Favorite Op-amp

[Neomys Sapiens]

It's worth keeping a small stock of SO8 - DIP converter boards in the drawer. 

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=so8+dip&_sacat=0

Indeed, and throw in some for TSOP/MSOP too, as you get most new ones not in SOIC anymore.

[David Hess]

From what I can gather from these posts, is that only a pair of companies; Texas Instruments  (with Burr Brown and National), and Analog ( with Linear Tech) dominate this market.

Conspicuously absent are original components from  Onsemi ( with Fairchild), STMicro, Infineon. Although they second source many of them.

My limited reckoning is that Microchip is working hard to also become a linear powerhouse.

I think Texas Instruments and Analog Devices are the last ones with high precision and performance linear IC processes other than Intersil which inherited from RCA and is now part of Renesas.  Maxim got rid of theirs (sold to National?).  Microchip never had one.  Someone bought Fairchild's (National again?).

[Neomys Sapiens]

Maxim sold its fab to Tektronix, Fairchild was sold as a whole to OnSemi.

Wasn't rather Maxim the former fab of Tektronix + Dallas + ?

[David Hess]

Maxim sold its fab to Tektronix, Fairchild was sold as a whole to OnSemi.

I think you have the first one backwards.  Tektronix sold their fab to Maxim who continued to make their custom ICs for them for a while.

I had to look it up to refresh my memory.  The old Fairchild was a pioneer in integrated circuits including high performance operational amplifiers and was bought by National.  National later spun new Fairchild off with their discrete products and it was later bought by On Semiconductor.  And of course Texas Instruments bought National and thereby the old Fairchild.  Of course all of the interesting old Fairchild ICs were long gone by then.

So for just operational amplifiers and going by memory:

Burr-Brown -> Texas Instruments
Fairchild -> National -> Texas Instruments
National -> Texas Instruments

Precision Monolithic Incorporated > Analog Devices
Linear Technology > Analog Devices

I am probably missing someone.  I don't know where the high performance Maxim stuff went.

[SilverSolder]

Linear electronics is becoming a very mature market.  Hopefully we won't get to a complete monopoly situation where even the simplest parts cost $$$....    perhaps competition from other parts of the world will keep that effect under some semblance of control, though?

[nctnico]

I am probably missing someone.  I don't know where the high performance Maxim stuff went.

Isn't Maxim still making these themselves? Or did I perhaps miss Maxim being taken over...? Semiconductor manufacturers are like a lava-lamp. It is hard to follow which blob went where after a while.

[David Hess]

I am probably missing someone.  I don't know where the high performance Maxim stuff went.

Isn't Maxim still making these themselves? Or did I perhaps miss Maxim being taken over...? Semiconductor manufacturers are like a lava-lamp. It is hard to follow which blob went where after a while.

Maxim dropped their high performance linear process at some point and I think they dropped the RF bipolar processes they bought from Tektronix.  They used to make OP-07s and similar in competition with Analog Devices and Linear Technology.  Now it seems they only have CMOS stuff.

The remaining two, Analog Devices and Texas Instruments, both have high voltage precision bipolar processes and high performance complementary bipolar processes.  To me that makes all of the other manufacturers of operational amplifiers second class except perhaps for Intersil which I mentioned.

There were some other small companies making high performance operational amplifiers but I do not see them around anymore.

[Neomys Sapiens]

There were some other small companies making high performance operational amplifiers but I do not see them around anymore.

Still around is Advanced Linear Devices (ALD).
There was Elantec, which was aquired by Intersil. (EL-xxxx parts)
And Comlinear, which was aquired by NatSemi. They brought the CLC-xxx high speed/bandwith components, which probably were the forebears of the LMH-xxxx high speed OPAs, whereas before the highest speeds National could offer were the LH-xxxx hybrids.

[schmitt trigger]

Intersil in particular has suffered from many acquisitions and divestitures.

The Wikipedia page mentions that Harris acquired it, but there is a particular datapoint which tells me that they were briefly held by GE:

Around the time my daughter was born, circa 1984, I went to a job interview. My interviewer brought out an Intersil databook, for which he asked me to explain the importance of certain parameters in a component datasheet.
I distinctly remember the data book with soft black covers, which had a photo of a steaming light bulb with the caption:  GE and Intersil. Hot ideas in CMOS.

By then, GE had already acquired RCA. But shortly thereafter, "Neutron Jack" Welch became GE's CEO and he publicly stated that he hated electronics companies, and promptly disposed of all the assets, including its homegrown semiconductors, to Harris.

