Below is a schematic of a opamp
designed by RJB for a power
line spread spectrum communications chip designed by ITRAN communications. The
process used is Tower Semiconductors 0.35 um process. This op-amp is used to
drive powerline and filters with an effective input
resistance of 30 ohms. It has the feature that it can be put into a disabled
mode so that it doesn't draw any significant amount of current. Some
interesting features of this design include the use of small current sources
and sinks to lower the quiescent current in the output stage. This (small bias
current in the output stages relative to the diff-amp bias current and device
sizes) causes the stability of the op-amp to become marginal under certain load
conditions. The pole associated with the output stage is comparable, and under
some situations has a value less, than the pole associated with the output of
the first stage. It was decided that this was OK to minimize quiescent current
draw while at the same time having a circuit that can drive 30 ohms within 150 mV
of the ground and 3.3V supplies (drive 100 mA into the load). Another problem
with this topology is that since current source loads are used on both the top
and bottom of the diff-pair the output stage is not guaranteed to operate
