August2008 l his is a high gain(+35dB) low NoiseFigure dB) 65 MHz bandwidth (1 amplifier dcsigncd -5Q firr oh115 input/output.

(TO-39 case) The two MRF544 transistors are currentlravailable fiom http://wwvn,.rlparls.com. havetu.ovcrsions: original They the lVlotorola deviceis $5.25each:the altemate AP'f deviceis $4.25each.Thcreis a $25 nrinimumordcr.The originalclLC425opampis non,obsolete. NalionalSemiconcluctor givesthe LMI16624as an "improvedreplacement". Hou,ever is only al'ailablcin a it SM I'package -ither the SC)IC narrorv8 pin or rhe SO'I-23 5 pin package. Digi-Ko, carrieseitherpackage $3.98each. fbr 'frvo o1'1hc transistors one ofthe opamps needed build this amplilier.lt could and are to bc put on a small PCB usingSMT partsexceptfbr the two lcadedtransistors. Thc t-MI 16624 a recommended has maximumvoltagcof l2 volts (absolute marinrum ol' 13.2r'olts).A 12 volt low dropoulvoltageregulator shouldbe usedfbr the an.rp il'using 'I thc I-M I I6624-this would ensure opamps the neversawtrore than l 2 volts. hc ar.np is designed operate l2 volts anyway.(The obsolete to at CLC425was not linlited to 12 -l'his vror-rld a good general be purpose amp to have.
Vol1s) .

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E t t c T B 0 i l r cD E $ t c l l ANALOG APPLICATIONSI

o prestantlttery jr set la,and nal to rloped ronincomat the setby n val;et by

BuildA 1-dB Noise-Fi gufe lifi ef For 5O-C}Systenrs

rsos : Anamp feedback. toachieYe 36.d8
slon-lrneenvlronmentsposesa difficult design challengefor many engrneers.Not only the signalattenuatedby the implifier,s'input terminatiJn, il but if not carefully done,the terminationltself addssubstantialnoise. N9is9in a terminated systemis usuallyexpressed noisefigure. Al_ as .. t n o u g ht h e m a n yd e l i n i i i o n o l n o i s e i g u r ea r e a l l t p c h n i c a l l . q u i v a l e n r , s f ev they'renotall equally easyto understand. definition find ihe ;asiestto The I comprehend that the noise figure is the ratio of the actual amplifier,s is outputnoise that portion theoutputnoise solely thesignaisource to of Cue to andsource resistance. definition particularly This is usefulin simulation, as Spicereports both the total output noiie and the output noise jue to the source (noise resistance figureis expressed decibels). in example, co-nsider amplifier an with a 1-dB noise figure(50O).When .For mooellng amplrtler the noise a voltage as source series in with the input,the i input-referred noise roomremperarure only 0.46 / y'Ez. A;ii;; i;; al is ny norse powerrepresented 0.46 by nV/ / Hz to the noise powerof a 50_! resis_ I tor r-esults a net noise dB greatert hanthat of a 50-hrpsisror. in 1 BYSTE\'ENC,.SMTTH : on p e id l . I n ^ p u t r e r m i n a t is a s i g n i f i c a n tr o b l e m n c o u n t e r cn b u i l d i n g ao w _ Conlincdr Cofi.). noise-figure amplifier.Terminatingthe input resistiveiylimits the mrnimum : achier,'able noisefigure to 3 dB (thecombination noisefrom the sourceanJ , of terminationresistorsmakesthe noisepowertwicethat of the sourceresrstor , alone). (or Noiseiess almostnoiselessl termination be doneeitherwith : can inductorsand capacitors over a narrow bandwidth,or wilh feedbackover a , broadbandwidth. a amplifierbuilt from readily .Thisarticledescribes simpletwo-stage avallallle components achieves l-dB noisefigure and 65_MHz that a bandwidth at a voltage gain of 86 dB. The amplifier starts with a low-noisecommon emitter first stage, followed by an op amp to provide versatilitv and additionalgain. Input terminitrc,n, which is providedby feedback,functionsalmostnoiselessly. detaileddeA scription the biasing of andoperation of the circuitare included, thus allowing readersto easilytailor the amplifier to suit specific input impedances, gains,andbandwidths. The amplifier can be viewed as a Functi0na lhis amptitier a high-input.impedance lly, is gain inverting high-input-impedance, inverting gain 1 I block, Hoviever. leedback termination Rilowe6theirplt impedarce blockwith a gain of -A" fFig. .0. put. via to theyalue needed match Such approach to R.. produces input an less ting a resistorLogroundal the input noise lhansimply terminating inputwith.resistorequalto the R3. would causethe input impedance to

rcross .i :t value :I rquals I ; high of Q2 rf Q1, ,rglng ,cause rrides put of rc limattry 'event arged roved. lrawn 3uand

