Operational amplifiers,

are linear integrated circuit(IC) devices that have a very high voltage
gain, high input impedance and low output impedance.
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.
An Operational Amplifier is basically a three-terminal device which
consists of two high impedance inputs, one called the Inverting Input,
marked with a negative or “minus” sign, ( – ) and the other one called
the Non-inverting Input, marked with a positive or “plus” sign ( + ).
The 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”.
Tran's conductance – Voltage “in” and Current “out”.
Tran's resistance – Current “in” and Voltage “out”.

The ideal operational amplifier

Primary op-amp terminals
• Inverting input
• Non-inverting input
• Output
• Power supply

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 Basic op-amp properties

• Infinite open-loop voltage gain

• Infinite input impedance
• Zero output impedance
• Zero noise contribution
• Zero DC output offset
• Infinite bandwidth
• Differential inputs that stick together

Differential Amplifier

The circuit below shows a generalized form of a differential amplifier

with two inputs marked V1 and V2. The two identical
transistors TR1 and TR2 are both biased at the same operating point with
their emitters connected together and returned to the common rail, -
Vee by way of resistor Re.

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The circuit operates from a dual supply +Vcc and -Vee which ensures a
constant supply. The voltage that appears at the output, Vout of the
amplifier is the difference between the two input signals as the two base
inputs are in anti-phase with each other.

So as the forward bias of transistor, TR1 is increased, the forward bias of

transistor TR2 is reduced and vice versa. Then if the two transistors are
perfectly matched, the current flowing through the common emitter
resistor, Re will remain constant. Like the input signal, the output signal
is also balanced and since the collector voltages either swing in opposite
directions (anti-phase) or in the same direction (in-phase) the output
voltage signal, taken from between the two collectors is, assuming a
perfectly balanced circuit the zero difference between the two collector
voltages. This is known as the Common Mode of Operation with
the common mode gain of the amplifier being the output gain when the
input is zero. However, in real amplifiers there is always some variation
and the ratio of the change to the output voltage with regards to the
change in the common mode input voltage is called the Common Mode
Rejection Ratio or CMRR for short.
CMRR = ( A ol /A cm )
R R R R

CMRR = 20 log ( A ol /A cm ) in dB
R R R R

An operational amplifier only responds to the difference between the

voltages on its two input terminals, known commonly as the “Differential
Input Voltage” and not to their common potential. Then if the same
voltage potential is applied to both terminals the resultant output will be
zero. An Operational Amplifiers gain is commonly known as the Open
Loop Differential Gain, and is given the symbol (A o ). Note that the term
R R

“open loop” means that there is no feedback components used around the
amplifier so the feedback path or loop is open.

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Equivalent Circuit of an Ideal Operational Amplifier

Op-amp Parameter and Idealized Characteristic

Open Loop Gain, (Avo) =∞
Input impedance, (Z IN ) =∞R R

Output impedance, (Z OUT ) =0 R R

Bandwidth, (BW) =∞
Offset Voltage, (V IO ) =0
R R

From these “idealized” characteristics above, we can see that the input
resistance is infinite, so no current flows into either input terminal (the
“current rule”) and that the differential input offset voltage is zero (the
“voltage rule”). It is important to remember these two properties as they
will help us understand the workings of the Operational Amplifier with
regards to the analysis and design of op-amp circuits.
The graph that relates the output voltage to the input voltage is called the
voltage transfer curve and is fundamental in designing and understanding
amplifier circuits. The voltage transfer curve of the op-amp is shown on
Figure.

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Note the two distinct regions of operation: one around Vi=0V, the linear
region where the output changes linearly with respect to input, and the
other at which changes in Vi has little effect on Vo, the saturation region
(non-linear behavior).
Circuits with operational amplifiers can be designed to operate in both of
these regions. In the linear region the slope of the line relating Vo to Vi is
very large; indeed it is equal to the open loop gain A.

In the absence of any load at the output, the output voltage is

Vo = AVi = A (V 2 –V 1 )
R R R R

Open-loop Frequency Response Curve

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From this frequency response curve we can see that the product of the
gain against frequency is constant at any point along the curve. Also that
the unity gains (0dB) frequency also determines the gain of the amplifier
at any point along the curve. This constant is generally known as
the Gain Bandwidth Product or GBP. Therefore:

GBP = Gain x Bandwidth = A x BW

Input signal modes of op-amp

1. Single ended input: one input is grounded and the signal voltage
is applied only to the other input.

2. Differential input mode: two opposite polarity (out of phase)

signals are applied to the inputs.

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 3. Common mode input: they cancel, resulting in a zero output
voltage.

Negative Feedback and Fundamental Op-Amp Configurations

Is a process whereby a portion of the output voltage of an amplifier is

returned to the input with a phase angle that opposes the input signal?

