Electronics Tutorial about Oscillators

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Introduction to Oscillators
Oscillators are used in many electronic circuits and systems providing the central "clock" signal that
controls the sequential operation of the entire system. Oscillators can produce a wide range of different
wave shapes and frequencies that can be complicated or simple depending upon the application.
Oscillators are also used in many pieces of test equipment producing either sinusoidal sine waves, square,
sawtooth or triangular shaped waveforms or just pulses of a variable or constant width.
Oscillators are basically an Amplifier with "Positive Feedback", (in-phase) and one of the many
problems in electronic circuit design is stopping amplifiers from oscillating while trying to get oscillators to
oscillate. Oscillators works because they overcome the losses of their feedback resonator circuit either in
the form of a Capacitor, Inductor or both by applying DC energy at the required frequency into this
resonator circuit. Then an Oscillator has a gain equal too or slightly greater than 1. In addition to these
reactive components, an amplifying device such as an Operational Amplifier or Bipolar
Transistor is required. Unlike an amplifier there is no external AC input required to cause the Oscillator
to work as the DC supply energy is converted by the oscillator into AC energy at the required frequency.
Basic Feedback Circuit

Where: β is a feedback fraction.

Oscillators are circuits that generate a continuous voltage output waveform at a required frequency with
the values of the inductors, capacitors or resistors forming a frequency selective LC resonant (or tank)
feedback network. The oscillators frequency is controlled using a tuned or resonant inductive/capacitive
(LC) circuit with the resulting output frequency being known as the Oscillation Frequency and by making
the oscillators feedback a reactive network the phase angle of the feedback will vary as a function of
frequency and this is called Phase-shift.
There are basically types of Oscillators
• 1. Sinusoidal Oscillators - these are known as Harmonic Oscillators and are generally
a "LC Tuned-feedback" or "RC tuned-feedback" type Oscillator that generates a sinusoidal
waveform which is of constant amplitude and frequency.
•
• 2. Non-Sinusoidal Oscillators - these are known as Relaxation Oscillators and
generate complex non-sinusoidal waveforms that changes very quickly from one condition of
stability to another such as "Square-wave", "Triangular-wave" or "Sawtoothed-wave" type
waveforms.
Resonance
When a constant voltage but of varying frequency is applied to a circuit consisting of an inductor, capacitor
and resistor the reactance of both the Capacitor/Resistor and Inductor/Resistor circuits is to change both
the amplitude and the phase of the output signal as compared to the input signal due to the reactance of
the components used. At high frequencies the reactance of a capacitor is very low acting as a short circuit
while the reactance of the inductor is high acting as an open circuit. At low frequencies the reverse is true,
the reactance of the capacitor acts as an open circuit and the reactance of the inductor acts as a short
circuit. Between these two extremes the combination of the inductor and capacitor produces a "Tuned" or
"Resonant" circuit that has a Resonant Frequency, ( ƒr ) in which the capacitive and inductive
reactance's are equaland cancel out each other, leaving only the resistance of the circuit to oppose the
flow of current. This means that there is no phase shift as the current is in phase with the voltage.
Consider the circuit below.
Basic LC Oscillatory Circuit
The circuit consists of an inductive coil, L and a capacitor, C. The capacitor stores energy in the form of an
electrostatic field and which produces a potential (Static Voltage) across its plates, while the inductive coil
stores its energy in the form of a magnetic field. The capacitor is charged up to the DC supply
voltage, V by putting the switch in position A. When the capacitor is fully charged the switch is put to
position B and the charged capacitor is now connected in parallel across the inductive coil so the capacitor
begins to discharge itself through the coil. The voltage across C starts falling as the current through the
coil begins to rise. This rising current sets up an electromagnetic field around the coil and when C is
completely discharged the energy that was originally stored in the capacitor, C as an electrostatic field is
now stored in the inductive coil, L as an electromagnetic field around the coils windings.
As there is now no external voltage in the circuit to maintain the current within the coil, it starts to fall as the
electromagnetic field begins to collapse. A back e.m.f. is induced in the coil (e = -Ldi/dt) keeping the
current flowing in the original direction. This current now charges the capacitor, C with the opposite
polarity to its original charge. C continues to charge until the current has fallen to zero and the
electromagnetic field of the coil has collapsed completely. The energy originally introduced into the circuit
through the switch, has been returned to the capacitor which again has an electrostatic voltage potential
across it, although it is now of the opposite polarity. The capacitor now starts to discharge again back
through the coil and the whole process is repeated, with the polarities changed and continues as the
energy is passed back and forth producing an AC type sinusoidal voltage and current waveform.
This oscillatory action of passing energy from the capacitor, C to the inductor, L and vice versa, would
continue indefinitely if it was not for energy losses. Energy is lost in the resistance of the inductors coil, in
the dielectric of the capacitor, and in radiation from the circuit so the oscillation steadily decreases until it
dies away completely. Then in a practical LC circuit the amplitude of the oscillatory voltage decreases at
each half cycle of oscillation and will eventually die away to zero. The oscillations are then said to be
"Damped" with the amount of damping being determined by the Quality factor of the circuit.
Damped Oscillations
The losses are mainly due to the resistance of the inductors windings called the "Real Resistance". If this
real resistance is low the oscillations will die away slowly and if the coil resistance is high the oscillations
die away more rapidly.
The frequency of the oscillatory voltage depends upon the value of the inductance and capacitance in
theLC circuit. We know that for Resonance to occur both the capacitive, XC and inductive, XL reactance's
must be equal, XL = XC and opposite to cancel out each other out leaving only the resistance in the circuit
to oppose the flow of current. Then the frequency at which this will happen is given as:
Then by simplifying the equation we get the final equation for Resonant Frequency in a tuned LC circuit
as:

