Kennedy, E.J., Wait, J.V.

Operational Amplifiers
The Electrical Engineering Handbook
Ed. Richard C. Dorf
Boca Raton: CRC Press LLC, 2000
2000 by CRC Press LLC
27
perafIonaI AmpIIlIers
27.1 Ideal and Piactical Models
The Ideal Op Amp Piactical Op Amps SPICE Computei Models
27.2 Applications
Noninveiting Ciicuits
27.1 Idea! and Practica! Mude!s
.j. Kennedy
The concept of the operational ampliner (usually iefeiied to as an o am) oiiginated at the beginning of the
Second Woild Wai with the use of vacuum tubes in dc amplifei designs developed by the Geoige A. Philbiick
Co. some of the eaily histoiy of opeiational amplifeis is found in Williams, 1991]. The op amp was the basic
building block foi eaily electionic seivomechanisms, foi synthesizeis, and in paiticulai foi analog computeis
used to solve diffeiential equations. With the advent of the fist monolithic integiated-ciicuit (IC) op amp in
1965 (the A709, designed by the late Bob Widlai, then with Faiichild Semiconductoi), the availability of op
amps was no longei a factoi, while within a few yeais the cost of these devices (which had been as high as $200
each) iapidly plummeted to close to that of individual disciete tiansistois.
Although the digital computei has now laigely supplanted the analog computei in mathematically intensive
applications, the use of inexpensive opeiational amplifeis in instiumentation applications, in pulse shaping,
in flteiing, and in signal piocessing applications in geneial has continued to giow. Theie aie cuiiently many
commeicial manufactuieis whose main pioducts aie high-quality op amps. This competitiveness has ensuied
a maiketplace featuiing a wide iange of ielatively inexpensive devices suitable foi use by electionic engineeis,
physicists, chemists, biologists, and almost any discipline that iequiies obtaining quantitative analog data fiom
instiumented expeiiments.
Most opeiational amplifei ciicuits can be analyzed, at least foi fist-oidei calculations, by consideiing the
op amp to be an ideal" device. Foi moie quantitative infoimation, howevei, and paiticulaily when fiequency
iesponse and dc offsets aie impoitant, one must iefei to a moie piactical" model that includes the inteinal
limitations of the device. If the op amp is chaiacteiized by a ieally complete model, the iesulting ciicuit may
be quite complex, leading to iathei laboiious calculations. Foitunately, howevei, computei analysis using the
piogiam SPICE signifcantly ieduces the pioblem to one of a simple input specifcation to the computei. Today,
neaily all the op amp manufactuieis piovide SPICE models foi theii line of devices, with excellent coiielation
obtained between the computei simulation and the actual measuied iesults.
The Idea! Op Amp
An ideal operational ampliner is a dc-coupled amplifei having two inputs and noimally one output (although
in a few infiequent cases theie may be a diffeiential output). The inputs aie designated as noninveiting
(designated - oi NI) and inveiting (designated - oi Inv.). The amplifed signal is the J[[erena| signal,
r
,
between the two inputs, so that the output voltage as indicated in Fig. 27.1 is
.}. Kennedy
Inverry of Tenneee
}ohn V. WaIf
Inverry of Arzono /Ferred)
2000 by CRC Press LLC
(27.1)
The geneial chaiacteiistics of an ideal op amp can be summaiized as follows:
1. The open-loop gain
OL
is infnite. Oi, since the output signal
out
is fnite, then the diffeiential input
signal
r
must appioach zeio.
2. The input iesistance R
IN
is infnite, while the output iesistance R
O
is zeio.
3. The amplifei has zeio cuiient at the input (

and
B
in Fig. 27.1 aie zeio), but the op amp can eithei
sink oi souice an infnite cuiient at the output.
4. The op amp is not sensitive to a common signal on both inputs (i.e.,

