Op amps take the next step

摘要

Ever since pioneering device engineer Bob Widlar in 1965 designed the μA709 IC for Fairchild, operational amplifiers have been the analogue-design engineer's equivalent of glue logic. But in those early years, you had to be a competent analogue designer to apply most op amps with any real success. Early devices required careful frequency compensation and lacked any output short-circuit protection, making them vulnerable during benchtop development. Nonlinear circuit design, such as true rms-to-dc conversion, was especially tricky, requiring complex compensation networks to provide stability.