Application Information
ADVANTAGES OF THE LMV651/LMV652/LMV654
Low Voltage and Low Power Operation
The LMV651/LMV652/LMV654 have performance guaran-
teed at supply voltages of 3V and 5V. These parts are guar-
anteed to be operational at all supply voltages between 2.7V
and 5.5V. The LMV651 draws a low supply current of 116
μA, the LMV652 draws 118 μA/channel and the LMV654
draws 122 μA/channel. This family of op amps provides the
low voltage and low power amplification which is essential for
portable applications.
Wide Bandwidth
Despite drawing the very low supply current of 116 µA, the
LMV651/LMV652/LMV654 manage to provide a wide unity
gain bandwidth of 12 MHz. This is easily one of the best
bandwidth to power ratios ever achieved, and allows these op
amps to provide wideband amplification while using the min-
imum amount of power. This makes this family of parts ideal
for low power signal processing applications such as portable
media players and other accessories.
Low Input Referred Noise
The LMV651/LMV652/LMV654 provide a flatband input re-
ferred voltage noise density of 17 nV/ , which is signifi-
cantly better than the noise performance expected from a low
power op amp. These op amps also feature exceptionally low
1/f noise, with a very low 1/f noise corner frequency of 4 Hz.
This makes these parts ideal for low power applications which
require decent noise performance, such as PDAs and
portable sensors.
Ground Sensing and Rail-to-Rail Output
The LMV651/LMV652/LMV654 each have a rail-to-rail output
stage, which provides the maximum possible output dynamic
range. This is especially important for applications requiring
a large output swing. The input common mode range of this
family of devices includes the negative supply rail which al-
lows direct sensing at ground in a single supply operation.
Small Size
The small footprint of the packages for the LMV651/LMV652/
LMH654 saves space on printed circuit boards, and enables
the design of smaller and more compact electronic products.
Long traces between the signal source and the op amp make
the signal path susceptible to noise. By using a physically
smaller package, these op amps can be placed closer to the
signal source, reducing noise pickup and enhancing signal
integrity.
STABILITY OF OP AMP CIRCUITS
Stability and Capacitive Loading
If the phase margin of the LMV651/LMV652/LMV654 is plot-
ted with respect to the capacitive load (CL) at its output, it is
seen that the phase margin reduces significantly if CL is in-
creased beyond 100 pF. This is because the op amp is
designed to provide the maximum bandwidth possible for a
low supply current. Stabilizing it for higher capacitive loads
would have required either a drastic increase in supply cur-
rent, or a large internal compensation capacitance, which
would have reduced the bandwidth of the op amp. Hence, if
these devices are to be used for driving higher capacitive
loads, they would have to be externally compensated.
20123859
FIGURE 1. Gain vs. Frequency for an Op Amp
An op amp, ideally, has a dominant pole close to DC, which
causes its gain to decay at the rate of 20 dB/decade with re-
spect to frequency. If this rate of decay, also known as the
rate of closure (ROC), remains the same until the op amp's
unity gain bandwidth, the op amp is stable. If, however, a large
capacitance is added to the output of the op amp, it combines
with the output impedance of the op amp to create another
pole in its frequency response before its unity gain frequency
(Figure 1). This increases the ROC to 40 dB/decade and
causes instability.
In such a case a number of techniques can be used to restore
stability to the circuit. The idea behind all these schemes is to
modify the frequency response such that it can be restored to
an ROC of 20 dB/decade, which ensures stability.
In The Loop Compensation
Figure 2 illustrates a compensation technique, known as ‘in
the loop’ compensation, that employs an RC feedback circuit
within the feedback loop to stabilize a non-inverting amplifier
configuration. A small series resistance, RS, is used to isolate
the amplifier output from the load capacitance, CL, and a small
capacitance, CF, is inserted across the feedback resistor to
bypass CL at higher frequencies.
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FIGURE 2. In the Loop Compensation
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LMV651/LMV652/LMV654