
Application Notes
BLOCK DIAGRAM AND OPEATIONAL DESCRIPTION
A) INPUT STAGE:
As can be seen from the simplified schematic in
Figure 1
, the
input stage consists of two distinct differential pairs (Q1-Q2
and Q3-Q4) in order to accommodate the full Rail-to-Rail
input common mode voltage range. The voltage drop across
R5, R6, R7 and R8 is kept to less than 200mV in order to
allow the input to exceed the supply rails. Q13 acts as a
switch to steer current away from Q3-Q4 and into Q1-Q2, as
the input increases beyond 1.4 of V
+
. This in turn shifts the
signal path from the bottom stage differential pair to the top
one and causes a subsequent increase in the supply current.
In transitioning from one stage to another, certain input stage
parameters (V
, I
, I
, e
, and i
) are determined based
on which differential pair is “on” at the time. Input Bias
current, I
, will change in value and polarity as the input
crosses the transition region. In addition, parameter such as
PSRR and CMRR which involve the input offset voltage will
also be effected by changes in V
CM
across the differential
pair transition region.
The input stage is protected with the combination of R9-R10
and D1, D2, D3 and D4 against differential input over-
voltages. This fault condition could otherwise harm the dif-
ferential pairs or cause offset voltage shift in case of pro-
longed over voltage. As shown in
Figure 2
, if this voltage
reaches approximately
±
1.4V at 25C, the diodes turn on
and current flow is limited by the internal series resistors (R9
and R10). The Absolute Maximum Rating of
±
10V differen-
tial on V
still needs to be observed. With temperature
variation, the point were the diodes turn on will change at the
rate of 5mV/C
B) OUTPUT STAGE:
The output stage (see
Figure 1
) is comprised of complimen-
tary NPN and PNP common-emitter stages to permit voltage
swing to within a V
ce(sat)
of either supply rail. Q9 supplies the
sourcing and Q10 supplies the sinking current load. Output
current limiting is achieved by limiting the V
ce
of Q9 and Q10;
using this approach to current limiting, alleviates the draw
back to the conventional scheme which requires one V
be
reduction in output swing.
The frequency compensation circuit includes Miller capaci-
tors from collector to base of each output transistor (see
Figure 1
, C
and C
). At light capacitive loads, the
high frequency gain of the output transistors is high, and the
Miller effect increases the effective value of the capacitors
thereby stabilizing the Op Amp. Large capacitive loads
greatly decrease the high frequency gain of the output tran-
sistors thus lowering the effective internal Miller capacitance
- the internal pole frequency increases at the same time a
low frequency pole is created at the Op Amp output due to
the large load capacitor. In this fashion, the internal dominant
pole compensation, which works by reducing the loop gain to
less than 0dB when the phase shift around the feedback
loop is more than 180, varies with the amount of capacitive
load and becomes less dominant when the load capacitor
has increased enough. Hence the Op Amp is very stable
even at high values of load capacitance resulting in the
uncharacteristic feature of stability under all capacitive loads.
C) OUTPUT VOLTAGE SWING CLOSE TO V
:
The LM8272’s output stage design allows voltage swings to
within millivolts of either supply rail for maximum flexibility
and improved useful range. Because of this design architec-
ture, as can be seen from
Figure 1
diagram, with Output
approaching either supply rail, either Q9 or Q10 Collector-
Base junction reverse bias will decrease. With output less
than a V
from either rail, the corresponding output transis-
tor operates near saturation. In this mode of operation, the
transistor will exhibit higher junction capacitance and lower f
t
which will reduce Phase Margin. With the Noise Gain (NG =
1 + Rf/Rg, Rf & Rg are external gain setting resistors) of 2 or
higher, there is sufficient Phase Margin that this reduction (in
Phase Margin) is of no consequence. However, with lower
10130870
FIGURE 1. Simplified Schematic Diagram
101308A4
FIGURE 2. Input Stage Current vs. Differential Input
Voltage
L
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