JAJSFT1E August 2011 – April 2018 OPA170 , OPA2170 , OPA4170
PRODUCTION DATA.
Figure 41 shows a unity-gain buffer driving a capacitive load. Equation 1 shows the transfer function for the circuit in Figure 41. Not shown in Figure 41 is the open-loop output resistance of the operational amplifier, Ro.
The transfer function in Equation 1 has a pole and a zero. The frequency of the pole (fp) is determined by (Ro + RISO) and CLOAD. Components RISO and CLOAD determine the frequency of the zero (fz). A stable system is obtained by selecting RISO such that the rate of closure (ROC) between the open-loop gain (AOL) and 1/β is 20 dB/decade. Figure 42 depicts the concept. The 1/β curve for a unity-gain buffer is 0 dB.
ROC stability analysis is typically simulated. The validity of the analysis depends on multiple factors, especially the accurate modeling of Ro. In addition to simulating the ROC, a robust stability analysis includes a measurement of overshoot percentage and ac gain peaking of the circuit using a function generator, oscilloscope, and gain and phase analyzer. Phase margin is then calculated from these measurements. Table 3 shows the overshoot percentage and ac gain peaking that correspond to phase margins of 45° and 60°. For more details on this design and other alternative devices that can be used in place of the OPA170, see the Precision Design, Capacitive Load Drive Solution Using an Isolation Resistor.
PHASE MARGIN | OVERSHOOT | AC GAIN PEAKING |
---|---|---|
45° | 23.3% | 2.35 dB |
60° | 8.8% | 0.28 dB |