Benefits of negative feedback

1. A cl can be reduced and controlled.

R R

2. Provides a control of the input and output impedance.

3. Control the amplifier bandwidth.
The closed loop gain of this device is now given by the ratio:

A cl =V o / V in
R R R R R

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Non-Inverting Amplifier

The negative feedback is maintained and the input signal is applied to the
non-inverting terminal.

With this circuit the output is in phase with the input. The gain of the
circuit is also determined by the ratio of the resistors used and is given
by:

Inverting Amplifier

The input signal, V in , is applied to the inverting terminal and the balance
R R

of the circuit consists of resistors R in and R f .

R R R R

In particular, the concept of infinite input impedance is of great value.

Infinite input impedance implies zero current at the inverting input. If

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there is zero current through the input impedance, then there must be no
voltage drop between the inverting and non inverting inputs. This means
that the voltage at the inverting (-) input is zero because the noninverting
input (+) is grounded.

Then, the Closed-Loop Voltage Gain of an Inverting Amplifier is given

as.

Open Loop Gain

Which is defined as the amplifiers output amplification without any

external feedback signals connected to it and for a typical operational
amplifier is about 100dB at DC (zero Hz). This output gain decreases
linearly with frequency down to “Unity Gain” or 1, at about 1MHz and
this is shown in the following open loop gain response curve.

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From this frequency response curve we can see that the product of the
gain against frequency is constant at any point along the curve. Also that
the unity gains (0dB) frequency also determines the gain of the amplifier
at any point along the curve. This constant is generally known as
the Gain Bandwidth Product or GBP. Therefore:

GBP = Gain x Bandwidth = A x BW

An Operational Amplifiers Bandwidth

The operational amplifiers bandwidth is the frequency range over which

the voltage gain of the amplifier is above 70.7% or -3dB (where 0dB is
the maximum) of its maximum output value as shown below.

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The Summing Amplifier

The Summing Amplifier is another type of operational amplifier circuit

configuration that is used to combine the voltages present on two or more
inputs into a single output voltage.

We saw previously in the inverting operational amplifier that the

inverting amplifier has a single input voltage, (Vin) applied to the
inverting input terminal. If we add more input resistors to the input, each
equal in value to the original input resistor, (Rin) we end up with another
operational amplifier circuit called a Summing Amplifier, “summing
inverter” or even a “voltage adder” circuit as shown below.

In this simple summing amplifier circuit, the output voltage, (Vout) now
becomes proportional to the sum of the input voltages, V1, V2, V3, etc.

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Then we can modify the original equation for the inverting amplifier to
take account of these new inputs thus:

However, if all the input impedances, (Rin) are equal in value, we can
simplify the above equation to give an output voltage of:

We now have an operational amplifier circuit that will amplify each

individual input voltage and produce an output voltage signal that is
proportional to the algebraic “SUM” of the three individual input
voltages V 1 , V 2 and V 3 . We can also add more inputs if required as each
R R R R R R

individual input “sees” their respective resistance, Rin as the only input
impedance.

This is because the input signals are effectively isolated from each other
by the “virtual earth” node at the inverting input of the op-amp. A direct
voltage addition can also be obtained when all the resistances are of equal
value and Rƒ is equal to Rin.

Note that when the summing point is connected to the inverting input of
the op-amp the circuit will produce the negative sum of any number of
input voltages. Likewise, when the summing point is connected to the
non-inverting input of the op-amp, it will produce the positive sum of the
input voltages.
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A Scaling Summing Amplifier can be made if the individual input
resistors are “NOT” equal. Then the equation would have to be modified
to:

Sometimes we need a summing circuit to just add together two or more

voltage signals without any amplification. By putting all of the
resistances of the circuit above to the same value R, the op-amp will have
a voltage gain of unity and an output voltage equal to the direct sum of all
the input voltages as shown:

The Summing Amplifier is a very flexible circuit indeed, enabling us to

effectively “Add” or “Sum” (hence its name) together several individual
input signals. If the inputs resistors, R 1 , R 2 , R 3 etc, are all equal a “unity
R R R R R R

gain inverting adder” will be made. However, if the input resistors are of
different values a “scaling summing amplifier” is produced which will
output a weighted sum of the input signals.

The 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

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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 V 1 and V 2 . Then differential
R R R R

amplifiers amplify the difference between two voltages making this type
of operational amplifier circuit a Sub tractor 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 and is shown below

By connecting each input in turn to 0v ground we can use superposition

to solve for the output voltage Vout. Then the transfer function for
a Differential Amplifier circuit is given as:

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When resistors, R1 = R2 and R3 = R4 the above transfer function for the
differential amplifier can be simplified to the following expression:

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 = V 2 – V 1 .
R R R R

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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 Integrator Amplifier

The Op-amp Integrator is an operational amplifier circuit that performs

the mathematical operation of Integration that is we can cause the output
to respond to changes in the input voltage over time as the op-amp
integrator produces an output voltage which is proportional to the
integral of the input voltage. In other words the magnitude of the output
signal is determined by the length of time a voltage is present at its input
as the current through the feedback loop charges or discharges the
capacitor as the required negative feedback occurs through the capacitor.

