Op Amp Applications Handbook

Introduction to Op Amp History

Walt Jung

The theme of this chapter is to provide the reader with a more comprehensive historical background of the operational amplifier (op amp for short—see below). This story begins back in the vacuum tube era and continues until today (2004). While most of today’s op amp users are probably somewhat familiar with integrated circuit (IC) op amp history, considerably fewer are familiar with the non-IC solid-state op amp. Even more likely, very few are familiar with the origins of the op amp in vacuum tube form, even if they are old enough to have used some of those devices in the ‘50s or ‘60s. This introduction addresses these issues with a narrative of not only how op amps originated and evolved, but also ...