# Peak/envelope detector circuit for 30 MHz sine pulses with a 10 kHz PRF

My goal is to input 30MHz sine pulses, with a pulse width of 10us and gap of 90us between the pulses. The circuit should convert this pulse train to a TTL signal that goes from 0 to 5 volts.

To achieve this I run the pulse train through a peak/envelope detector, consisting of a diode, a resistor and a capacitor. This will capture the peak of the pulse. These peaks are then recieved by a comparator that outputs 5 volts whenever the input voltage exceeds the 1 volt reference voltage.

Circuit

Pulse train

One pulse

Green signal is the output from the peak/envelope detector.

When trying to verify this on a breadboard I ran into a problem. The peak/envelope detector does not detect the peak of the input signal but instead outputs the exact same signal as the input (I did not save the oscilloscope picture.) My concern is that the diode is not fast enough to handle signals of this frequency (30MHz.)

When looking at the output of the peak/envelope detector in LTSpice it looks fine:

This (below) is what an input pulse looks like after the diode.

Your concerns are correct, that the 1N5817 diode has too much capacitance to rectify 30 MHz as it is rated for 1A.

Since diode capacitance reduces with current rating, use a fast low current signal diode with a C rating such as the 1N4148 , $$\C_D=4 pF\$$ with a bulk resistance ~ 40 ohms max @ 10 mA.

The diode capacitance will need to be less than 2% of the load capacitance to rectify and hold a good signal in the output cap.

The 1N4148 has a $$\t_{rr} <= 4ns\$$ reverse recovery time

The load R will speed up the response but also attenuate it if low relative to the bulk resistance.

40 Ohms is also the impedance of 40 nF at 100 kHz.

Therefore I recommend 1k//1nF for a load with an RC=T=1us or less depending on your SNR requirements.

For faster RF signals a PIN diode would be used.