Characterization of the OPA350 Operational Amplifier at Cryogenic Temperatures

摘要

As part of the development of EMIR, an infrared multiobject spectrograph for the Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GTC), the OPA350 operational amplifier is being successfully used at cryogenic temperatures (77K). The use of off - the- shelf electronics (not specifically designed for cryogenics) is advantageous since it allows us to get signal amplification very close to the detector without the need of special components. This helps to keep the signal integrity along the analogue chain at the very low cost of commercial components. However, since commercial components are not specified for cryogenics, some tests have to be performed to check if their main parameters are kept within acceptable values and if the chips behave in a reliable way. In this paper, both the procedures and the results of the OPA350 tests are presented. They will be used not only to confirm the good performance of the chip in cryogenics, but also as a guideline for the tests to be carried out in other chips for future instruments.