Probing Techniques and Tradeoffs (Part IV)

Figure 1: Applying bandwidth filters to a 2.5-GHz clock
signal clearly shows the effect of bandwidth on rise time

The topic of probe bandwidth is a broad and deep one. We began our discussion of bandwidth in an earlier post with some basic information about what bandwidth means and the importance of the -3 dB point. Next, we looked at a Fourier deconstruction of a square wave into its fundamental and the lower-order harmonics, and covered the importance of bandwidth in capturing enough harmonic content to understand the signal's overall shape.