• Where:
• L is the Inductance in Henrys
• C is the Capacitance in Farads
• fr is the Output Frequency in Hertz
•
• This equation shows that if either L or C are decreased, the frequency increases. This output
frequency is commonly given the abbreviation of ( fr ) to identify it as the Resonant Frequency.
To keep the oscillations going in an LC circuit we have to replace the energy lost in each oscillation and
also to maintain the amplitude of the oscillations at a constant level. The amount of energy replaced must
be equal that lost during each cycle because if too large the amplitude would increase until clipping of the
supply rails occurs. Alternatively, if the amount of energy replaced is too small the amplitude would
decrease to zero over time. The simplest way of replacing this energy is to take part of the output from
theLC circuit, amplify it and then feed it back into the LC circuit again and this can be achieved using a
voltage amplifier.
To produce a constant oscillation, the level of the energy fed back to the LC network must be accurately
controlled. Then there must be some form of automatic amplitude or gain control when the amplitude tries
to vary from a reference voltage either up or down. To maintain a stable oscillation the overall gain of the
circuit must be equal to 1 or unity. Any less and the oscillations will not start or die away to zero, any more
the oscillations will occur but the amplitude will become clipped by the supply rails causing distortion.
Consider the circuit below.
Basic Transistor LC Oscillator Circuit

A Bipolar Transistor is used as the oscillators amplifier and the tuned LC circuit acts as the Collector
load. Another coil L2 is connected between the Base and Emitter and whose electromagnetic field is
"mutually" coupled with that of coil L. Mutual inductance exists between two circuits when the changing
current in one circuit induces by electromagnetic induction a potential voltage in the other (transformer
effect). So as the oscillations occur in the tuned circuit, electromagnetic energy is transferred from coil L to
coil L2 and a voltage of the same frequency as that in the tuned circuit is applied between the Base and
Emitter of the transistor. In this way the necessary automatic feedback voltage is obtained.
The amount of feedback can be increased or decreased by altering the coupling between coils L and L2.
When the circuit is oscillating its impedance is resistive and the Collector and Base voltages are 180o out
of phase. In order to maintain oscillations the voltage applied to the tuned circuit must be "In-phase" with
the oscillations occurring in the tuned circuit. Therefore, we must introduce an additional 180o phase shift
into the feedback path between the Collector and Base. This is achieved by winding the coil of L2 in the
correct direction relative to coil L giving us the correct amplitude and phase relationships for
theOscillators circuit or by connecting a phase shift network between the output and input of the amplifier.
LC Oscillators are therefore "Sinusoidal Oscillators" or more commonly "Harmonic Oscillators" that can
generate high frequency sine waves for use in radio frequency (RF) type applications with the transistor
amplifier being of a Bipolar Transistor or FET. Harmonic Oscillators come in many different forms because
there are many different ways to construct an LC filter network and amplifier with the most common being
the Hartley LC Oscillator, Colpitts LC Oscillator, Armstrong Oscillator and Clapp Oscillator to name
a few.
Oscillators Summary
The basic requirements for an Oscillatory circuit are given as follows.
• 1. The circuit MUST contain a reactive (frequency-dependant) component either an Inductor,
(L) or a Capacitor, (C) and a DC supply voltage.
•
• 2. In a simple circuit oscillations become damped due to circuit losses.
•
• 3. Voltage amplification is required to overcome these circuit losses.
•
• 4. The overall gain of the amplifier must be at least 1, unity.
•
 • 5. Oscillations can be maintained by feeding back some of the output voltage to the tuned
circuit that is of the correct amplitude and in-phase, (0o).
•
• 6. Oscillations can only occur when the feedback is "Positive" (self-regeneration).
•
• 7. The overall phase shift of the circuit must be zero or 360o so that the output signal from the
feedback network will be "In-phase" with the input signal.

