The textbook is a great resource to learn about amplifiers, circuits, and filters. The contents start at a very basic level, then go into greater depth using various examples. Equations provided are followed by examples, and signal analysis is...read more
The textbook is a great resource to learn about amplifiers, circuits, and filters. The contents start at a very basic level, then go into greater depth using various examples. Equations provided are followed by examples, and signal analysis is accompanied by data corresponding to both ideal and expected results. Also, all of the nomenclature are clearly defined before being mentioned. Furthermore, a summary page in the appendix is helpful for readers reviewing conceptual contents.
The contents of the textbook are up-to-date, and its accuracy and relevance are not expected to change significantly in the future. This is because the focus of the contents are on fundamental concepts.
The textbook is clearly written, and the gradual introduction of new concepts makes the content comprehension easy. Also, most of the introduced concepts and ideas are backed by examples and actual data for clarity.
The book is split into 12 large chapters, and several subsections. This makes the reading of individual subsections convenient for the students. Also, the division of material allows the book to be a great supplementary material for courses. In addition, some of the sections dealing with actual data can serve as great examples for practical classes and lectures.
The goal of this text, as its name implies, is to allow the reader to become proficient in the analysis and design of circuits utilizing modern linear ICs. It progresses from the fundamental circuit building blocks through to analog/digital conversion systems. The text is intended for use in a second year Operational Amplifiers course at the Associate level, or for a junior level course at the Baccalaureate level. In order to make effective use of this text, students should have already taken a course in basic discrete transistor circuits, and have a solid background in algebra and trigonometry, along with exposure to phasors. Calculus is used in certain sections of the text, but for the most part, its use is kept to a minimum. For students without a calculus background, these sections may be skipped without a loss of continuity. (The sole exception to this being Chapter Ten, Integrators and Differentiators, which hinges upon knowledge of calculus.)
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This text covers the theory and application of operational amplifiers and other linear integrated circuits. It is appropriate for Associate and Bachelors degrees programs in Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technology, Electrical Engineering and similar areas of study. Topics include negative feedback, comparators, voltage amplifiers, summing and differencing amplifiers, high speed and high power devices, non-linear circuit applications, regulators, oscillators, integrators and differentiators, active filters and AD/DA conversion. A companion laboratory manual is available.
The companion laboratory manual features 22 separate exercises. It covers the theory and application of operational amplifiers and other linear integrated circuits. Exercises include discrete differential amplifier analysis; inverting, non-inverting and differential configurations; frequency response; slew rate; DC offset; OTA; oscillators; linear regulator; function synthesis; active filters; and integrators and differentiators.
An operational amplifier (often op amp or opamp) is a DC-coupled electronic voltage amplifier with a differential input, a (usually) single-ended output,[1] and an extremely high gain. Its name comes from its original use of performing mathematical operations in analog computers.
By using negative feedback, an op amp circuit's characteristics (e.g. its gain, input and output impedance, bandwidth, and functionality) can be determined by external components and have little dependence on temperature coefficients or engineering tolerance in the op amp itself. This flexibility has made the op amp a popular building block in analog circuits.
Today, op amps are used widely in consumer, industrial, and scientific electronics. Many standard integrated circuit op amps cost only a few cents; however, some integrated or hybrid operational amplifiers with special performance specifications may cost over US$100.[2] Op amps may be packaged as components or used as elements of more complex integrated circuits.
The op amp is one type of differential amplifier. Other differential amplifier types include the fully differential amplifier (an op amp with a differential rather than single-ended output), the instrumentation amplifier (usually built from three op amps), the isolation amplifier (with galvanic isolation between input and output), and negative-feedback amplifier (usually built from one or more op amps and a resistive feedback network).
Without negative feedback, and optionally positive feedback for regeneration, an open-loop op amp acts as a comparator, although comparator ICs are better suited.[3] If the inverting input is held at ground (0 V), and the input voltage Vin applied to the non-inverting input is positive, the output will be maximum positive; if Vin is negative, the output will be maximum negative.
If predictable operation is desired, negative feedback is used, by applying a portion of the output voltage to the inverting input. The closed-loop feedback greatly reduces the gain of the circuit. When negative feedback is used, the circuit's overall gain and response is determined primarily by the feedback network, rather than by the op-amp characteristics. If the feedback network is made of components with values small relative to the op amp's input impedance, the value of the op amp's open-loop response AOL does not seriously affect the circuit's performance. In this context, high input impedance at the input terminals and low output impedance at the output terminal(s) are particularly useful features of an op amp.
The response of the op-amp circuit with its input, output, and feedback circuits to an input is characterized mathematically by a transfer function; designing an op-amp circuit to have a desired transfer function is in the realm of electrical engineering. The transfer functions are important in most applications of op amps, such as in analog computers.
None of these ideals can be perfectly realized. A real op amp may be modeled with non-infinite or non-zero parameters using equivalent resistors and capacitors in the op-amp model. The designer can then include these effects into the overall performance of the final circuit. Some parameters may turn out to have negligible effect on the final design while others represent actual limitations of the final performance.
Typical low-cost, general-purpose op amps exhibit a GBWP of a few megahertz. Specialty and high-speed op amps exist that can achieve a GBWP of hundreds of megahertz. For very high-frequency circuits, a current-feedback operational amplifier is often used.
Modern integrated FET or MOSFET op amps approximate more closely the ideal op amp than bipolar ICs when it comes to input impedance and input bias currents. Bipolars are generally better when it comes to input voltage offset, and often have lower noise. Generally, at room temperature, with a fairly large signal, and limited bandwidth, FET and MOSFET op amps now offer better performance.
Sourced by many manufacturers, and in multiple similar products, an example of a bipolar transistor operational amplifier is the 741 integrated circuit designed in 1968 by David Fullagar at Fairchild Semiconductor after Bob Widlar's LM301 integrated circuit design.[13] In this discussion, we use the parameters of the hybrid-pi model to characterize the small-signal, grounded emitter characteristics of a transistor. In this model, the current gain of a transistor is denoted hfe, more commonly called the β.[14]
The input stage consists of a cascaded differential amplifier (outlined in dark blue) followed by a current-mirror active load. This constitutes a transconductance amplifier, turning a differential voltage signal at the bases of Q1, Q2 into a current signal into the base of Q15.
It entails two cascaded transistor pairs, satisfying conflicting requirements. The first stage consists of the matched NPN emitter follower pair Q1, Q2 that provide high input impedance. The second is the matched PNP common-base pair Q3, Q4 that eliminates the undesirable Miller effect; it drives an active load Q7 plus matched pair Q5, Q6.
That active load is implemented as a modified Wilson current mirror; its role is to convert the (differential) input current signal to a single-ended signal without the attendant 50% losses (increasing the op amp's open-loop gain by 3 dB).[nb 6] Thus, a small-signal differential current in Q3 versus Q4 appears summed (doubled) at the base of Q15, the input of the voltage gain stage.
The (class-A) voltage gain stage (outlined in magenta) consists of the two NPN transistors Q15 and Q19 connected in a Darlington configuration and uses the output side of current mirror formed by Q12 and Q13 as its collector (dynamic) load to achieve its high voltage gain. The output sink transistor Q20 receives its base drive from the common collectors of Q15 and Q19; the level-shifter Q16 provides base drive for the output source transistor Q14. The transistor Q22 prevents this stage from delivering excessive current to Q20 and thus limits the output sink current.
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