1,000,001 Things to Do with an Op Amp (.PDF Download)

June 12, 2018
1,000,001 Things to Do with an Op Amp (.PDF Download)

If you’re designing a linear circuit of any kind today, it most likely involves an op amp and even an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The op amp is your go-to device simply because it can be configured to perform almost any linear function. And with most applications being digital today, your design probably includes an ADC, either as an individual IC or integrated into your MCU.

If you have experience in linear design with these devices, your end product will be a success.
Such an outcome can be achieved by enhancing your knowledge with an input of fresh new knowledge about these ubiquitous devices. There are some excellent online ebooks that can provide you with all of the latest hints and tricks to optimize and bullet-proof your design.

Op Amps Are the Answer

Op amps have been around for over 70 years. I first encountered them in an old Heathkit vacuum-tube analog computer we used in college. Then later in one of my first jobs, I was encouraged to use other vacuum-tube op amps that were on hand. These were the infamous K2Ws made by Philbrick. They worked great, but those ±300-V power supplies were just not appropriate for the truck-mounted mobile equipment I was making. I then introduced the company to the early solid-state op amps developed by Philbrick and Burr-Brown.

In the early 1970s, the first IC op amps came along. I used the popular 301 and 709. And later on, who didn’t use the 741? It’s still around today. Now, of course, we have superior CMOS op amps with mega-bandwidth. Furthermore, the specifications are so good that we often don’t have to worry so much about how to compensate for input offset voltages, bias currents, and other limitations.

Virtually all EEs learn about op amps in college. It’s one of those basic things that they do teach you in school. Most of us learned about the most popular circuits, such as the follower, inverter, the non-inverting amplifier, summer, and integrator—all still widely used.

But, as you know, hundreds or thousands more special circuits can be built with an op amp. In fact, at this point, most common basic linear circuit needs and applications have been discovered. And it’s likely that you do NOT know them all. The solution to that knowledge gap is a compendium of useful circuits that you can reference when designing your next linear project.

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