Operational Amplifiers Compensation December 1, 2025 By WatElectronics This article lists 100 Operational amplifier compensation techniques for engineering students. All Operational Amplifiers compensation given below includes a hint and, wherever possible, links to the relevant topic. This is helpful for users who are preparing for their exams, interviews, or professionals who would like to brush up on their fundamentals on Operational Amplifiers compensation, which is core in Electronics & Electrical Engineering. Operational Amplifiers (Op-Amps) are fundamental building blocks in analog electronics, widely used in amplification, filtering, signal conditioning, and control systems. However, high-gain opamps can become unstable when placed in feedback configurations due to internal poles, parasitic capacitances, and frequency response limitations. To ensure stable and predictable behavior, frequency compensation techniques—such as dominant pole compensation, Miller compensation, lead–lag networks, and pole-zero adjustments—are used extensively in both internally and externally compensated op-amps. This set of 100 carefully designed MCQs helps students, engineers, and competitive exam aspirants strengthen their understanding of op-amp compensation concepts. The questions cover theoretical principles, practical design considerations, Bode plot behavior, phase margin analysis, stability criteria, compensation methods, bandwidth and slew-rate effects, and real-world applications. Each question is accompanied by a detailed explanation to enhance conceptual clarity and support deeper learning. 1). Which is the primary purpose of op-amp frequency compensation? Increase DC gain Improve slew rate Prevent oscillations Reduce input offset voltage None Hint 2). Dominant-pole compensation works by? Increasing high-frequency gain Moving the lowest pole to a lower frequency Adding more internal poles Increasing output swing None Hint 3). The most common internal compensation technique in op-amps is? Lead compensation Miller compensation Lag compensation Feed-forward compensation None Hint 4). Miller compensation typically results in? Increased bandwidth Increased phase margin Reduced open-loop gain Increased noise None Hint 5). The 741 op-amp is? Uncompensated Partially compensated Internally compensated Externally compensated None Hint 6). Which op-amp typically requires external compensation? LM741 LM324 LM301 TL071 None Hint 7). A major drawback of compensation is? Lower noise Reduced power consumption Reduced bandwidth Increased offset None Hint 8). Ideal phase margin for stability is typically? 0° 20° 45–60° 120° None Hint 9). Uncompensated op-amps often? Have very high phase margin Always oscillate at low gain Are unstable at low closed-loop gains Cannot be used with feedback None Hint 10). Increasing the compensation capacitor CC typically? Increases slew rate Decreases slew rate Increases noise Increases offset None Hint 11). Miller effect magnifies capacitance by? Voltage clipping Current limiting Amplifier gain Impedance switchin None Hint 12). Lead compensation is used to? Reduce phase margin Increase damping Add a zero to increase phase Remove a pole None Hint 13). Lag compensation is used to? Reduce low-frequency gain Increase phase Increase DC gain Reduce bandwidth None Hint 14). Compensation is needed because internal op-amp stages produce? Nonlinear distortion Parasitic poles and zeros Input offset Slew rate limitations None Hint 15). In a compensated op-amp, the gain-bandwidth product (GBW) is typically? Constant Increasing with gain Decreasing with gain Zero None Hint 16). When the phase margin becomes negative? Overshoot increases Op-amp saturates Oscillations occur Gain increases None Hint 17). After adding dominant-pole compensation, the unity-gain frequency? Increases Decreases Becomes zero Unaffected None Hint 18). Dominant pole ensures? Higher-order behavior First-order roll-off near crossover Multiple zero cancellation High output swing None Hint 19). Slew rate is most affected by? Input offset Compensation capacitor Common-mode voltage Load resistance None Hint 20). Pole splitting occurs when? Compensation moves one pole low and pushes the other high Output current halves Slew rate increases THD is reduced None Hint 21). An op-amp stable at unity gain is known as? Under-compensated Decompensated Unity-gain stable Unstable by design None Hint 22). Increasing the frequency distance between P1 and P2 improves? Noise Phase margin Slew rate Output swing None Hint 23). Gain crossover frequency is where? Gain = Open-loop gain Phase = 0° Magnitude = 1 (0 dB) Bandwidth = max None Hint 24). Primary cause of phase shift in op-amps is? Temperature Parasitic capacitance Input offset Output resistance None Hint 25). Compensation is designed to maintain stability for? All supply voltages