DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING

NORTH SOUTH UNIVERSITY

EEE 311, ETE 311 lab: Electronics II

Experiment No: 02

Name of the Experiment:

Study of basic comparator circuits using op-amp

Objectives:
1. Study the basics of op-amp.
2. Study the use of op-amp as a comparator.
3. Study the op-amp voltage transfer characteristics.

Theory:
The operational amplifier (abbreviated as OP-AMP) is a direct-coupled high-gain amplifier to
which feedback is added to control its overall response characteristic. It has very high (ideally
∞) input impedance and very low (ideally 0) output impedance. It offers all advantages of
monolithic integrated circuits, such as small size, high reliability, reduced cost, and low offset
voltage and current. For these reasons, it has gained wide acceptance as a versatile, predictable
and economic system building block. The pin diagram of dual in-line package IC-741 is shown
in Figure 1 along with the op-amp circuit symbol and connections to the pins.

Figure 1: Op-amp (IC-741) pin diagram for dual in-line package (DIP or DIL)

Comparator Unit Operation:

The op-amp comparator compares one analogue voltage level with another analogue voltage
level, or some preset reference voltage, Vref and produces an output signal based on this voltage
comparison. In other words, the op-amp voltage comparator compares the magnitudes of two
voltage inputs and determines which is the largest of the two. The op-amp comparator studied
in this experiment does not contain any feedback path. Hence, this is called open-loop
comparator. In the open-loop configuration, op-amp provides its very large open-loop gain
(AOL), which is ideally ∞ and practically 105-6.
 A basic comparator circuit can be represented as in Figure 2a. The output is a digital
signal that stays at a high voltage level (Vhigh) when the non-inverting input (V+) is greater than
the voltage at the inverting input (V-) and switches to a lower voltage level (Vlow) when the non-
inverting input voltage goes below the inverting input voltage.
𝑉+ > 𝑉− : 𝑉𝑜 = 𝑉ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ
𝑉− > 𝑉+ : 𝑉𝑜 = 𝑉𝑙𝑜𝑤

Figure 2. Op-amp open-loop comparator circuits, comparing (a) 2 DC input signals, (b, c) an AC signal with
ground reference, (d, e) an AC signal with a positive DC reference. Vs+ and Vs- refer to the positive and negative
power supply voltages.

Figure 2b shows a typical open loop comparator. The inverting input in this example is
connected to a ground reference voltage, while the non-inverting input is connected to the input
signal voltage. If vin is less than the reference voltage level of 0 V, the output remains at Vlow
(near 𝑉𝑠− = −10 𝑉). When the vin rises just above 0 V, the output quickly switches to Vhigh
level (near 𝑉𝑠+ = +10 𝑉). This type of circuit configuration is known as the non-inverting
open-loop comparator. In an inverting open-loop comparator (Figure 2c), the input signal is
connected to the inverting input terminal, whereas the reference voltage is connected to the
non-inverting input terminal. When we compare a signal with a 0 V reference, we also call
these circuits zero crossing detectors (Figure 2b, c). When we compare a signal with a positive
DC voltage reference, we call these circuits positive level indicators. Figures 2d and 2e show
non-inverting and inverting positive level indicators, respectively. Similarly, negative level
indicators can be constructed by connecting negative DC voltage sources at the reference input
terminals.

The internal circuit of an op-amp contains differential and push-pull amplifier stages resulting
in a high AOL. Hence, input signals of any shape (sinusoidal, triangular, or others) in the V, mV,
or even hundreds of µV range leads to saturation in the output signal. Figure 3a and 3b show
saturated rectangular output signals for the non-inverting and inverting zero-crossing detectors
for the sinusoidal input signal. With reference input (at pin 2) set to 0 V, a sinusoidal signal
applied to the non-inverting input (pin 3) will cause the output of the non-inverting comparator
to switch between its two output states without any phase difference, as shown in Figure 3a.
For the inverting configuration of the open-loop comparator, on the other hand, a similar output
is obtained with a 180° phase difference, as show in Figure 3b.
Figure 3: The input signal (vin), reference voltage (Vref), and resulting output signal (vout) of open-loop zero crossing
detector comparator circuits with (a) non-inverting configuration, (b) inverting configuration.

For the non-inverting configuration, when input vin goes even a fraction of a millivolt above
the 0 V reference level, the voltage difference will be amplified by the very AOL so that the
output rises to its positive output saturation level and remains there while the input stays above
Vref = 0 V. When the input drops just below the 0 V reference level, the output is driven to its
lower saturation level and stays there while the input remains below Vref = 0 V. Figure 4a and
4b show the transfer characteristic, vo vs. vin, for the non-inverting and inverting zero-crossing
detectors, respectively. In the narrow linear regions, the vo follows vin with a constant slope of
+AOL (non-inverting) and -AOL (inverting). In the saturation regions, the vo is at 𝑉𝑠+ when vin is
positive and at 𝑉𝑠− when vin is negative for the non-inverting configuration. This is opposite for
the inverting configuration.

