Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department

Vacation Training ELEC 1200

Page 1 of 3 Prepared by Y K Ramgolam

Introduction to Operational Amplifiers

An operational amplifier is a differential amplifier with very high gain ("open-loop gain"
A
0
), very high input impedance (Z
in
), and very low output impedance (Z
out
).









Figure 1. Figure2.

In normal operation, it needs to be supplied by symmetric voltages V
+
and V
-
(V
-
= -V
+
).
Its behavior is described by v
out
= A
0
(v
+
- v
-
). In amplifier applications it is usually used
with "negative feedback", i.e. part of the output signal is fed back to the negative input
(i.e. effectively subtracted from the input signal).

The opamp chip that will be used in this lab is the 741A opamp. It comes in an 8-pin
dual-inline package (DIP) (see fig. 2). The connections for the pins are as follows: pins 2
and 3 are for v
-
and v
+
, pin 4 is for negative supply voltage, pin 7 for positive supply
voltage, and pin 6 is for the output.



I. Preliminary Test

a. Write down the specifications for the 741 (maximum values, input/output
impedance, input bias/offset, and slew rate)
b. Connect +Vo, -Vo (~15 V) to power the 741; and a +5 V supply between the
inverting and noninverting inputs of a 741. Dont mistake the power supply
voltages (+Vo and -Vo) with the inputs denoted as V+and V- in the textbooks.
c. What is Vout?
d. Reverse the polarity of the 5 V supply across the op-amp inputs.
e. What is Vout now?
f. Are the results what you expect from the open loop gain?

II. Input Offset Voltage

a. For ideal op-amps the output should be zero when the inputs are connected
together. For real op-amps this is not normally true. The output voltage in this
case is called output offset voltage. It may be a problem because it can depend
+
_

v
+
v
-
v
out
V
+
V
-
_
+
5
6
7
8
4
3
2
1
Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department
Vacation Training ELEC 1200


Page 2 of 3 Prepared by Y K Ramgolam
strongly on temperature and supply voltage. Construct an inverting amplifier with
a nominal gain of G =-100 using appropriate resistors R1 and R2.
b.
-
+
R
f
R
1
V
1
V
0
+12V
7
-!2V
DC
Variable
source
2
3
6
4

c. Explain why you chose the resistors.
d. Measure Vout when the inputs are grounded.
e. Compute the input offset voltage.
f. Does the input offset voltage agree with the specifications?

III. Frequency Dependence

a. Devices are often limited in their "gain-bandwidth product." This means that the
gain (GVout/Vin) decreases as the frequency (f) increases, such that their
product is a constant. Here, you will measure the voltage gain of a sine wave as a
function of the f. Construct an inverting amplifier with a nominal gain of Go =-
10.
-
+
R
f
R
1
V
1
V
0
+12V
7
-!2V
DC
Variable
source
2
3
6
4

b. Connect the Vin and Vout sine waves to the two scope inputs.
Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department
Vacation Training ELEC 1200


Page 3 of 3 Prepared by Y K Ramgolam
c. Starting from f =100 Hz, record the RMS voltage amplitudes while increasing f
(by factors of 5 or 10) up to 1 MHz. Note that Vin may change with f. Note:
always keep the input voltage low enough to limit the output voltage to less than
the power supply voltages (~15 V).
d. From a rough plot of the measured G(f) on a log-log graph, see where you need to
fill in extra data points, especially near 0.7*Gmax.
e. Next, repeat the G(f) measurements with Go =-100.
f. Plot G(f) for both Go's on the same graph.
g. At what frequency is the "3-dB point", f(3-dB), where Gmax is reduced to
0.707*Gmax, (equivalently, where power is reduced by a factor of 0.5)?
h. Does f(3-dB) agree with the specification graph?
i. Compare the gain-bandwidth product [Gmax * f(3-dB)] for the two Go's.

IV. Slew Rate

a. Op-amps and transistors have difficulty swinging large voltages at high
frequencies. This is quantified by the time derivative of voltage (V/microsecond)
and called "slew rate." Using a Go =-2.0 circuit, set the input frequency to fo=40
kHz sawtooth waveform.
b. Adjust the input amplitude to set the output amplitude Vpp approximately 1 volt
and compute gain. Increase the input amplitude to see where the gain begins to
decrease. Make sure the output voltage remains below the maximum output
voltage of the 741.
c. Plot gain versus Vpp in the transition region.
d. What is the value of Vpp where the gain begins to decrease?
e. Compare the measured maximum slew rate (Vpp/2)/(T/4)=2foVpp to the
specification.


Equipment and components needed:

1. Breadboard,
2. Wiring kit,
3. Resistors,
4. Connecting cables
5. 12-15V power supply for +Vo=+15V (V
DD
) and -Vo=-15V (V
SS
),
6. +5V power supply,
7. Function generator,
8. Oscilloscope
9. 741 op-amp,
10. Semiconductor data