The ADL8124-EVALZ is a 4-layer printed circuit board (PCB) fabricated from 10mil thick, Rogers 4350B and Isola 370HR, copper clad, forming a nominal thickness of 62mils. The RFIN and RFOUT ports on the ADL8124-EVALZ are populated with 2.92mm, female coaxial connectors, and the corresponding RF traces have a 50Ω characteristic impedance. The ADL8124-EVALZ is populated with components suitable for use over the entire −55°C to +125°C operating temperature range of the ADL8124. To calibrate board trace losses, a through calibration path is provided between the J1 and J2 connectors. J1 and J2 must be populated with RF connectors to use the through calibration path. Refer to Figure 6 and Table 1 in the user guide for the through calibration path performance.
Access the ADL8124-EVALZ ground path and the VDD and VENBL pins through the surface-mount technology (SMT) test point connectors (GND, VDD, and VENBL). A supplementary test point for VRBIAS is included for simple access on the RBIAS pin (see Figure 8 in the user guide for the test point locations).
The RF traces on the ADL8124-EVALZ are 50Ω grounded, coplanar waveguide. The package ground leads and the exposed pad connect directly to the ground plane. Multiple vias connect the top and bottom ground planes with particular focus on the area directly beneath the ground paddle to provide adequate electrical conduction and thermal conduction.
The power-supply decoupling capacitors on the ADL8124-EVALZ represent the configuration used to characterize and qualify the device.
For full details on the ADL8124, see the ADL8124 data sheet, which must be consulted in conjunction with this user guide when using the ADL8124-EVALZ.
