Answer Happy

The earliest operational amplifiers were constructed using tubes, then transistors, and in the 1960's were fabricated as integrated circuits (ICs). The first IC op amps were designer needed to uncompensated-the incorporate frequency compensation elements into the external feedback network. That was followed by the development of the unity-gain compensated op amp, which meant that the op amp included an internal capacitor to achieve stable operation for all gains down to unity. Since then, many op amp types have been developed including mixtures of bipolar and field-effect transistors to achieve different performance advantages. This process of development continues apace giving designers a wide choice of op amp performances to better match their design criteria and constraints. Compare/contrast op amp parametric values from devices developed in the decades of the 1960's-1980's to those available in 2016. After reviewing your matrix, interpret them: Do you think this represents simple evolution of better and better performance design and fabrication or do you think you are observing revolutionary design advancements? Among the factors to consider: • Comparison of key parameteric values-e.g., Eos, lb, CMRR, GBW, etc. • Power consumption • Minimum power supplies • Cost ● Packaging choices