a Monolithic Precision, Low Power

FET-Input Electrometer Op Amp

AD515A
FEATURES PIN CONFIGURATION
Ultralow Bias Current: 75 fA max (AD515AL)
Ultralow Bias Current: 150 fA max (AD515AK)
Ultralow Bias Current: 300 fA max (AD515AJ)
Low Power: 1.5 mA max Quiescent Current
Low Power: (0.6 mA typ)
Low Offset Voltage: 1.0 mV max (AD515AK & L)
Low Drift: 15 mV/8C max (AD515AK)
Low Noise: 4 mV p-p, 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
The AD515A is a monolithic FET-input operational amplifier
with a guaranteed maximum input bias current of 75 fA
(AD515AL). The AD515A is a monolithic successor to the
industry standard AD515 electrometer, and will replace the
AD515 in most applications. The AD515A also delivers laser-
trimmed offset voltage, low drift, low noise and low power, a
combination of features not previously available in ultralow bias PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS
current circuits. All devices are internally compensated, protected 1. The AD515A provides subpicoampere bias currents in an
against latch-up and are short circuit protected. integrated circuit amplifier.
The AD515A’s combination of low input bias current, low • The ultralow input bias currents are specified as the maxi-
offset voltage and low drift optimizes it for a wide variety of mum measured at either input with the device fully warmed
electrometer and very high impedance buffer applications up on ± 15 V supplies at +25°C ambient with no heat sink.
including photocurrent detection, vacuum ion-gage measure- This parameter is 100% tested.
ment, long-term precision integration and low drift sample/hold • By using ± 5 V supplies, input bias current can typically be
applications. This amplifier is also an excellent choice for all forms brought below 50 fA.
of biomedical instrumentation such as pH/pIon sensitive elec- 2. The input offset voltage on all grades is laser trimmed, typically
trodes, very low current oxygen sensors, and high impedance less than 500 µV.
biological microprobes. In addition, the low cost and pin • The offset voltage drift is 15 µV/°C maximum on the
compatibility of the AD515A with standard FET op amps will K grade.
allow designers to upgrade the performance of present systems • If additional pulling is desired, the amount required will
at little or no additional cost. The 1015 Ω common-mode input have a minimal effect on offset drift (approximately 3 µV/°C
impedance ensures that the input bias current is essentially per mV).
independent of common-mode voltage. 3. The low quiescent current drain of 0.6 mA typical and
As with previous electrometer amplifier designs from Analog 1.5 mA maximum, keeps self-heating effects to a minimum
Devices, the case is brought out to its own connection (Pin 8) and renders the AD515A suitable for a wide range of remote
so it can be independently connected to a point at the same probe applications.
potential as the input, thus minimizing stray leakage to the case. 4. The combination of low input noise voltage and very low
This feature will also shield the input circuitry from external input noise current is such that for source impedances from
noise and supply transients. 1M Ω to 1011 Ω, the Johnson noise of the source will easily
The AD515A is available in three versions of bias current and dominate the noise characteristic.
offset voltage, the “J”, “K” and “L”; all are specified for rated
performance from 0°C to +70°C and supplied in a hermetically
sealed TO-99 package.

REV. A
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AD515A–SPECIFICATIONS (typical @ +258C and V = 615 V dc, unless otherwise noted) S

