Linear Integrated Circuits Lab

Course Description

Linear Integrated Circuits Lab is the laboratory component paired with the EET4158 lecture, covering the practical application of linear integrated circuit theory — principally operational amplifiers and the circuits built from them.

Within the SCNS taxonomy, EET is the Electronic Engineering Technology prefix and the L suffix marks a laboratory-only course. Daytona State publishes it at 1 credit, offered spring, with EET4158 as corequisite.

⚠ The catalog publishes no description for this course

Daytona State's entry shows the course number, title, credit value, and corequisite only. The outcomes and topics below are therefore indicative rather than transcribed from a published outline — derived from the course title, its pairing with EET4158, and the standard content of a linear integrated circuits laboratory. Confirm the syllabus with the instructor.

⚠ Daytona State also publishes a combined EET4158C at 4 credits and 80 hours (Linear Integrated Circuits and Devices). Under Rule 22 the split pair and the combined course are distinct SCNS numbers — confirm equivalency with the receiving institution.

The operational amplifier is the most useful single component in analogue electronics, and this laboratory is where its behaviour stops being an idealisation. On paper an op-amp has infinite gain and no offset; on the bench it has finite bandwidth, an input offset voltage, a slew rate limit, and it will oscillate if you let it. Learning where the ideal model breaks down is the point of the course.

Daytona State publishes no contact hours for its L-suffixed EET laboratories, and there is no live EET laboratory to anchor against. The figure used here follows the institution's consistent one-credit laboratory convention of 30 contact hours — CET1114L, CET3198L, PHT2211L and PHT2214L are all published at 1 credit and 30 hours. It is also consistent internally: the combined EET3085C is published at 3 credits and 60 hours, which a 2-credit lecture at the 15-hour convention plus a 1-credit laboratory at 30 reproduces exactly. ⚠ This is a derived figure rather than a published one — confirm with the programme.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

• Identify operational amplifier packages, pinouts, and supply requirements.
• Connect single-supply and dual-supply configurations correctly.
• Build and verify an inverting amplifier and measure its gain.
• Build and verify a non-inverting amplifier and measure its gain.
• Build and verify a voltage follower and describe its purpose.
• Build summing and difference amplifiers.
• Build and characterise an instrumentation amplifier.
• Build integrator and differentiator circuits and observe their behaviour.
• Build comparator circuits and describe their operation.
• Add hysteresis to a comparator and explain its effect.
• Design and verify active filters of specified response.
• Measure frequency response and construct a Bode plot from measurement.
• Measure and interpret gain-bandwidth product.
• Measure slew rate and observe slew-limited distortion.
• Measure input offset voltage and describe its correction.
• Observe and correct saturation and clipping.
• Diagnose and cure unwanted oscillation.
• Describe the effect of supply decoupling and apply it.
• Build oscillator and waveform generator circuits.
• Build voltage regulator circuits using integrated devices.
• Compare measured performance against datasheet specifications.
• Read and apply a datasheet to a design decision.
• Simulate a circuit and reconcile simulation with measurement.
• Record results and write a laboratory report.

Optional Outcomes

• Describe precision and low-noise amplifier design.
• Describe phase-locked loops.
• Describe analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue conversion.
• Describe current-feedback amplifiers.
• Describe noise measurement.
• Design and build an independent circuit project.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• Op-amp packages, pinouts, and supplies
• Single and dual supply configurations
• Inverting amplifier
• Non-inverting amplifier
• Voltage follower
• Summing and difference amplifiers
• Instrumentation amplifier
• Integrators and differentiators
• Comparators
• Hysteresis
• Active filters
• Frequency response and Bode plots
• Gain-bandwidth product
• Slew rate
• Input offset voltage
• Saturation and clipping
• Diagnosing oscillation
• Supply decoupling
• Oscillators and waveform generators
• Integrated voltage regulators
• Measured versus datasheet performance
• Datasheet application
• Simulation versus measurement
• Laboratory reporting

Optional Topics

• Precision and low-noise design
• Phase-locked loops
• Data conversion
• Current-feedback amplifiers
• Noise measurement
• Independent circuit project

Resources & Tools

• The programme's laboratory and its instruments — the reason to take these courses in person. Oscilloscope competence in particular is built only by using one.
• LTspice, Multisim, or Falstad's circuit simulator — LTspice and Falstad are free; simulate before you build and after it fails.
• The Art of Electronics (Horowitz & Hill) — the reference practising engineers keep, and unusually readable.
• Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory (Boylestad & Nashelsky) — the standard course text.
• Manufacturer datasheets and application notes — free, and the primary source; learning to read a datasheet properly is a genuine professional skill.
• IPC standards (ipc.org) — the electronics assembly and soldering standards industry actually works to; IPC certification is recognised by employers.
• BICSI (bicsi.org) — structured cabling standards and installer credentials.
• A decent multimeter of your own — and know its limitations; a cheap meter lies confidently.
• ABET (abet.org) — free accreditation lookup; check which commission a programme is accredited under.

