Operational Amplifier-Basic Concepts and

Applications
• The operational amplifier (also known as Op-Amp) is a multi-terminal
direct coupled high gain amplifier
• which consisting of one or more differential amplifiers and a level
transistor and an output.
• The Op-Amp is a versatile device which can be used to amplify both
DC and AC signals.
• These are mainly designed for performing mathematical operations
like addition, subtraction, multiplication etc.
 Block Diagram of Operational Amplifier

• Input Stage − The input stage is the dual input, balanced output
differential amplifier.

• - This stage provides most of the voltage gain and introduces

the input resistance of operational amplifier.
• Intermediate Stage − This stage is dual input, unbalanced output
differential amplifier,
-which is driven by the output of first stage.
• Level Shifting Stage − Since direct coupling is used, therefore the DC
voltage at the output of intermediate stage is
above the ground potential.
- Hence, the level shifting transistor circuit is used
after intermediate stage to shift the DC level at
intermediate stage output downward to zero volts
with respect to ground.
• Output Stage − The output stage is a push-pull complementary amplifier.
- The output stage increases the output voltage.
- The output stage also provides low output resistance.
Schematic Symbol of Op-Amp
• Operational amplifiers have three main terminals:

Two high input impedance inputs and one low impedance output.

The non-inverting input terminal is denoted by positive sign and

The inverting input terminal is denoted by a negative sign.

The third terminal is the output of the Op-Amp.

Other than input-output terminals there are two Op-Amp power supply
terminal denoted by (+VCC) and (-VCC).
Working Principle of Operational Amplifier
• Open Loop Operation
In the open loop operation there is no feedback provided in the
amplifier circuit.
Therefore, two signals one at inverting terminal and the other at the
non-inverting terminal applied, then the Op-Amp amplifies the
difference of the two applied signals.
This difference of the two input signals is called as differential input
voltage.
The output of Op-Amp is given by

Vout=Aopenloop(V1−V2)
Where,
Vout=output voltage
Aopenloop=Open Loop gain of Op−Amp
V1=Voltage at then on inverting terminal
V2=Voltage at the inverting terminal
(V1−V2)=Differential input voltage
The output of the Op-Amp is non-zero only when the differential input voltage is
non-zero i.e. V1 and V2 are not equal.
The open loop gain (A) of Op-Amp is very high.
Thus an open loop Op-Amp can amplify a small differential input signal to a high
value.
The Op-Amp can amplify the input signal to a very high value but cannot exceed
the supply voltage of operational amplifier.
 Close Loop Operation
• When the Op-Amp provided with a feedback signal is known as closed
loop operational amplifier. The feedback path feeds the output signal to
the input.
 The output equation for the closed loop operation is given by

Vout=Acloseloop(V1−V2)

• When the feedback is connected to non-inverting terminal then feedback is called

as the positive feedback.

• The positive feedback is used in oscillator applications.

• When the feedback is connected to inverting terminal then it is called as negative

feedback.
• The negative feedback is used the amplification applications.
 Characteristics of Ideal Operational Amplifier
• Infinite voltage gain (A).
• Infinite input resistance (Ri) so that any source of signal can drive it.
• Zero output resistance (Ro) so that output can drive infinite number of other
devices.
• Infinite bandwidth so that signal of any frequency (from 0 to ∞ Hz) can be
amplified.
• Infinite Common Mode Rejection Ration (CMRR = ∞) so the output common
mode noise voltage is zero.
• Infinite slew rate so that output voltage changes simultaneously with the
input voltage changes.
Equivalent Circuit of Operational Amplifier
Advantages of Op-Amps

• The integrated Op-Amp has the following advantages −

High Reliability
Small size and cheap
Power consumption is less
 Applications of Operational Amplifier
• Op-Amp are most commonly used in following applications −
Voltage Follower

• voltage follower is an electronic circuit designed using an operational amplifier

and has an output voltage equal to its input voltage. It is named so because its
output voltages follows the input voltage.
• A voltage follower is also referred to as a Buffer Amplifier, or Isolation Amplifier,
or Unity Gain Amplifier. Since the voltage follower does not amplify the input
voltage, its voltage gain is unity. It is mainly used to provide the buffering in the
circuit.
• The input impedance of a voltage follower is very high.
The operation of a voltage follower is based on Ohm’s law, which is the current
flowing through the circuit is equal to the ratio of its voltage to the resistance,
i.e.,

Hence, the voltage follower is designed to have a high internal impedance

(resistance). Because, the low input impedance (resistance) will cause a large
amount of current to flow through the circuit for a fixed voltage. Consequently,
the voltage follower takes a large amount of power from the power source causing
a high source disturbances.
 Inverting Amplifier
 Non- Inverting Amplifier
 Other useful applications of Op-Amp
are
• Summing Amplifier,
• Current to Voltage Converter,
• Voltage to Current Converter,
• Differential Amplifier,
• Integrator and Differentiator,
• Instrumentation Amplifier,
• Log Amplifier, Antilog or Exponential Amplifier,
• Precision Diode,
• HWR and FWR etc.
Inverting Operational Amplifier
• In the inverting operational amplifier circuit, the signal is applied at the inverting
input and the non-inverting input is connected to the ground.

