chemical25
Newbie level 4
Hi all,
I am working out a way to invert & amplify a signal output from a photomultiplier tube. The signal output is varying negative pulses from 0v to -1v.
I would like to invert that signal & amplify it x10 for later reading with an ADC. I thought it would be a simple inverting amplifier circuit with an OpAmp, but I cannot seem to get it to perform correctly.
With my circuit, while the signal is inverted and the pulses seem to be amplified, the peaks are "flat-topped" and won't go above ~300mv (see Figure 1). I originally thought it was an issue with the slew rate/bandwidth of the OpAmp I was using, so I just received some ultra-fast LM7171 OpAmps (datasheet linked below), yet I am still seeing similar behavior.
Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong? I am new to the finer aspects of analog design, as I am usually working on digital circuits - I have seen some notes on "input capacitance" and "input impedance," but I do not know if those are the root of my issue... or how to determine "impedance matching" with the output of my photomultiplier tube.
References:
**broken link removed**
My schematic
Figure 1: The output of the OpAmp on my oscilloscope
-- Top Trace: The signal output from the photomultiplier tube that I am trying to invert & amplify
-- Middle Trace: The expanded trace of the output from my OpAmp circuit - **Note the flat top... all large peaks seem to be clipped in similar fashion at ~300mv
-- Bottom Trace: The output from my OpAmp circuit
Any ideas?
Thanks!
I am working out a way to invert & amplify a signal output from a photomultiplier tube. The signal output is varying negative pulses from 0v to -1v.
I would like to invert that signal & amplify it x10 for later reading with an ADC. I thought it would be a simple inverting amplifier circuit with an OpAmp, but I cannot seem to get it to perform correctly.
With my circuit, while the signal is inverted and the pulses seem to be amplified, the peaks are "flat-topped" and won't go above ~300mv (see Figure 1). I originally thought it was an issue with the slew rate/bandwidth of the OpAmp I was using, so I just received some ultra-fast LM7171 OpAmps (datasheet linked below), yet I am still seeing similar behavior.
Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong? I am new to the finer aspects of analog design, as I am usually working on digital circuits - I have seen some notes on "input capacitance" and "input impedance," but I do not know if those are the root of my issue... or how to determine "impedance matching" with the output of my photomultiplier tube.
References:
**broken link removed**
My schematic
Figure 1: The output of the OpAmp on my oscilloscope
-- Top Trace: The signal output from the photomultiplier tube that I am trying to invert & amplify
-- Middle Trace: The expanded trace of the output from my OpAmp circuit - **Note the flat top... all large peaks seem to be clipped in similar fashion at ~300mv
-- Bottom Trace: The output from my OpAmp circuit
Any ideas?
Thanks!
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