1. Sedra & Smith — Microelectronic Circuits

Microelectronic Circuits by Sedra, Smith, Chan Carusone and Gaudet — universally known as ‘Sedra/Smith’ — has educated over a million electrical and computer engineering students worldwide and remains the gold standard in microelectronics education. The 8th edition (2020) is substantially revised and slimmed down from the 7th, focusing on the essential material needed by modern electronic engineers.

Coverage: Signals and amplifiers; operational amplifiers; semiconductor physics; diodes; MOSFETs; BJTs; transistor amplifiers; building blocks of op-amp design; differential and multistage amplifiers; frequency response; feedback; output stages and power amplifiers; filters; oscillators; digital CMOS logic; memory and advanced digital. This is the full electronic engineering curriculum in one volume.

Design orientation: Sedra/Smith is explicitly design-oriented — it bridges the gap between circuit analysis and circuit design in a way few other texts achieve. Students do not just learn how circuits work; they learn how to choose component values and topologies to meet design specifications. This is the key skill that separates electronic engineers from circuit analysts.

Prescribed at: Imperial College London, UCL, University of Edinburgh, University of Bristol, University of Nottingham, University of Southampton, and most UK EEE departments.

2. Razavi — Fundamentals of Microelectronics

Fundamentals of Microelectronics by Behzad Razavi (UCLA) is the main competitor to Sedra/Smith and in many ways its pedagogical opposite. Where Sedra/Smith builds up circuit analysis from first principles and emphasises design, Razavi teaches students to analyse circuits by inspection — developing intuition for how circuits behave without always writing full sets of equations. This approach is faster in practice and more like how experienced engineers actually think.

‘Analysis by inspection’: Razavi’s central pedagogical innovation is teaching students to determine circuit behaviour directly from the topology — to look at a transistor amplifier and immediately identify its gain and input/output impedances from the circuit structure rather than from full KVL/KCL analysis. This is an extraordinarily useful skill in professional practice.

3rd edition (2021): Expanded coverage of MOSFET-dominant circuits reflecting the modern dominance of CMOS in IC design; updated SPICE simulation problems; new Multisim problems throughout.

UK use: Widely used as either the primary text or a supplement to Sedra at UK departments, including at Bath, Leeds, and Sheffield. Students who find Sedra/Smith overwhelming in the early stages often find Razavi’s more intuitive approach a better starting point.

3. Neamen — Microelectronics: Circuit Analysis and Design

Neamen’s Microelectronics: Circuit Analysis and Design (4th ed, McGraw-Hill) is the most readable of the three main microelectronics texts — clear writing, accessible explanations, and a strong emphasis on linking theory to practical circuits. It covers both analogue and digital microelectronics in a single volume and is particularly praised for its treatment of BJT and MOSFET device physics. Less common as a prescribed text at UK universities than Sedra or Razavi, it is a useful supplementary text for students who find the primary text challenging.

Head-to-Head

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Our Verdict

Also see: Best Electrical Engineering Textbooks UK — for circuit analysis texts (Alexander & Sadiku, Hayt).

Last Updated: August 2026 | Author: Textbooks.co.uk Editorial Team
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