The Hartley Oscillator

The basic LC Oscillator circuit we looked at in the previous tutorial has no means of controlling the amplitude of
the oscillations. If the electromagnetic coupling between L and L2 is too small there would be insufficient
feedback and the oscillations would eventually die away to zero. Likewise if the feedback was too strong the
oscillations would continue to increase in amplitude until they were limited by the circuit conditions producing
distortion.
It is possible to feed back exactly the right amount of voltage for constant amplitude oscillations. If we feed back
more than is necessary the amplitude of the oscillations can be controlled by biasing the amplifier in such a way
that if the oscillations increase in amplitude, the bias is increased and the gain of the amplifier is reduced. If the
amplitude of the oscillations decreases the bias decreases and the gain of the amplifier increases, thus
increasing the feedback. In this way the amplitude of the oscillations are kept constant and this is known
as Automatic Base Bias.
One big advantage of automatic base bias is that the oscillator can be made more efficient by providing a Class-
B bias or even a Class-C bias as the Collector current flows during only part of the cycle and the quiescent
Collector current is very small. Then this "self-tuning" Base oscillator circuit forms the basic configuration for
the Hartley Oscillator circuit.
In the Hartley Oscillator the tuned LC circuit is connected between the Collector and the Base of the transistor
amplifier and as far as the oscillatory voltage is concerned, the emitter is connected to a tapping point on the
tuned circuit coil. The feedback of the tuned tank circuit is taken from the centre tap of the inductor coil or two
separate coils in series which are in parallel with a variable capacitor, C. An Hartley Oscillator can be made from
any configuration that uses either a single tapped coil (similar to an Autotransformer) or a pair of series
connected coils in parallel with a single capacitor as shown below.
Basic Hartley Oscillator Circuit

When the circuit is oscillating, the voltage at point X (collector), relative to point Y (emitter), is 180o out-of-phase
with the voltage at point Z (base) relative to point Y. At the frequency of oscillation, the impedance of the
Collector load is resistive and an increase in Base voltage causes a decrease in the Collector voltage. Then there
is a 180o phase change in the voltage between the Base and Collector and this along with the original 180o phase
shift in the feedback loop provides the correct phase relationship of positive feedback for oscillations to be
maintained.
The amount of feedback depends upon the position of the "tapping point" of the inductor. If this is moved nearer
to the collector the amount of feedback is increased, but the output taken between the Collector and earth is
reduced and vice versa. Resistors, R1 and R2 provide the usual stabilizing DC bias for the transistor in the
normal manner while the capacitors act as DC-blocking capacitors.
In this Hartley Oscillator circuit, the DC Collector current flows through part of the coil and for this reason the
circuit is said to be "Series-fed" with the frequency of oscillation of the Hartley Oscillator being given as.

Note: LT is the total inductance if two separate coils are used.

The frequency of oscillations can be adjusted by varying the "tuning" capacitor, C or by varying the position of the
iron-dust core inside the coil (inductive tuning) giving an output over a wide range of frequencies making it very
easy to tune. Also the Hartley Oscillator produces an output amplitude which is constant over the entire
frequency range.
As well as the Series-fed Hartley Oscillator above, it is also possible to connect the tuned tank circuit across the
amplifier as a shunt-fed oscillator as shown below.
Shunt-fed Hartley Oscillator Circuit

In the Shunt-fed Hartley Oscillator both the AC and DC components of the Collector current have separate paths
around the circuit. Since the DC component is blocked by the capacitor, C2 no DC flows through the inductive
coil, L and less power is wasted in the tuned circuit. The Radio Frequency Coil (RFC), L2 is an RF choke which
has a high reactance at the frequency of oscillations so that most of the RF current is applied to the LC tuning
tank circuit via capacitor, C2 as the DC component passes through L2 to the power supply. A resistor could be
used in place of the RFC coil, L2 but the efficiency would be less.
Example No1
A Hartley Oscillator circuit having two inductors of 0.5mH each is tuned to resonate with a capacitor which can
be varied from 100pF to 500pF. Determine the upper and lower frequencies of oscillation and the oscillators
bandwidth.
The frequency of oscillations for a Hartley Oscillator is given as:

The circuit consists of two inductive coils in series, so the total inductance is given as:

Upper Frequency

Lower Frequency

Oscillator Bandwidth

Colpitts Oscillators
In some ways the Colpitts Oscillator is the opposite to the Hartley Oscillator we looked at in the previous
tutorial. Like the Hartley oscillator, the tuned tank circuit consists of an LC resonance circuit connected between
the Collector and Base of the transistor amplifier. The basic configuration of the Colpitts Oscillator resembles
that of the Hartley Oscillator but the difference being is that the centre tapping is now made from a "Capacitive
Voltage Divider" network instead of a tapped autotransformer type inductor as shown below.
Basic Colpitts Oscillator Circuit
The transistor amplifiers Emitter is connected to the junction of capacitors, C1 and C2 which are connected in
series with the required external phase shift is obtained in a similar manner to that in the Hartley Oscillator. The
amount of feedback is determined by the ratio of C1 and C2 which are generally "ganged" together to provide a
constant amount of feedback. The frequency of oscillations for a Colpitts Oscillator is determined by the resonant
frequency of the LC tank circuit and is given as:

where CT is the capacitance of C1 and C2 connected in series and is given as:.