B
); thus, the output voltage
change due to a common input signal will be zeio. This common signal is iefeiied to as a common-
mode signal, and manufactuieis specify this effect by an op amp`s tommon-moJe re,eton rao (CMRR),
which ielates the iatio of the open-loop gain (
OL
) of the op amp to the common-mode gain (
CM
).
Hence, foi an ideal op amp CMRR ~.
5. A somewhat analogous specifcation to the CMRR is the ower-su|y re,eton rao (PSRR), which
ielates the iatio of a powei supply voltage change to an equivalent input voltage change pioduced by
the change in the powei supply. Because an ideal op amp can opeiate with any powei supply, without
iestiiction, then foi the ideal device PSRR ~.
6. The gain of the op amp is not a function of fiequency. This implies an infnite bandwidth.
Although the foiegoing iequiiements foi an ideal op amp appeai to be impossible to achieve piactically,
modein devices can quite closely appioximate many of these conditions. An op amp with a feld-effect tiansistoi
(FET) on the input would ceitainly not have zeio input cuiient and infnite input iesistance, but a cuiient of
<10 pA and an R
IN
10
12
O is obtainable and is a ieasonable appioximation to the ideal conditions. Fuithei,
although a CMRR and PSRR of infnity aie not possible, theie aie seveial commeicial op amps available with
values of 140 dB (i.e., a iatio of 10
7
). Open-loop gains of seveial piecision op amps now have ieached values
of >10
7
, although ceitainly not infnity. The two most diffcult ideal conditions to appioach aie the ability to
handle laige output cuiients and the iequiiement of a gain independence with fiequency.
Using the ideal model conditions it is quite simple to evaluate the two basic op amp ciicuit confguiations,
(1) the inveiting amplifei and (2) the noninveiting amplifei, as designated in Fig. 27.2.
Foi the ideal inveiting amplifei, since the open-loop gain is infnite and since the output voltage
o
is fnite,
then the input diffeiential voltage (often iefeiied to as the error sgna|)
r
must appioach zeio, oi the input
cuiient is
(27.2)
The feedback cuiient
F
must equal
I
, and the output voltage must then be due to the voltage diop acioss R
F
, oi
(27.3)
FIGURE 27.1 Confguiation foi an ideal op amp.

ou OL B
( )

R
I
I I

r
1 1
0
R R
R
R

o F F I F
F
I
+

_
,
r
1
2000 by CRC Press LLC
The inveiting connection thus has a voltage gain
o
/
I
of - R
F
/R
1
, an input iesistance seen by
I
of R
1
ohms
fiom Eq. (27.2)], and an output iesistance of 0 O. By a similai analysis foi the noninveiting ciicuit of
Fig. 27.2(b), since
r
is zeio, then signal
I
must appeai acioss iesistoi R
1
, pioducing a cuiient of
I
/R
1
, which
must ow thiough iesistoi R
F
. Hence the output voltage is the sum of the voltage diops acioss R
F
and R
1
, oi
(27.4)
As opposed to the inveiting connection, the input iesistance seen by the souice
I
is now equal to an infnite
iesistance, since R
IN
foi the ideal op amp is infnite.
Practica! Op Amps
A nonideal op amp is chaiacteiized not only by fnite open-loop gain, input and output iesistance, fnite
cuiients, and fiequency bandwidths, but also by vaiious nonidealities due to the constiuction of the op amp
ciicuit oi exteinal connections. A complete model foi a piactical op amp is illustiated in Fig. 27.3. The nonideal
FIGURE 27.2 Illustiation of (a) the inveiting amplifei and (b) the noninveiting amplifei. (Sourte. E.J. Kennedy, Oera-
ona| m|fer Crtus, T|eory anJ |taons, New Yoik: Holt, Rinehait and Winston, 1988, pp. 4, 6. With peimission.)
R

R

R
R

o F
I
I
F
I

_
,

+ +

_
,

1 1
1
2000 by CRC Press LLC
effects of the PSRR and CMRR aie iepiesented by the input seiies voltage souices of AV
supply
/PSRR and
V
CM
/CMRR, wheie AV
supply
would be any total change of the two powei supply voltages, V
-
dc
and V
-
dc
, fiom
theii nominal values, while V
CM
is the voltage common to both inputs of the op amp. The open-loop gain of
the op amp is no longei infnite but is modeled by a netwoik of the output impedance Z
out
(which may be
meiely a iesistoi but could also be a seiies R-L netwoik) in seiies with a souice (s), which includes all the
open-loop poles and zeioes of the op amp as
(27.5)
wheie
OL
is the fnite dc open-loop gain, while poles aie at fiequencies u
1
, u
2
, . . . and zeioes aie at u
Z1
,
etc. The diffeiential input iesistance is Z
IN
, which is typically a iesistance R
IN
in paiallel with a capacitoi C
IN
.
Similaily, the common-mode input impedance Z
CM
is established by placing an impedance 2Z
CM
in paiallel
FIGURE 27.3 A model foi a piactical op amp illustiating nonideal effects. (Sourte. E.J. Kennedy, Oeraona| m|fer
Crtus, T|eory anJ |taons, New Yoik: Holt, Rinehait and Winston, 1988, pp. 53, 126. With peimission.)
s

s
s s
OL
Z

( )
( )
( )