Model AD515AJ AD515AK AD515AL

OPEN-LOOP GAIN1
VOUT = ± 10 V, RL ≥ 2 kΩ 20,000 V/V min 40,000 V/V min 25,000 V/V min
VOUT = ± 10 V, RL ≥ 10 kΩ 40,000 V/V min 100,000 V/V min 50,000 V/V min
TA = min to max RL ≥ 2 kΩ 15,000 V/V min 40,000 V/V min 25,000 V/V min
OUTPUT CHARACTERISTICS
Voltage @ RL = 2 kΩ, TA = min to max 610 V min (612 V typ) * *
Voltage @ RL = 10 kΩ, TA = min to max 612 V min (613 V typ) * *
Load Capacitance2 1000 pF
Short-Circuit Current 10 mA min (20 mA typ)
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
Unity Gain, Small Signal 1 MHz * *
Full Power Response 5 kHz min (50 kHz typ) * *
Slew Rate Inverting Unity Gain 0.3 V/µs min (3.0 V/µs typ) * *
Overload Recovery Inverting Unity Gain 100 µs max (2 µs typ) * *
INPUT OFFSET VOLTAGE 3 3.0 mV max (0.4 mV typ) 1.0 mV max (0.4 mV typ) 1.0 mV max (0.4 mV typ)
vs. Temperature, TA = min to max 50 mV/8C max 15 mV/8C max 25 mV/8C max
vs. Supply, TA = min to max 400 mV/V max (50 mV/V typ) 100 mV/V max 200 mV/V max
INPUT BIAS CURRENT
Either Input4 300 fA max 150 fA max 75 fA max
INPUT IMPEDANCE
Differential V DIFF = ± 1 V 1.6 pFi1013 Ω * *
Common Mode 0.8 pFi1015 Ω * *
INPUT NOISE
Voltage, 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz 4.0 µV (p-p) * *
f = 10 Hz 75 nV/V/√Hz * *
f = 100 Hz 55 nV/√Hz * *
f = l kHz 50 nV/√Hz * *
Current, 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz 0.007 pA (p-p) * *
10 Hz to 10 kHz 0.01 pA rms * *
INPUT VOLTAGE RANGE
Differential 620 V min * *
Common Mode, TA = min to max 610 V min (+ 12 V, –11 typ) * *
Common-Mode Rejection, VIN = ± 10 V 66 dB min (94 dB typ) 80 dB min 70 dB min
Maximum Safe Input Voltage 5 ± VS * *
POWER SUPPLY
Rated Performance ± 15 V * *
Operating 65 V min (618 V max) * *
Quiescent Current 1.5 mA max (0.6 mA typ) *
TEMPERATURE
Operating, Rated Performance 0°C to + 70°C * *
Storage –65°C to +150°C
PACKAGE OPTION
TO-99 (H-08A) AD515AJH AD515AKH AD515ALH
5
NOTES 1f it is possible for the input voltage to exceed the supply voltage, a series
*Specifications same as AD515AJ. protection resistor should be added to limit input current to 0.1 mA.
1
Open Loop Gain is specified with or without pulling of V OS. The input devices can handle overload currents of 0.1 mA indefinitely without
2
A conservative design would not exceed 750 pF of load capacitance. damage. See next page.
3
Input Offset Voltage specifications are guaranteed after 5 minutes of Specifications shown in boldface are tested on all production units at final test.
operation at T A = +25°C. Specifications subject to change without notice.
4
Bias Current specifications are guaranteed after 5 minutes of operation at
TA = +25°C. For higher temperatures, the current doubles every +10°C.

CAUTION
ESD (electrostatic discharge) sensitive device. Electrostatic charges as high as 4000 V readily
accumulate on the human body and test equipment and can discharge without detection. WARNING!
Although the AD515A features proprietary ESD protection circuitry, permanent damage may
occur on devices subjected to high energy electrostatic discharges. Therefore, proper ESD
ESD SENSITIVE DEVICE
precautions are recommended to avoid performance degradation or loss of functionality.

–2– REV. A
 AD515A
LAYOUT AND CONNECTIONS CONSIDERATIONS circuit; to minimize noise and leakage, they must be carried
The design of very high impedance measurement systems in- in rigid, shielded cables.
troduces a new level of problems associated with the reduction 4. Another important concern for achieving and maintaining
of leakage paths and noise pickup. low leakage currents is complete cleanliness of circuit boards
1. A primary consideration in high impedance system designs is and components. Completed assemblies should be washed
to attempt to place the measuring device as near to the signal thoroughly in a low residue solvent such as TMC Freon or
source as possible. This will minimize current leakage paths, high purity methanol, followed by a rinse with deionized
noise pickup and capacitive loading. The AD515A, with its water and nitrogen drying. If service is anticipated in a high
combination of low offset voltage (normally eliminating the contaminant or high humidity environment, a high dielectric
need for trimming), low quiescent current (minimal source conformal coating is recommended. All insulation materials
heating, possible battery operation), internal compensation except Kel-F or teflon will show rapid degradation of surface
and small physical size lends itself to installation at the signal leakage at high humidities.
source or inside a probe. As a result of the high load capaci-
tance rating, the AD515A can comfortably drive a long
signal cable.
2. The use of guarding techniques is essential to realizing the
capability of the ultralow input currents of the AD515A.
Guarding is achieved by applying a low impedance bootstrap
potential to the outside of the insulation material surround-
ing the high impedance signal line. This bootstrap potential
is held at the same level as that of the high impedance line;
therefore, there is no voltage drop across the insulation and,
hence, no leakage. The guard will also act as a shield to
reduce noise pickup and serves an additional function of
reducing the effective capacitance to the input line. The case Figure 2. Picoampere Current-to-Voltage Converter
of the AD515A is brought out separately to Pin 8 so it can Inverting Configuration
also be connected to the guard potential. This technique
virtually eliminates potential leakage paths across the package
insulation, provides a noise shield for the sensitive circuitry
and reduces common-mode input capacitance to about 0.8
pF. Figure 1 shows a proper printed circuit board layout for
input guarding and connecting the case guard. Figures 2 and
3 show guarding connections for typical inverting and
noninverting applications. If Pin 8 is not used for guarding, it
should be connected to ground or a power supply to reduce
noise.