The configuration of the transistor amplifier is of a Common Emitter Amplifier with the output signal 180o out
of phase with regards to the input signal. The additional 180o phase shift require for oscillation is achieved by the
fact that the two capacitors are connected together in series but in parallel with the inductive coil resulting in
overall phase shift of the circuit being zero or 360o. Resistors, R1 and R2 provide the usual stabilizing DC bias
for the transistor in the normal manner while the capacitor acts as a DC-blocking capacitors.
Example No1
A Colpitts Oscillator circuit having two capacitors of 10pF and 100pF respectively are connected in parallel with
an inductor of 10mH. Determine the frequency of oscillations of the circuit.
The frequency of oscillations for a Colpitts Oscillator is given as:

The circuit consists of two capacitors in series, so the total capacitance is given as:
The inductor is of 10mH then the frequency of oscillation is:

Then the frequency of oscillations for the Oscillator is 527.8kHz

The RC Oscillator
In the Amplifiers tutorial we saw that a single stage amplifier will produce 180o of phase shift between its
output and input signals when connected in a class-A configuration. For an oscillator to oscillate sufficient
feedback of the correct phase, ie "Positive Feedback" must be provided with the amplifier being used as an
inverting stage to achieve this. In a RC Oscillator the input is shifted 180o through the amplifier stage and
180o again through a second inverting stage giving us "180o + 180o = 360o" of phase shift which is the same as
0o thereby giving us the required positive feedback.
In a Resistance-Capacitance Oscillator or simply an RC Oscillator, we make use of the fact that a phase shift
occurs between the input to a RC network and the output from the same network. for example.
RC Phase-Shift Network

The circuit on the left shows a single Resistor-Capacitor network and whose output voltage "leads" the input
voltage by some angle less than 90o. An ideal RC circuit would produce a phase shift of exactly 90o. The amount
of actual phase shift in the circuit depends upon the values of the Resistor, Capacitor and the chosen frequency
of oscillations with the phase angle ( Φ ) being given as:
Phase Angle

In our simple example above, the values of R and C have been chosen so that at the required frequency the
output voltage leads the input voltage by an angle of about 60o. Then by connecting together three such RC
Networks in series we can produce a total phase shift in the circuit of 180o at the chosen frequency and this forms
the bases of an RC Oscillator circuit.
 We know that in an amplifier circuit either using a Bipolar Transistor or an Operational Amplifier, it will produce a
phase-shift of 180o between its input and output. If a RC phase-shift network is connected between this input and
output of the amplifier, the total phase shift will become 360o, ie. the feedback is "in-phase". Consider the circuit
below.
Basic RC Oscillator Circuit

The RC Oscillator which is sometimes called a Phase Shift Oscillator, produces a sine wave output signal
using regenerative feedback from the Resistor/Capacitor combination. This regenerative feedback from
the RC network is due to the ability of the capacitor to store an electric charge, (similar to the LC tank circuit).
This Resistor/Capacitor feedback network can be connected as shown above to produce a leading phase shift
(Phase Advance Network) or interchanged to produce a lagging phase shift (Phase Retard Network) the outcome
is still the same as the sine wave oscillations only occur at the frequency at which the overall phase-shift is 360o.
By varying one or more of the resistors or capacitors in the phase-shift network, the frequency can be varied and
generally this is done using a 3-ganged variable capacitor.
If all the resistors, R and the capacitors, C are equal in value, then the frequency of oscillations produced by the
oscillator is given as:

• Where:
• f is the Output Frequency in Hertz
• R is the Resistance in Ohms
• C is the Capacitance in Farads
• N is the number of RC stages and in our example N = 3
Since the RC network in the RC Oscillator circuit also acts as an attenuator producing attenuation of -1/29th
(Vo/Vi = β) per stage, the gain of the amplifier must be sufficient to overcome the losses and in our three mesh
network above the amplifier gain must be greater than 29. the loading effect of the amplifier on the feedback
network has an effect on the frequency of oscillations and can cause the oscillator frequency to be up to 25%
higher than calculated. Then the feedback network should be driven from a high impedance output source and
fed into a low impedance load such as a common emitter transistor amplifier but better still is to use
an Operational Amplifier as it satisfies these conditions perfectly.
The Op-amp RC Oscillator
Operational Amplifier RC Oscillators are more common than their Bipolar Transistors counterparts.
TheRC network that produces the phase shift is connected from the op-amps output back to its "Non-inverting"
input as shown below.
Op-amp RC Oscillator Circuit
As the feedback is connected to the non-inverting input, the operational amplifier is therefore connected in its
"Inverting Amplifier" configuration which produces the required 180o phase shift while the RC network produces
the other 180o phase shift at the required frequency. Although it is possible to cascade together two RC stages to
provide the required 180o of phase shift, the stability of the oscillator at low frequencies is poor. One of the most
important features of an RC Oscillator is its frequency stability which is its ability too provide a constant
frequency output under varying load conditions. By cascading three or even four RCstages together the stability
of the oscillator can be greatly improved. RC Oscillators with four stages are generally used because commonly
available operational amplifiers come in quad IC packages so designing a 4-stage oscillator with 45o of phase
shift relative to each other is relatively easy.
RC Oscillators are stable and provide a well-shaped sine wave output with the frequency being proportional
to 1/RC and therefore, a wider frequency range is possible when using a variable capacitor. However, RC
Oscillators are restricted to frequency applications because of their bandwidth limitations to produce the desired
phase shift at high frequencies.
Example No1
Determine the frequency of oscillations of a RC Oscillator circuit having 3-stages each with a resistor and
capacitor of equal values. R = 10kΩ and C = 500pF
The frequency of oscillations for a RC Oscillator is given as:

