An operational amplifier (op-amp) is a DC-coupled high-gain electronic voltage amplifier with a differential input and, usually, a single-ended output.[1] An op-amp produces an output voltage that is typically hundreds of thousands of times larger than the voltage difference between its input terminals.[2]
Operational amplifiers had their origins in analog computers, where they were used to do mathematical operations in many linear, non-linear and frequency-dependent circuits. Characteristics of a circuit using an op-amp are set by external components with little dependence on temperature changes or manufacturing variations in the op-amp itself, which makes op-amps popular building blocks for circuit design.
Op-amps are among the most widely used electronic devices today, being used in a vast array of consumer, industrial, and scientific devices. Many standard IC op-amps cost only a few cents in moderate production volume; however some integrated or hybrid operational amplifiers with special performance specifications may cost over $100 US in small quantities.[3] 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 types of differential amplifier include the fully differential amplifier (similar to the op-amp, but with two outputs), the instrumentation amplifier (usually built from three op-amps), the isolation amplifier (similar to the instrumentation amplifier, but with tolerance to common-mode voltages that would destroy an ordinary op-amp), and negative feedback amplifier (usually built from one or more op-amps and a resistive feedback network).
Circuit notation
The circuit symbol for an op-amp is shown to the right, where:
- V+: non-inverting input
- V−: inverting input
- Vout: output
- VS+: positive power supply
- VS−: negative power supply
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