ADA4960-1:  Low Distortion Ultrahigh Speed Differential ADC Driver

The ADA4960-1 is a high performance differential amplifier optimized for RF and IF applications. It achieves better than 63dB SFDR performance at frequencies up to 500 MHz, and 52dB up to 1GHz, making it an ideal driver for high speed 8-bit to 10-bit giga-sample analog-to-digital converters (ADCs).

Unlike other wideband differential amplifiers, the ADA4960-1 has buffered inputs that isolate the gain-setting resistor (RG) from the signal inputs. As a result, the ADA4960-1 maintains a constant 10 kΩ differential input resistance for gains of 6 dB to 15 dB, easing matching and input drive requirements. The ADA4960-1 has a nominal 150 Ω differential output resistance.

The device is optimized for wideband, low distortion performance at frequencies up to and beyond 1 GHz. These attributes, together with its wide gain adjust capability make this device the amplifier of choice for general-purpose IF and broadband applications where low distortion, noise, and power are critical.

The device also includes a unity gain buffer, for the buffering of DC signals such as the common-mode-input to the amplifier. This buffer is found between pins 6 (input) and pin5 (output). If this buffer is not used, the output can be left disconnected and the input can be grounded.

It is ideally suited for driving not only ADCs, but also mixers, pin diode attenuators, SAW filters, and multi-element discrete devices, as well as buffering high frequency DACs. The device is available in a single channel version in 3mm x 3mm, 16-lead LFCSP package. The device operates over a temperature range of -40C to +85C.

Applications

• ADC drivers for giga-sample ADCs
• Single-ended-to-differential converters
• RF/IF gain block
• Line drivers
• Oscilloscopes
• Satellite Communications
• Data Acquisition
• Electronic Surveillance and Countermeasures