The circuit is a 3-stage oscillator which consists of three 10kΩ resistors and three 500pF capacitors therefore the
frequency of oscillation is given as:

Wien Bridge Oscillators

In the previous RC Oscillators tutorial we saw that a resistor and capacitor can be connected together to
produce an oscillating circuit. Another type of oscillator which uses a RC network in place of the
conventional LC tuned circuit to produce a sinusoidal output waveform, is the Wien Bridge Oscillator.
The Wien Bridge Oscillator is a two-stage RC coupled amplifier circuit that has good stability at its resonant
frequency, low distortion and is very easy to tune making it a popular circuit as an audio frequency oscillator but
the phase shift of the output signal is considerably different from the previous RC Oscillators.
The Wien Bridge Oscillator uses a feedback circuit consisting of a series RC circuit connected with a
parallel RC of the same component values producing a phase delay-advance circuit depending upon the
frequency. Consider the circuit below.
RC Phase Shift Network
The above RC network consists of a series RC circuit connected to a parallel RC forming basically a High
Pass Filter connected to a Low Pass Filter producing a very selective 2nd order frequency dependantBand
Pass Filter with a high Q factor at the selected frequency. At low frequencies the reactance, Xc of the series
capacitor is very high so the series capacitor acts like an open circuit and blocks any input signal, Vin and
therefore there is no output signal, Vout. At high frequencies, the reactance of the parallel capacitor is very low
so the parallel capacitor acts like a short circuit on the output so again there is no output signal. However,
between these two extremes the output voltage reaches a maximum and the frequency at which this happens is
called the Resonant Frequency, (ƒr) as the circuits reactance equals its resistance, Xc = R. At this resonant
frequency the output voltage is one third (1/3) of the input voltage.
Output Gain and Phase Shift

It can be seen that at very low frequencies the phase angle between the input and output signals is "Positive"
(Phase Advanced), while at very high frequencies the phase angle becomes "Negative" (Phase Delay). In the
middle of these two points the circuit is at its resonant frequency, (ƒr) with the signals being "in-phase" or 0o and
we can define this resonant frequency point with the following expression.
Resonant Frequency
• Where:
• fr is the Resonant Frequency in Hertz
• R is the Resistance in Ohms
• C is the Capacitance in Farads
Then this frequency selective RC network forms the basis of the Wien Bridge Oscillator circuit. If we now place
this RC network across a Non-inverting amplifier the following oscillator circuit is produced.
Wien Bridge Oscillator

The output of the operational amplifier is fed back to the inputs "in-phase" with part of the feedback signal is
connected to the inverting input terminal via the resistor divider network of R1 and R2, while the other part is fed
back to the non-inverting input terminal via the RC network. Then at the selected resonant frequency, ( ƒr ) the
voltages applied to the inverting and non-inverting inputs will be equal and "in-phase" so the positive feedback
will cancel the negative feedback signal causing the circuit to oscillate. Also the voltage gain of the amplifier
circuit MUST be 3 as set by the resistor network, R1 and R2.

Wien Bridge Oscillator Summary

Then for oscillations to occur in a Wien Bridge Oscillator circuit the following conditions must apply.
• 1. The Voltage gain of the amplifier must be at least 3.
•
• 2. The network can be used with a Non-inverting amplifier.
•
• 3. The input resistance of the amplifier must be high compared to R so that the RC network is not
overloaded and alter the required conditions.
•
• 4. The output resistance of the amplifier must be low so that the effect of external loading is minimised.
•
• 5. Some method of stabilizing the amplitude of the oscillations must be provided because if the voltage gain
of the amplifier is too small the desired oscillation will decay and if it is too large the waveform becomes
distorted.
Example No1
Determine the maximum and minimum frequency of oscillations of a Wien Bridge Oscillator circuit having a
resistor of 10kΩ and a variable capacitor of 1nF to 1000nF.
The frequency of oscillations for a Wien Bridge Oscillator is given as:

