Schematic for One of the Six Inverting Schmitt Triggers in the CD4016BE Integrated Circuit
| The Schmitt trigger, among the most common electronic circuits, is named for its inventor, Dr. Otto Herbert Schmitt (1913-1998), a professor emeritus of physics and electrical engineering at the University of Minnesota. He developed the concept, originally called the Schmitt Thermionic Trigger, in 1938, as a means to quantize an analog signal into a digital one. The invention resulted from his studies of electrical propagation in squid nerves. Dr. Schmitt is also credited with the invention of the differential amplifier and the cathode follower, which are likewise ubiquitous in modern practical applications. |
Dr. Otto Herbert Schmitt
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