Rail-to-rail BiCMOS operational amplifier using input signal adapters with floating outputs

An operational amplifier with rail-to-rail input and output voltage range in 0.6 μm BiCMOS technology is presented. Two simple input signal adapters with floating outputs serving as pre-stages are introduced. They are followed by a differential amplifier. The adapters translate the input signals into a floating level within the operating region of the differential amplifier, enabling rail-to-rail operation. An inverter-based simple rail-to-rail class AB output stage has been used. With a single supply of 1.5 V, the proposed rail-to-rail operational amplifier achieves 72 dB DC open-loop gain, 2.54 MHz unity-gain frequency, 62° phase margin, 2.5 V/μs slew rate, and 147 μW power consumption.