OSCILLATORS

RC Phase Shift Oscillator Using Op-amp

Operational amplifier RC oscillators are commonly used oscillators , as compared to
the transistorized oscillators. This type of oscillator consists of an op-amp as amplifier stage
and three RC cascaded networks as feedback circuit as shown in figure below.

This op-amp is operated in inverting mode and hence the output signal of the op-amp is
shifted by 180 degrees to the input signal appeared at inverting terminal. And an additional
180 degrees phase shift is provided by the RC feedback network and hence the condition for
obtaining the oscillations.

1. The gain of the amplifier or op-amp is adjusted with help of Rf and R1 resistances.

(a). To get the required oscillations, the gain is adjusted in such a way that the

product of op-amp gain and gain of feedback network is slightly greater than 1.

(b). The above circuit acts as an oscillator as the loop gain is greater than unity ,

if the op-amp provides the gain greater than 29.

 2. The frequency of oscillations,

1/ (2 π R C √ 6)

The condition of oscillations is given by A ≥ 29.

We can get this gain value of the amplifier (A) so that the oscillations occur in
the circuit by adjusting Rf and R1.

Example Problem

For a given op-amp RC phase shift oscillator, determine the value of Rf necessary for the
circuit and also determine the frequency of oscillations.

We
know that the condition for oscillation is expressed as

A = 29

Where A is the again of the amplifier, hence the feedback network gain, β = 1/29 = R3/Rf.

Therefore, Rf = 29 × R3

= 29 × 10 × 103
 = 290 K Ohms

Since the R1 = R2 = R3 = R and C1 = C2 = C3 = C,

Then the frequency of oscillations is

f = 1/ (2 π R C √ 6)

= 1/ (2 π × (10 × 103) × 0.01× 10-6 × √ 6)

= 6.5 KHz.

Advantages of Phase Shift Oscillators

 Due to the absence of expensive and bulky high-value inductors, circuit is simple to
design and well suited for frequencies below 10 KHz.
 These can produce pure sinusoidal waveform since only one frequency can fulfill the
Barkhausen phase shift requirement.
 It is fixed to one frequency.

Disadvantages of Phase Shift Oscillators

For a variable frequency usage, phase shift oscillators are not suited because the capacitor
values will have to be varied. And also, for frequency change in every time requires gain
adjustment for satisfying the condition of oscillations.

 These oscillators produce 5% of distortion level in the output.

 This oscillator gives only a small output due to smaller feedback
 These oscillator circuits require a high gain which is practically impossible.
 The frequency stability is poor due to the effect of temperature, aging, etc. of various
circuit components.
 WIEN BRIDGE OSCILLATORS
Due to the advantages like good frequency stability, very low distortion and ease of
tuning, a Wien bridge oscillator becomes the most popular audio frequency range signal
generator circuit. This type of oscillator uses RC feedback network so it can also be
considered as RC oscillator.

The main difference between the general oscillator and Wien bridge oscillator is that in an
oscillator, amplifier stage introduces 180 degrees phase shift and additional 180 degrees
phase shift is introduced by feedback network so as to obtain the 360 degrees or zero phase
shift around the loop to satisfy the Barkhausen criteria.

But, in case of the Wien bridge oscillator, a non inverting amplifier used in amplifier stage
does not introduce any phase shift. Hence there is no need of phase shift through feedback
network is required in order to satisfy the Barkhausen criteria.

A Wien bridge oscillator produces sine waves which uses RC network as the
frequency determining portion of the circuit.

When the bridge is balanced the input voltage to the amplifier becomes zero, so in order to
produce the sustained oscillations input to the amplifier must be non-vanishing. Therefore
the bridge is unbalanced by adjusting the proper values of the resistors.

The RC network is responsible for determining the frequency of the oscillator.

This RC network consists of two frequency sensitive arms namely series R1,C1 and parallel
R2, C2.

This network is also called as lead-lag circuit.

The output voltage across the capacitor lags behind the input voltage by an angle between 0
to – 90 degrees in the lag circuit. In the lead circuit, the output voltage across the resistor
leads the input voltage by an angle between 0 and 90 degrees.

At very low frequencies the output voltage becomes zero since the series capacitor behaves
as an open circuited and also there is no output at very high frequencies since the parallel
capacitor acts as shorted circuited path to the input voltage. Therefore in-between these
two extreme conditions, the output voltage reach to the maximum value.

The resonant frequency is the frequency at which the output voltage is maximum.

At this frequency, feedback fraction K reaches to a maximum value of 1/3.

The feedback will be maximum when Xc = R and hence the resonant frequency is given by

f = 1 / 2πRC

In order to maintain oscillations, the amplifier must have a gain greater than 3.

Wien Bridge Oscillator Using Op-amp

The figure below shows a widely used type of Wien bridge oscillator.

The operational amplifier is used in a non inverting configuration and feedback

form a voltage divider network.
The resistances R1 and Rf forms the part of the feedback path which determines
or facilitates to adjust the amplifier gain.

The output of op-amp is connected as input to the bridge at points a and c while
the output of the bridge at points b and d are connected to the input of op-amp.

A portion of the amplifier output is feedback through the voltage divider network (a series
combination of resistor and capacitor) to the positive or non-inverting terminal of the
amplifier.

Also, second portion of the amplifier is feedback to the inverting or negative terminal of the
amplifier through the impedance of magnitude 2R.

If the feedback network elements are chosen properly, the phase shift of the signal input to
the amplifier is zero at certain frequency. Since the amplifier is non-inverting which
introduce zero phase shift plus the feedback network zero phase shift, the total phase shift
becomes zero around the loop hence the required condition of oscillations.

Therefore the Wien bridge oscillator works as a sine wave generator whose frequency of
oscillations is determined by R and C components.
The gain of the operational amplifier is expressed as

A = 1 + (Rf / R1)

As we discussed above that the gain of non-inverting amplifier must be of

minimum 3 to satisfy Barkhausen criterion.

Therefore, 1 + (Rf / R1) ≥ 3

→ (Rf / R1) ≥ 2

Therefore the ratio of resistances Rf to R1 must be equal to or greater than 2. The

frequency of oscillations is given by

f = 1 / 2πRC