Is 2010 the beginning of stable period for amplifiers?

[Ephant]

I noticed some equipments amplifiers were designed in 2010 and they are still using the same components or chips now. Whereas those made in year 2000 are already obsolete by the 2010s. Does it mean there is not much improvement in amplifier, op-amps or instrumentation amps between 2010 and 2024 (now)? whereas there is drastic difference between 2000 and 2010?

 

[berkeman]

Can you give some explicit examples? That would help a lot.

The two biggest improvements recently that I can think of are (1) CMOS rail-to-rail opamps, and (2) Innovative packaging options for power ICs to be able to sink away heat and still have a very small package size.

I don't know what years the rail-to-rail opamps started to be more mainstream (you can look that up), but the innovative power IC packaging has been going on a lot the last 5-10 years or so, with so much emphasis on miniaturization for cell phones, smart watches, etc. One IC company that I worked for recently has a whole division dedicated to inventing and implementing such packaging in very high volumes for the consumer market.

 

[Averagesupernova]

I recall using rail to rail op amps in the mid to late 90s. Never had much use for them until then. Has there been a recent surge in their numbers? Like last 3 to 5 years?

 

[berkeman]

I recall using rail to rail op amps in the mid to late 90s. Never had much use for them until then. Has there been a recent surge in their numbers? Like last 3 to 5 years?

I seem to remember that one side of those opamps achieved rail-to-rail operation before the other side, but I'm not 100% sure. Maybe rail-to-rail inputs but not yet rail-to-rail output? But I think the latest version achieve it on both sides. Guess I need to check some datasheets...

 

[Baluncore]

There are many factors that lead to equilibrium, punctuated by stepwise refinement.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuated_equilibrium_in_social_theory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottom–up_and_top–down_design
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_product_development

The driving force for change, is competition for market share, between the biggest industrial manufacturers. Simply put, in times of peace, capitalist nations drive the industry, communist nations stagnate, and so lag behind.

An example. Early CMOS op-amps had low-power, with highly variable offset voltages. Auto-zero techniques appeared first with external capacitors, and then became invisible to the user as the capacitors became internal, except for the very highest accuracy models.

 

[DaveE]

Technology advances, mostly in cost of production, and higher performance demands caused a proliferation of amplifiers around this time. There's always progress on the margins. There's always a better version, assuming someone needs it. But, IMO, new, stand alone, Si based amplifier ICs are aimed at niche markets now.

 

[Averagesupernova]

The op amps I recall using is LMC660. Texas instruments part. Swings to within about .1 volts of the supply rails.
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One thing is for sure. A person can find op amps out there that have some truly amazing specs. But not every spec at the same time, and certainly not cheap. A rail to rail op amp with high slew rate and able to have + and - 15 volt supplies was difficult to find and if it did exist at all it was expensive. I haven't looked for a few years, things are always improving.