RC Phase Shift, Wien Bridge, Colpitts & Hartley

Oscillators

1
 The RC Phase-Shift Oscillator

 One of the simplest kinds of Oscillators incorporating an operational amplifier

in inverting configuration that drives three cascaded (High Pass) RC sections.
 The inverting amplifier causes a 1800 phase shift in the signal passing through
it, and the cascaded RC section introduces an additional 1800 at some
frequency.
 When the signal having that frequency is fed back to the inverting amplifier as
shown in figure., the total phase shift around the loop will equal (1800 +1800 =
3600) or equivalently (-1800 +1800 = 00). 2
 The RC Phase-Shift Oscillator

 The loop gain at that frequency = 1.

 The Gain necessary to overcome the loss in the RC cascade and bring the loop
gain up to 1 is supplied by the amplifier (V0/Vi = -Rf / R1).
 It can be shown that the feedback ratio determined by the RC cascade (with R1
open).

 In order for oscillation to occur, the cascade

must shift the phase of the signal by 1800,
which means the angle of b must be 1800.
 When the angle b is 1800, b is purely real
number which means the imaginary part of
the denominator of above equation will
become Zero.
 Setting the imaginary part equal to Zero and
find the value of w. 3
 The RC Phase-Shift Oscillator

 The resistor R1 is effectively in parallel with the

rightmost resistor R in the RC cascade, because
the inverting input of the amplifier is at virtual ground.
 Hence when the feedback loop is closed by connecting the cascade to R1, the
frequency satisfying the phase criterion will be some what different than that
predicted by frequency equation.
 If R1 >> R, so that R1|| R ~ R then equation will closely predict the oscillation
frequency.
 We can find the gain that the amplifier must supply by finding the reduction in
gain caused by the RC cascade.
 This we find by evaluating the
magnitude of b at the oscillation
frequency.
 At the frequency, the imaginary
term in equation is 0 and b is the
real number.
4
 The RC Phase-Shift Oscillator

 The –ve sign confirms that the cascade inverts the feedback at the oscillation
frequency.
 We see that the amplifier must supply a gain of -29 to make the loop gain
Ab=1.
 Thus we require

 In practice the feedback resistor is made adjustable to allow for small

differences in component values and for the loading caused by R1.

5
 The Wien Bridge Oscillator
 Operational amplifier is used in a non-inverting configuration .
 Impedance blocks labeled Z1 and Z2 form a voltage divider that determines the
feedback ratio.
 Feedback is through the impedance divider to the + input of the amplifier.
 Resistor Rg & Rf determine the amplifier gain and are selected to make the
magnitude of the loop gain equal to 1.
 If the feedback impedances are chosen properly there will be some frequency
at which there is zero phase shift in the signal fed back to the amplifier input
(v+).
 Since the amplifier is also non-inverting it also
contributes zero phase shift so the total phase
shift around the loop is 0 at that frequency as
required for oscillation.
 In the most common version of the Wien Bridge
oscillator Z1 is a series RC combination and Z2
is a parallel RC combination as shown in Fig.
6
 The Wien Bridge Oscillator
For this configuration

and

The Feedback ratio is then

Which upon simplification becomes

For V+ to have the same phase as V0, the ratio must be a purely real so setting
imaginary term equal to zero and solving for
Oscillation frequency.

7
 The Wien Bridge Oscillator
In most applications the resistors are made equal and so the capacitors:
R1 = R2 = R and C1 = C2 = C
In this case the Oscillation frequency becomes

When R1 = R2 = R and C1 = C2 = C, the capacitive reactance of each capacitor at

the oscillation frequency is

Substituting the above capacitive reactances in the feedback ratio equation gives

8
 The Wien Bridge Oscillator
Therefore the amplifier must provide a gain of 3 to make the magnitude of
the loop gain unity and sustain oscillation.
Since the amplifier gain is

We require

9
 The Colpitts Oscillator
 In colpitts oscillator the impedance in the feedback circuit is a resonant LC
network.
 The frequency of oscillation is the resonant frequency of the network which is
the frequency at which the phase shift through the network is 1800.
 At resonant frequency , the impedance is a real number.
 The impedance looking into the network from the amplifier output is the
parallel combination of

10
 The Colpitts Oscillator
 In order for Z to equal a real umber , the imaginary term must equal zero.
Thus at resonance:

Or

Solving for w gives the oscillation frequency:

Where

Note:
This computation is based on the assumption that the left hand side of the
network is open.
 In reality it is loaded by resistor R1. Therefore equation of resonant
frequency is valid for the condition when R1>> XC2 11
 The Colpitts Oscillator
 Since V0 appears across the voltage divider consisting of L and C2 the
feedback factor (again neglecting R1) is

 Since XL = XC1 + XC2 at resonant frequency, the feedback factor at resonance

is

 Note that b is real and has angle 1800 as required.

 In order for loop gain to equal 1, we require

 Thus the closed loop gain of the inverting amplifier must be at least C2/C1.
12
 The Hartley Oscillator
The impedance in the feedback oscillator is a
Resonant LC network consist of two inductors
and one capacitor .
As the colpitts oscillator , oscillation occurs at
the resonant frequency of the network, the frequency
at which its impedance is real.
Following the same procedure used to derive the
Oscillation frequency and feedback factor of
Colpitts oscillator we can show

Where LT = L1 + L2
And b = --L2 / L1 (at resonance)

13
 The Hartley Oscillator

If L1 and L2 are wound on the same core and therefore have Mutual
inductance M the inductor equation will become
LT = L1 + L2 + 2M
In order to satisfy |A0b| > 1 in Hartley oscillator we require from equation

Rf L1
A0  
R1 L2

14