Lowest Frequency

Highest Frequency

Crystal Oscillators
One of the most important features of an oscillator is its Frequency Stability, or in other words its ability to provide
a constant frequency output under varying conditions. Some of the factors that affect the frequency stability of an
oscillator include: temperature, variations in the load and changes in the power supply. Frequency stability of the
output signal can be improved by the proper selection of the components used for the resonant feedback circuit
including the amplifier but there is a limit to the stability that can be obtained from normal LC and RC tank
circuits. For very high stability a quartz crystal is generally used as the frequency determining device to produce
another types of oscillator circuit known generally as Crystal Oscillators.
When a voltage source is applied to a small thin piece of crystal quartz, it begins to change shape producing a
characteristic known as the Piezo-electric Effect. This piezo-electric effect is the property of a crystal by which
an electrical charge produces a mechanical force by changing the shape of the crystal and vice versa, a
mechanical force applied to the crystal produces an electrical charge. Then, piezo-electric devices can be
classed as Transducers as they convert energy of one kind into energy of another. This piezo-electric effect
produces mechanical vibrations or oscillations which are used to replace the LC tank circuit and can be seen in
many different types of crystal substances with the most important of these for electronic circuits being the quartz
minerals because of their greater mechanical strength.
The quartz crystal used in Crystal Oscillators is a very small, thin piece or wafer of cut quartz with the two
parallel surfaces metallized to make the electrical connections. The physical size and thickness of a piece of
quartz crystal is tightly controlled since it affects the final frequency of oscillations and is called the crystals
"characteristic frequency". Then once cut and shaped the crystal can not be used at any other frequency. The
crystals characteristic or resonant frequency is inversely proportional to its physical thickness between the two
metallized surfaces. A mechanically vibrating crystal can be represented by an equivalent electrical circuit
consisting of low Resistance, large Inductance and small Capacitance as shown below.
Quartz Crystal
A quartz crystal has a resonant frequency similar to that of a electrically tuned tank circuit but with a much
higher Q factor due to its low resistance, with typical frequencies ranging from 4kHz to 10MHz. The cut of the
crystal also determines how it will behave as some crystals will vibrate at more than one frequency. Also, if the
crystal is not of a parallel or uniform thickness it have two or more resonant frequencies having both a
fundamental frequency and harmonics such as second or third harmonics. However, usually the fundamental
frequency is more stronger or pronounced than the others and this is the one used. The equivalent circuit above
has three reactive components and there are two resonant frequencies, the lowest is a series type frequency and
the highest a parallel type resonant frequency.
We have seen in the previous tutorials, that an amplifier circuit will oscillate if it has a loop gain greater or equal
to 1 and it has positive feedback. In a Crystal Oscillator circuit the oscillator will oscillate at the crystals
fundamental series resonant frequency as the crystal always wants to oscillate when a voltage source is applied
to it. However, it is also possible to "tune" a crystal oscillator to any even harmonic of the fundamental frequency,
(2nd, 4th, 8th etc.) and these are known generally as Harmonic Oscillators whileOvertone Oscillators vibrate
at odd multiples of the fundamental frequency, 3rd, 5th, 11th etc). Generally, crystal oscillators that operate at
overtone frequencies do so using their series resonant frequency.
Colpitts Crystal Oscillator
The design of a Crystal Oscillator is very similar to the design of the Colpitts Oscillator we looked at in the
previous tutorial, except that the LC tank circuit has been replaced by a quartz crystal as shown below.
Colpitts Crystal Oscillator
These types of Crystal Oscillators are designed around the common emitter amplifier stage of a Colpitts
Oscillator. The input signal to the base of the transistor is inverted at the transistors output. The output signal at
the collector is then taken through a 180o phase shifting network which includes the crystal operating in a series
resonant mode. the output is also fed back to the input which is "in-phase" with the input providing the necessary
positive feedback. Resistors, R1 and R2 bias the resistor in a Class Aoperation and resistor Re is chosen so
that the loop gain is slightly greater than unity.
Capacitors, C1 and C2 are made as large as possible in order that the frequency of oscillations can approximate
to the series resonant mode of the crystal and is not dependant upon the values of these capacitors. The circuit
diagram above of the Colpitts Crystal Oscillator circuit shows that capacitors, C1and C2 shunt the output of
the transistor and which reduces the feedback signal. Therefore, the gain of the transistor limits the maximum
values of C1 and C2. The output amplitude should be kept low in order to avoid excessive power dissipation in
the crystal otherwise could destroy itself by excessive vibration.
Pierce Oscillator
Another common design of crystal oscillator is that of the Pierce Oscillator. The Pierce oscillator is a crystal
oscillator that uses the crystal as part of its feedback path and therefore has no resonant tank circuit. The Pierce
Oscillator uses a JFET as its amplifying device as it provides a very high input impedance with the crystal
connected between the output Drain terminal and the input Gate terminal as shown below.
Pierce Crystal Oscillator
In this simple circuit, the crystal determines the frequency of oscillations and operates on its series resonant
frequency giving a low impedance path between output and input. There is a 180° phase shift at resonance,
making the feedback positive. The amplitude of the output sine wave is limited to the maximum voltage range at
the Drain terminal. Resistor, R1 controls the amount of feedback and crystal drive while the voltage across the
radio frequency choke, RFC reverses during each cycle. Most digital clocks, watches and timers use a Pierce
Oscillator in some form or other as it can be implemented using the minimum of components.
Microprocessor Clocks
We can not finish a Crystal Oscillators tutorial without mentioning something about Microprocessor clocks.
Virtually all microprocessors, microcontrollers, PICs and CPU's generally operate using a Crystal Quartz
Oscillator as its frequency determining device to generate their clock waveform because as we already know,
crystal oscillators provide the highest accuracy and frequency stability compared to Resistor/Capacitor or
Inductor/Capacitor oscillators. The CPU clock dictates how fast the processor can process the data and a
microprocessor having a clock speed of 1MHz means that it can process data internally 1 million times a second
at every clock cycle. Generally all that's needed to produce a microprocessor clock waveform is a crystal and two
ceramic capacitors of values ranging between 15 to 33pF as shown below.
Microprocessor Oscillator

