A 1 GS/s, 11-b track-and-hold amplifier with <0.1 dB gain loss

A track-and-hold amplifier for use in high-speed ADCs was implemented in a production AlGaAs/GaAs HBT process. Under Nyquist conditions, the fabricated ICs showed 11 effective number of bits (ENOBs) at 1 GS/s and >12 ENOBs at 800 MS/s. The large signal gain loss of these ICs was measured to be below 0.1 dB.