Career Pathways

• Electrical and electronics engineering technologist or technician — SOC 17-3023.
• Electronics assembly and test technician — a common entry route.
• Field service and maintenance technician — instrumentation, medical devices, industrial equipment.
• Structured cabling and network infrastructure installation — a distinct and steady trade.
• Communications and RF technician — broadcast, telecommunications, and avionics.
• Controls and instrumentation technician — process industries and building systems.
• Aerospace and defence electronics — a large Florida sector on the Space Coast; ⚠ many roles require U.S. citizenship and some a security clearance.
• Test engineering and quality.
• Manufacturing engineering support.
• Continue to a bachelor's or master's — ⚠ see the note on engineering technology and professional licensure.

Special Information

⚠ The ideal op-amp is a teaching model — the bench will show you its limits

• Every ideal-op-amp assumption fails somewhere, and this laboratory is where you meet each failure in turn.
• Gain-bandwidth product is the first surprise. High gain and high frequency are not simultaneously available — the product is roughly constant, so a circuit that works at audio frequencies will not work at a megahertz.
• Slew rate limits large signals. A circuit with adequate bandwidth for small signals will produce triangular output on a large fast step, and students routinely misread this as distortion in the circuit rather than a limit of the device.
• Input offset voltage matters at high gain. A few millivolts of offset multiplied by a gain of a thousand saturates the output with no input applied at all.
• ⚠ Unwanted oscillation is the classic op-amp problem, and the usual causes are inadequate supply decoupling, long leads, capacitive loading, and excessive gain at high frequency. Put decoupling capacitors close to the supply pins from the start rather than adding them after it misbehaves.
• Watch the supply rails. Output cannot swing beyond them, and many op-amps cannot reach them at all — check whether yours is rail-to-rail before designing around it.
• Read the datasheet before building, not after it fails. Everything above is specified there.
• Simulate first, then build, then reconcile. Where simulation and bench disagree, the reason is usually something the model omitted.

⚠ Electrostatic discharge damage is invisible, cumulative, and real

• A static discharge far below the threshold you can feel will damage semiconductors, and the damage is frequently latent — the device works, then fails weeks later in service.
• That latency is the whole problem. Because nothing appears to go wrong at the bench, the discipline feels unnecessary — which is exactly why manufacturers enforce it and hobbyists do not.
• Use the wrist strap, and check that it is connected. An unclipped strap is decoration.
• Work on a grounded mat, and keep sensitive parts in their antistatic packaging until the moment of use.
• Handle boards by the edges, and avoid touching connector pins and component leads.
• Humidity matters — static risk rises sharply in dry, air-conditioned conditions.
• Common synthetic materials generate charge, so what you wear and what is on the bench both matter.
• Follow the practice even when nothing seems to go wrong, because by definition you will not see the failures you cause.

⚠⚠ Electronics laboratory safety — low voltage is not no voltage

• Bench voltages can injure and kill. The assumption that electronics work is inherently safe because it is not mains voltage is wrong — and equipment on the bench is frequently mains-powered regardless.
• ⚠ Capacitors store charge after power is removed. Power supply filter capacitors in particular can hold a dangerous charge for a long time. Discharge before touching, and treat every large capacitor as charged.
• De-energise before rewiring. Build the circuit, check it, then apply power — not the reverse.
• Check polarity and voltage before switching on. Reversed electrolytic capacitors vent violently, and over-voltage destroys semiconductors instantly.
• Current-limit the supply when testing a new build; it converts a destroyed board into a puzzle to solve.
• ⚠ Oscilloscope grounds are usually earthed. Connecting a scope ground clip to a point that is not at earth potential creates a short circuit through the instrument — this destroys equipment and can be dangerous, and it is one of the most common laboratory accidents.
• Eye protection when cutting leads. Clipped component legs travel at speed.
• Soldering irons burn and they do not look hot. Return them to the stand every time and never pass one hand to hand.
• Report damaged leads, cracked cases, and equipment faults rather than working around them.

⚠⚠ Engineering technology is not engineering for licensure purposes

• This distinction matters for anyone who may want to become a licensed Professional Engineer, and students frequently discover it too late.
• An engineering technology degree and an engineering degree are different qualifications, accredited under different criteria, and state licensing boards treat them differently.
• Requirements for PE licensure vary by state, and a technology degree may mean additional experience, a different pathway, or in some states no pathway at all.
• ⚠ If professional licensure is a goal, establish the pathway before you invest years in a programme — ask the Florida Board of Professional Engineers directly, and ask about any state you might move to.
• This is not a criticism of engineering technology. It is a distinct and valuable discipline oriented to application and implementation, and most graduates never need a PE licence — but the ones who do need to have planned for it.
• ABET accredits both, under different commissions; check which one a programme holds.
• ⚠ Rule 11 applies — licensure requirements change; verify with the board rather than relying on any course guide.

How Florida course levels affect transfer

The first digit of an SCNS number denotes the year of offering, not transferability. Courses at the 1000 and 2000 levels transfer transparently between Florida public institutions, and 3000 to 4000 is unproblematic since both are upper division. The boundary that actually matters is 2000 to 3000, where lower-division credit generally cannot satisfy an upper-division requirement — and it is live in these prefixes, where Daytona State offers both associate-level and bachelor of applied science coursework.

EET4158L is 1 credit and approximately 30 contact hours, offered spring at Daytona State, with EET4158 as corequisite — distinct SCNS numbers, both required.

⚠ The catalog publishes no description for this course and no contact hours — the outcomes above are indicative and the hours are derived. Confirm both with the programme.