250MHz, Broadcast-Quality, Low-Power
Video Op Amps
Driving Capacitive Loads
When driving 50Ω or 75Ω back-terminated transmission
lines, capacitive loading is not an issue. The MAX4102/
MAX4103 can typically drive 5pF and 20pF, respectively.
Figure 3a illustrates how a capacitive load influences the
amplifier’s peaking without an isolation resistor (RS).
Figure 3b shows how an isolation resistor decreases the
amplifier’s peaking. By using a small isolation resistor
between the amplifier output and the load, large capaci-
tance values may be driven without oscillation (Figure
4a). In most cases, less than 50Ω is sufficient. Use Figure
4b to determine the value needed in your application.
Determine the worst-case maximum capacitive load you
may encounter and select the appropriate resistor from
the graph.
6
5
AVCL = +1
4
3
2
CL = 15pF
CL = 10pF
1
0
-1
CL = 5pF
-2
-3
-4
0.1M
1M
10M 100M
1G
FREQUENCY (Hz)
Figure 3a. MAX4102 Bandwidth vs. Capacitive Load
(No Isolation Resistor (RS))
4
3
CL = 10pF
RS = 10Ω
RS = 22Ω
2
1
0
-1
RS = 33Ω
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
0.1M
1M
10M 100M
1G
FREQUENCY (Hz)
Figure 3b. MAX4102 Bandwidth vs. 10pF Capacitive Load and
Isolation Resistor
24Ω
RS
MAX4102
VIN
CL
RL
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
MAX4102
MAX4103
50 100 150 200 250
CAPACITIVE LOAD (pF)
Figure 4a. Using an Isolation Resistor (RS) for Large Capacitive
Loads (MAX4102)
Figure 4b. Isolation vs. Capacitive Load
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