Pierce oscillator

The Pierce oscillator is a type of electronic oscillator particularly well-suited for use in
piezoelectric crystal oscillator circuits. Named for its inventor, George W. Pierce (1872-
1956),[1][2] the Pierce oscillator is a derivative of the Colpitts oscillator. Virtually all
digital IC clock oscillators are of Pierce type, as the circuit can be implemented using a
minimum of components: a single digital inverter, two resistors, two capacitors, and the
quartz crystal, which acts as a highly selective filter element. The low manufacturing cost
of this circuit, and the outstanding frequency stability of the quartz crystal, give it an
advantage over other designs in many consumer electronics applications.

Operation
Biasing resistor
R1 acts as a feedback resistor, biasing the inverter in its linear region of operation and
effectively causing it to function as a high gain inverting amplifier. To see this, assume
the inverter is ideal, with infinite input impedance and zero output impedance. The
resistor forces the input and output voltages to be equal. Hence the inverter will neither
be fully on nor fully off, but will operate in the transition region where it has gain.

Resonator
The crystal in combination with C1 and C2 forms a pi network band-pass filter, which
provides a 180 degree phase shift and a voltage gain from the output to input at
approximately the resonant frequency of the crystal. To understand the operation, note
that at the frequency of oscillation, the crystal appears inductive. Thus, it can be
considered a large, high Q inductor. The combination of the 180 degree phase shift (i.e.
inverting gain) from the pi network, and the negative gain from the inverter, results in a
positive loop gain (positive feedback), making the bias point set by R1 unstable and
leading to oscillation.

Isolation resistor
Ruan Lourens strongly recommends a series resistor Rs between the output of the
inverter and the crystal. The series resistor Rs reduces the chance of overtone oscillation
and can improve start-up time.[3] A second resistor could be used between the output of
the inverter and the crystal to isolate the inverter from the crystal network. This would
also add additional phase shift to C1.[4]

Load capacitance
The total capacitance seen from the crystal looking into the rest of the circuit is called the
"load capacitance". When a manufacturer makes a "parallel" crystal, a technician adjusts
a Pierce oscillator with a variable capacitor (often 18 or 20 pF) to trim the crystal to
oscillate at exactly the frequency written on its package.

To assure operation at the correct frequency, one must make sure the capacitances in the
circuit match the value specified on the crystal's data sheet. Load capacitance CL can be
calculated from the series combination of C1 and C2, taking into account Ci and Co, the
input and output capacitance of the inverter, and Cs, the stray capacitances from the
oscillator, PCB layout, and crystal case (typically 3-9 pF):[5][6][7] [8]

C_L = {[C_1 + C_i] \times [C_2 + C_o] \over [C_1 + C_i + C_2 + C_o]} +
C_\mathrm{S}

When a "series" crystal is used in a Pierce oscillator, the Pierce oscillator (as always)
drives the crystal at nearly its parallel resonance frequency. But that frequency is few
kilohertz higher than the series resonant frequency printed on the package of a "series"
crystal. Increasing the "load capacitance" slightly decreases the frequency generated by a
Pierce oscillator, but never enough to reduce it all the way down to the series resonant
frequency.

Pierce Crystal Oscillator

The Pierce crystal oscillator (Figure 13) is a series resonant circuit for Fundamental mode
crystals. It oscillates just above the series resonant frequency of the crystal [3]. The
Pierce oscillator is designed to look into the lowest possible impedance across the crystal
terminals

FIGURE 13: PIERCE CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR

In the Pierce oscillator, the ground point location has a profound effect on the
performance. Large phase shifts in RC networks and large shunt capacitances to ground
on both sides of the crystal make the oscillation frequency relatively insensitive to small
changes in series resistances or shunt capacitances. In addition, RC rolloff networks and
shunt capacitances to ground minimize any transient noise spikes which give the circuit a
high immunity to noise
At series resonance, the crystal appears resistive in the circuit (Figure 14) and the phase
shift around the circuit is 2p radians (360 degrees). If the frequency of the circuit shifts
above or below the series resonant frequency of the crystal, it poses more or less phase
shift such that the total is not equal to 360 degrees. Therefore, steady-state operation is
maintained at the crystal frequency. However, this only happens in an ideal circuit.

FIGURE 14: PIERCE CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR, IDEAL OPERATION [6]

In actual circuit operation (Figure 15), the phase shift through the transistor is typically
more than 180 degrees because of increased delay and the tuned circuit typically falls
short of 180 degrees. Therefore the crystal must appear inductive to provide the phase
shift needed in the circuit to sustain oscillation.

FIGURE 15: PIERCE CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR, ACTUAL OPERATION [6]

Thus the output frequency of the Pierce crystal oscillator is not at the crystal series
resonant frequency. Typically a parallel resonant crystal is specified by frequency and
load capacitance (CL). CL is the circuit capacitance the crystal expects to see and operate
at the desired frequency. The circuit load capacitance is determined by external
capacitors C2 and C3, transistor internal capacitance, and stray capacitance (CS). The
product design engineer selects the values of capacitors C2 and C3 to match the crystal
CL using the below equation:

Stray capacitance can be assumed to be in the range of 2 to 5 pF. PCB stray capacitance
can be minimized by keeping traces as short as possible. A desirable characteristic of the
Pierce oscillator is the effects of stray reactances and biasing resistors appear across the
capacitors C2 and C3 in the circuit rather than the crystal. If the circuit load capacitance
does not equal the crystal CL, the operating frequency of the Pierce oscillator will
not be at the specified crystal frequency.

For example,
if the crystal CL is kept constant and the values of C2 and C3 are increased, the operating
frequency approaches the crystal series resonant frequency (i.e, the operating frequency
of the oscillator decreases). Care should be used in selecting values of C2 and C3.
Large values increase frequency stability but decrease the loop gain and may cause
oscillator start-up problems. Typically the values of C2 and C3 are equal. A trimmer
capacitor can be substituted for C2 or C3 in order to manually tune the Pierce oscillator to
the desired frequency. Select capacitors with a low temperature coefficient such as NP0
or C0G types.