LT6220/LT6221/LT6222
15
622012fc
For more information www.linear.com/LT6220/LT6221/LT6222
applicaTions inForMaTion
Typical applicaTions
is severely overdriven, an external resistor should be used
to limit the overdriven current.
The LT6220/LT6221/LT6222’s input stages are also pro
-
tected against a large differential input voltage of 1.4V or
higher by a pair of back-to-back diodes, D5/D8, to prevent
the emitter-base breakdown of the input transistors. The
current in these diodes should be limited to less than
10mA when they are active. The worse-case differential
input voltage usually occurs when the input is driven while
the output is shorted to ground in a unity-gain configura
-
tion. In addition, the amplifier is protected against ESD
strikes
up to 3kV on all pins by a pair of protection diodes
on each pin that are connected to the power supplies as
shown in Figure 1.
Capacitive Load
The LT6220/LT6221/LT6222 are optimized for high
bandwidth, low power and precision applications. They
can drive a capacitive load up to 100pF in a unity-gain
configuration and more for higher gain. When driving a
larger capacitive load, a resistor of 10Ω to 50Ω should be
connected between the output and the capacitive load to
avoid ringing or oscillation. The feedback should still
be
taken
from the output so that the resistor will isolate the
capacitive load to ensure stability. Graphs on capacitive
loads show the transient response of the amplifier when
driving capacitive load with specified series resistors.
Feedback Components
When feedback resistors are used to set up gain, care must
be taken to ensure that the pole formed by the feedback
resistors and the total capacitance at the inverting input
does not degrade stability. For instance, the LT6220/
LT6221/LT6222, set up with a noninverting gain of 2, two
5k resistors and a capacitance of 5pF (part plus PC board),
will probably oscillate. The pole is formed at 12.7MHz that
will reduce phase margin by 52 degrees when the crossover
frequency of the amplifier is around 10MHz. A capacitor
of 10pF or higher connecting across the feedback resistor
will eliminate any ringing or oscillation.
Stepped-Gain Photodiode Amplifier
The circuit of Figure 2 is a stepped gain transimpedance
photodiode amplifier. At low signal levels, the circuit has
a high 100kΩ gain, but at high signal levels the circuit
automatically and smoothly changes to a low 3.2kΩ gain.
The benefit of a stepped gain approach is that it maximizes
dynamic range, which is very
useful on limited supplies.
Put
another way, in order to get 100kΩ sensitivity and still
handle a 1mA signal level without resorting to gain reduc
-
tion, the circuit would need a 100V negative voltage supply.
The operation of the circuit is quite simple. At low photodi-
ode currents
(
below 10µA) the output and inverting input
of the op amp will be no more than 1V below ground. The
LT1634 in parallel with R3 and Q2 keep a constant current
though Q2 of about 20µA. R4 maintains quiescent current
through the LT1634 and pulls Q2’s emitter above ground,
so Q1 is reverse biased and no current flows through R2.
So for small signals, the only feedback path is R1 (and
C1) and the circuit is a simple transimpedance amplifier
with 100kΩ gain.
Figure 2. Stepped-Gain Photodiode Amplifier
–
+
I
PD
~4pF
V
S
+
V
S
+
V
S
V
–
V
S
–
LT6220
R1
100k
R2
3.24k
R3
33k
R4
10k
C1
1pF
C2
30pF
Q1 Q2
12
3 4
PHILIPS
BCV62
V
OUT
V
S
= ±1.5V TO ±5V
622012 F02