. DeVelOping

IOW-nOiSe amplifiers terminated for transmrs-

type termination input

gain a 65.tlHz and

attry Lithi4. 'ector, Li-Ion nager, rvelopucts. Seni., Sun' .7501. r NSC's
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27, ANArocAppLrcATroNs ELECrio"rauH JUNE r994 lsslrE

---...............--

E I . E G I R O T IDG S I G l I IE APPLICATIONS IANALOG

LC'VV-NO ISE-FI G U RE AMPLIFIEFt

have the samevalue as the resistor. I f t h e r e s i s t o r i s i n s t e a dP l a c e d around the amplifier, the feedback in the actsto reduce inputimpedance a manner identical to the Miller effect: Ri.:Rr/(A.+1) if For example, Rt : 19 k and A" : is 199, input impedance 50O. the The advantageis that feedback allowsusinga valuefor termination R. much larger than the sourceimpedance tI Kr ls muchlargerthan R.. R", then the current noisedue to R, will be much smallerthan the currentnoise dueto R. when summedat the amplifier input (rememberthat voltage noisegoesup as the square "of

.Tuil diagram that amplifier shows the c0nsistshrogain ol stages-oland the root resisLnce, *hite cuireni . 2 lit.,]lo',t*o op'alhp conhibution below noise hust enough that l dominate! total to the O noise goes down in the .u-" t".t- , ::lf_:Tll'"e : ampllrrer nolse' ion).

The simplestway to analyzethe gain is to as- : sistanceof about 3 O and an f, of 1 : amplifier's closed-loop This determinesthe ratio of R. that the closedJoop input im- ; GHz. Stability is assured sume whenieed- and Rn,,given that you know V0",, pedance equals the source imped- , back is appliedif the first gain stage : the base-emitter voltageof Q1.Noie ance.This meansthat voltagemea- : sets the dominant feedback-loop: that Rb1 in parallelwith the input is , impedince, ind allowance must suredattheamplifierinputis halfof timeconstant. (V"),thus the out- : the sourcevoltage For the second stage,the op amp , thereforebe madefor this when setputvoltage is: i used must have very-broad band- : ting R,".Sinceonly small changesin is : width and low noise.The CLC425 i Vu, causelarge swingsin the collec, an excellent V":-(A"V.)/2 choicefor the second, tor currentof Q1,the negative feed, stage amplifier, with its 1.9-GHz: backin the loopwill force V, to equal gain product and 1.05 : V,andV". resultingin a net closedJoop of , gain-Dendwidth - A . / 2 ] n a n i n p u t - i m p e d a n c e -i'V / a H z i n p u t o i t a g e o i s eA t r h e v n . W i t d h a l f t h e s u p p l yv o l t a g e r minimum recommended droppedacrossR., Ql'has far too matchedcondition.Notethatthecor-, CLC425's rect way to change the amplifier's i gain, the second stage bandwidihis much gain for broad bandwidth ac i operation.To set the ac gain of Q1, gain is to changeboth the : 300MHz. closed-loop openJoopgain and the feedbackre- i Thedominantloop time constant i resistor R. would be split into two sistor by the same factor. Just : is set by the Miller multiplication of pieces(R"f and R"r),and R., is bychanging the feedback resistor or : the base-collector capacitance Ql : passed of wilih al-p.Fiapacitor'(Fig.31. the openJoop gain by themselves: interacting with the source imped- r At dc, the loop will have very high will result in a poorly matchedinput , ance.If needed, amplifier'sband- r gain,andby adjustingthe sizeof the the , width can easily be compensated i R., portion of the collector resisimpedance. or IN|SIDE THE AMPLIFIER : reducedby addingbasecollect r ca- : tance,the midbandacgain canbe set i as desired. As shownin simplifiedform, the : pacitance Ql. to gain of the amplifier is easyto implementin two : BIASING Tt{E AMPLIFIER Ideally,the open-loop r gain stages (Fig. 2). Therc needsto : The easiestway to bias this cir- i overall amplifier shouldbe indepenbe enoughgain in the first stage(Q1 : cuit is to assumethat the dc voltage : dent of temperature.The gain of a and R.) andthe operationalamplifier : levels at Y" and V, are the sameas : commonemitter amplifier depends must be low enough in noise that , the dc voltage at Vr. For maximum : on both the collectorcurrent in the Q1's noise contribution dominates : signal swings,V,, V' and V" should : transistor and the collector resis(6 between supplies V . tance: the the amplifiernoise. : be midway The transistor used in the first , in this case). Then. the resistor valgain stage must havevery low para- : ues needed support this assump-: Q2i1: -gm R" to and relatively tibn arecomputed, sitic base resistance staningwith V.; high f,. One transistor that meets : where gm : I"/V,, and V,: thermal t h e s er e q u i r e m e n ti s t h e M R F 5 4 4, V . : V " " , [ { R , t R b r ) / R 5 r l6 V v o h a g ek T / q . . w h i c h- o s s e s s e sp a r a s i t i c a s e e - . . ^ l t r r ; , { q p a b r lfl"(thecollectorcurrentofQl' T) t4..-rz. vfA/

