Amplifier saturation Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-10-20
In amplifier saturation, the requested output lies outside the amplifier's linear operating range, such as when supply rails limit output voltage. The negative feedback virtual short approximation then need not hold. Output swing, current drive and recovery behaviour depend on the device and load; finite slew rate is a separate dynamic limit even when the output has not reached a rail.
An ideal operational amplifier has infinite differential open-loop gain, infinite input impedance, zero output impedance and unlimited bandwidth and output capability, and zero input offset voltage and input bias current. In a stable negative-feedback circuit operating linearly, its input currents vanish and . This equality is a feedback consequence, not a rule for a saturated or open-loop amplifier. Here the grounded non-inverting input makes the inverting node a virtual earth.
The inverting two-pole band-pass filter has a series resistor and capacitor input, while the feedback arm is a parallel resistor and capacitor. With Laplace variable ,
Kirchhoff's current law at virtual earth gives the minus sign. Substituting yields
It vanishes at zero and infinite frequency, with low-frequency and high-frequency . Differentiation gives the single maximum
For , the broad interval has . For , the interval instead has . The same rising and falling asymptotes apply outside either plateau.
Figure 1.
Original ideal filter power gains for different time-constant ratios, showing the finite selectivity limit
. Details.
Writing and , the half-power frequencies and quality factor are
Equal time constants give the narrowest fractional pass-band achievable here, with and
This topology cannot make a genuinely sharp, high- band-pass. Its poles are real, and the selectivity bound for a two-real-pole band-pass prevents arbitrarily narrow selection. A more selective resonant filter needs additional circuit structure. The gain above answers the component-ratio question for the sharpest available setting without assuming an impossible limit.
Real amplifiers have finite frequency-dependent gain and phase lag, so virtual earth becomes inaccurate, the response changes and stability must be checked. Gain-bandwidth limits, slew rate for large signals, output loading and amplifier saturation also matter. Component tolerances move the corners; capacitor parasitics, stray capacitance, resistor noise and input noise become significant. The ideal high-frequency tail should not be extrapolated beyond the amplifier and lumped-component operating ranges.