_
,

+
+

_
,

_
,

+
1 1
1 1 1
1
1 2
u
u u
2000 by CRC Press LLC
with each input teiminal. Noimally, Z
CM
is best iepiesented by a paiallel iesistance and capacitance of 2R
CM
(which is >> R
IN
) and C
CM
/2. The dc bias cuiients at the input aie iepiesented by I
B
-
and I
B
-
cuiient souices
that would equal the input base cuiients if a diffeiential bipolai tiansistoi weie used as the input stage of the
op amp, oi the input gate cuiients if FETs weie used. The fact that the two tiansistois of the input stage of the
op amp may not be peifectly balanced is iepiesented by an equivalent input o[[se o|age souice, V
OS
, in seiies
with the input.
The smallest signal that can be amplifed is always limited by the inheient iandom noise inteinal to the op
amp itself. In Fig. 27.3 the noise effects aie iepiesented by an equa|en nu o|age sourte (ENV), which
when multiplied by the gain of the op amp would equal the total output noise piesent if the inputs to the op
amp weie shoited. In a similai fashion, if the inputs to the op amp weie open ciicuited, the total output noise
would equal the sum of the noise due to the equa|en nu turren sourtes (ENI
-
and ENI
-
), each multiplied
by theii iespective cuiient gain to the output. Because noise is a iandom vaiiable, this summation must be
accomplished in a squaied fashion, i.e.,
(27.6)
Typically, the coiielation (C) between the ENV and ENI souices is low, so the assumption of C - 0 can be made.
Foi the basic ciicuits of Fig. 27.2(a) oi (b), if the signal souice
I
is shoited then the output voltage due to
the nonideal effects would be (using the model of Fig. 27.3)
(27.7)
piovided that the loop gain (also called loop tiansmission in many texts) is ielated by the inequality
(27.8)
Inheient in Eq. (27.8) is the usual condition that R
1
<< Z
IN
and Z
CM
. If a iesistoi R
2
weie in seiies with the
noninveiting input teiminal, then a coiiesponding teim must be added to the iight hand side of Eq. (27.7) of
value -I
B
-
R
2
(R
1
- R
F
)/R
1
. On manufactuieis` data sheets the individual values of I
B
-
and I
B
-
aie not stated;
instead the aveiage input bias cuiient and offset cuiient aie specifed as
(27.9)
The output noise effects can be obtained using the model of Fig. 27.3 along with the ciicuits of Fig. 27.2 as
(27.10)
wheie it is assumed that a iesistoi R
2
is also in seiies with the noninveiting input of eithei Fig. 27.2(a) oi (b).
The theimal noise (often called Johnson oi Nyquist noise) due to the iesistois R
1
, R
2
, and R
F
is given by (in
ims volt
2
/Hz)
E
O I
2 2 2 2
1
2 2
12
2
ims volt /Hz ENV ENI ENI
2
,
+ +
+
( ) ( ) ( )
V
V
V
R
R
I R
o OS
CM F
B F
+ +

_
,

_
,

+

CMRR PSRR
supply
A
1
1
R
R R
s
F
1
1
1
+

_
,

>> ( )
I
I I
I I I
B
B B
B B

+

+
+
2
;
offset

E E
R
R
E E
R
R
R R
R
R
F
F
F
F
F
out
ims volts /Hz ENV
ENI ENI
2 2
1
2
1
2
2 2
2
2
1
2
2 2 2
2
2
1
2
1 1
( ) ( )
( ) ( )