• In this type of amplifier, the output is 180⁰ out of

phase to the input, i.e. when positive signal is applied
to circuit, the output of the circuit will be negative.

• By assuming the Op-Amp is ideal, then the concept

of virtual short can be applied at the input terminals
of the Op-Amp. So that voltage at the inverting
terminal is equal to the voltage at non-inverting
terminal.

Applying KCL at inverting node of Op-Amp

Non-Inverting Operational Amplifier
• When the signal is applied at the non-inverting input, the resulting circuit is
known as Non-Inverting Op-Amp.
• In this amplifier the output is exactly in phase with the input i.e. when a positive
voltage is applied to the circuit, the output will also be positive.
• By using voltage division principle, we can calculate the voltage at the inverting
input terminal of the op-amp as shown below −

According to the virtual short concept, the voltage at the inverting input terminal of an op-amp
is same as that of the voltage at its non-inverting input terminal.

Note that the gain of the non-inverting amplifier is having a positive sign. It indicates that there is
no phase difference between the input and the output.
 Difference between Inverting and Non-Inverting
Op-Amps
Inverting Op-Amp Non-Inverting Op-Amp

The type of feedback used is voltage shunt. The type of feedback used is voltage series.

The input and output voltages of this

The input and output voltages are in phase.
amplifier are 180⁰ out of phase.

VoltageGain(Av)=Vout/Vin=1+R2/R1
VoltageGain(Av)=Vout/Vin=−R2/R1

The input impedance is R1

The input impedance is very high.
 • The electronic circuits, which perform arithmetic operations are called
as arithmetic circuits. Using op-amps, you can build basic arithmetic circuits
such as an adder and a subtractor. In this chapter, you will learn about each
of them in detail.
• Adder
• An adder is an electronic circuit that produces an output, which is equal to the
sum of the applied inputs.

• An op-amp based adder produces an output equal to the sum of the input
voltages applied at its inverting terminal. It is also called as a summing amplifier,
since the output is an amplified one.
 The circuit diagram of an op-amp based adder

In the above circuit, the non-inverting input terminal of the op-amp is connected
to ground.
That means zero volts is applied at its non-inverting input terminal.
• According to the virtual short concept, the voltage at the inverting input
terminal of an op-amp is same as that of the voltage at its non-inverting input
terminal. So, the voltage at the inverting input terminal of the op-amp will be
zero volts.
Therefore, the op-amp based adder circuit discussed above will
produce the sum of the two input voltages v1 and v2, as the output,
when all the resistors present in the circuit are of same value.

• Note that the output voltage V0 of an adder circuit is having

a negative sign,
• which indicates that there exists a 1800 phase difference between the
input and the output.
 Differentiator
• A differentiator is an electronic circuit that produces an output equal to the first
derivative of its input.
• An op-amp based differentiator produces an output, which is equal to the
differential of input voltage that is applied to its inverting terminal.
• The circuit diagram of an op-amp based differentiator is shown in the following
figure −
• In the above circuit, the non-inverting input terminal of the op-amp
is connected to ground.
• That means zero volts is applied to its non-inverting input terminal.

• According to the virtual short concept, the voltage at the inverting

input terminal of op amp will be equal to the voltage present at its
non-inverting input terminal.
• So, the voltage at the inverting input terminal of op-amp will be zero
volts.
 Integrator
• An integrator is an electronic circuit that produces an output that is the
integration of the applied input.
• An op-amp based integrator produces an output, which is an integral of the
input voltage applied to its inverting terminal.
• The circuit diagram of an op-amp based integrator
• In the circuit shown above, the non-inverting input terminal of
the op-amp is connected to ground.

• That means zero volts is applied to its non-inverting input

terminal.

• According to virtual short concept, the voltage at the inverting

input terminal of op-amp will be equal to the voltage present at
its non-inverting input terminal.

• So, the voltage at the inverting input terminal of op-amp will be

zero volts.
 So, the op-amp based integrator circuit discussed above will produce an output,
 which is the integral of input voltage Vi,
• When the magnitude of impedance of resistor and capacitor are reciprocal to each other.

• Note : the output voltage, Vo is having a negative sign, which indicates that there exists
180 degree phase difference between the input and the output.
• Voltage and current are the basic electrical quantities.

• They can be converted into one another depending on the

requirement.

• Voltage to Current Converter and Current to Voltage

Converter are the two circuits that help in such conversion.

• These are also linear applications of op-amps.

