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APPLICATION BULLETIN
THE CURRENT-FEEDBACK OP AMP
A HIGH-SPEED BUILDING BLOCK
By Anthony D. Wang, Burr-Brown Corp.
Mailing Address: PO Box 11400 鈥?Tucson, AZ 85734 鈥?Street Address: 6730 S. Tucson Blvd. 鈥?Tucson, AZ 85706
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Although current-feedback amplifiers (CFAs) have been in
use for quite some time, there is a reluctance to view them
in the same light as voltage-feedback amplifiers (VFAs). For
instance, the gain-bandwidth curve of VFAs has a parallel
in a transimpedance-bandwidth curve for CFAs. This pa-
rameter can be used to determine the closed-loop behavior
of the CFA in the same way that GBW can for the VFA. Not
all the fault is with the users鈥攖he amplifier manufacturers
have not standardized the CFA characterization as they
have done with VFAs. This paper describes the CFA and its
behavior in an intuitive manner.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The term 鈥渙perational amplifier,鈥?or 鈥渙p amp鈥?in typical
engineering shorthand, has generally been associated with
the transistorized voltage-feedback amplifier. It is becoming
more acceptable now to include the current-feedback ampli-
fier in the same category.
Interestingly enough, the basic architecture for the CFA
might have predated the VFA although it was not until the
1980s that the CFA was itself repopularized. To appreciate
the evolution of the beast, it helps to look back to some early
discrete transistor circuits.
The three transistor amplifier of Figure 1 is arranged in a
series-shunt configuration. However, in order to analyze the
amplifier, the circuit is rearranged as shown in Figure 2.
The feedback network shows up in two places鈥攁 series
network at the output and a parallel network at the emitter of
the input transistor. This allows for open-loop analysis while
keeping the effects of loading intact.
The loading of the output by the feedback network is
generally not a problem. However, the gain of the first
transistor stage is dependent on the values of the resistors in
the feedback network. Thus the open-loop response will
change with closed-loop gain (as the feedback network
changes), which could make frequency compensation an
iterative chore.
The discrete transistor circuit of Figure 3 circumvents this
difficulty. Adding another transistor, Q
4
, to buffer the input
stage transistor, Q
1
, from the feedback network illustrates
this modification. This is the first step to a voltage feedback
amplifier topology.
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R
1
R
2
R
1
R
2
Q
2
C
T
V
IN
Q
1
R
F
V
OUT
R
F
鈥?/div>
R
G
R
F
+ R
G
Q
3
V
IN
Q
1
C
T
Q
2
Q
3
V
OUT
R
G
R
3
R
E
=
R
3
R
L
= R
F
+ R
G
FIGURE 1. Three Transistor Amplifier.
FIGURE 2. Amplifier Redrawn for Analysis.
AB-193
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