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Fairchild uA741 Operational Amplifier
- Year
- 1968
- Creator
- Dave Fullagar
- Company
- Fairchild Semiconductor
- Location
Description
The uA741 is a general-purpose analog amplifier on one chip, which Dave Fullagar designed at Fairchild in 1968. The example shown dates from 1969, and its metal lid is off so the die and bond wires show.
Importance
Like the Micrologic chips, the uA741 is a Fairchild integrated circuit, but it amplifies analog signals instead of logic signals. Fullagar studied the LM101, a design by Robert Widlar at National Semiconductor, and added transistors that made the amplification more consistent from chip to chip. Companies have sold billions of 741 chips, and the part is still in production.
Interesting fact
Fullagar told IEEE Spectrum that he found the simple fix for the input stage on a drive to Lake Tahoe.
Sources
- 1964: The First Widely-Used Analog Integrated Circuit is Introduced ↗Computer History Museum, The Silicon Engine
- Chip Hall of Fame: Fairchild Semiconductor uA741 Op-Amp ↗IEEE Spectrum · 2017-06-30