t )

h thecom open-toop 0n Pends ll

is madedirr lute tempel the first stz temperatur pensation c the collecto ture-sensltl Making sistor'sV* controlling cient of Q this, the V around Q2 again). Ro, so that V1 supplies: V,: V*, [(l This de and R*, gi emltter voWith the ec sameform forYo,andz we can slml
lng:

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' amplifier. Oncerhe open-loop gainis : set.the valuefor R, is easyto deter: mtne: Rr: R,"(A"* 1) for whateverR,-is desired. lf thevalueof R,gets too low,it can contnbuteto the amplifier,sinpur.norse. very-low_noise-figure ampltrrersIn this topology need high galn. The dominant poleof the ampli_ l". ls sel by t hebase_col ler lectorcaUac_ itanceof Q1,with higherorder poles mostlycaused the CLC425 by ampli_ ler. lo maxrmize overall band_ the width, the CLC4Z5 shouldbe setnear It s. mtnlmum recommended garn, with R, : 500O and R, = s0 O.;ihis p u t s t h e C L C 4 2 5n a n o n i n v e r t i n g i gain of 11,and maximizes bandits width (about 300 MHz). The rest of thegalnmustcomefrom e1:

of Rf . Note lnput must ln setges in collec: feed- ' , equal . oltage : ar too dth ac : of Q1, lo two : is b1'-:

lnthe.comptete amr,,t,r, ? "no*@ : Jt openloop Basicallr.tempe.alu gain. the

r

ot 01's gainis clntmlled v| which ty de' pends thev!. muttiptier arouna on luit [ez.@etficient

lis. s).
y high r of the resisr be set

r ofthe rdepeninofa epends , in the 'resls-

,hermal ' tof Ql) '

whereA I is thegaino f e t, andA" rhe is madedirectlyproportionalto abso_ grourd-referenced V* multiplier cir_ gainof theCLC425, and lute temperatureT, then the qain of e u l rr s t h a t t h e g a i na n dt h e c l o s e d the first stagewill be independent : tooprnput of impedance the amplifi- A, : A"/11 of temperature. This temperaturecom_ er depend on the supplyvoltage. An pensalion be achieved setting arternate can by approach would be ro re- assumngA2: 11(Rr: 500 rneco ect0rcurrentwith a Lempera_place O andR, the Q2 V* muhiplier circurr , : 50()). : ture-sensitiye source. wjth a fixed voltagereferenced ofl FINALTZII{G THE DESIGN , MakingV, dependent a uanon positive suppiy andrepJace.R., Fromthe desired characLerrs_ ac sistor's.V'does pretty goodjob of ano :: lhf wtth thermislors a K2 possessing tics (gainand input impedance), controltlngthe tempera(ure we coeffi_ a-negattve temperature coefficient. ehose feedback the resisrorand the clent of Q1's gain. To accomplish ol about-3300 i ppm/"C. openJoop gain of the amplifier. Op_ . t h i s . t h e V " " m u l t i p l i e c i r c u i t- b u j l t r : ACPAHTSELECTION ' erationat dcdictatesthe vllue ofRi, around Q2 shouldbe usedrFig. J, Closed-loop gain and input rm_ Rn, and Rrr. If the , two transistors ogain). RorzndRn" rhen are chr_,senpoance beset" may independently are run atthe samecollector in so that Vr is mid*ay betweenthe this amp)ifier current. . by choosing appropri_ LhismakesR" - R", -r R"r.What re_ ,supplies: ate.vyil ate valuesof A . the onpn--|.'.", ue.s A., oo;. open-loop giin, , malns ls to selecta value for the col_ , and R' rhe feedback iesistor.iran . lector current of : V, : V*, [(Ro,* R*)/Ror] - 6 V Ql, which will de_ by considering closedJoop the gain. . termineR.,,R",,andR... I labeled in Figure V. e6llecior . . hevoltage curr6'nt Q1's largelyde_ ; _This determinesthe ratio of Ro, ' 1 is the voltageat V," mujtiplieat" termrnes noisefigure of the am_ th and Ro* given that V_,. the base_ the amplitier'i . op""f8"p g"ii.'iitf,'" ' plrlrer. nalyzing amplifier A the norse . g.Ti!t"i voltage of Q2.-is known. amplllrerrnput impedance matches. is simplified with the issumptron wtth the equation V, havingthe the source for impedance, the volt- . that noise from then sameform as the previous Q1 and Johirson equition ageat Vmis Vs/2.Thisresultsin the noisefrom R",dominate amolifi_ the for Vo, assuming and thatV*, - V*r, I ollowingrelationship: er noise. Refeiringthese noise terrns ; we cansimplifyconstraints miJi_ by to.the input of the amplifier, four lng: A": A./2 noNesources result: : - R , a n dR " : R o , Ro, ',i/hereA, is the closedJoop gain : o e^2 (2qy,2)/I. : : One disadvantage tempera_ of The desired closed-loop de_. due to shot noise in gain ture compensating bias with a . rrmlnes the e1's collector the openJoopgain of the : current. : r , :
JIINE27,199{At\tAtCX; AIJPUCATTONS ELECT?ONIC ISSLTE DESIGN