All feedback networks All load resistances All input signals None Hint Operational Amplifiers Compensation MCQs for Exams 26). Adding a zero in compensation helps by? Adding additional phase lag Improving phase margin Increasing noise Eliminating poles additional phase lag None Hint 27). Lead compensation is preferred when? Poles are too close Phase margin is too high You need to reduce DC gain Load capacitance is high None Hint 28). Lag compensation results in? Less bandwidth More bandwidth Higher slew rate Increased phase margin None Hint 29). Stability is determined by? Loop gain and phase DC current Output resistance Slew rate None Hint 30). Negative feedback increases bandwidth but reduces? Offset Gain Phase margin Noise None Hint 31). A sign of instability is? Low gain High current Sustained oscillations Low slew rate None Hint 32). Choosing compensation depends on? Temperature Required phase margin Output offset Load resistance None Hint 33). Adding poles generally moves the system toward? Instability More stability Higher bandwidth Reduced offset None Hint 34). High-speed op-amps avoid dominant-pole compensation because? They need very fast response It reduces offset It increases noise It increases DC gain None Hint 35). Nested Miller compensation is used in? Single-stage op-amps Multi-stage op-amps Comparators Buffers None Hint 36). Increasing CC reduces? Phase margin Slew rate Input resistance Output voltage None Hint 37). Large capacitive loads introduce? Negative feedback Additional poles Higher slew rate Lower offset None Hint 38). Using a series resistor with capacitive loads improves? Gain Phase margin Offset DC performance None Hint 39). A small capacitor in parallel with the feedback resistor creates? Lag compensation Lead compensation New DC gain Increased noise None Hint 40). Compensation reduces overshoot by? Increasing gain Increasing damping Increasing output swing Decreasing resistance None Hint 41). Feed-forward compensation bypasses? Input stage Output stage High-gain stage Power stage None Hint 42). Lead compensation adds a zero to? Increase lag Reduce phase Reduce lag Saturate output None Hint 43). Stability can be verified using? Offset voltage Step response DC gain Bias current None Hint 44). Phase margin is measured from the? Closed-loop response Open-loop response DC characteristics Output waveform None Hint 45). Dominant pole produces? 20 dB/decade roll-off 40 dB/decade roll-off 60 dB/decade roll-off 0 dB/decade roll-off None Hint 46). Unity-gain frequency is equal to? DC gain × slew rate Slew rate ÷ gain Open-loop gain × dominant pole frequency Output swing × input bias None Hint 47). Increasing noise gain improves? Noise Output swing Stability margin Offset None Hint 48). Filters using op-amps require compensation because? Poles may become too close DC behavior changes Gain drops Offset increases None Hint 49). External compensation is preferred when? Flexibility is desired Op-amp is too slow Power is limited Offset is high None Hint 50). Op-amps with very high open-loop gain typically need? More compensation No compensation Less compensation Output clamping None Hint Operational Amplifiers Compensation MCQs for Interviews 51). The phase margin for borderline stability is? 90° 60° 45° 0° None Hint 52). Adding a resistor in series with the inverting input (for compensation) help? Increase DC gain Reduce input noise Cancel input capacitance Improve slew rate None Hint 53). Lead-lag compensation combines? Dominant pole + two zeros Zero + pole Miller + nested Miller Double lead network None Hint 54). Frequency at which the phase is –180° minus PM is called? Gain-bandwidth Crossover frequency Phase crossover frequency Unity gain frequency None Hint 55). The worst-case scenario for op-amp stability is? Resistive loads Capacitive loads Inductive loads Thermal drift None Hint 56). Miller compensation creates? Left-half plane zero Right-half plane zero High-frequency pole only No additional poles None Hint 57). One method to remove a RHP zero is? Increasing gain Adding a nulling resistor Reducing DC bias Using high-value feedback resistor None Hint 58). In nested Miller, the innermost capacitor stabilizes? Output stage First gain stage Error amplifier Differential input stage None Hint 59). Excessive compensation causes? Higher noise Lower bandwidth Higher slew rate Reduced DC gain None Hint 60). A unity-gain-stable op-amp is always? Lead-compensated Internally compensated Not suitable for high gain Always rail-to-rail None Hint 61). Increasing the dominant compensation capacitor will? Increase unity-gain bandwidth Reduce unity-gain bandwidth Improve slew rate Create a right-half-plane zero None Hint 62). Which compensation method adds a zero to improve phase margin? Lag Lead Miller Cascode compensation None Hint 63). The key benefit of pole-zero cancellation