With the demand for IC amplifier performance constantly under pressure, new ideas for topologies come along from time to time. Many are stillborn, others destined for occasional use only, as prescribed by special circumstances; a few have enough strength to become mainstream. One such has gained in popularity in recent times, namely, the current-feedback amplifier, the subject of this column, which presents the principles in a rather different way to previous treatments, and hopes to put them in a fresh and useful perspective, with frequent comparisons to the OPA.

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Barrie Gilbert (IEEE Member 1962, Fellow, 1984), b. 1937, in Bournemouth, England, pursued an early interest in solid- state devices at Mullard Ltd, working on first-generation planar ICs. Emigrating to the US in 1964, he joined Tektronix, in Beaverton, OR, where he developed the first electronic knob-readout system, and other advances in instrumentation. Between 1970-1972 he was Group Leader at Plessey Research Laboratories. He later joined Analog Devices Inc. and was appointed ADI Fellow in 1979. He manages the development of high-performance analog ICs at the NW Labs in Beaverton.

For work on merged logic he received the IEEE "Outstanding Achievement Award" (1970) and the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Council "Outstanding Development Award" (1986). He was Oregon Researcher of the Year in 1990, and received the Solid-State Circuits Award (1992) for "Contributions to Nonlinear Signal Processing". He has written extensively about analog design and has five times received ISSCC Outstanding Paper Award. He has been issued over 40 patents and holds an Honorary Doctorate from Oregon State University.