Oscillator Circuits

II. Oscillator Operation

For self-sustaining oscillations:
the feedback signal must positive
the overall gain must be equal to one (unity gain)

If the feedback signal is not positive or the gain is less than one, then the oscillations will
dampen out.
If the overall gain is greater than one, then the oscillator will eventually saturate.

Types of Oscillator Circuits

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

Phase-Shift Oscillator
Wien Bridge Oscillator
Tuned Oscillator Circuits
Crystal Oscillators
Unijunction Oscillator

A. Phase-Shift Oscillator

Frequency of the oscillator:

f0

1
2RC 6

(the frequency where the phase shift is 180)

Feedback gain = 1/[1 52 j (6 3) ] where = 1 / (2fRC)

Feedback gain at the frequency of the oscillator = 1 / 29
The amplifier must supply enough gain to compensate for losses. The overall gain must be
unity. Thus the gain of the amplifier stage must be greater than 1/, i.e. A > 29
The RC networks provide the necessary phase shift for a positive feedback. They also
determine the frequency of oscillation.

Example of a Phase-Shift Oscillator

FET Phase-Shift Oscillator

Example 1

BJT Phase-Shift Oscillator

R R hie

h fe 23 29

RC
R
4
R
RC

Phase-shift oscillator using op-amp

B. Wien Bridge Oscillator

V i Vd Vb
Z2
R4
1
1

R3
Va
Z 1 Z 2 R3 R4 Z 1
Vo
1
1
Z2
R4

R3 R1 C 2

R4 R2 C1

Z2
Z
, i.e., 1 should have zero phase at the oscillation frequency When R1 R2 R and C 1 C 2 C then
Z1 Z 2
Z2

So frequency of oscillation is

f0

1
2 R1C 1 R2C 2

f0

R3
1
, and
2
R4
2RC

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Example 2

Calculate the resonant frequency of the Wien bridge oscillator shown above
f0

1
1

3120.7 Hz
2RC 2 (51 10 3 )(1 10 9 )

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C. Tuned Oscillator Circuits

Tuned Oscillators use a parallel LC resonant circuit (LC tank) to provide the oscillations.
There are two common types:
Colpitts The resonant circuit is an inductor and two capacitors.
Hartley The resonant circuit is a tapped inductor or two inductors and one
capacitor.

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Colpitts Tuned Oscillator Circuit

FET based Colpitts Oscillator

Frequency of oscillations:

f0

CC
1
, where C eq 1 2
C1 C 2
2 LC eq

13

Transistor Colpitts oscillator.

14

Op-amp Colpitts oscillator.

15

Hartley Tuned Oscillator Circuit

FET Hartley Oscillator

Frequency of oscillations:

f0

1
, where Leq L1 L2 2 L12
2 Leq C

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BJT based Hartley Oscillator

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D. Crystal Oscillators
The crystal appears to the rest of the circuit as a resonant circuit.

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Crystal Resonant Frequencies

The crystal has two resonant frequencies:
Series resonant: RLC determine the resonant frequency. The crystal has a low impedance.
Parallel resonant: RL and CM determine the resonant frequency. The crystal has a high
impedance.
The series and parallel resonant frequencies are very close, within 1% of each other.

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Series Resonant Crystal Oscillator

FET Crystal Oscillator

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Parallel Resonant Crystal Oscillator

BJT Crystal Oscillator

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Crystal Oscillator using Op-amp

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E. Unijunction Oscillator

Frequency of oscillations:

f0

1
RT CT ln1 ( 1 )

where = 0.4 to 0.6

is a rating of the unijunction transistor.

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Unijunction Oscillator Waveforms

VBB VB 2 VB1
V P VBB VB1 VD

The unijunction oscillator (or relaxation oscillator) produces a sawtooth waveform.

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25

Unijunction transistor (UJT): basic construction.

26

UJT Unijunction Transistor

The UJT is also basically a switching device.
Schematic Symbol:

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UJT Basic Operation

Even though the UJT is a switching device it works very differently from the SCR variety
of devices.

The equivalent circuit indicates that the UJT is like a diode and a resistive voltage divider
circuit. The resistance exhibited by RB1 is variable; it is dependent on the value of current
IE.

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UJT Characteristic Curve

A voltage is applied across the UJT (VBB) and to the Emitter input (VE). Once VE reaches a
peak value (Vp) the UJT begins to conduct. At the point where VE = Vp, the current IE is at
minimum. This is the threshold value of VE that puts the UJT into conduction. Once
conducting, IE increases and VE decreases. This phenomenon occurs because the internal
resistance labeled RB1 in the equivalent circuit decreases as the UJT conducts more and
more. This is called negative resistance.

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