
DESIGN INFORMATION
(Continued)
The information contained in this section has been developed through characterization by Intersil Semiconductor and is for use as
application and design information only. No guarantee is implied.
220
HFA1130
When the output is clamped, the negative input continues to
source a slewing current (I
CLAMP
) in an attempt to force the out-
put to the quiescent voltage defined by the input. QP5 must
sink this current while clamping, because the -IN current is
always mirrored onto the high impedance node. The clamping
current is calculated as:
I
CLAMP
= (V
-IN
- V
OUT CLAMPED
) / R
F
+ V
-IN
/ R
G
.
As an example, a unity gain circuit with V
IN
= 2V, V
H
= 1V, and
R
F
= 510
would have I
CLAMP
= (2V - 1V) / 510
+ 2V /
∞
=
1.96mA. Note that Icc will increase by I
CLAMP
when the output
is clamp limited.
Clamp Accuracy
The clamped output voltage will not be exactly equal to the
voltage applied to V
H
or V
L
Offset errors, mostly due to V
BE
mismatches, necessitate a clamp accuracy parameter which
is found in the device specifications. Clamp accuracy is a
function of the clamping conditions. Referring again to Figure
3, it can be seen that one component of clamp accuracy is the
V
BE
mismatch between the QX6 transistors, and the QX5
transistors. If the transistors always ran at the same current
level there would be no V
BE
mismatch, and no contribution to
the inaccuracy. The QX6 transistors are biased at a constant
current, but as described earlier, the current through QX5 is
equivalent to I
CLAMP
. V
BE
increases as I
CLAMP
increases,
causing the clamped output voltage to increase as well.
I
CLAMP
is a function of the overdrive level (A
VCL
x V
IN
- V
OUT
CLAMPED
) and R
F
, so clamp accuracy degrades as the over-
drive increases, and as R
F
decreases. As an example, the
specified accuracy of
±
60mV for a 2X overdrive with
R
F
=510
degrades to
±
220mV for R
F
=240
at the same
overdrive, or to ±
±
250mV for a 3X overdrive with R
F
= 510
.
Consideration must also be given to the fact that the clamp
voltages have an effect on amplifier linearity. The “Nonlinear-
ity Near Clamp Voltage” curve in the data sheet illustrates the
impact of several clamp levels on linearity.
Clamp Range
Unlike some competitor devices, both V
H
and V
L
have usable
ranges that cross 0V. While V
H
must be more positive than
V
L
, both may be positive or negative, within the range restric-
tions indicated in the specifications. For example, the
HFA1130 could be limited to ECL output levels by setting V
H
= -0.8V and V
L
= -1.8V. V
H
and V
L
may be connected to the
same voltage (GND for instance) but the result won’t be in a
DC output voltage from an AC input signal. A 150mV - 200mV
AC signal will still be present at the output.
Recovery from Overdrive
The output voltage remains at the clamp level as long as the
overdrive condition remains. When the input voltage drops
below the overdrive level (V
CLAMP
/ A
VCL
) the amplifier will
return to linear operation. A time delay, known as the Over-
drive Recovery Time, is required for this resumption of linear
operation. The plots of “Unclamped Performance” and
“Clamped Performance” highlight the HFA1130’s subnano-
second recovery time. The difference between the
unclamped and clamped propagation delays is the overdrive
recovery time. The appropriate propagation delays are 4.0ns
for the unclamped pulse, and 4.8ns for the clamped (2X
overdrive) pulse yielding an overdrive recovery time of
800ps. The measurement uses the 90% point of the output
transition to ensure that linear operation has resumed. Note:
The propagation delay illustrated is dominated by the fixtur-
ing. The delta shown is accurate, but the true HFA1130
propagation delay is 500ps.
Spec Number
511082-883