Achieving optimized performance with a
high-frequency amplifier such as the OPA817 requires careful
attention to board layout parasitics and external component types. Recommendations
that optimize performance include the following:
- Minimize parasitic capacitance to any ac
ground for all of the signal I/O pins. Parasitic capacitance on the
output and inverting input pins can cause instability. On the noninverting
input, parasitic capacitance can react with the source impedance to cause
unintentional bandlimiting. Ground and power metal planes act as one of the
plates of a capacitor while the signal trace metal acts as the other separated
by PCB dielectric. To reduce this unwanted capacitance, take care to minimize
the routing of the feedback network. A plane cutout around and underneath the
inverting input pin on all ground and power planes is recommended. Otherwise,
ensure that ground and power planes are unbroken elsewhere on the board.
- Minimize the distance
(less than 0.25-in) from the power-supply pins to high-frequency decoupling
capacitors. Use high quality, 100-pF to 0.1-µF, C0G and NPO-type
decoupling capacitors with voltage ratings at least three times greater than the
amplifiers maximum power supplies to maintain a low-impedance path to the
amplifiers power-supply pins across the amplifiers gain bandwidth specification.
At the device pins, do not allow the ground and power plane layout to be in
close proximity to the signal I/O pins. Avoid narrow power and ground traces to
minimize inductance between the pins and the decoupling capacitors. Use larger
(2.2-µF to 6.8-µF) decoupling capacitors, effective at lower frequency, on the
supply pins. Place these capacitors further from the device and share the
capacitors among several devices in the same area of the PCB.
- Careful selection and placement of external
components preserves the high frequency performance of the OPA817. Use low-reactance resistors. Surface-mount
resistors work best and allow a tighter overall layout. Never use wirewound type
resistors in a high frequency application. The output pin and inverting input
pin are the most sensitive to parasitic capacitance; therefore, always position
the feedback and series output resistor, if any, as close as possible to the
inverting input and the output pin, respectively. Place other network
components, such as noninverting input termination resistors, close to the
package. Even with a low parasitic capacitance at the noninverting input, high
external resistor values can create significant time constants that can degrade
performance. When OPA817 is configured as a conventional
voltage amplifier, keep the resistor values as low as possible and consistent
with the load driving considerations. Decrease the resistor values to keep the
resistor noise terms low and minimizes the effect of the parasitic capacitance.
However, lower resistor values increase the dynamic power consumption because
RF and RG become part of the output load network of
the amplifier.
- Heat dissipation is important for a high voltage device like the OPA817. For good thermal relief, connect the thermal
pad to a heat-spreading plane that is preferably on the same layer as the OPA817, or connected by as many vias as possible if the plane
is on a different layer. Have at least one heat-spreading plane on the same
layer as the OPA817 that makes direct connection to the
thermal pad with wide metal for good thermal conduction when operating at high
ambient temperatures. If more than one heat-spreading plane is available, then
connect the heat-spreading planes by a number of vias to further improve the
thermal conduction.