistance (R) 0
Power
Supply
Open – loop op-amp
Configuration
 Op-amp without feedback
+ VCC
V+
• The internal op-amp formula is: Vin +
Vout
Vout = gain(V+  V) V


• So if V+ is greater than V, the output goes positive - VEE

• If V is greater than V+, the output goes negative

• A gain of 200,000 makes this device (as illustrated
here) practically useless

Instead of 100V will saturate normally, slightly low, but of the

Open loop Gain of the Op-Amp 741 ‘A’= order of VCC

Show Waveform: Sinusoidal Signal- Observation

Open Loop
Differential
Amplifier

V0 = A (Vi1 – Vi2)
Open Loop
Inverting
amplifier

V0 = -AVi.
Open Loop
Non-
Inverting
Amplifier
V0 = AVi.
 • In the open – loop configurations, clipping of the
Limitations output waveform can occur when the output
of Open – voltage exceeds the saturation level of op-amp.
This is due to the very high open – loop gain of
loop Op – the op-amp.
• This feature actually makes it possible to amplify
amp very low frequency signal of the order of
configuratio microvolt or even less, and the amplification can
be achieved accurately without any distortion.
n • However, signals of such magnitudes are
susceptible to noise and the amplification for that
application is almost impossible to obtain in the
laboratory.
• Secondly, the open – loop gain of the op – amp is not a constant and it varies with
changing temperature and variations in power supply.

• Also, the bandwidth of most of the open- loop op amps is negligibly small. This
makes the open – loop configuration of op-amp unsuitable for ac applications.

• The open – loop bandwidth of the widely used 741 IC is approximately 5Hz. But
in almost all ac applications, the bandwidth requirement is much larger than this.
• For the reason stated, the open – loop op-amp is generally not used in linear
applications.
• However, the open – loop op amp configurations find use in certain non – linear
applications such as comparators, square wave generators and astable
multivibrator.
Negative feedback
• Infinite gain would be useless except in the self-regulated negative
feedback regime
• negative feedback seems bad, and positive good—but in electronics positive
feedback means runaway or oscillation, and negative feedback leads to stability
• Imagine hooking the output to the inverting terminal:
• If the output is less than Vin, it shoots positive
• If the output is greater than Vin, it shoots negative
• result is that output quickly forces itself to be exactly Vin

negative feedback loop


Vin +
Even under load
• Even if we load the output (which as pictured wants to drag the
output to ground)…
• the op-amp will do everything it can within its current limitations to drive the
output until the inverting input reaches Vin
• negative feedback makes it self-correcting
• in this case, the op-amp drives (or pulls, if Vin is negative) a current through
the load until the output equals Vin
• so what we have here is a buffer: can apply Vin to a load without burdening
the source of Vin with any current!

 Important note: op-amp output terminal

+ sources/sinks current at will: not like
Vin
inputs that have no current flow
Positive feedback
• In this configuration, if the +ve input is even
a smidge higher than Vin, the output goes
way positive.
• This makes the +ve terminal even more Vin 
positive than Vin, making the situation worse.
+

This system will immediately “rail” at the

supply voltage. It could rail either direction,
depending on initial offset.
Input offset voltage
• When both the input terminals are grounded,
ideally, the output voltage should be 0. power
in case of the practical op-amp, a non zero
output voltage is present .
• To make output voltage 0, a small voltage in
mV does it required to be applied to one of the
input terminals. This dc voltage is called as
input offset voltage denoted as Vios
Technique to
Null VO
• Short input terminals to ground.
• Connect potentiometer between
compensation pins with wiper to
• Potentiometer is usually a 10 turn
device
• Connect meter to output and adjust
potential meter for
Input bias current & Input offset current
• For ideal op-amp, no current flows into the input terminals. But in practical op-amps the
input currents are very small of the order of to . Most of the op-amps use differential
amplifier as the input voltage. The two transistors of the differential amplifier must be
biased correctly. But practically it is not possible to get exact matching of the two
transistors.
• Thus, the input terminals which are the base terminals of the two transistors to conduct
small DC current. this small base cancel the transistors are nothing but bias currents
denoted as Ib1 and Ib2

• The difference in magnitude of Ib1 and Ib2 is called as input offset current and is denoted
as Iios
Virtual Ground
• Zero Input Current:
• The current drawn by either of the input terminals (inverting or non-inverting) is 0. In reality, the
current drawn by the input terminals is very small, of the order of or . Hence the assumption of zero
input current is realistic.
• Virtual ground:
• This means the differential input voltage Between the non-inverting and inverting input terminals is
essentially 0. this is obvious because even if input voltage is few volts, due to large open loop gain of op-
amp, the difference voltage at the input terminals is almost 0.
• Does we can say that under linear range of operation there is virtually short
circuit between the two input terminals, in the sense that their voltages are
same. no current flows from the input terminals to the ground.
• Now if the non-inverting terminal is grounded,
Rf
by the concept of virtual short, the inverting
terminal is also at ground potential, though R1 - VEE
Vi
there is no physical connection between the 
Vo
inverting and the ground. this is the principle of +
virtual ground. Virtual Gnd. +VCC Ro

• Thus we can realistically assume that the

voltage at the non-inverting terminal of the
op-amp is equal to inverting terminal.
CMRR
• Differential mode gain
• It is the factor by which the difference between the two input signals is amplified by the op-amp

is the gain with which differential amplifier amplifies that difference between two input signals hence it is also
called as differential gain.
• Common mode gain
• It is a factor by which the common mode input voltage is amplified by the op-amp .
• If we apply two input voltages which are equal in all the respects the differential amplifier that is then ideally
the output voltage must be 0.
• But the output voltage is a practical differential amplifier not only depends on the difference voltage but also
depends on the average common level of the two inputs such an average level of the two input signals is called
common mode signal denoted as

• Practically the differential amplifier produces the output voltage proportional to such
common mode signal also. the game with which it amplifies the common mode signal to
produce output is called as common mode gain of the differential amplifier denoted as .
Total output of differential amplifier can be expressed as
• The ability offer differential amplifier to reject common mode signal is
expressed by a ratio called CMRR.

Ideally the common mode voltage here is 0, hence the ideal value of
CMRR is infinite.
for practical differential amplifier is large and Is small how is the value
of CMRR is also very large. CMRR is expressed in DB