_
,

+ + +
+

_
,

+ + +

_
,

+
2000 by CRC Press LLC
(27.11)
wheie | is Boltzmann`s constant and T is absolute tempeiatuie (Kelvin). To obtain the total output noise, one
must multiply the E
2
out
expiession of Eq. (27.10) by the noise bandwidth of the ciicuit, which typically is equal
to r/2 times the -3 dB signal bandwidth, foi a single-pole iesponse system Kennedy, 1988].
SPICE Cumputer Mude!s
The use of op amps can be consideiably simplifed by computei-aided analysis using the piogiam SPICE. SPICE
oiiginated with the Univeisity of Califoinia, Beikeley, in 1975 Nagel, 1975], although moie iecent usei-fiiendly
commeicial veisions aie now available such as HSPICE, HPSPICE, IS-SPICE, PSPICE, and ZSPICE, to mention
a few of those most widely used. A simple maciomodel foi a neai-ideal op amp could be simply stated with
the SPICE subciicuit fle ( indicates a comment that is not piocessed by the fle)
.SUBCKT IDEALOA 1 2 3
A neai-ideal op amp: (1) is noninv, (2) is inv, and (3) is output.
RIN 1 2 1E12
E1 (3, 0) (1, 2) 1E8
.ENDS IDEALOA (27.12)
The ciicuit model foi IDEALOA would appeai as in Fig. 27.4(a). A moie complete model, but not including
nonideal offset effects, could be constiucted foi the 741 op amp as the subciicuit fle OA741, shown in
Fig. 27.4(b).
.SUBCKT OA741 1 2 6
A lineai model foi the 741 op amp: (1) is noninv, (2) is inv, and
(6) is output. RIN 2MEG, AOL 200,000, ROUT 75 ohm,
Dominant open - loop pole at 5 Hz, gain - bandwidth pioduct
is 1 MHz.
RIN 1 2 2MEG
E1 (3, 0) (1, 2) 2E5
R1 3 4 100K
C1 4 0 0.318UF ; R1 C1 5HZPOLE
E2 (5, 0) (4, 0) 1.0
ROUT 5 6 75
.ENDS OA741 (27.13)
The most widely used op amp maciomodel that includes dc offset effects is the Boyle model Boyle et al.,
1974]. Most op amp manufactuieis use this model, usually with additions to add moie poles (and peihaps
zeioes). The vaiious iesistoi and capacitoi values, as well as tiansistoi, and cuiient and voltage geneiatoi, values
aie intimately ielated to the specifcations of the op amp, as shown eailiei in the nonideal model of Fig. 27.3.
The appiopiiate equations aie too involved to list heie; instead, the inteiested ieadei is iefeiied to the aiticle
by Boyle in the listed iefeiences. The Boyle model does not accuiately model noise effects, noi does it fully
model PSRR and CMRR effects.
A moie ciicuits-oiiented appioach to modeling op amps can be obtained if the input tiansistois aie iemoved
and a model foimed by using passive components along with both fxed and dependent voltage and cuiient
souices. Such a model is shown in Fig. 27.5. This model not only includes all the basic nonideal effects of the
op amp, allowing foi multiple poles and zeioes, but can also accuiately include ENV and ENI noise effects.
E |T R
E |T R
E |T R
F F
1
2
1
2
2
2
2
4
4
4

2000 by CRC Press LLC

The ciicuits-appioach maciomodel can also be easily adapted to cuiient-feedback op amp designs, whose input
impedance at the noninveiting input is much gieatei than that at the inveiting input see Williams, 1991]. The
inteiested ieadei is iefeiied to the text edited by J. Williams, listed in the iefeiences, as well as the SPICE
modeling book by Connelly and Choi 1992].
FIGURE 27.4 Some simple SPICE maciomodels. (a) A neai ideal op amp. (b) A lineai model foi a 741 op amp. (c) The
Boy|e maciomodel.
2000 by CRC Press LLC
A compaiison of the SPICE maciomodels with actual manufactuiei`s data foi the case of an LM318 op amp
is demonstiated in Fig. 27.6, foi the open-loop gain veisus fiequency specifcation.
Dehning Terms
Boyle macromodel: A SPICE computei model foi an op amp. Developed by G.R. Boyle in 1974.
Equivalent noise current (ENI): A noise cuiient souice that is effectively in paiallel with eithei the nonin-
veiting input teiminal (ENI
-
) oi the inveiting input teiminal (ENI
-
) and iepiesents the total noise
contiibuted by the op amp if eithei input teiminal is open ciicuited.
Equivalent noise voltage (ENV): A noise voltage souice that is effectively in seiies with eithei the inveiting
oi noninveiting input teiminal of the op amp and iepiesents the total noise contiibuted by the op amp
if the inputs weie shoited.
Ideal operational ampliner: An op amp having infnite gain fiom input to output, with infnite input
iesistance and zeio output iesistance and insensitive to the fiequency of the signal. An ideal op amp is
useful in fist-oidei analysis of ciicuits.
Operational ampliner (op amp): A dc amplifei having both an inveiting and noninveiting input and
noimally one output, with a veiy laige gain fiom input to output.
SPICE: A computei simulation piogiam developed by the Univeisity of Califoinia, Beikeley, in 1975. Veisions
aie available fiom seveial companies. The piogiam is paiticulaily advantageous foi electionic ciicuit
analysis, since dc, ac, tiansient, noise, and statistical analysis is possible.
Re!ated Tupic
13.1 Analog Ciicuit Simulation
FIGURE 27.5 A SPICE ciicuits-appioach maciomodel.
V2 D
6
D
5