=..l--_

OE EI.EGIRO]IIG IIE]I APPLICATIOIIS TANALOG

LOVV-NOISE-FIG U R E AMPLIFIEFI

, t i"': 2qlr due to shot noise in Q1's base current. ' e,u2: 4krrr

T h er e m a i n i nc h o i c eo f c o m p o , g s nent valuecanbe simplifiedwith the : following assumptions: :

D _D -L' ' -D _D D D r!\2 - rlti 1!\t - ]!ht .

The value of Ro, is chosento: duetoJohnsonnoisein Q1'sparasitic makethedcvalue V"abouthalfof : of baseresistance. the supply voltage by meansof the : V"" multiplier formedwith Ql: o i.rr': (4kT)/&r , V o .[,( R , , R o , ) / R o , i V"= dueto Johnsonnoisein Ror. These noises are summed as Finally, the value of I" is chosen , noise power (or by summing the on which i squares of the individual noises), based noiserequirements, e r", converting the noise-currentterms determines , . e-r. is then picked gainin QL voltages usingthenet im- to setthe correct by ro noise pedance the amplifier input, R./2: If the amplifier's output doesn't at needto drivea terminated transmission line, R, may be removed. This will doublethe apparentgain of the + (i., + i"blrxR./2), amplifier, and may require decreasamplifier,the ing the feedbackresistor and openFor a 1-dBnoise-figure noise mustbelessthan0.46 loop gain by a factor of two to comresultinE pensate.Rememberto leave the ac nY/{Ei. A valuefor I"canalsobedecided coupling capacitoron the output to atthe bench. Remem- blockthe GV dc level. on empirically, Building the amplifier isn't parbering that the collector voltage of Q1 is fixed by the feedbackloop(at 6 ticularly difficult if good RF conV in this case),the collectorcurrent struction tchniquesare followed. to of Q1canassumed be the current RF isolationin the suppliesbetween isn't required. the that flows with 6 V across resis- Ql and the CLC425 tance R"r * R"r. Given the collector Lead lengthsmusi be kept short, esnodes current and the gain of Q1 (referred pecially on high-impedance as A1 earlier), you can selectthe to sizefor R",. If the noisefigure is too high, the collectorcurrent canbe tncreased by decreasingR", and R., proportionately,being careful not to the sho( increase base-current noise too much. DESIGN RECAP Start by deciding what closedloop gain (A,) and input impedance (R,") are neededin your system. garn Thise determinethe open-loop of the amplifier (A") and the feedbackresistor value (Rr): R,: R' (A" + 1) Rememberto increaseRr to account for the effect of Ro,. The second stage bandwidth must be maximizedfor stability, so the CLC425should be set near its gain minimum recommended of *11: Rz: 5ooX, Rr : 5oX
f t

