30-01-2017, 06:46 PM
Didn't realise the uA723 was a Bob Widlar design!
There is a story about Widlar. He was a mate of Barrie Gilbert, and they made a bet with each other about who could design a current mirror with the minimum number of transistors. Barrie lost because his design used three transistors, and the Widlar current mirror(as it is now known) only used two. Used in almost all op-amp chips made ever since.
For those who do not know, Barrie Gilbert was (is) a prolific British electronics inventor with over 100 patents to his name, but spent the vast majority of his life in the US. He was a leading light in the golden years of Tektronix, and inventor of the Gilbert Cell which finds its way into ultra-high bandwidth amplifiers (Tek's interest) through to four quadrant multipliers. After his illustrious career there he was poached by Analog Devices, and that was only after they agreed to build a research facility specifically for him in Beaverton. He is a fascinating character.
Craig
There is a story about Widlar. He was a mate of Barrie Gilbert, and they made a bet with each other about who could design a current mirror with the minimum number of transistors. Barrie lost because his design used three transistors, and the Widlar current mirror(as it is now known) only used two. Used in almost all op-amp chips made ever since.
For those who do not know, Barrie Gilbert was (is) a prolific British electronics inventor with over 100 patents to his name, but spent the vast majority of his life in the US. He was a leading light in the golden years of Tektronix, and inventor of the Gilbert Cell which finds its way into ultra-high bandwidth amplifiers (Tek's interest) through to four quadrant multipliers. After his illustrious career there he was poached by Analog Devices, and that was only after they agreed to build a research facility specifically for him in Beaverton. He is a fascinating character.
Craig
