
THS4631
SLOS451B –DECEMBER 2004–REVISED AUGUST 2011
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values dominate the noise of the system. Although performance of the THS4631. Resistors should be
the THS4631 JFET input stage is ideal for a very low reactance type. Surface-mount
high-source impedance because of the low-bias resistors work best and allow a tighter overall
currents, the system noise and bandwidth is limited layout. Again, keep their leads and PC board
by a high-source (RS) impedance. trace length as short as possible. Never use
wirebound type resistors in a high frequency
application. Since the output pin and inverting
SLEW RATE PERFORMANCE WITH VARYING input pins are the most sensitive to parasitic
INPUT STEP AMPLITUDE AND RISE/FALL capacitance, always position the feedback and
TIME series output resistors, if any, as close as possible
Some FET input amplifiers exhibit the peculiar to the inverting input pins and output pins. Other
behavior of having a larger slew rate when presented network components, such as input termination
with smaller input voltage steps and slower edge resistors, should be placed close to the
rates due to a change in bias conditions in the input gain-setting resistors. Even with a low parasitic
stage of the amplifier under these circumstances. capacitance shunting the external resistors,
This phenomena is most commonly seen when FET excessively high resistor values can create
input amplifiers are used as voltage followers. As this significant time constants that can degrade
behavior is typically undesirable, the THS4631 has performance. Good axial metal-film or
been designed to avoid these issues. Larger surface-mount resistors have approximately 0.2
amplitudes lead to higher slew rates, as would be pF in shunt with the resistor. For resistor values >
anticipated, and fast edges do not degrade the slew 2.0 kΩ, this parasitic capacitance can add a pole
rate of the device. The high slew rate of the THS4631 and/or a zero that can effect circuit operation.
allows improved SFDR and THD performance, Keep resistor values as low as possible,
especially noticeable above 5 MHz. consistent with load driving considerations.
•Connections to other wideband devices on the
PRINTED-CIRCUIT BOARD LAYOUT board may be made with short direct traces or
TECHNIQUES FOR OPTIMAL through onboard transmission lines. For short
PERFORMANCE connections, consider the trace and the input to
the next device as a lumped capacitive load.
Achieving optimum performance with high frequency Relatively wide traces (50 mils to 100 mils) should
amplifier-like devices in the THS4631 requires careful be used, preferably with ground and power planes
attention to board layout parasitic and external opened up around them. Estimate the total
component types. capacitive load and determine if isolation resistors
Recommendations that optimize performance include: on the outputs are necessary. Low parasitic
•Minimize parasitic capacitance to any ac ground capacitive loads (<4 pF) may not need an RS
for all of the signal I/O pins. Parasitic capacitance since the THS4631 is nominally compensated to
on the output and input pins can cause instability. operate with a 2-pF parasitic load. Higher parasitic
To reduce unwanted capacitance, a window capacitive loads without an RS are allowed as the
around the signal I/O pins should be opened in all signal gain increases (increasing the unloaded
of the ground and power planes around those phase margin). If a long trace is required, and the
pins. Otherwise, ground and power planes should 6-dB signal loss intrinsic to a doubly-terminated
be unbroken elsewhere on the board. transmission line is acceptable, implement a
matched impedance transmission line using
•Minimize the distance (<0.25”) from the power microstrip or stripline techniques (consult an ECL
supply pins to high frequency 0.1-µF and 100-pF design handbook for microstrip and stripline layout
de-coupling capacitors. At the device pins, the techniques). A
ground and power plane layout should not be in 50-Ωenvironment is not necessary onboard, and
close proximity to the signal I/O pins. Avoid in fact, a higher impedance environment improves
narrow power and ground traces to minimize distortion as shown in the distortion versus load
inductance between the pins and the de-coupling plots. With a characteristic board trace impedance
capacitors. The power supply connections should based on board material and trace dimensions, a
always be de-coupled with these capacitors. matching series resistor into the trace from the
Larger (6.8 µF or more) tantalum de-coupling output of the THS4631 is used as well as a
capacitors, effective at lower frequency, should terminating shunt resistor at the input of the
also be used on the main supply pins. These may destination device. Remember also that the
be placed somewhat farther from the device and terminating impedance is the parallel combination
may be shared among several devices in the of the shunt resistor and the input impedance of
same area of the PC board. the destination device: this total effective
•Careful selection and placement of external impedance should be set to match the trace
components preserve the high frequency
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