AN47-1 Application Note 47
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Application Note 47 August 1991 High Speed Amplifier Techniques A Designer’s Companion for Wideband Circuitry Jim Williams PREFACE This publication represents the largest LTC commitment Philbrick Researches introduced the first mass produced to an application note to date. No other application note op amp in the 1950’s (K2-W) they knew it would be used. absorbed as much effort, took so long or cost so much. What they couldn’t possibly know was just how widely, This level of activity is justified by our belief that high speed and how many different types of applications there were. monolithic amplifiers greatly interest users. As good a deal as the K2-W was (I paid $24.00 for mine - Historically, monolithic amplifiers have represented pack- or rather, my father did), monolithic devices are far better. ets of inexpensive, precise and controllable gain. They The combination of ease of use, economy, precision and have partially freed engineers from the constraints and versatility makes modern op amps just too good to be frustrations of device level design. Monolithic operational believed. amplifiers have been the key to practical implementation Considering all this, adding speed to op amps’ attractions of high level analog functions. As good as they are, one seems almost certain to open up new application areas. missing element in these devices has been speed. We intend to supply useful high speed products and the Devices presently coming to market are addressing mono- level of support necessary for their successful application lithic amplifiers’ lack of speed. They bring with them the (such high minded community spirit is, of course, ease of use and inherent flexibility of op amps. When capitalism’s deputy). We hope you are pleased with our initial efforts and look forward to working together. AN47-1 Application Note 47 TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE .......................................................................................................................................................... AN47-1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................................ AN47-5 PERSPECTIVES ON HIGH SPEED DESIGN ....................................................................................................... AN47-5 MR. MURPHY’S GALLERY OF HIGH SPEED AMPLIFIER PROBLEMS Unterminated Pulse Generator ..................................................................................................................... AN47-7 Poorly Terminated Line ................................................................................................................................ AN47-8 Poor Probe Grounding ................................................................................................................................. AN47-8 Undercompensated Probe ............................................................................................................................ AN47-8 Overcompensated Probe .............................................................................................................................. AN47-9 Mismatched Delay in Probes ........................................................................................................................ AN47-9 Overdriven FET Probe ................................................................................................................................... AN47-9 Probe at Amplifier Summing Point ............................................................................................................. AN47-10 Poor Quality Probe ..................................................................................................................................... AN47-10 Oscilloscope Overdriven ............................................................................................................................. AN47-10 Poor or No Ground Plane ........................................................................................................................... AN47-11 No Bypass Capacitors, Heavy Load ............................................................................................................ AN47-11 No Bypass Capacitors, No Load ................................................................................................................. AN47-11 Poor Quality Bypass Capacitors.................................................................................................................. AN47-12 Paralleled Bypass Capacitors Ring ............................................................................................................. AN47-12 Almost Good Enough Bypass Capacitors ................................................................................................... AN47-12 2pF at Amplifier Summing Junction ........................................................................................................... AN47-12 Noise Due to Coupling Into Critical Nodes.................................................................................................. AN47-13 1pF Coupling Path’s Effects ........................................................................................................................ AN47-13 Decompensated Amplifier at Too Low a Gain ............................................................................................. AN47-13 Excessive Capacitive Load .......................................................................................................................... AN47-13 Common Mode Overdrive........................................................................................................................... AN47-14 Booster Stage with Local Oscillations......................................................................................................... AN47-14 Booster Stage with Loop Oscillations ......................................................................................................... AN47-14 Excessive Source Impedance ..................................................................................................................... AN47-14 TUTORIAL SECTION About Cables, Connectors and Terminations .............................................................................................. AN47-15 About Probes and Probing Techniques ...................................................................................................... AN47-16 About Oscilloscopes ................................................................................................................................... AN47-20 About Ground Planes ................................................................................................................................. AN47-24 About Bypass Capacitors............................................................................................................................ AN47-25 Breadboarding Techniques ......................................................................................................................... AN47-26 Oscillation .................................................................................................................................................. AN47-29 AN47-2 Application Note 47 APPLICATIONS SECTION I - AMPLIFIERS Fast 12-Bit DAC Amplifier ........................................................................................................................... AN47-32 2-Channel Video Amplifier .......................................................................................................................... AN47-32 Simple Video Amplifier ............................................................................................................................... AN47-32 Loop Through Cable Receivers................................................................................................................... AN47-32 DC Stabilization – Summing Point Technique ............................................................................................ AN47-33 DC Stabilization – Differentially Sensed Technique..................................................................................... AN47-34 DC Stabilization – Servo Controlled FET Input Stage .................................................................................. AN47-34 DC Stabilization – Full Differential Inputs with Parallel Paths ..................................................................... AN47-35 DC Stabilization – Full Differential Inputs, Gain-of-1000 with Parallel Paths............................................... AN47-35 High Speed Differential Line Receiver......................................................................................................... AN47-37 Transformer Coupled Amplifier .................................................................................................................. AN47-38 Differential Comparator Amplifier with Adjustable Offset............................................................................ AN47-39 Differential Comparator Amplifier with Settable Automatic Limiting and Offset.......................................... AN47-40 Photodiode Amplifier .................................................................................................................................. AN47-41 Fast Photo Integrator.................................................................................................................................