Figure 3. Very High Impedance Noninverting Amplifier

INPUT PROTECTION
The AD515A is guaranteed for a maximum safe input potential
equal to the power supply potential.
Many instrumentation situations, such as flame detectors in gas
chromatographs, involve measurement of low level currents
from high voltage sources. In such applications, a sensor fault
condition may apply a very high potential to the input of the
Figure 1. Board Layout for Guarding Inputs with Guarded current-to-voltage converting amplifier. This possibility necessi-
TO-99 Package tates some form of input protection. Many electrometer type
devices, especially CMOS designs, can require elaborate Zener
3. Printed circuit board layout and construction is critical for
protection schemes that often compromise overall performance.
achieving the ultimate in low leakage performance that the
The AD515A requires input protection only if the source is not
AD515A can deliver. The best performance will be realized
current limited and, as such, is similar to many JFET-input
by using a teflon IC socket for the AD515A; at a minimum a
designs. The failure mode would be overheating from excess
teflon standoff should be used for the high impedance lead.
current rather than voltage breakdown. If the source is not
If this is not feasible, the input guarding scheme shown in
current limited, all that is required is a resistor in series with the
Figure 1 will minimize leakage as much as possible; the
affected input terminal so that the maximum overload current is
guard ring should be applied to both sides of the board. The
0.1 mA (for example, 1 MΩ for a 100 V overload). This simple
guard ring is connected to a low impedance potential at the
scheme will cause no significant reduction in performance and
same level as the inputs. High impedance signal lines should
give complete overload protection. Figures 2 and 3 show proper
not be extended for any unnecessary length on a printed
connections.
REV. A –3–
AD515A
COAXIAL CABLE AND CAPACITANCE EFFECTS The conductor-to-shield capacitance of coaxial cable is usually
If it is not possible to attach the AD515A virtually on top of the about 30 pF/foot. Charging this capacitance can cause consider-
signal source, considerable care should be exercised in designing able stretching of high impedance signal rise time, thus cancel-
the connecting lines carrying the high impedance signal. Shielded ling the low input capacitance feature of the AD515A. There are
coaxial cable must be used for noise reduction, but use of two ways to circumvent this problem. For inverting signals or
coaxial cables for high impedance work can add problems from low level current measurements, the signal is carried on the line
cable leakage, noise and capacitance. Only the best polyethylene connected to the inverting input and shielded (guarded) by the
or virgin teflon (not reconstituted) should be used to obtain the ground line as shown in Figure 2. Since the signal is always at
highest possible insulation resistance. virtual ground, no voltage change is required and no capaci-
Cable systems should be made as rigid and vibration free as tances are charged. In many circumstances, this will destabilize
possible since cable movement can cause noise signals of three the circuit; if so, capacitance from output to inverting input will
types, all significant in high impedance systems. Frictional stabilize the circuit.
movement of the shield over the insulation material generates a Noninverting and buffer situations are more critical since the
charge that is sensed by the signal line as a noise voltage. Low signal line voltage and therefore charge will change, causing
noise cable with graphite lubricant such as Amphenol 21-537 signal delay. This effect can be considerably reduced by
will reduce the noise, but short rigid lines are better. Cable connecting the cable shield to a guard potential instead of
movements will also make small changes in the internal cable ground, an option shown in Figure 3. Since such a connection
capacitance and capacitance to other objects. Since the total results in positive feedback to the input, the circuit may be
charge on these capacitances cannot be instantly changed, a destabilized and oscillate. If so, capacitance from positive input
noise voltage results, as predicted from: ∆V = Q/∆C. Noise to ground must be added to make the net capacitance at Pin 3
voltage is also generated by the motion of a conductor in a positive. This technique can considerably reduce the effective
magnetic field. capacitance that must be charged.

Typical Performance Curves

Figure 4. PSRR and CMRR vs. Frequency Figure 6. Input Common-Mode Range vs. Supply Voltage