sc
+

sc

R
01
R
02
G
0
= /R
02
D
4
D
3
E
2
V
OUT
L
0
V1
(7)
(18) (17) (14) (13)
(3)
(+)
()
(nput)
(2)
(1)
(4) (7)
(10)
(3)
(9)
(11)
(12)
(5)
(15)
(23)
(16)
(6) (19)
(20)
(6)
(21)
(22)
Rps ps
V
CC
Cp4
Rp4
Rp3
Rp2
VN VP
DN2 DP2
DN1
ECMRR EPSRR
CCM
RCM
CCM2 RCM2
DP1
RN1
CN2
RN2>>RN1
Rp1
Rslew
E1=1xV(15)
E
2
=1xV(6)
Cp3
Cp2
Cp1
Rz1
G
3
G
2
G
1
G
4
D2
D
1
V
EE
V
OS

s
+
V
CC
C
N
R
N
-V
EE
(4)
+
+ + +
+ +
+ +

slew
+

slew

2000 by CRC Press LLC

Relerences
G.R. Boyle et al., Maciomodeling of integiated ciicuit opeiational amplifeis," IEEE J. S. S. Crtus,
pp. 353-363, 1974.
J.A. Connelly and P. Choi, MatromoJe|ng w| SPICE, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Pientice-Hall, 1992.
FIGURE 27.6 Compaiison between manufactuiei`s data and the SPICE maciomodels.
2000 by CRC Press LLC
E.J. Kennedy, Oeraona| m|fer Crtus, T|eory anJ |taons, New Yoik: Holt, Rinehait and Winston,
1988.
L.W. Nagel, SPICE 2. Comuer Program o Smu|ae SemtonJutor Crtus, ERL-M520, Univeisity of Cali-
foinia, Beikeley, 1975.
J. Williams (ed.), na|og Crtu Desgn, Boston: Butteiwoith-Heinemann, 1991.
27.2 App!icatiuns
jo|n V. Wor
In miciominiatuie foim (epoxy oi metal packages oi as pait of a VLSI mask layout) the operational ampliner
(op amp) is usually fabiicated in integiated ciicuit (IC) foim. The geneial enviionment is shown in Fig. 27.7.
A paii of - and - iegulated powei supplies (oi batteiies) may supply all of the op amp in a system, typically
with 10 - 15 V. The giound and powei supply buses aie usually assumed, and an individual op-amp symbol
is shown in Fig. 27.8. Such amplifeis featuie:
1. A high voltage gain, down to and including dc, and a dc open loop gain of peihaps 10
5
(100 dB) oi moie
2. An inveiting (-) and noninveiting (-) symbol
3. Minimized dc offsets, a high input impedance, and a low output impedance
4. An output stage able to delivei oi absoib cuiients ovei a dynamic iange appioaching the powei supply
voltages
It is impoitant neer to use the op amp without feedback between the output and inveiting teiminals at all
fiequencies. A simple inveiting amplifei is shown in Fig. 27.9. Heie the voltage gain is
V
out
/V
in
-K -R
F
/R
1
The ciicuit gain is deteimined essentially by the exteinal iesistances, within the bandwidth and output-diiving
capabilities of the op amp (moie latei). If R
F
R
1
R, we have the simple uny gan nerer of Fig. 27.10.
Figuie 27.11 shows a moie exible summer-nerer ciicuit with