Most microprocessors, microcontrollers and PICs have two oscillator pins labelled OSC1 and OSC2 to connect
to an external quartz crystal, RC network or even a Ceramic resonator. In this application theCrystal
Oscillator produces a train of continuous square wave pulses whose frequency is controlled by the crystal which
inturn regulates the instructions that controls the device. For example, the master clock and system timing.
Example No1
A series resonant crystal has the following values after being cut, R = 1kΩ, C = 0.05pF and L = 3H. Calculate
the fundamental frequency of oscillations of the crystal.
The frequency of oscillations for Crystal Oscillators is given as:
 Then the fundamental frequency of oscillations for the crystal is given as 411 kHz

Crystal Oscillators

NEW Parametric Search

Crystal Legacy Frequency Output Logic Package Crystal Oscillator
Oscillator Range
Series Part No. (MHz) (mm) Features

VC-820

Small Size
625 kHz to 2.5 x 3.2 x 1.0
CMOS Fundamental Oscillator with Low Jitter Performance
133.00 MHz 4 pin SMD
CMOS Output XO

XO

VC-806
Excellent Jitter and Phase Noise
Compact Size
25 to 250 or LVPECL 3.2 x 5 x 1.3
80 to 250 LVDS 6pin SMD

RoHS Compliant
XO

PX-508
Low G-Sensitivity
High shock resistant
HCMOS 9 x 14
10 to 120 Vibration hardened
LVCMOS SMD
Random Vibration according to MIL-STD-202G;
Method 214A; Condition II-D 0.1 g2/Hz / 30 grms
XO

VCC6

LVPECL 5 x 7 x 1.8
10 to 350 RoHS Compliant
LVDS 6 pin SMD
Low Jitter 3OT/Fundamental Design
< 1ps RMS Jitter
XO

VC-707

LVPECL 5 x 7 x 1.8
270.1 to 800 RoHS and Lead Free
LVDS 6 pin SMD
Assembly Compliant
Low Jitter PLL solution
XO

PS-702

SO-720
RoHS and Lead Free
5 x 7.5 x 2.0
150 to 1000 LVPECL, LVDS Assembly Compliant
6 pin SMD
3.3v, Output Disable
Very Low Jitter SAW based design
XO < 0.50 ps RMS Jitter (OC-48)

VC-801

VCC4
TTL 5 x 3.2 x 1.3
1.544 to 125 RoHS and Lead Free
CMOS 4pin SMD
Assembly Compliant
Enable Disable
XO

VCC1

TTL 5 x 7 x 1.8 RoHS and Lead Free

1.544 to 190
CMOS 4 pin SMD Assembly Compliant
Available 1.8 Vdc to
5 Vdc
XO
 VSS4
Spread Spectrum for EMI reduction
Spread
5.0 x 3.2 x 1.1
12 to 168 Spectrum
4 pin SMD
CMOS RoHS and Lead Free
Assembly Compliant
XO

VCC1-FIB3

5 x 7 x 1.8 RoHS and Lead Free

106.25 HCMOS
4 pin SMD Assembly Compliant
Low Jitter
SMD Package
XO

PX-700
Mil Temp range and Class B screening optional,
C1250 ACMOS
Previously MC032 and MC033, MC029
TTL 5 x 7 x 1.9
1 to 800 Shock Survival >15,000g
LVPECL SMD
RoHS Compliant
LVDS
Low Jitter
XO

PX-701
RoHS and Lead Free
C1260
HCMOS Assembly Compliant
5 x 7 x 2.3
1 to 175 LVPECL Reflow Process Compatible
6 pin SMD
LVDS Low Jitter
Low Phase Noise
XO Tight Stability
SONET Minimum Clock Specification

PX-501
RoHS and Lead Free
C1310 HCMOS
Assembly Compliant
PECL 14.4 x 9.5 x 5.9
1 to 700 Surface Mount Package
LVDS SMD
Reflow Process Compatible
Sinewave
AT-Cut Crystal
XO SONET Minimum Clock Specification
Good phase noise