is? Bandwidth doubling Phase margin reduction Removal of unwanted poles Increase in noise gain None Hint 64). A three-stage op-amp typically requires? No compensation Only lead compensation Nested Miller compensation Lag compensation only None Hint 65). A non-dominant pole close to unity-gain frequency causes? Higher GBW Oscillation Better stability Higher slew rate None Hint 66). If the phase margin is negative, the system will? Be highly stable Oscillate Be overdamped Have no effect None Hint 67). A unity-gain follower is MOST sensitive to? Miller effect Non-dominant poles Bias current Packaging None Hint 68). Slew rate degradation mainly appears after? Adding lead compensation Adding lag compensation Increasing compensation capacitor Decreasing load resistance None Hint 69). The purpose of cascode compensation is to? Reduce noise Reduce RHP zero effects Increase gain without adding poles Improve output drive None Hint 70). Excessive lead compensation may cause? Too much phase lag Overshoot or ringing Reduced bandwidth Lower DC gain None Hint 71). Which compensation method is easiest for PCB-level implementation? Miller Lead Nested Miller Feedforward RHP zero cancellation None Hint 72). A low-frequency pole is introduced in? Lead compensation Lag compensation Nested Miller Feedforward compensation None Hint 73). Adding a capacitor across feedback resistor in inverting amplifier? Improves high-frequency stability Reduces input impedance Increases slew rate Shifts dominant pole upward None Hint 74). Compensated op-amps are generally: Faster More stable Lower input impedance Higher slew rate None Hint 75). In feedforward compensation, the capacitor bypasses? Output stage First gain stage Intermediate stage Differential pair None Hint Operational Amplifiers Compensation MCQs for Quiz 76). A system with 20° phase margin will show? Overdamped response Heavy ringing Ideal response Perfect linearity None Hint 77). Lead compensation is least effective when? Dominant pole is too low System has many RHP zeros Loop gain is high Capacitive load is small None Hint 78). Which compensation technique offers the highest bandwidth? Lag Lead Miller Pole splitting None Hint 79). Which is the ideal phase margin for stable, fast op-amp applications? 20° 45° 60° 90° None Hint 80). Increased open-loop gain tends to? Improve stability Reduce stability Have no effect Increase noise margin None Hint 81). Capacitive loads introduce? Zeros only A single LHP pole Additional poles and phase lag No significant effect None Hint 82). The “crossover frequency” is when loop gain is? 0 dB 10 dB 20 dB 40 dB None Hint 83). An op-amp that is not unity-gain stable should not be used as? Comparator Integrator Voltage follower AC amplifier None Hint 84). The first non-dominant pole typically appears at? MHz–GHz 1–10 Hz Around mid-band Extremely low frequencies None Hint 85). If phase margin = 0°, system response is? Critically stable Perfect Oscillatory Overdamped None Hint 86). In two-stage op-amps, the second stage typically introduces? Dominant pole RHP zero Non-dominant pole LHP zero None Hint 87). Error amplifier stability in SMPS often needs? Miller compensation Lead-lag compensation Nested compensation No compensation None Hint 88). A RHP zero causes? Phase lead Phase lag No effect on phase Gain increase None Hint 89). Reducing compensation capacitor improves? Slew rate Stability DC gain Noise immunity None Hint 90). Which compensation method is best for precision low-frequency systems? Lead Lag Pole splitting Cascode None Hint 91). Phase margin is measured at? DC gain Unity loop gain Maximum gain Half-power frequency None Hint 92). If compensation is insufficient, the step response shows? Flat response Overshoot No change Lower noise floor None Hint 93). Miller capacitor value is limited primarily by? Slew rate requirements Bias current Input offset CMRR None Hint 94). Adding series resistance to output helps? Increase slew rate Improve capacitive load stability Reduce output impedance Improve CMRR None Hint 95). A lead compensator produces? +20 dB/dec gain roll-off –20 dB/dec roll-off Flat response Gain increase at all frequencies None Hint 96). Increasing load resistance results in? More pole movement Less pole movement No effect Zero cancellation None Hint 97). If unity-gain bandwidth increases, the dominant pole? Increases Decreases Is unchanged Moves to DC None Hint 98). Nested Miller compensation increases? Offset voltage Pole separation Noise Input impedance None Hint 99). The loop gain at low frequency is determined by? Load capacitor DC gain Unity-gain bandwidth Slew rate None Hint 100). The main reason for using compensation in op-amp circuits is? Increase DC gain Improve noise immunity c) Ensure stability under feedback d) Reduce input bias Ensure stability under feedback Reduce input bias None Hint Time's up