When a step voltage, Vin is firstly applied to the input of an integrating

amplifier, the uncharged capacitor C has very little resistance and acts a
bit like a short circuit allowing maximum current to flow via the input
resistor, Rin as potential difference exists between the two plates. No
current flows into the amplifiers input and point X is a virtual earth
resulting in zero output. As the impedance of the capacitor at this point is
very low, the gain ratio of Xc/Rin is also very small giving an overall
voltage gain of less than one, (voltage follower circuit).

As the feedback capacitor, C begins to charge up due to the influence of

the input voltage, its impedance Xc slowly increase in proportion to its
rate of charge. The capacitor charges up at a rate determined by the RC
time constant, (τ) of the series RC network. Negative feedback forces the
op-amp to produce an output voltage that maintains a virtual earth at the
op-amp’s inverting input. Since the capacitor is connected between the

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op-amp’s inverting input (which is at earth potential) and the op-amp’s
output (which is negative), the potential voltage, Vc developed across the
capacitor slowly increases causing the charging current to decrease as the
impedance of the capacitor increases. This results in the ratio
of Xc/Rin increasing producing a linearly increasing ramp output voltage
that continues to increase until the capacitor is fully charged.

At this point the capacitor acts as an open circuit, blocking any more
flow of DC current. The ratio of feedback capacitor to input resistor
( Xc/Rin ) is now infinite resulting in infinite gain. The result of this high
gain (similar to the op-amps open-loop gain), is that the output of the
amplifier goes into saturation as shown below. (Saturation occurs when
the output voltage of the amplifier swings heavily to one voltage supply
rail or the other with little or no control in between).

If we apply a constantly changing input signal such as a square wave to

the input of an Integrator Amplifier then the capacitor will charge and
discharge in response to changes in the input signal. This results in the
output signal being that of a sawtooth waveform whose output is affected
by the RC time constant of the resistor/capacitor combination because at
higher frequencies, the capacitor has less time to fully charge. This type
of circuit is also known as a Ramp Generator and the transfer function
is given below.

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From which we derive an ideal voltage output for the Op-amp
Integrator as:

To simplify the math’s a little, this can also be re-written as:

Where: ω = 2πƒ and the output voltage Vout is a constant 1/RC times the
integral of the input voltage Vin with respect to time. The minus sign (–)
indicates an 180o phase shift because the input signal is connected
P P

directly to the inverting input terminal of the op-amp.

∆𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑉𝑖𝑛
=−
∆𝑡 𝑅𝑖𝑛 𝐶

The Differentiator Amplifier

This operational amplifier circuit performs the mathematical operation

of Differentiation, which is it “produces a voltage output which is directly
proportional to the input voltage’s rate-of-change with respect to time“.
In other words the faster or larger the change to the input voltage signal,
the greater the input current, the greater will be the output voltage change
in response, becoming more of a “spike” in shape.

The input signal to the differentiator is applied to the capacitor. The

capacitor blocks any DC content so there is no current flow to the

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amplifier summing point, X resulting in zero output voltage. The
capacitor only allows AC type input voltage changes to pass through and
whose frequency is dependent on the rate of change of the input signal.
At low frequencies the reactance of the capacitor is “High” resulting in a
low gain ( Rƒ/Xc ) and low output voltage from the op-amp. At higher
frequencies the reactance of the capacitor is much lower resulting in a
higher gain and higher output voltage from the differentiator amplifier.

However, at high frequencies an op-amp differentiator circuit becomes

unstable and will start to oscillate. This is due mainly to the first-order
effect, which determines the frequency response of the op-amp circuit
causing a second-order response which, at high frequencies gives an
output voltage far higher than what would be expected. To avoid this high
frequency gain of the circuit needs to be reduced by adding an additional
small value capacitor across the feedback resistor Rƒ.

From which we have an ideal voltage output for the op-amp differentiator
is given as:

𝑉
Vout =-� 𝐶 �
𝑡
R R

Therefore, the output voltage Vout is a constant –Rƒ*C times the

derivative of the input voltage Vin with respect to time. The minus sign
(–) indicates a 180o phase shift because the input signal is connected to
P P

the inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier. One final point
to mention, the Op-amp Differentiator circuit in its basic form has two
main disadvantages compared to the previous operational amplifier
integrator circuit. One is that it suffers from instability at high frequencies
as mentioned above, and the other is that the capacitive input makes it
very susceptible to random noise signals and any noise or harmonics
present in the source circuit will be amplified more than the input signal
itself. This is because the output is proportional to the slope of the input
voltage so some means of limiting the bandwidth in order to achieve
closed-loop stability is required. If we apply a constantly changing signal
such as a Square-wave, Triangular or Sine-wave type signal to the input

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of a differentiator amplifier circuit the resultant output signal will be
changed and whose final shape is dependent upon the RC time constant
of the Resistor/Capacitor combination.

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