On the experimental methods to characterize the opamp response: a critical view

The authors review critically the most popular methods for the frequency characterisation of operational amplifiers. The common point of all them is their simplicity, in the sense that they make use of simple stages, are computationally simple and do not require sophisticated instrumentation. The weaknesses and strengths of the different methods are pointed out and demonstrated via Spice simulations and experimental measurements. On this basis, one of them is pointed out as potentially the most interesting. Some suggestions and hints are given to improve its accuracy.