For best operational performance of the device,
use good printed circuit board (PCB) layout practices, including the following
guidelines:
- Noise can propagate into
analog circuitry through the power pins of the op amp and the circuit as a
whole. Connect low-ESR, 0.1µF ceramic bypass capacitors between each supply
pin and ground. Place the capacitors as close to the device as possible. A
single bypass capacitor from V+ to ground is sufficient for single supply
applications.
- Separate grounding for analog
and digital portions of circuitry is one of the simplest and most effective
methods of noise suppression. One or more layers on multilayer PCBs are
typically devoted to ground planes. A ground plane helps distribute heat and
reduces EMI noise pickup. Physically separate digital and analog grounds
paying attention to the flow of the ground current.
- To reduce parasitic coupling,
run the input traces as far away from the supply or output traces as
possible. If these traces cannot be kept separate, crossing the sensitive
trace perpendicular is much better as opposed to in parallel with the noisy
trace.
- Place the external components
as close to the device as possible.
- Keep the length of input
traces as short as possible. Always remember that the input traces are the
most sensitive part of the circuit.
- Consider a driven,
low-impedance guard ring around the critical traces. A guard ring can
significantly reduce leakage currents from nearby traces that are at
different potentials.
- Clean the PCB following board
assembly for best performance.
- Any precision integrated
circuit can experience performance shifts due to moisture ingress into the
plastic package. Following any aqueous PCB cleaning process, bake the PCB
assembly to remove moisture introduced into the device packaging during the
cleaning process. A low temperature, post cleaning bake at 85°C for 30
minutes is sufficient for most circumstances.