HGC2261/2262/2264
Application Notes
Driving Capacitive Loads
Driving large capacitive loads can cause stability problems for voltage feedback op amps. As the load
capacitance increases, the feedback loop’s phase margin decreases, and the closed loop bandwidth is
reduced. This produces gain peaking in the frequency response, with overshoot and ringing in the step
response. A unity gain buffer (G = +1) is the most sensitive to capacitive loads, but all gains show the
same general behavior.
When driving large capacitive loads with these op amps (e.g., > 100 pF when G = +1), a small series
resistor at the output (RISO in Figure 1) improves the feedback loop’s phase margin (stability) by making
the output load resistive at higher frequencies. It does not, however, improve the bandwidth.
To select RISO, check the frequency response peaking (or step response overshoot) on the bench. If the
response is reasonable, you do not need RISO. Otherwise, start RISO at 1 kΩ and modify its value until
the response is reasonable.
Figure 1. Indirectly Driving Heavy Capacitive Load
An improvement circuit is shown in Figure 2. It provides DC accuracy as well as AC stability. RF provides
the DC accuracy by connecting the inverting signal with the output, CF and RISO serve to counteract the
loss of phase margin by feeding the high frequency component of the output signal back to the amplifier’s
inverting input, thereby preserving phase margin in the overall feedback loop.
Figure 2. Indirectly Driving Heavy Capacitive Load with DC Accuracy
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2016 NOV
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