Figure 4. Transfer characteristic of open-loop comparator of (a) non-inverting and (b) inverting configurations.
Equipment List:

Serial No. Component Details Specification Quantity

1. OPAMP 741 1 piece
2. Resistor 10 kΩ, 5 kΩ 2 pieces, 1 piece
3. LED Blue 1 piece
4. Oscilloscope 1 unit
5. DC Power Supply 3 units
6. Function Generator 1 unit
7. Oscilloscope 2 channels 1 unit
8. Digital Multimeter 1 unit
9. Trainer Board 1 unit

Circuit Diagrams:

Circuit 1 – Open-loop comparator 1: Circuit 2 – Open-loop comparator 2:

Constant DC input at +ve input terminal and Constant DC input at -ve input terminal and
a constant DC reference voltage via a voltage a constant DC reference voltage via a voltage
divider network at the -ve input terminal. divider network at the +ve input terminal.
 V1
15V

U1

7
5
1
3
6
2

V3
1Vpk 741

4
1kHz
0°
V2
15V

Circuit 3 – Open-loop non-inverting comparator as zero crossing

detector: AC input at +ve input terminal and a constant DC 0 V
reference voltage (ground) at the -ve input terminal.

Procedure:
Circuit 1
• Connect the circuit shown in circuit 1.
• Set the biasing voltage VCC = 12 V at pin 7 and VEE = -12 V at pin 4.
• Set input DC voltage to 0 V. Check the response of LED (on/off).
• Now increase the input voltage until the state of LED change. Take readings.

Vref V1 State of LED

0V
1V
2V
3V
4V
5V
6V
7V
8V

Circuit 2
• Connect the circuit shown in circuit 2.
• Set the biasing voltage VCC = 12 V at pin 7 and VEE = -12 V at pin 4.
• Set input DC voltage to 0 V. Check the response of LED (on/off).
• Now increase the input voltage until the state of LED change. Take readings.
 Vref V1 State of LED
0V
1V
2V
3V
4V
5V
6V
7V
8V

• Change the value of R2 to 5 kΩ. Repeat previous steps.

Vref V1 State of LED
0V
1V
2V
3V
4V
5V
6V
7V
8V
Circuit 3
• Make the connection as shown in circuit 3.
• Apply an input sine wave with a peak-to-peak voltage = 2 V and frequency = 1 kHz.
• Observe the input and output wave shapes through an oscilloscope.
• Take reading of its amplitude. Vin(p-p) = ___________, Vout(p-p) = ____________
• Draw the input and output wave shapes with proper labeling.

Graphs:
 MULTISIM based lab work:
V1 V1
10V 10V
XMM1 XMM1

U1 U1

OPAMP_5T_VIRTUAL
V3
V3 V4 2V OPAMP_5T_VIRTUAL
10uV 15uV
V2
10V V2
10V

Circuit – 4 Circuit – 5

Procedure:
Circuit 4
• Construct the circuit in MULTISIM.
• Set input offset voltage (VOS) to 0 V and input offset current (IOS) to 0 A.
• Set to open loop gain (A) to 1 M V/V
• Set V3 and V4 and complete the following table.

V3 V4 Vd VO Liner / Saturation

-15 V -10 V

+15 V -10 V

1.000000 V 1.000001 V

+6 mV +2 mV

0 +1mV

Circuit 5
• Construct the circuit in MULTISIM.
• Set input offset voltage (VOS) to 0 V and input offset current (IOS) to 0 A.
• Set to open loop gain (A) to 100,000 V/V
• Take parameter sweep (or DC sweep) for V3
 • Start from -1 mV and stop at 1 mV. For better accuracy, take at least 1000 data points.
• Using the output plot, determine the open loop gain.

Questions:

1. What are the applications of comparators? How can we build analog-to-digital

converters using the concept of comparators?
2. What is a window comparator? Write down the applications of a window
comparator? How many reference voltages are present in a window comparator?
Construct a window comparator circuit in multisim which produces an output
voltage at Vhigh for an unknown input voltage in the range of 4 V < Vin < 8V and
produces a 0 V output when Vin < 4V and Vin > 8V. Submit screenshots of circuit
schematic and waveforms in a pdf.

Resources:
Check the following web link for further information on comparators. You can also find
information on the window comparator here:
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/opamp/op-amp-comparator.html