OPAMP History

1928
Harold S. Black applies for patent on his feedback amplifier invention.

1930
Harry Nyquist applies for patent on his regenerative amplifier (patent issued in 1933).

1937
U.S. Patent No. 2,102,671 issued to H.S. Black for  “Wave Translation System.”
B.D.H. Tellegen publishes a paper on feedback amplifiers, with attributions to H.S. Black and K. Posthumus. Hendrick Bode fi les for an amplifier patent, issued in 1938.

1941
Stewart Miller publishes an article with techniques for high and stable gain with response to dc, introducing “cathode compensation.” Testing of prototype gun director system called the
T10 using feedback amplifi ers. This later leads to the M9, a weapon system instrumental in winning WWII.
Patent fi led by Karl D. Swartzel Jr. of Bell Labs for a “Summing Amplifi er,” with a design that could well be the genesis of op amps. Patent not issued until 1946.

1946
George Philbrick founds company, George A. Philbrick Researches, Inc. (GAP/R). His work  was instrumental in op amp development.

1947
Medal for Merit award given to Bell Labs’s M9 designers Lovell, Parkinson, and Kuhn. Other contributors to this effort include Bode and Shannon.
Operational amplifi ers fi rst referred to by name in Ragazzini’s key paper “Analysis of Problems in Dynamics by Electronic Circuits.” It references the Bell Labs work on what became the M9
gun director, specifi cally referencing the op amp circuits used. Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley of Bell Labs discover the transistor effect.

1948
George A. Philbrick publishes article describing a single-tube circuit that performs some op amp functions.

1949
Edwin A. Goldberg invents chopper-stabilized  vacuum tube op amp.

1952
Granino and Theresa Korn publish textbook Electronic Analog Computers, which becomes a classic work on the uses and methodology of analog computing, with vacuum tube op amp circuits.

1953
First commercially available vacuum tube op amp introduced by GAP/R.

1954
Gordon Teal of Texas Instruments develops a silicon transistor.

1956
GAP/R publishes manual for K2-W and related  amplifi ers, that becomes a seminal reference.  Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley of Bell Labs for the transistor.
Burr-Brown Research Corporation formed. It becomes an early modular solid-state op amp supplier.
Op Amp History Highlights

1958
Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments invents the integrated circuit (IC). 

1959
Jean A. Hoerni fi les for a patent on the planar process, a means of stabilizing and protecting
semiconductors.

1962
George Philbrick introduces the PP65, a square outline, 7-pin modular op amp which becomes a
standard and allows the op amp to be treated as a component.

1963
Bob Widlar of Fairchild designs the A702, the first generally recognized monolithic IC op amp.

1965
Fairchild introduces the milestone A709 IC opamp, also designed by Bob Widlar.
Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) is founded by Matt  Lorber and Ray Stata. Op amps were their fi rst
product.

1967
National Semiconductor Corp. (NSC) introduces the LM101 IC op amp, also designed by Bob
Widlar, who moved to NSC from Fairchild. This device begins a second generation of IC op amps.
Analog Dialogue magazine is fi rst published by  ADI.

1968
The A741 op amp, designed by Dave Fullagar, is introduced by Fairchild and becomes the standard
op amp.

1969
Dan Sheingold takes over as editor of Analog Dialogue (and remains so today).

1970
Model 45 high speed FET op amp introduced by ADI.

1972
Russell and Frederiksen of National Semiconductor Corp. introduce an amplifi er technique that
leads to the LM324, the low cost, industry-standard general-purpose quad op amp.

1973
Analog Devices introduces AD741, a high-precision 741-type op amp.

1974
Ion implantation, a new fabrication technique for making FET devices, is described in a paper by
Rod Russell and David Culner of National Semiconductor.

1988
ADI introduces a high speed 36V CB process and a number of fast IC op amps. High performance op
amps and op amps designed for various different categories continue to be announced throughout the
1980s and 1990s, and into the twenty-fi rst century.

Keywords : Opamp, Hybrid Op Amps, IC, Amplifier, Patent, Vacuum, Circuit, Develop, Electronic, Integrated