A look at the newest standard linear ICs

We should have a look at recent developments in the world of linear ICs. Let’s look at three interesting new op amps and a data acquisition reference design.

Texas Instruments recently added the THS4541 high-speed differential I/O amplifier (I think that’s called an op amp, folks) with 850-MHz GBW and a 1,500 V/µs slew rate. It is said to take the lowest power in the industry – for a rail-to-rail output device capable of these speeds.

The THS4541 is also “precision” with input noise voltage of 2.2 nV/Hz (at >100 kHz), 100 KHz harmonic distortion of -140 dBc, and offset drift of just ±0.5 μV/°C (typ) over its -40° to 125°C working range. Offset voltage is 450 µV max at 25°C. The amp is also said to be the smallest analog front-end solution at this performance level, with 3 x 3-mm VQFN16 and 2 x 2-mm WQFN10 packages.

Single-supply voltage range is 2.7 to 5.4 V. Quiescent current is only 10.1 mA with a 5-V supply. and power-down mode takes just 2 µA. You can get this amp for approximately $2.65 ea/1,000.

The new zero-drift MCP6N16 instrumentation amplifier from Microchip Technology features ±17-µV Vos (max, G=100) and 1.8 to 5.5-V operation. Offset drift is ±60 nv/°C max at G=100. The 3 × 3 DFN8 or MSOP8-packaged amp has a CMRR of 112 dB, PSRR of 110 dB, and rail-to-rail input/outputs.

Typical supply current is 1.1 mA, and the device is specified over -40° to 125°C. It has three minimum gain options (1, 10, and 100 V/V). This IC costs only $1.52 ea/5,000.

Analog Devices has brought out the 40-V ADA4870 amplifier that delivers over 1 A out with a 2,500 V/Vs slew rate. The device said to be the industry’s fastest operational amplifier for driving heavy loads at high voltage; including piezoelectric transducers, PIN diodes, laser diodes, power FETs, coils, and CCDs.

Supply range is 10 to 40 V, with an output voltage swing of 37 V from a 40-V supply. The amp has 2.1-nV/√Hz noise, quiescent current of 32.5 mA, power down to 0.75 mA, short-circuit protection and flag, current limit, and thermal protection. It comes in a 20-lead PSOP package and costs $8.50 ea/1,000

Engineers can quickly evaluate and validate their FPGA-based control systems using the high-speed MAXREFDES74# 18-bit data acquisition system reference design from Maxim Integrated. The card, based on high-accuracy, low-power data converters, plugs directly into a standard FPGA I/O expansion (FMC), and it comes with complete firmware for Zynq FPGAs, a PC-GUI, and Gerber files.

The kit uses the MAX11156 500-ksample/s A/D with a 94.4-dB SNR, and the MAX5318 D/A with ±2-LSB INL (max). A powerful online GUI tool displays the performance of the signal chain and eliminates the need for scopes or other equipment to generate and analyze waveforms. The design is a ready-made solution for analog inputs and outputs built for FPGA-based systems. The kit is available for $95 at Maxim's website and select distributors.