ESC201: INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRONICS

MODULE 5: AMPLIFIERS
Dr. Shubham Sahay,
Assistant Professor,
Department of Electrical Engineering,
IIT Kanpur
Factors Determining Current

Dr. Shubham Sahay ESC201 2

DC and AC model of a MOSFET
I0
Vi3
Vi2
Vi1
Vsat V0

Dr. Shubham Sahay ESC201 3

Example 3

Dr. Shubham Sahay ESC201

Amplifier Design
Requires specialized knowledge
Input stage gain stage output stage
+12V
VCC 2K
CE Amplifier
20K
R1 RC
Q2
CB vo
CC
Q3
Q1a Q1b
RL

R2
Vin1 137K
VS CE
RE
0.1mA 10mA

-12V

It is not possible for every user to design his/her own amplifier !

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Handling Amplifier Design Complexity
Let experts have fun designing and implementing amplifiers!
They can make it available to everybody else as a commodity product
Although this is done, it does not satisfy all the users due to diverse requirements

Custom

Semi-Custom
Design

Standard
Semi-custom: partially competed design which is customized by the user

Op-amp is a good illustration of the advantages of semi-custom approach 6

Difference Amplifier
An amplifier that is:
• sensitive to difference in input voltages; and
• insensitive to what is common.
vin1
vo
vin2
vid = vin1 − vin 2
vo = Ad vid + Acmvic
vin1 + vin 2
vic = Ad : Differential mode gain
2
Acm : Common mode gain

Ad  Acm
Ad
Common Mode Rejection Ratio: CMRR =
Acm 7
 Popularly called op-amp

Operational Amplifier
v1
vo
v2

A special kind of difference amplifier

1. Very High Differential-mode voltage gain

2. Very High Common mode Rejection ratio
3. Very High Input Resistance
4. Very Low output Resistance
5. …. 8
Ideal Operational Amplifier

v1
vo
v2

1. Infinite Differential-mode voltage gain

2. Infinite Common mode Rejection ratio
3. Infinite Input Resistance
4. Zero output Resistance
5. ….
9
A Commercially Available Op-amp

Note:
1. Guaranteed by design. 10
Fairchild Semiconductor ®
Op-amp Circuit
• The circuit is appears to be complicated

• Circuit contains several transistors and resistors.

Input stage gain stage output stage

Dr. Shubham Sahay ESC201

Fairchild Semiconductor ® 11
Equivalent Circuit Model
A simple equivalent circuit model of an op-amp

v1
vo
v2
R0
v1 vo
+
vi +
Ri - AOL vi
- ~10Ω
v2
~105
~106 Ω
This assumes very high CMRR 12
 Regions of Operation of Op-amp
R0
+VCC v1 vo
+
v1 vi +
vo Ri - AOL vi
v2 -
v2
-VCC Note: vi = v1 – v2
vo
+ VCC
+Vsat

vo = AOL  vi
High gain region

vi

-Vsat
-VCC
13
Op-amp is said to be saturated
Choice of Input Terminals
R0
v1 vo
v1 +
vi +
vo Ri - AOL vi
v2 -
v2
Note: vi = v1 – v2

Input to positive terminal Input to negative terminal

+ve
vo vo
+ve
-ve
+ve

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Amplifying an Input Signal

+12V
vS v1
vo
v2
-12V
vs = 1 sin(t) mV

vS vO

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The Output value?
Opamp model
R0
v1 vo
+
vS vO Ri vi +
- AOL vi
-
v2

R0
vS vo
+
vi + We know gain AOL ~ 105
Ri - AOL vi
- vo = AOL  vs = 102 sin(t) V

But opamp voltage is limited to* 12V

* Op-amp supply voltage may vary depending on the op-amp

So, op-amp will enter saturation region of operations for some input voltages!
Also to note that AOL is not precisely defined and can vary with op-amps 16
Simulation Results
vi (mV) →

t (ms) →
vo (V) →

17
t (ms) →
How to amplify not so small signals?

+12V
v1
vS vo vS vO
v2
-12V
vs = 1 sin(t) mV

1. Attenuate the signal to 0.1mV and then amplify ? ☺

2. Or …….
And how do we tackle the variation in value of AOL?
Precise value of AOL varies from device to device
The electronic circuit designers again come to the rescue! 18
How to amplify not so small signals?

+12V
v1
vS vo vS vO
v2
-12V

vs = 1 sin(t) mV

1. Attenuate the signal to 0.1mV and then amplify ? ☺

2. Or …….
And how do we tackle the variation in value of AOL?
Precise value of AOL varies from device to device
The electronic circuit designers again come to the rescue! 19
A Better Solution
Use amplifier with negative feedback
R2

R1
vo R2
=−
VS VO vS R1

Feedback signal helps input voltage: positive feedback

Feedback signal opposes input voltage: negative feedback (as in the circuit above)

Negative feedback helps overcome requirement of small signal restrictions!

The actual gain here will depend overwhelmingly on resistances attached.
The amplification gain has to be high, but its precise value is not significant. 20
Feedback
Open loop system

vIN AV vout

A closed loop system

vIN
Σ AV vout

Feedback
network
The summing circuit in closed loop system may add be adding or subtracting 21
Negative and Positive Feedback
vIN + VIN - Vfb
Σ AV vout
vfb - loop gain -ve

Feedback
Negative feedback network

vIN + VIN + Vfb

Σ AV vout
vfb + loop gain +ve

Feedback
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Positive feedback network
Negative and Positive Feedback
v
vi  A vO
+
- Correction v  loop gain: - A
Loop gain tries to make v → 0
vfb
 Feedback Loop Gain: negative

v
vi  -A vO
+
- Correction v  loop gain: + A
vfb Loop gain keeps increasing |v|

Feedback Loop Gain: positive
Note:
• The loop gain is evaluated by going around the feedback loop.
• Its sign will depend on signs of forward gain, feedback gain and
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add/substrate operation at the ‘summation’ point