Non-Ideal Characteristics

Input impedance
Output impedance
Frequency response
Slew rate
Saturation
Bias current
Offset voltage

Input and Output Impedances

Ideal model
assumes:

RIN is infinite

ROUT is zero

In real life:

RIN > 1 M

ROUT < 100

Input Impedance

In either configuration, voltage across RIN will be small

(ideally zero) if A0 is high. Current through RIN should,
therefore, be small.
Effect will be more notable for non-inverting configuration
where ideal input current is zero.

Non-Inverting Amplifier
I IN

VRIN

RIN

VRIN V V

VOUT
A0

VOUT AV VIN
( AV closed loop gain)
AV VIN
I IN VRIN RIN
RIN
A0
VIN
A0
RIN
I IN
AV

Output Impedance

To calculate output
impedance:

Imagine the input voltage is

zero.
The output voltage should
also be zero.
The output looks like just ROUT
connected to ground.
To calculate/measure ROUT,
connect a signal generator to
the output and
calculate/measure the
current.

Output Impedance

With the input set at zero, the equivalent circuits for

non-inverting and inverting configurations are identical.
Actual output impedance is VOUT/I.

Calculating Actual Output

Impedance
VOUT A0V VOUT
I

ROUT
R1 R2

VOUT A0V
V

OUT
ROUT ROUT R1 R2

But
,V V

I VOUT

1
ROUT

OUT

R1
R1 R2

R1 R2 A0 R1 ROUT
A0 R1
1

VOUT

ROUT R1 R2 R1 R2
ROUT R1 R2

We know that A0 >> 1 and

that ROUT is either small or
comparable with R1 and R2.
R1 R2 A0 R1 ROUT
I VOUT

OUT
1
2

A0 R1

OUT 1
2

VOUT

VOUT ROUT R1 R2 ROUT

AV
R2

1 ROUT

I
A0 R1
A0
R1
A0
Typically, ROUT appears to be reduced by
several orders of magnitude.

Input/Output Impedance
Summary

Negative feedback is very good at compensating

for non-ideal properties of the amplifier.
The effects of finite input impedance and nonzero output impedance are greatly reduced
thanks to negative feedback.

Eg. Using a 741, an amplifier with a gain of 10 has R OUT

of around 100 x 10/105 = 10 m!

NB. Negative feedback will not work so well

unless the open-loop gain of the op-amp is very
large.

Reasonable at d.c. and low frequencies.

At higher frequencies

Frequency Response

The open-loop gain of an op-amp

features in the calculations for:

Voltage gain
Input impedance
Output impedance

We assumed it was very large (near

infinite)

True at low frequencies

Not so at higher frequencies

Open-Loop Gain vs. Frequency

First order approximation:

A0 f

K
K

j 2f
s

Effects of Frequency Response

VOUT

K
A0 V V V V
s
K
1
VIN VOUT

s
1 9
K
K VOUT
VIN
s
s 10

VOUT
Ideally, gain = 10

VOUT

VIN

KVOUT KVIN

10 s
s
K /s
10

1 K / 10 s 10 s / K 1

Frequency Response (cont)

Constant, K, depends on the op-amp. For a 741
it is around 2106.
VOUT
10
10
10

j
2

f
f
VIN 10 s / K 1 10
1 j 5 1
6
2 10
10
VOUT
f 10
10
VIN
5

6
V
10
10
f 105 OUT

f
VIN
f
j 5
10

i.e. A first order

low-pass filter, cutoff frequency of
100 kHz.

Gain-Bandwidth Product
Gain 1000 f C 1 kHz
Gain 100 f C 10 kHz
Gain 10 f C 100 kHz

Cut-off frequency multiplied by mid-band gain is always

the same value.
This is the gain-bandwidth product (1 MHz in this case).

Frequency Response Summary

It is impossible to design an amplifier whose

gain exceeds A0(f) at any frequency.

At high frequencies, gain is limited by A0 which

typically rolls-off at 20dB-decade.
The cut-off frequency is

The intersection of the low and high frequency

asymptotes
The 3dB point
The gain-bandwidth product divided by the mid-band
gain

Slew Rate
Input
waveform

Output
waveform

Time

There is a maximum rate of change

associated with the output of an op-amp.
The Slew Rate.
Typical value for a 741 is 0.5 V/s.

Effect of Slew Rate on a Sine

Wave
For a sine wave output voltage of amplitude, A,
and frequency, f:
VOUT A sin 2ft
Rate of change of the output voltage is:
dVOUT
2fA cos 2ft
dt
To avoid slew rate limiting:
dVOUT
SR 2fA cos 2ft SR 2fA SR
dt

Full Power Bandwidth

If the amplitude of the sine wave output is just below
the saturation level, the maximum frequency that an
undistorted SINE WAVE output can be obtained is often
known as the full power bandwidth.
E.g. 741 with saturation levels of 13.5 V:

f max

SR
0.5 106

5.9 kHz
2Amax 2 13.5

NB. More about saturation next time

Summary

Real op-amps deviate from the ideal

model in many ways.
Negative feedback automatically
compensates for many of these.
Most of the time, therefore, the ideal
model works pretty well
except under extreme conditions.
NB. Saturation comes up next time as
an introduction to comparators.