Slew induced distortion in operational amplifiers

When an operational amplifier is overdriven by a large input signal the output stews. A model has been developed in this paper to predict the influence of slew upon the open-loop and closed-loop frequency response of the operational amplifier. It has been found that, while magnitude distortion occurs in both open- and closed-loop modes, phase distortion only occurs under closed-loop conditions. Experimental and theoretical data compare favorably, demonstrating the accuracy of the model. It is shown that slew induced distortion for the low gain invertor configuration is much larger than for the inverting integrator.