At least that is how I recall it, but my memory may be fading.

[David Hess]

There were some other small companies making high performance operational amplifiers but I do not see them around anymore.

Still around is Advanced Linear Devices (ALD).

ALD came to mind but they are only doing CMOS parts now.  Either they or someone like them was making OP-07s and similar precision bipolar parts at one point like Maxim was.

There was Elantec, which was aquired by Intersil. (EL-xxxx parts)

I think there was also another company like Elantec which made high speed parts with a name that started with an A.

And Comlinear, which was aquired by NatSemi. They brought the CLC-xxx high speed/bandwith components, which probably were the forebears of the LMH-xxxx high speed OPAs, whereas before the highest speeds National could offer were the LH-xxxx hybrids.

I remember Comlinear but forgot National bought them until you reminded me.  Comlinear must have had an early complementary bipolar process.

[SilverSolder]

Any guesses as to the future?

Will we (or our descendants) see the day where linear parts can only be purchased as part of a larger integrated circuit?

[Neomys Sapiens]

I think there was also another company like Elantec which made high speed parts with a name that started with an A.

I also thought so. If you look at: http://www.aufzu.de/semi/halbleit.html there is a large list.
I looked at the names, but no bell rang.

[David Hess]

Any guesses as to the future?

Will we (or our descendants) see the day where linear parts can only be purchased as part of a larger integrated circuit?

No, because linear parts do not scale well limiting integration.  You might see sampling and digital parts emulating linear parts which happens even now but not at the lowest level of complexity.  Part of this is simply because there are better ways of doing things if you have that much digital integration like with oversampling ADCs for audio; instead of trying to implement better integrated anti-alias filters, they raised the sampling rate and implemented a digital anti-aliasing filter before decimation.  Instrumentation converters which replaced multi-slope converters are another example; they did not just make better multi-slope converters.  Digital switching power controllers are another example.

I think there was also another company like Elantec which made high speed parts with a name that started with an A.

I also thought so. If you look at: http://www.aufzu.de/semi/halbleit.html there is a large list.
I looked at the names, but no bell rang.

I tried finding it but my example was Elantec.  I think Avantek was who I was thinking of but did they ever make linear integrated circuits or hybrids?

[SilverSolder]

linear parts do not scale well limiting integration. 

What is the limiting factor?  Is it down to linear parts using much more silicon area than digital circuitry?

[BocaDev]

My goto op-amps have been the TLC2272 and TLC2274. Never had any issues with these guys for my applications.

[David Hess]

linear parts do not scale well limiting integration.

What is the limiting factor?  Is it down to linear parts using much more silicon area than digital circuitry?

As I understand it there are two problems.  One is that noise is simply greater with smaller transistor sizes.  Even trailing technology linear parts deliberately use larger transistors than the process will support for this reason.  The input differential pair on an operational amplifier is sometimes its largest feature and that is just two transistors.  The other problem is that transistor quality decreases with smaller feature sizes.  That is irrelevant for digital designs but critical for linear designs.

To combat this, mixed-signal designs built on processes which support greater integration at the expense of linear performance try to move signals into the digital domain as soon as possible.  Delta-sigma analog to digital converters are a good example of this.

[Neomys Sapiens]

I tried finding it but my example was Elantec.  I think Avantek was who I was thinking of but did they ever make linear integrated circuits or hybrids?

They made modules and possibly hybrids. And it is well conceivable that there were Avantek-branded ICs, whoever made them. So we can be both content that we still have them covered. Although I was surprised to see Analogic listed, whom I only knew for their Instruments.

[David Hess]

They made modules and possibly hybrids. And it is well conceivable that there were Avantek-branded ICs, whoever made them. So we can be both content that we still have them covered. Although I was surprised to see Analogic listed, whom I only knew for their Instruments.

Analogic make a lot of potted hybrid stuff as did Analog Devices at the time.  I have some Analogic databooks in storage.  I do not remember them making integrated circuits.

[Oldtestgear]

The Wikipedia page mentions that Harris acquired it, but there is a particular datapoint which tells me that they were briefly held by GE:

GE owned RCA & Intersil for a while before selling to Harris Semiconductor. I worked for the combine as a PME in Camberley for about 6 months in 1987 & then moved on.

Phil

[AlanS]

I foound the following from CYCFI Research. This guy has done a lot of good work and updated his favourite AUDIO Op Amp list as recently as 2017. Good value.

https://www.cycfi.com/projects/six-pack/op-amp-shootout/