Vijila M

Objectives
 Describe the basic concept of an oscillator
 Discuss the basic principles of operation of an
oscillator
 Analyze the operation of RC and LC oscillators
 Describe the operation of the basic relaxation
oscillator circuits
 Introduction
 Oscillator is an electronic circuit that generates a
periodic waveform on its output without an external
signal source. It is used to convert dc to ac.
 Oscillators are circuits that produce a continuous
signal of some type without the need of an input.
 These signals serve a variety of purposes.
 Communications systems, digital systems
(including computers), and test equipment make use
of oscillators
 Oscillators
Oscillation: an effect that repeatedly and regularly
fluctuates about the mean value

Oscillator: circuit that produces oscillation

Characteristics: wave-shape, frequency, amplitude,

distortion, stability

Vivek Arya 4 Analog Circuits

 Application of Oscillators
Oscillators are used to generate signals, e.g.
 Used as a local oscillator to transform the RF signals to IF
signals in a receiver;
 Used to generate RF carrier in a transmitter
 Used to generate clocks in digital systems;
 Used as sweep circuits in TV sets and CRO.

Vivek Arya 5 Analog Circuits

Oscillators

 Oscillators are circuits that generate periodic

signals
 An oscillator converts DC power from the power
supply into AC signal power spontaneously -
without the need for an AC input source

Figure 1 Repetitive ramp waveform.

 Introduction
 An oscillator is a circuit that produces a repetitive signal from
a dc voltage.
 The feedback oscillator relies on a positive feedback of the
output to maintain the oscillations.
 The relaxation oscillator makes use of an RC timing circuit to
generate a nonsinusoidal signal such as square wave
Sine wave

Square wave

Sawtooth wave
 Types of oscillators
1. RC oscillators
 Wien Bridge
 Phase-Shift
2. LC oscillators
 Hartley
 Colpitts
 Crystal
 Clapp
3. Unijunction / relaxation oscillators
 Linear Oscillators

Figure 4 A linear oscillator is formed by connecting an amplifier and a feedback

network in a loop.
 Integrant of Linear Oscillators

+ V
V
s  A m plifie r(A ) V
o

+
P
os
itiv
e V
f F
re
quen
c y-Selec
tiv
e
F
eed
bac
kN etw o
rk()
F
ee
d bac
k

For sinusoidal input is connected

“Linear” because the output is approximately sinusoidal

A linear oscillator contains:

- a frequency selection feedback network
- an amplifier to maintain the loop gain at unity

Vivek Arya 10 Analog Circuits, Unit 5: Oscillators

 How does the oscillation get started?

Noise signals and the transients associated with the

circuit turning on provide the initial source signal that
initiate the oscillation
 Practical Design Considerations
Usually, oscillators are designed so that the loop gain
magnitude is slightly higher than unity at the desired
frequency of oscillation
This is done because if we designed for unity loop gain
magnitude a slight reduction in gain would result in
oscillations that die to zero
The drawback is that the oscillation will be slightly
distorted (the higher gain results in oscillation that grows
up to the point that will be clipped)
 Basic principles for oscillation
 The feedback oscillator is widely used for
generation of sine wave signals.
The positive (in phase) feedback arrangement
maintains the oscillations.
The feedback gain must be kept to unity to keep the
output from distorting.
 Basic principles for oscillation

In phase

Vf Vo
Av

Noninverting
amplifier

Feedback
circuit
 RC Oscillators
 RC feedback oscillators are generally limited to
frequencies of 1 MHz or less.

 The types of RC oscillators that we will discuss are

the Wien-bridge and the phase-shift
 Wien-bridge Oscillator
 It is a low frequency oscillator which ranges from a
few kHz to 1 MHz.
Wien-Bridge oscillator output

Figure Example of output voltage of the oscillator.

 Phase-Shift Oscillator
 The phase shift oscillator utilizes three RC circuits
to provide 180º phase shift that when coupled with
the 180º of the op-amp itself provides the necessary
feedback to sustain oscillations.
 The gain must be at least 29 to maintain the
oscillations.
 The frequency of resonance for the this type is
similar to any RC circuit oscillator:

1
fr 
2 6RC
 Phase-Shift Oscillator

C R2
R
C v2
C v1 v2 v3
vi v1 vo

R R
vo R2
A(s)  
3
v3 R
 sRC   sRC 
v1   vi v3    vi
 1  sRC   1  sRC 
3
 sRC 
2
 sRC  v3
  ( s)   
v2    vi
 1  sRC  vi  1  sRC 
 LC Oscillators
 Use transistors and LC tuned circuits or crystals in
their feedback network.
 For hundreds of kHz to hundreds of MHz frequency
range.
 Examine Colpitts, Hartley and crystal oscillator.
 Colpitts Oscillator
 The Colpitts oscillator is a type
of oscillator that uses an LC
circuit in the feed-back loop.
 The feedback network is made
up of a pair of tapped
capacitors (C1 and C2) and an
inductor L to produce a
feedback necessary for
oscillations.
 The output voltage is
developed across C1.
 The feedback voltage is
developed across C2.
 Crystal Oscillator
 Most communications and digital applications require the
use of oscillators with extremely stable output. Crystal
oscillators are invented to overcome the output fluctuation
experienced by conventional oscillators.
 Crystals used in electronic applications consist of a quartz
wafer held between two metal plates and housed in a a
package as shown in Fig. 9 (a) and (b).
 Crystal Oscillator
 Piezoelectric Effect
 The quartz crystal is made of silicon oxide (SiO2) and
exhibits a property called the piezoelectric
 When a changing an alternating voltage is applied across
the crystal, it vibrates at the frequency of the applied
voltage. In the other word, the frequency of the applied ac
voltage is equal to the natural resonant frequency of the
crystal.
 The thinner the crystal, higher its frequency of vibration.
This phenomenon is called piezoelectric effect.
 Unijunction Oscillator
 The unijunction transistor
can be used in what is
called a relaxation oscillator
as shown by basic circuit as
follow.
 The unijunction oscillator
provides a pulse signal
suitable for digital-circuit
applications. UJT

 Resistor RT and capacitor CT

are the timing components
that set the circuit
oscillating rate
 Unijunction Oscillator
 Sawtooth wave
appears at the emitter
of the transistor.
This wave shows the
gradual increase of
capacitor voltage
Thank You