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Chryseus
modified 9 years ago

Op-Amp Frequency Compensation

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01:56:13
Understanding Op-Amp frequency compensation is extremely important for anyone working with op-amps, an uncompensated op-amp it very likely to oscillate as the point of unity gain is often well past the point at which the phase shift reaches 180 degrees, following the Barkhausen criterion this results in oscillation. An uncompensated op-amp has a single pole which is set by the limitations of the design and semiconductors, which in the circuit is represented by the 300 pF capacitor, oscillation can be prevented by one of two ways, increasing gain which shifts the frequency response down resulting in unity gain occurring at a lower frequency or by compensation which inserts a pole at a lower frequency. Most op-amps available are internally compensated so when used within their design specifications they are stable, this is represented by the 20 nF capacitor giving the classic S curve frequency response, however even internally compensated op-amps can become unstable when driving a capacitive load such as the gate of a MOSFET or even the input of another op-amp, thus requiring external compensation. External compensation can be achieved by various means but the easiest is just to insert another pole, this can be done with the 1 pF capacitor in the circuit, this of course reduces bandwidth and slew rate but also reduces ringing and prevents oscillation if a sufficient value is chosen. This is rather difficult to represent in EC due to the very simple op-amp model, so I suggest using the free LTspice if you want to experiment, in many cases where gains greater than 1 are used additional compensation is unnecessary but in cases where oscillation or significant ringing occur you then need to think about compensation. There is a good read on the subject available at: www.ti.com/lit/ml/sloa079/sloa079.pdf
published 9 years ago
hurz
9 years ago
I agree, but i think it would be better to demostrate this at an inverting opamp amplifier. This example circuit here is a voltage follower which has by nature already maximum negative feedback and shouldn't have any problem of oscillation! Anyway, like your circuits!
Chryseus
9 years ago
@hurz the opposite is actually the case, higher gains lead to higher stability since it essentially degrades the frequency response, hence the lower bandwidth at higher gains, lower gain reduces the phase margin, some high speed op-amps actually specify a minimum stable gain, although the majority are indeed unity gain stable as long as the capacitive loading is kept to a minimum.
Chryseus
9 years ago
Good info about stability: http://www.st.com/web/en/resource/technical/document/application_note/CD00176008.pdf
hurz
9 years ago
We are taking about a voltage follower with closed loop gain of 1!
Chryseus
9 years ago
@hurz Driving a resistive load does give a loop gain of 1, however with a capacitive load the loop gain needs to increase to maintain the correct output voltage, this peaking of the gain makes it unstable, this is covered in the document I posted before.
hurz
9 years ago
Don't get that, its a stable voltage follower which is made unstable with some capacitive positive feedback? But this feefback is suppose to make it stable. Remove all RC in the positive path and its a super stable voltage follower.
hurz
9 years ago
Whats missing in your demo circuit is a capacity load, then your example makes sense and i get the point ;)
Chryseus
9 years ago
The normally negative feedback becomes positive due to the change in phase, it's really difficult to show this in EC properly.
hurz
9 years ago
Yes, i also tried that with your circuit and a cap as load 1nF without big success :(
Chryseus
9 years ago
I did an article on compensation with a better simulator http://www.electrical-workbench.co.uk/2015/07/op-amp-compensation_27.html

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