Latest Amplifiers Technical Articles

Design of an Unweighted Audio Filter with Flat Frequency Response

This article presents the design of an unweighted (Z-weighted) audio filter with a flat frequency response from 20 Hz to 20 kHz for the measurement of audio noise.

July 23, 2023 by John Woodgate

Characterize RF Noise Components Using Equivalent Noise Temperature

Learn another way to characterize RF noise components using noise temperature and how this concept clears up how noise figure measurement instruments actually work.

May 28, 2023 by Dr. Steve Arar

Noise Figure Concepts—Power Gain, Lossy Components, and Cascaded Systems

Learn about the RF noise figure (NF), its power gain, lossy components, and cascaded systems.

May 15, 2023 by Dr. Steve Arar

Analyzing a Negative Voltage Charge Pump in LTspice—Source and Load Resistance

Learn about using LTspice simulations to provide important insight into the performance of a switched-capacitor voltage-inverting power supply.

May 14, 2023 by Robert Keim

Designing a Wideband Analog Voltage and Current Meter

Design a wideband analog multimeter to measure AC voltages and currents from 20 Hz to 1 MHz with a selectable sensitivity from 1 mV to 100 V, while the ammeter has a selectable current sensitivity of 10 mA to 10 A.

May 03, 2023 by John Woodgate

Can Voltage Be Negative? Understanding Negative Voltage

In addition to explaining the nature of a negative voltage, this article briefly discusses how negative voltages are generated and why they are useful in circuit design.

April 02, 2023 by Robert Keim

Op Amp and Transistor-based Analog Square Wave Generator Design

Analog oscillator circuits are commonly used to create square wave clock signals for the timing of synchronous circuits. This article covers the theory, design, and key features of analog square wave generators.

November 13, 2022 by Nicholas St. John

Electronic Component Aging—the Aging Effects of Resistors and Op-amps

Learn about the aging behavior of resistors and amplifiers using temperature calculations and the Arrhenius equation to understand resistor drift, resistor stability, and op-amp drift.

August 28, 2022 by Dr. Steve Arar

Understanding Charge Amplifier Errors—Time Constant and Drift

Learn about charge amplifier limitations at low frequencies, the effects of time constants, and how the drift phenomenon can also introduce errors in low-frequency measurements.

May 15, 2022 by Dr. Steve Arar

Processing a Piezoelectric Accelerometer Output Using a Charge Amplifier

Learn about charge amplifiers which are used for charge output conversion of a piezoelectric sensor into a usable voltage signal.

May 08, 2022 by Dr. Steve Arar

What is it About Audio Distortion? Understanding Nonlinearity

Learn about how system nonlinearity creates distortion in audio signals that impacts the sounds we hear. We will examine sine waves, harmonics, and intermodulation distortion.

April 10, 2022 by John Woodgate

PCB Layout Techniques for Reducing Harmonic Distortion of a Differential ADC Driver

Summary

February 19, 2021 by Dr. Steve Arar

How to Use Decoupling Capacitor Placement to Reduce Harmonic Distortion

Learn how to reduce second harmonic distortion by following some guidelines for placing decoupling capacitors in your PCB layout.

February 12, 2021 by Dr. Steve Arar

Reducing Second Harmonic Distortion with Symmetrical PCB Layout

Need a low-distortion ADC interface? In this article, we'll discuss how to reduce 2nd harmonic distortion by using symmetric PCB layout.

January 18, 2021 by Dr. Steve Arar

The History of Vacuum Tubes: An Era Away

While semiconductor devices make possible the lightweight 'gadgets' we enjoy, our electronic world was built on devices that operated on a different scale. Let's take a look at vacuum tubes!

December 11, 2020 by Marie Christiano