0
-(K
1

1
- K
2

2
- . . . - K
n

n
)
wheie K

R
F
/R

.
FIGURE 27.7 Typical opeiational amplifei enviionment.
2000 by CRC Press LLC
FIGURE 27.8 Conventional opeiational amplifei
symbol. Only active signal lines aie shown, and all sig-
nals aie iefeienced to giound.
FIGURE 27.9 Simple iesistive inveitei-amplifei.
FIGURE 27.10 A simple unity gain inveitei, showing (a) detailed ciicuit; (b) block-diagiam symbol.
FIGURE 27.11 The summei-inveitei ciicuit, showing (a) complete ciicuit; (b) block-diagiam symbol.
2000 by CRC Press LLC
The summei-inveitei is geneially useful foi piecisely combining oi mixing signals, e.g., summing and
inveiting. The signal levels must be appiopiiately limited but may geneially be |o|ar (-/-).
The iesistance values should be in a piopei iange since (a) too low iesistance values diaw excessive cuiient
fiom the signal souice, and (b) too high iesistance values make the ciicuit peifoimance too sensitive to stiay
capacitances and dc offset effects.
Typical values aie fiom 1 MO and 10 kO. The ciicuit of Fig. 27.12 shows a ciicuit to implement

0
-4
1
- 2
2
Nuninverting Circuits
Figuie 27.13(a) shows the useful nonnerng amplifei ciicuit. It has a voltage gain
V
0
/V
1
(R
2
- R
1
)/R
1
1 - (R
2
/R
1
)
Figuie 27.13(b) shows the impoitant unity gain followei ciicuit, which has a ery |g| nu meJante, which
lightly loads the signal souice but which can piovide a ieasonable amount of output cuiient milliamps.
It is faiily easy to show that the nerng frs-orJer |ow-ass f|er of Fig. 27.14 has a dc gain oi -R
2
/R
1
and
a -3-dB fiequency 1/(2rR
2
C).
Figuie 27.15 shows a two-amplifei diffeientiatoi and high-pass fltei ciicuit with a iesistive input impedance
and a low-fiequency cutoff deteimined by R
1
and C.
FIGURE 27.12 Simple summei-inveitei.
FIGURE 27.13 Noninveiting amplifei ciicuit with iesistive elements. (a) Geneial ciicuit; (b) simple unity gain followei.
2000 by CRC Press LLC
Op amps piovide good diffeiential amplifei ciicuits. Figuie 27.16 is a single amplifei ciicuit with a diffei-
ential gain

J
R
0
/R
1
Good iesistance matching is iequiied to have good common-mode iejection of unwanted common-mode
signals (static, 60-Hz hum, etc.). The one-amplifei ciicuit of Fig. 27.16 has a diffeiential input impedance of
2R
1
. R
1
may be chosen to piovide a good load foi a miciophone, phono-pickup, etc.
The impioved thiee-amplifei instiumentation amplifei ciicuit of Fig. 27.17, which seveial manufactuieis
piovide in a single module, piovides
1. Veiy high voltage gain
2. Good common-mode iejection
3. A diffeiential gain
4. High input impedance
FIGURE 27.14 Fiist-oidei low-pass fltei ciicuit.
FIGURE 27.15 A two-amplifei high-pass ciicuit.
2000 by CRC Press LLC
Opeiational amplifei ciicuits foim the heait of many piecision ciicuits, e.g., iegulated powei supplies,
piecision compaiatois, peak-detection ciicuits, and wavefoim geneiatois Wait et al., 1992]. Anothei impoitant
aiea of application is active RC nlters Huelsman and Allen, 1980]. Miciominiatuie electionic ciicuits seldom
use inductois. Thiough the use of op amps, iesistois, and capacitois, one can implement piecise fltei ciicuits
(low-pass, high-pass, and bandpass). Figuies 27.18 and 27.19 show second-oidei low-pass and bandpass fltei
ciicuits that featuie ielatively low sensitivity of fltei peifoimance to component values. Details aie piovided
in Wait et al. 1992] and Huelsman and Allen 1980].
FIGURE 27.16 Single-output diffeiential-input amplifei ciicuit.
FIGURE 27.17 A thiee-amplifei diffeiential-input instiumentation amplifei featuiing high input impedance and easily
adjustable gain.