suchasinputs. It's essential that the powersupply be blpassedto a great extent using both a F to lGpF tantalum anda 0.1-pFceramiccapacitor. Very short leadlengths are vital on the l-pF ceramic capacitorsin order to avoid addinginductance possiblymovand ing a resonance in-band. ANACTUALDESIGN The component valuesin Figure 3 were arrived at by assuminga required closedJoop gain of 36 dB (63 V/V) andn,":mo. Ther,"set by feedback is a little higher than 50 Q to allow for the parallelcontributionof Rn,to the amplifier input impedance. measurements Room-temperature on the amplifier showquite goodlevels of performance(see the tdble). The amplifier exhibits no peaking androlls off smoothlyto the 6FMHz 3-dBpoint. Moreover, performance measurementsof noisefigure and input

relalivelyc

noise figure increases because exhibit! morcbaae-c0renl At lowlemperatures, amplilier's the 0l in is in temperaturs& shotnoi3e.llisincrease sholnoise duelo a reduclion Ol's betaat lower

impedance trate the e perature-c (Figs. 4 anr bandwidth stant at 65l The in< low temper c r e a s el n I noise(Fig. t, ture drops, resultsin ar rent shot n figure achir depends on Distort dominated I uted by Q1. dBm, the b: changes by in-39 dBcs harmonic l, frequencyc Althoul with input cult to der cussed tl in work with. tion provid well-contro the combinz sistor and amplifier rr widebanda; Many t

tril ll]r
ELF]CTRONlc I)I:SIGN ]NALOGAI'T'LICAI'IONS ]SSUEJUNE 1994 27,

ttEcTR0ilrc EstGtl D ANALOG APPLICATIONSI

LC)VV.NOISE-FIGURE
Hols. Fl9.r6 tn . 50 dn S9st6i (dB)

AMPLIFIEFI

18 lHu o LB Bm gm

rsup- l nt usanda : short ,

1l ce-

avoid : ' mov- : t{, lgure

rB(63

' feedrOto ,ionof , lance.: nentS )d lev.abte).', ,aking 'MHz mea-: input ,

amptif lemperaturc.compenr"ted ier's bi".inJ,.l,er{iliffiiiliEiiliffi ti nanlstothe

ttvety consta overlemoeralure. nl 2t reta

impedanceover temperature illustrate the effectivenessof the ternp erature-compen d sate biasing (Figs./t and 5). A1so, amplifier,i the bandwidth remains virtually constant at 65MHz over temperature. _ The increasein noise figure at low tmperaturesis due to the rrrcrease in Q1's base-currentshot

ness atRaytheon andJimRiphahn l ar Comlinear. Manyconversations with , Kevin resulredin a numberof imp r o v e m e n t s , h i l eJ i m b u i l t a n d i w measured circuit. lU the Hefcrences: Motchenbacher, and Fitchen, C.,

rure{rops, so doesqI s beta,which New york: John Wiley and So"ns, resultsin an increase the base-cur- 1g?8. in rent shot noise. The minimumnorse figureachievable.with amplifier this Roberge, James,Operatzonal oepenos sunlcrent on betain e1. Amplifiers: Theorttaid praclice. rn, rhe amptifier.is New york: John Wiley and Sons, ,^_ i:.rgTll9i, domlnated the harmonics by contrib_ 197.5uted by Ql. At an output power of 0 dBm, the base+mitter voltageof Ql Hewlett-Packard Corp.,l,Better changes aboutS p-p,risulting Noise Measurements lvith by mV the in -39 dBcsecond-, -61 dBcthird-- HP3588A HP3589A.' and & Application harmonic levels at a fundamental Not 1213. frequencyof 10MHz. Although low-noiseamplifiers Hewlett-Packard Corp.,,,Fundawith input termination can be diffi- mentalsof RF and MicrowaveNorse cult ro design, the topology dis- FigureMeasurements.' Application cussed thisarticleis fairlv easvro Note 5?-1. in work with. Feedback input-rcrminotion provides an almoit noiseless, STEWNO. SMITH, Comlinear Cotp., well<ontrolled inputimpedance, and 48OOWbeatonDr., Fort Cottins, CO thecombination ofthe MRF544 tran- 80525; (303) 2260500. Smitb, a sistor and the CLC425operational member of Comlinear's tecbnical amplifierresultsin a very-16$7-nqi.. stafr rcceiueda BSfiom tbe M./ss.rwideband amplifier. cbusetts I nsti tu te of Tecb loglt, no Many thanks go to Kevin Han- Cambridge.
JUh*E 2t, i99.1NIAIOC AITPUCATIONS ISSUE |LECTRONTC DESIGN

nLrii'"iit" o"rts". i.:":!:!.J.?s!i!).Asthetempra F.,Low Noisi