Outboard Transistor: A transistor placed in parallel with a regulating circuit to increase the amount of load current that the overall circuit can regulate. The…

Oscillations: The death of an amplifier. When an amplifier has positive feedback, it may break into oscillations, which is unwanted high-frequency signal. This signal is…

Optoelectronics: A technology that combines optics and electronics, including many devices based on the action of a pn junction. Examples of optoelectronic devices are LEDs,…

Optocoupler: A combination of a LED and a photodiode. An input signal to the LED is converted to varying light which is detected by the…

Optimum Q point: The point where the ac load line has equal maximum signal swings on both half-cycles.

Op Amp: A high-gain dc amplifier that provides usable voltage gain for frequencies from 0 to over I MHz.

Ohmic Region: The part of the drain curves that starts at the origin and ends at the proportional pinchoff voltage.

Octave: A factor of 2. Often used with frequency ratios of 2, as in an octave of frequency referring to a 2:1 change in frequency.

Notch Filter: A filter that blocks a signal with at most one frequency.

Norton's theorem: Derived from the duality principle, the Norton theorem states that the load voltage equals the Norton current times the Norton resistance in parallel…

Normalized Variable: A variable that has been divided by another variable with the same units or dimensions.

Nonlinear Device: A device that has a graph of current versus voltage that is not a straight line. A device that cannot be treated as…

Noninverting Input: The input to a diff amp or an op amp that produces an in-phase output.

Negative Feedback: Feeding a signal back to the input of an amplifier that is proportional to the output signal. The returning signal has a phase…

N-Type Semiconductor: A semiconductor where there are more free electrons than holes.