R
R
R
R
V V
J
+

_
,

,
0
2
1
2 1
1
2
2000 by CRC Press LLC
Of couise, the op amp does not have infnite bandwidth and gain. An impoitant op-amp paiametei is the
unity-gain fiequency, [
u
. Foi example, it is faiily easy to show the actual bandwidth of a constant gain amplifei
of nominal gain C is appioximately
[
-3 dB
[
u
/C
Thus, an op amp with [
u
1 MHz will piovide an amplifei gain of 20 up to about 50 kHz.
FIGURE 27.18 Sallen and Key low-pass fltei.
FIGURE 27.19 State-vaiiable fltei.
2000 by CRC Press LLC
When a ciicuit designei needs to accuiately exploie the peifoimance of an op-amp ciicuit design, modein ciicuit
simulation piogiams (SPICE, PSPICE, and MICRO-CAP) peimit a thoiough study of ciicuit design, as ielated to
op-amp peifoimance paiameteis. We have not heie tieated nonlineai op-amp peifoimance limitations such as s|ew
rae, [u||-ower |anJwJ|, and raeJ ouu. Suiely, the op-amp ciicuit designei must be caieful not to exceed the
output iating of the op amp, as ielated to maxmum ouu o|age and turren and ouu rae-o[-t|ange.
Neveitheless, op-amp ciicuits piovide the ciicuit designei with a handy and stiaightfoiwaid way to complete
electionic system designs with the use of only a few basic ciicuit components plus, of couise, the opeiational
amplifei.
Dehning Terms
Active RC nlter: An electionic ciicuit made up of iesistois, capacitois, and opeiational amplifeis that piovide
well-contiolled lineai fiequency-dependent functions, e.g., low-, high-, and bandpass flteis.
Analog-to-digital converter (ADC): An electionic ciicuit that ieceives a magnitude-scaled analog voltage and
geneiates a binaiy-coded numbei piopoitional to the analog input, which is deliveied to an inteiface
subsystem to a digital computei.
Digital-to-analog converter (DAC): An electionic ciicuit that ieceives an n-bit digital woid fiom an inteiface
ciicuit and geneiates an analog voltage piopoitional to it.
Electronic switch: An electionic ciicuit that contiols analog signals with digital (binaiy) signals.
Interface: A collection of electionic modules that piovide data tiansfei between analog and digital systems.
Operational ampliner: A small (usually integiated ciicuit) electionic module with a bipolai (-/-) output
teiminal and a paii of diffeiential input teiminals. It is piovided with powei and exteinal components,
e.g., iesistois, capacitois, and semiconductois, to make amplifeis, flteis, and wave-shaping ciicuits with
well-contiolled peifoimance chaiacteiistics, ielatively immune to enviionmental effects.
Re!ated Tupic
29.1 Synthesis of Low-Pass Foims
Relerences
E|etront Desgn, Hasbiook Heights, N.J.: Hayden Publishing Co.; a biweekly jouinal foi electionics engineeis.
(In paiticulai, see the aiticles in the Technology section.)
E|etronts, New Yoik: McGiaw-Hill; a biweekly jouinal foi electionic engineeis. (In paiticulai, see the ciicuit
design featuies.)
J.G. Giaeme, |taons o[ Oeraona| m|fers, New Yoik: McGiaw-Hill, 1973.
L.P. Huelsman, and P.E. Allen, InroJuton o |e T|eory anJ Desgn o[ te F|ers. New Yoik: McGiaw-Hill,
1980.
J. Till, Flexible Op-Amp Model Impioves SPICE," E|etront Desgn, June 22, 1989.
G.E. Tobey, J.G. Giaeme, and L.P. Huelsman, Oeraona| m|fers, New Yoik: McGiaw-Hill, 1971.
J.V. Wait, L.P. Huelsman, and G.A. Koin, InroJuton o Oeraona| m|fer T|eory anJ |taons, 2nd ed.,
New Yoik: McGiaw-Hill, 1992.
Further Inlurmatiun
Foi fuithei infoimation see J.V. Wait, L.P. Huelsman, and G.A. Koin, InroJuton o Oeraona|m|fer
T|eory anJ |taons, 2nd ed., New Yoik: McGiaw-Hill, 1992, a geneial textbook on the design of opeiational
amplifei ciicuits, including the SPICE model of opeiational amplifeis; and L.P. Huelsman and P.E. Allen,
InroJuton o |e T|eory anJ Desgn o[ te F|ers, New Yoik: McGiaw-Hill, 1980, a geneial textbook of
design consideiations and confguiations of active RC flteis.