Figure 5. Open Loop Frequency Response Figure 7. Peak-to-Peak Input Noise Voltage vs. Source
Impedance and Bandwidth
–4– REV. A
 AD515A
ELECTROMETER APPLICATION NOTES
The AD515A offers subpicoampere input bias currents available
in an integrated circuit package. This design will open up many
new application opportunities for measurements from very high
impedance and very low current sources. Performing accurate
measurements of this sort requires careful attention to detail;
the notes given here will aid the user in realizing the full
measurement potential of the AD515A and perhaps extending
its performance limits.
1. As with all junction FET input devices, the temperature of
the FETs themselves is critical in determining the input bias
currents. Over the operating temperature range, the input
bias currents closely follow a characteristic of doubling every
10°C; therefore, every effort should be made to minimize
device operating temperature. Figure 8. Input Bias Current and Supply Current vs.
2. The heat dissipation can be reduced initially by careful Supply Voltage
investigation of the application. First, if it is possible to
reduce the required power supplies, this should be done
since internal power consumption contributes the largest
component of self-heating. To minimize this effect, the
quiescent current of the AD515A has been reduced to less
than 1 mA. Figure 8 shows typical input bias current and
quiescent current versus supply voltage.
3. Output loading effects, which are normally ignored, can
cause a significant increase in chip temperature and therefore
bias current. For example, a 2 kΩ load driven at 10 V at the
output will cause at least an additional 25 mW dissipation in
the output stage (and some in other stages) over the typical Figure 9. Input Bias Current vs. Additional Power
24 mW, thereby at least doubling the effects of self-heating. Dissipation
The results of this form of additional power dissipation are
demonstrated in Figure 9, which shows normalized input
bias current versus additional power dissipated. Therefore,
although many dc performance parameters are specified
driving a 2 kΩ load, to reduce this additional dissipation, we
recommend restricting the load resistance to be at least 10 kΩ.
4. Figure 10 shows the AD515A’s input current versus differen-
tial input voltage. Input current at either terminal stays below
a few hundred fA until one input terminal is forced higher
than 1 V to 1.5 V above the other terminal. Input current
limits at 30 µA under these conditions.

AD515A CIRCUIT APPLICATION NOTES Figure 10. Input Bias Current vs. Differential Input Voltage
The AD515A is quite simple to apply to a wide variety of
and high stability performance. The best packaging for high
applications because of the pretrimmed offset voltage and
MΩ resistors is a glass body sprayed with silicone varnish to
internal compensation, which minimize required external
minimize humidity effects. These resistors must be handled
components and eliminate the need for adjustments to the
very carefully to prevent surface contamination. Capacitors for
device itself. The major considerations in applying this device
any high impedance or long-term integration situation should
are the external problems of layout and heat control which have
be of a polystyrene formulation for optimum performance.
already been discussed. In circuit situations employing the use of
Most other types have too low an insulation resistance, or high
very high value resistors, such as low level current to voltage
dielectric absorption.
converters, electrometer operational amplifiers can be destabi-
lized by a pole created by the small capacitance at the negative Unlike situations involving standard operational amplifiers with
input. If this occurs, a capacitor of 2 pF to 5 pF in parallel with much higher bias currents, balancing the impedances seen at
the resistor will stabilize the loop. A much larger capacitor may the input terminals of the AD515A is usually unnecessary and
be used if desired to limit bandwidth and thereby reduce wide- probably undesirable. At the large source impedances, where
band noise. these effects matter, obtaining quality matched resistors will be
difficult. More important, instead of a cancelling effect, as with
Selection of passive components employed in high impedance
bias current, the noise voltage of the additional resistor will add
film or deposited ceramic oxide to obtain the best in low noise
by root-sum-of-squares to that of the other resistor thus increasing

REV. A –5–
AD515A
the total noise by about 40%. Noise currents driving the resistors this, it may be desirable to use a circuit configuration with
also add, but in the AD515A are significant only above 1011 Ω. output gain, as in Figure 13. The drawback is that input errors
of offset voltage drift and noise are multiplied by the same gain,
but the precision performance of the AD515A makes the trade-
off easier.

C1135a–1–5/97
Figure 13. Picoampere to Voltage Converter with Gain
One of the problems with low level leakage current testing or
Figure 11. Very High Impedance Instrumentation low level current transducers (such as Clark oxygen sensors) is
Amplifier finding a way to apply voltage bias to the device while still
grounding the device and the bias source. Figure 14 shows a
technique in which the desired bias is applied at the noninvert-
ing terminal thus forcing that voltage at the inverting terminal.
The current is sensed by RF, and the AD524 instrumentation
amplifier converts the floating differential signal to a single-
ended output.

Figure 12. Low Drift Integrator and Low Leakage Guarded

Reset

LOW LEVEL CURRENT-TO-VOLTAGE CONVERTERS

Figure 2 shows a standard low level current-to-voltage converter.
To obtain higher sensitivity, it is obvious to simply use a higher
value feedback resistor. However, high value resistors above Figure 14. Current-to-Voltage Converters with Grounded
109 Ω tend to be expensive, large, noisy and unstable. To avoid Bias and Sensor

OUTLINE DIMENSIONS
Dimensions shown in inches and (mm).

PRINTED IN U.S.A.
TO-99

–6– REV. A