7.3.7 EMI Rejection

The electromagnetic interference (EMI) rejection ratio, or EMIRR, describes the EMI immunity of operational amplifiers. An adverse effect that is common to many op amps is a change in the offset voltage as a result of RF signal rectification. An op amp that is more efficient at rejecting this change in offset as a result of EMI has a higher EMIRR and is quantified by a decibel value. Measuring EMIRR is performed in many ways, but this section provides the EMIRR IN+, which specifically describes the EMIRR performance when the RF signal is applied to the noninverting input pin of the op amp. In general, only the noninverting input is tested for EMIRR for the following three reasons:

• Op amp input pins are known to be the most sensitive to EMI, and typically rectify RF signals better than the supply or output pins.
• The noninverting and inverting op amp inputs have symmetrical physical layouts and exhibit matching EMIRR performance
• EMIRR is easier to measure on noninverting pins than on other pins because the noninverting input pin can be isolated on a PCB. This isolation allows the RF signal to be applied directly to the noninverting input pin with no complex interactions from other components or connecting PCB traces.

High-frequency signals conducted or radiated to any pin of the operational amplifier may result in adverse effects, as the amplifier does not have sufficient loop gain to correct for signals with spectral content outside the bandwidth. Conducted or radiated EMI on inputs, power supply, or output may result in unexpected DC offsets, transient voltages, or other unknown behavior. Take care to properly shield and isolate sensitive analog nodes from noisy radio signals and digital clocks and interfaces. shows the effect of conducted EMI to the power supplies on the input offset voltage of OPAx202.

The EMIRR IN+ of the OPAx202 is plotted versus frequency, as shown in Figure 44. If available, any dual and quad op-amp device versions have similar EMIRR IN+ performance. The OPAx202 unity-gain bandwidth is 1 MHz. EMIRR performance less than this frequency denotes interfering signals that fall within the op-amp bandwidth.

Figure 44. OPAx202 EMIRR IN+

Table 3 lists the EMIRR IN+ values for the OPAx202 at particular frequencies commonly encountered in real-world applications. Table 3 lists applications that may be centered on or operated near the particular frequency shown. This information may be of special interest to designers working with these types of applications, or working in other fields likely to encounter RF interference from broad sources, such as the industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) radio band.