Transimpedance amplifier (TIA) oscillating at above 1 GHz. Need Help

On Wednesday, June 12, 2013 12:43:11 PM UTC-4, Julian Arnold wrote:

...

nal is easily dominating.

oscillation arises.

pletely different like reflections in front of the receiver diode.

r levels.

tion.http://imageshack.us/a/img62/1231/increasingoneszerososc1.png

into the beam) the additional oscillation appears.http://imageshack.us/a/img23/1231/increasingoneszerososc1.png

gnal calm down (Maybe some saturation ?).

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image shows that the oscillation appears nearly randomly when operating nea r the 'critical' power.http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/1231/increasingon eszerososc1.png

1/7702/schematicj.png ...

Hello Julian, What is the status of this issue? Did you resolve it? I am finding a very similar issue on a transimpedance amplifier design I am making with LMH662

9, and I believe that I have uncovered the solution which is that there mus t be a minimum source impedance seen by the LMH6629 input pins. For instanc e, try a 64.9 Ohm resistor (value what I found to work) between pin 3 and t he bias network (C1 etc. on your schematic). Depending on wiring length to the photodiode another series resistor may be needed there, i.e. between th e photodiode and the junction of inverting input pin and the feedback R-C. I believe the issue (which these resistors seem to mitigate) is an intern al oscillation of the LMH6629 input stage. I see the oscillation dependent significantly on the power supply voltage and even on the history of power supply voltage, and although I did not try it I believe it may well be depe ndent on signal amplitude too. In any case, I do not think it is wise to have any oscillation in your fi nal design, no oscillation is small enough to ignore. At the very least, th e unknown phase of the oscillation amounts to extra noise, and nonlineariti es must mix it into your frequency bands of interest. I hope these comments help, and I would really appreciate to hear if anyo ne else has encountered similar issues with LMH6629 in any circuit. I don't think this issue is about transimpedance applications only. By the way, th e datasheet mentions 25 Ohm minimum source impedance, but IMHO this is wron g... Also by the way, the oscillations I saw were typically at ~1.23 GHz, w ith other satellite peaks too. Sincerely,

Gerard Visser Indiana University

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gvisser
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When increasing the input power (by moving the receiver optics deeper into the beam) the additional oscillation appears.http://imageshack.us/a/img23/1231/increasingoneszerososc1.png

I do not think, that it is an transient effect because the following image shows that the oscillation appears nearly randomly when operating near the 'critical' power.http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/1231/increasingoneszerososc1.png

I doubt that's the issue, particularly since almost that exact circuit is on the first page of the datasheet. Because of the differential-mode input capacitance, puttting a resistor in series with pin 3 applies a feedback zero, reducing the high frequency loop gain.

I suspect that the problem is one of four things.

  1. Layout problems

  1. Too small a feedback cap (uncontrolled noise gain)

  2. Too large a feedback cap (the op amp isn't unity gain stable)

  1. Layout problems.

(Did I mention layout?) You can't put photodiodes on cables in this sort of circuit, for instance. It has to be a very tight layout with excellent grounds and as close as humanly possible to zero lead length. Then you have to tune the feedback cap for stability.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs 
Principal Consultant 
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC 
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 

160 North State Road #203 
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 

hobbs at electrooptical dot net 
http://electrooptical.net
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Phil Hobbs

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