Opamp Stability and

Compensation
BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus
p

Anu Gupta
p

Stability issues

Without feedback
All poles are negative

With feedback
All poles negative but negative feedback can
cause stability issues

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Feedback mode
Single
g p
pole response-----always
p
y stable
Two pole response------freq
response
freq compensation is
required
3 pole response-----nested miller
compensation is required

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Suppose 0, then a pole at s - (on the negative real axis) results in

the transient response of the form exp(- t), which eventually decays to 0.
On the other hand, a pole s (on the positive real axis) results in a transient
response of the form exp( t),
t) which goes to infinity.
infinity

In circuit analysis, exponetial transient terms are written in the form exp(-t/ ),
where is called the time constant.
constant
For a pole at s - , the time constant is 1/ .

Transient response in terms of

pole location

From the Circuit Analysis , the mathematical form of the transient response is
related
l t d to
t the
th location
l
ti off the
th poles
l in
i the
th complex
l domain.
d
i

Suppose 0, then a pole at s - (on the negative real axis) results in

the transient response of the form exp(- t),
t) which eventually decays to 0.
0
On the other hand, a pole s (on the positive real axis) results in a transient
response of the form exp( t), which goes to infinity.

Obviously, we do not want to have poles on the positive real axis, because the
transient response eventually drives the amplifier into voltage limits, resulting in
nonlinear distortion.

In circuit analysis, exponetial transient terms are written in the form exp(-t/ ),
where is called the time constant.
For a pole at s - , the time constant is 1/ .
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 Approximately within 5 time constant,

constant the
amplitude of exp

terms decays to negligible

value compared to initial amplitude.

The greater the distance of the pole from the

origin, the faster the transient response decays

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Transient response in terms of

pole location

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Frequent response in terms of

pole location
Complex poles
with

much

less

than

display a sharp
gain peak

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Desired pole location

Often, amplifiers are required to
have nearly constant gain for a
given range of frequency and the
gain is required to roll off at
hi h frequencie
higher
f
i s. Considerin
C id i g
both transient response and
frequency response in terms of
pole locations, the desired pole
locations for most amplifiers are
with 45 o of the negative real axis.
Poles in this region gives transient
response decaying faster and
frequency
q
y response
p
showingg no
excessive gain peaks.
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BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus

Single dominant pole response

Single stage diff amplifier, Telescopic opamp, Folded cascode
amplifier

Feedback mode

open-loop gain of real amplifiers is a function of frequency.

Magnitude response drops off and phase shift increases at high
frequencies.

When feedback is applied to the open-loop amplifier, undesirable

frequency response (also transient response) can result.

Considering frequency dependence, the closed-loop gain of a

feedback amplifier should be re-formatted as function of Laplace
variable S as follows:

A( s )
A f ( s)
1 A( s ) ( s )
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Effects of feedback on pole: one

pole system
Negative feedback has dramatic effects on pole locations of
amplifiers (OpAmp), which in turn affects transient response
and frequency response of the amplifiers
First, considering a one-pole (or dominant pole) amplifier, the
open loop gain is of the form
A( s )

A0
,
1 s / 2f

where A0 is open loop gain and f is open loop corner frequency.

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 With feedback
f db k in
i this
thi amplifier,
lifi th
then th
the
closed--loop gain
closed

A f ( s)

A f ( s)

A0 /(1 s /(2f ))
A(s)

, assuming is constant.
1 A(s) (s) 1 A0 /(1 s /(2f ))
A0 f (s)
1 s /(2f f )

, whereclosed- loopdc gain and corner or break frequency

A0
will be A0 f
, f f f (1 A0 )
1 A0
A0 f f f A0 f , this
hi is
i the
h gain
i - bandwidth
b d id hproduce
d often,
f this
hi is
i a specificat
ifi ion
i for
f an amplifier.
lifi
Usingdifferent , we can changethe gain and bandwith ot designneeds.
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how the pole would change as

feedback ratio changes?
Transient and frequency
q
y response
p
of feedback amplifiers
p
are related to the pole location,
For
F single-pole
i l
l (dominant-pole)
(d i
t l ) amplifier,
lifi the
th magnitude
it d
of pole for the closed-loop gain increases
So, the above pole is still on the negative real axis, but
moves further from the origin
g as increases
Feedback Amplifier is stable, linear settling time is fast