Voltage to Current Converter

• A voltage to current converter or V to I converter, is an electronic

circuit that takes current as the input and produces voltage as the
output.
• An op-amp based voltage to current converter produces an output
current when a voltage is applied to its non-inverting terminal.
 Circuit diagram of an op-amp based voltage to
current converter

• In the circuit shown above, an input voltage Vi, is applied at the non-inverting input terminal of the op-amp.

• According to the virtual short concept, the voltage at the inverting input terminal of an op-amp will be
equal to the voltage at its non-inverting input terminal .

• So, the voltage at the inverting input terminal of the op-amp will be Vi.
• The nodal equation at the inverting input terminal's node is −

• Thus the output current Io of a voltage to current converter is the ratio of its input
voltage Vi and resistance R1.
• We can re-write the above equation as −
Current to Voltage Converter
• A current to voltage converter or I to V converter is an electronic
circuit that takes current as the input and produces voltage as the
output.
• An op-amp based current to voltage converter produces an output
voltage when current is applied to its inverting terminal.
• The circuit diagram of an op-amp based current to voltage converter
• In the circuit shown above, the non-inverting input terminal of the op-amp
is connected to ground. That means zero volts is applied at its non-inverting
input terminal.
• According to the virtual short concept, the voltage at the inverting input
terminal of an op-amp will be equal to the voltage at its non-inverting input
terminal. So, the voltage at the inverting input terminal of the op-amp will
be zero volts.
• The nodal equation at the inverting terminal's node is −
• Thus, the output voltage, V0 of current to voltage converter is the (negative) product of
the feedback resistance, Rf and the input current, It.
• Observe that the output voltage, V0 is having a negative sign,
• which indicates that there exists a 1800 phase difference between the input current and
output voltage.
 Comparators

• A comparator is an electronic circuit, which compares the two inputs

that are applied to it and produces an output. The output value of the
comparator indicates which of the inputs is greater or lesser.
• note - comparator falls under non-linear applications of ICs.
• An op-amp consists of two input terminals and hence an op-amp
based comparator compares the two inputs that are applied to it and
produces the result of comparison as the output.
Types of Comparators

• Comparators are of two types : Inverting and Non-inverting.

Inverting Comparator:
An inverting comparator is an op-amp based comparator for which a
reference voltage is applied to its non-inverting terminal and
the input voltage is applied to its inverting terminal.
This comparator is called as inverting comparator
 because the input voltage, which has to be compared is applied to
the inverting terminal of op-amp.
• The operation of an inverting comparator is very simple.
• It produces one of the two values, +Vsat and −Vsat at the output based on the values of its
input voltage Vi and the reference voltage Vref .

• The output value of an inverting comparator will be –Vsat, for which the input Vi, Voltage is
greater than the reference voltage Vref.

• The output value of an inverting comparator will be +Vsat, for which the input Vi, Voltage is
Less than the reference voltage Vref.
 Example
• Let us draw the output wave form of an inverting comparator, when a
sinusoidal input signal and a reference voltage of zero volts are applied to its
inverting and non-inverting terminals respectively.
The operation of the inverting comparator shown above
•During the positive half cycle of the sinusoidal input signal, the voltage present at the inverting terminal of op-amp is
greater than zero volts.
• Hence, the output value of the inverting comparator will be equal to −Vsat− during positive half cycle of the
sinusoidal input signal.
•Similarly, during the negative half cycle of the sinusoidal input signal,
•the voltage present at the inverting terminal of the op-amp is less than zero volts.
•Hence, the output value of the inverting comparator will be equal to +Vsat during negative half cycle of the
sinusoidal input signal.

•The following figure shows the input and output waveforms of an inverting comparator, when the reference voltage
is zero volts.
In the figure shown above, we can observe that the output transitions either
from −Vsat to +Vsat or from +Vsat to −Vsat−

 whenever the sinusoidal input signal is crossing zero volts. In other words, output changes its
value when the input is crossing zero volts.

Hence, the above circuit is also called as inverting zero crossing detector.
 Non-Inverting Comparator
• A non-inverting comparator is an op-amp based comparator for which a
reference voltage is applied to its inverting terminal and the input
voltage is applied to its non-inverting terminal.
• This op-amp based comparator is called as non-inverting comparator
because the input voltage, which has to be compared is applied to the
non-inverting terminal of the op-amp.
The operation of a non-inverting comparator is very simple.
It produces one of the two values, +Vsat and −Vsat at the output based on the
values of input voltage Vt and the reference voltage +Vref.

•The output value of a non-inverting comparator will be +Vsat, for which the input
voltage Vi is greater than the reference voltage +Vref.

•The output value of a non-inverting comparator will bee −Vsat, for which the
input voltage Vi is less than the reference voltage +Vref.
 Example
• Let us draw the output wave form of a non-inverting comparator, when a
sinusoidal input signal and reference voltage of zero volts are applied to the
non-inverting and inverting terminals of the op-amp respectively.
The operation of a non-inverting comparator
• input and output waveforms of a non-inverting comparator, when the reference
voltage is zero volts.