A novel class AB current amplifier, design and application

A novel class-AB current amplifier has been described. A prototype has been constructed using a relatively low performance op-amp and configured to provide well-defined voltage gain, primarily to confirm the theoretical predictions outlined in the paper. The amplifier´s voltage gain was almost independent of bandwidth and its high slewrate not limited by the op-amp. Both the bandwidth and slewrate potential of this new amplifier design exceeds all earlier designs based upon the supply current sensing technique. The simulation and prototype results are very encouraging. At present the design is being optimised for realisation as a full integrated circuit using BiMOS technology. This new amplifier architecture has potential in IC form for high speed continuous time and sampled-data analogue signal processing applications