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Differential Amplifier
Active load

Z 2

g mp
CE

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Zero calculation -intuitive

i3

i4
x
i1

i2

Zero will occur when i2 = i4 i. e no

iout (s)
( ) i.
i e. i4 reverses its
it di
direction
ti
at wz,
at wz
i. e i4 =i2= i3

Vx is negative voltage. So i3 is positive

So i1 = i3;

- i1/ gm3

vx = - i1 x 1/ gm3

Current mirror operation at high freq

freq. at wz
at _ low _ ffrequency
q
y, i1 i3 i4
V x i1 (
Vx

g m3

1
)
sC E

i1
g m 3 [1

sC E
]
g m3

g m3
i1
i1
1
s 2
V x (
(
) i2
at
;
)
CE
g m 3 [1 2]
g m3

Polarity of Vx changes, Hence i3, i4 changes

its direction
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A analysis using A plot

Why?
Convenience
Pl off A iis ffamiliar
Plot
ili to us.
Phase of A is similar to phase of A
No need to draw another
h A
A plot.
l

Locate frequency where |A|=1

Find phase at the frequency.
Estimate phase margin
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Method

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20 logA plot
|A|=1

1/ line
For =1

Figure 8.37 Stability analysis using Bode plot of |A|.

Stable system----no signal buildup

Phase crossover , Gain crossover

Gain crossover

phase crossover

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Stable system

Gx <
Decrease Gx---

Px

easy time constant to be increased by adding capacitor

or
increase Px--Difficult circuit modification is reqd.

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Telescopic OPAMP
pole estimation

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BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

Fully differential Telescopic Amp.

wout

;
( g m 6 r06 r08 || g m 4 r04 r02 )[C L ]

wX

1
1
(
)[C X ]
g m3

1
wN
(ro 4 )[C N ]
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Impact of wN on wout

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Folded cascode opamp

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1
w0
;
gm9 r09 (r04 || r02 ) || gm11 r011 r013 )[C L AC c ]
A gain _ of _ last _ stage

wF

(r014

1
|| r015 )[C F C c ]

1
wD
(r08 || r012 )[C D ]

wB

1
1
(
)[C B ]
g m8

wC

1
1
(
|| r012 )[CC ]
g m8

1
wA
(r09 || r013 )[C A ]
BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus

2 pole Amplifiers
2 stage fully differential OPAMP, 2 stage single ended OPAMP

Considering a two-pole amplifier, the open loop gain

transfer function is of the form
A0
A( s )
, where A0 is open loop gain at DC
(1 s / 2f b1 )(1 s / 2f b 2 )
and f b1 and f b 2 are two open-loop break frequency (assumed to be real values)

Assume feedback ratio is constant (not a function of

frequency) and evaluate the poles of the closed loop
transfer function
solve equation

1 A(s) 0

s 2 s ( 2 f b 1 2 f b 2 ) (1 A 0 ) 4
s -

1
1
( 2 f b1 2 f b 2 )
2
2

f b 1 f b 2 0 , tthee roots
oots aaree tthen
e

( 2 f b 1 2 f b 2 ) 2 16

f b 1 f b 2 (1 A 0 )
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For the p
poles,, as increases,, the poles
p
move together
g
until they meet at the point in the middle.

Then, further increase causes the poles to become

complex,
l
moving
i away ffrom th
the reall axis
i along
l
th
the vertical
ti l
line across the meeting point.

(the path followed by the poles is called a root locus)

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Effects of feedback on pole:

Usually, feedback amplifiers are

designed so that Ao is much
larger than unity, which is
usually necessary to achieve
gain stabilization, impedance
control,
nonlinear
distortion
reduction etc.

From the root locus, it can be

seen that a too large value of
Ao
might move the poles outside
the desirable region of the splane (the 45 degree negative
axis). In that case, undesirable
frequency response peaks and
transient ringing occurs.
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Freq. Compensation

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BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

2 stage opamp

BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

Compensation

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BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

Impact of zero

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Removing zero

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Removing zero
expression

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Third pole due to RC

compensation

RZ

CE

BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

Third pole
approx expression
approx.

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BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus

End