The Signal

  • In a previous blog on supply bypassing , I cautioned that poor bypassing could increase distortion of an amplifier. A reader, Walter, asked an interesting question… where should you connect the ground of a bypass capacitor to avoid problems? ...
  • Handy gadgets make our engineering life easier—the little special purpose computer programs or spreadsheets that you might find or create yourself. Back in the old days, engineers used nomographs. These are graphical aids that solve common multivariable...
  • Chopper op amps offer very low offset voltage and dramatically reduce low frequency 1/f (flicker) noise. How do they do it? Here’s a quick-read on the tricks. Click Here to read on EDN Magazine site.
  • Everyone knows that op amps should have power supply bypass capacitors located near the IC’s terminals, right? But why? Why, for example, is an amplifier more apt to oscillate without proper bypassing? The reasons will increase your understanding...
  • Rail-to-Rail (R/R) op amps are extremely popular, especially useful with low supply voltage. You should know how R/R inputs are accomplished and understand some trade-offs. Figure 1 shows a typical dual-input R/R stage comprised of both N and P-channel...
  • You have voted. Unity-gain-stable op amps won in a landslide—they’re far more popular than decompensated op amps. What’s this all about? Click Here to read on EDN Magazine site.
  • Is it possible to parallel two op amps to get twice the output current? We get this question periodically on our E2E forums. Though we may answer with a qualified “yes,” it tends to make us shudder just a bit. It can be done… but...
  • Did you see last week’s resistor puzzle? Check it out if you missed it . Here’s the solution: We’re not accustomed to reading three-dimensional schematics so the first step is to redraw it clearly. There are three distinct paths from...
  • It’s time for some fun! I’ve known a few folks who have tormented colleagues with a resistor cube—equal resistors on all sides. So in case you’ve solved that one, let’s add a twist. In this cube, not all the resistors are...
  • The 1/f (one-over-f) low frequency noise region of amplifiers seems just a bit mysterious. Reader “tweet” asked for a discussion of 1/f noise—a challenging topic for a short blog. Click Here to read on EDN magazine web site. Excel...