MS-2212
Technical Article
Table 1.
Competitor
Type
Spec (mA)
Follower (mA)
0.707
Vol (mA)
0.506
0.565
1.188
3.442
2.051
5.336
0.544
0.361
2.759
0.822
Voh (mA)
0.671
0.567
6.683
0.708
3.998
3.786
0.625
10.152
2.475
0.667
LM358
Bipolar
Bipolar
Bipolar
Bipolar
Bipolar
Bipolar
CMOS
CMOS
CMOS
CMOS
30V
36V
30V
24V
30V
30V
5V
2
LM393
2.5
2
0.548
OP184
1.239
A
0.45
3.4
4.5
1.2
0.9
2.4
1.4
0.361
B
2.785
C
4.063
AD8605
0.998
A
B
C
5V
0.511
5V
1.916
5V
1.039
Red highlighted values indicate exceeds data sheet limit.
V+
Finally, in the desire to reduce die size and, therefore, cost,
some circuits, such as bias circuits and the associated startup
circuit, may be shared by both op amps. As mentioned
previously (8), if one op amp operates outside of its normal
range and causes the bias circuit to malfunction, then the
other op amp will malfunction also.
R4
I2
INPUT FROM
SECOND GAIN
STAGE
Q5
Q6
Q3
Q1
V
OUT
R1
In battery operated systems or when using low current series
regulators, the additional supply current should be
considered. Battery life may be less than calculated, or the
regulator may not start up under all conditions, especially
over temperature.
R2
Q4
D1
Q2
R5
I1
R3
R6
V–
Tips
Figure 6.
For new designs, the easiest solution is “Don’t use op amps
as comparators!” If you must, or have used one by accident
as a comparator:
CMOS Rail-to-Rail Op Amps
The CMOS op amps have an interesting behavior. In some
cases, the supply current actually goes down when driven to
a rail. The output stage of a CMOS op amp consists of
common source PMOS and NMOS transistors, and gain is
taken in the output stage. The gain is gm × RL, and to get a
reasonable value of transconductance, the drive circuit is
designed to set the quiescent current to a certain value. As
the output is driven into the rail, the drive circuit will
decrease the drive on the complementary transistor.
Depending on the transfer characteristics from the top
transistor to the bottom transistor, the current will actually
decrease. Note the wide variation in behavior among the
four CMOS op amps selected.
•
Check the data sheet to see if the manufacturer
has any information on operation as a
comparator. Some manufacturers are adding
this information (9,±0).
•
•
If the information is not there, ask the
manufacturer if it is available.
If they cannot provide it, measure several date
codes yourself using the circuits shown previously,
and add 50% for a safety factor.
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November 2011 | Page 4 of 5