PX-500

C1300
ACMOS
14.2 x 9.14 x 3.68 Mil Temp Range and Class B screening optional, Previously MC042, MC342,
1 to 800 TTL
SMD MC037
LVPECL

XO

VCE1

TTL 9 x 14 x 4.7
1 to 66.667 RoHS and Lead Free
HCMOS 4 pin SMD
Assembly Compliant
Industry Standard Plastic Package
XO

• Additional Crystal Oscillators

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 Programmable Crystal Oscillators

Crystal
Oscillator Legacy Frequency Range Package Crystal Oscillator
Series Part No. (MHz) Output Logic (mm) Features

VL-821 Smallest Available XO

VCS3 Quick Delivery
3.2 x 2.5 x 1.2
1 to 200 CMOS
4 pin SMD
RoHS and Lead Free
Assembly Compliant
XO

VP-700

VPC1
1.544 to 160
HCMOS / TTL 7.5 x 5 x 1.8 mm Quick Turn Programmable
(Up to 125 MHz for 3.3Vdc)

XO

VPE1

1 to 125 HCMOS / TTL 14 x 9.8 x 4.7 mm Quick Turn Programmable

XO

VM-700 Standard Foot Print

1.8V 2.5V 3.3 V Available
7.0 x 5.0 x 0.9 mm Quick Turn Capability
1 to 150 CMOS
QFN

RoHS Compliant
XO

VM-800 Standard Foot Print

1.8V 2.5V 3.3 V Available
5.0 x 3.2 x 0.9 mm Quick Turn Capability
1 to 150 CMOS
QFN

RoHS Compliant
XO

VM-820 Standard Foot Print

1.8V 2.5V 3.3 V Available
Quick Turn Capability
3.2 x 2.5 x 0.9 mm Low Cost
1 to 150 CMOS
QFN

XO RoHS Compliant

VM-840 Standard Foot Print

1.8V 2.5V 3.3 V Available
Quick Turn Capability
2.5 x 2.0 x 0.9 mm Low Cost
1 to 150 CMOS
QFN

XO RoHS Compliant

• Archived Programmable Crystal Oscillators

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 Precision Crystal Oscillators

Precision
Crystal
Oscillator Legacy Precision
Series Part No. Frequency Range Output Logic Package Crystal Oscillator Features

VMEM5Q/3Q/2Q

5.0 X 3.2 X 1.1 mm

Vibration Insensitive for
1MHz - 30MHz CMOS 3.2 X 2.5 X 0.85mm
Military/Rugged Enviroments
2.5 X 2.0 X 0.85mm

XO

XO-400

15MHz - 250MHz Complementary PECL 20.32 x 12.70 x 10.29 Ultra low jitter

XO

CO-401

CO-402

CO-441
PX-400

TTL
4 Pin
1 Hz - 200 MHz HCMOS Low Profile
CO-442 14 Pin
ACMOS

XO

CO-431/451

CO-432/452

CO-406 16kHz - 100MHz Surface Mount DIP Many custom options

XO

PX-340 CO-407 1 Hz to 700 MHz TTL 14 Pin Flatpack Many custom options
HCMOS
ACMOS
ECL
CO-447 PECL

XO

CO-437/457
 CO-408
PX-422

HCMOS
10kHz - 60MHz Ceramic LCC Small size
CO-448 ACMOS

XO

CO-446 1Hz - 175MHz HCMOS

Surface Mount DIP
Low profile
XO ACMOS
FCT
CO-449 1Hz - 100MHz ACT 4 Pin ½ DIP
Small size
XO

CO-434/454

PX-260 4MHz - 700MHz 16 Pin DIP

XO CO-484

ECL / PECL / Sinewave 10K, 10KH, ECLinPS, 10E/EL

CO-436/456

5MHz - 200MHz Gull wing metal DIP

XO

CO-233/233H 4MHz - 500MHz Sinewave Solder seal metal can PCB mount,
XO low phase noise

CO-233F/FW Reduced size,

XO PCB mount

CO-285W Reduced size,

XO PCB mount

CO-285P
XO

PX-200 16 Pin Flatpack Miniature hybrid design

CO-487

XO

CO-286W 500.1MHz-1.3GHz
Solder seal metal can
Small size to 1.3GHz
XO

CO-287W Very high frequency

1.31GHz-2.6GHz
XO to 2.6GHz

M55310/16 16kHz - 60MHz TTL 14 Pin DIP Class "S" also available
 XO

M55310/19 12 x 12

1MHz - 60MHz TTL TTL, 40 Pad LCC

XO

M55310/21 16.5 x 16.5

1MHz - 60MHz TTL TTL; 20 Lead Flatpack

XO

M55310/26

14 Pin DIP or
0.01MHz - 65MHz HCMOS
4 Pin DIP

XO

M55310/27

1MHz - 85MHz HCMOS 9 x 14 HCMOS; ceramic SMD J lead

XO

M55310/28

1MHz - 85MHz TTL 9 x 14 TTL; ceramic SMD J lead

XO

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