
LTC2234
15
2234fa
APPLICATIO S I FOR ATIO
WU
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signal at its optimum DC level. Terminating on the trans-
former secondary is desirable, as this provides a common
mode path for charging glitches caused by the sample and
hold. Figure 3 shows a 1:1 turns ratio transformer. Other
turns ratios can be used if the source impedance seen by
the ADC does not exceed 100
for each ADC input. A
disadvantage of using a transformer is the loss of low
frequency response. Most small RF transformers have
poor performance at frequencies below 1MHz.
Figure 4 demonstrates the use of a differential amplifier to
convert a single ended input signal into a differential input
signal. The advantage of this method is that it provides low
frequency input response; however, the limited gain band-
width of most op amps will limit the SFDR at high input
frequencies.
Figure 5 shows a single-ended input circuit. The imped-
ance seen by the analog inputs should be matched. This
circuit is not recommended if low distortion is required.
The 25
resistorsand12pFcapacitorontheanaloginputs
serve two purposes: isolating the drive circuitry from the
sample-and-hold charging glitches and limiting the
wideband noise at the converter input. For input frequen-
cies higher than 100MHz, the capacitor may need to be
decreased to prevent excessive signal loss.
For input frequencies above 100MHz the input circuits of
Figure 6, 7 and 8 are recommended. The balun trans-
former gives better high frequency response than a flux
coupled center tapped transformer. The coupling capaci-
tors allow the analog inputs to be DC biased at 1.6V. In
Figure 8 the series inductors are impedance matching
elements that maximize the ADC bandwidth.
Reference Operation
Figure 9 shows the LTC2234 reference circuitry consisting
of a 1.6V bandgap reference, a difference amplifier and
switching and control circuit. The internal voltage refer-
ence can be configured for two pin selectable input ranges
of 2V (
±1Vdifferential)or1V(±0.5Vdifferential).Tyingthe
SENSE pin to VDD selects the 2V range; tying the SENSE
pin to VCM selects the 1V range.
The 1.6V bandgap reference serves two functions: its
output provides a DC bias point for setting the common
mode voltage of any external input circuitry; additionally,
the reference is used with a difference amplifier to gener-
ate the differential reference levels needed by the internal
ADC circuitry. An external bypass capacitor is required for
the 1.6V reference output, VCM. This provides a high
frequency low impedance path to ground for internal and
external circuitry.
Figure 4. Differential Drive with an Amplifier
Figure 5. Single-Ended Drive
25
25
AIN
+
AIN
–
12pF
2.2
F
3pF
VCM
LTC2234
2234 F04
–
+
CM
ANALOG
INPUT
HIGH SPEED
DIFFERENTIAL
AMPLIFIER
AMPLIFIER = LTC6600-20,
"LT1993", ETC.
25
0.1
F
ANALOG
INPUT
VCM
AIN
+
AIN
–
1k
12pF
2234 F05
2.2
F
1k
25
0.1
F
LTC2234