OSCILLATOR

Transistor
• Application of BJT / JFET transistor
– Voltage Amplifier
– Power Amplifier
– Oscillator
 Transistor amplifier

Gain of transistor = A (without feedback)

 Oscillator

• Another application of Transistor

• Oscillator: 1. Transistor amplifier
2. with POSITIVE feedback circuitry.

• To convert an amplifier into an oscillator we have

to provide positive feedback.

• We have to feed in phase signal to the input

 What is sinusoidal oscillator
• It is a circuit which gives oscillations (that is
generates sine wave)
• On its own without any ac input signal
• You just have to give a initial trigger for
oscillations to begin
• And then the oscillations are sustained unless
you switch off the circuit
 Oscillators
• Sinusoidal oscillators
• Non sinusoidal oscillators
– Relaxation oscillators
Explain Barkheusen Criterion of
Oscillation
• Oscillator is a closed loop circuit consisting of
– Amplifier with voltage gain A (Gain A= Vo / Vi)
– And a feedback circuit with a feedback ratio (β)

β : Fraction of output signal feedback to the input

Oscillator

Phase shifter to provide the additional 180 0 phase shift

Designed using
1. L and C (Hartley / Collpits oscillator)
2. R and C (RC phase shift oscillator)
3. R and C in Weinbridge configuration
4. Crystal in feedback loop
 Theory of Sinusoidal Oscillation
• To build a sinusoidal oscillator: we need to use an
amplifier with positive feedback
• Positive feedback: The signal fedback from output to
input has same phase as the input signal.
• Gain without feedback : A
(open loop gain)

• Gain with positive feedback:

• (closed loop gain)

• Afb = A
1 - Aβ
 Theory of Sinusoidal Oscillation
• Afb = A
1 - Aβ
A is a large number: Gain
β is a fractional number: Feedback factor
• If we make Aβ =1
• Afb = infinity
• Afb = Vo / Vin = infinity
• Means Vo = infinity when Vin=0
• That is we get a signal at output
without an input. This is called OSCILLATOR
 Barkheusen condition

• Criteria for oscillation is Barkhausen criteria

• It states that
– Total loop gain (Aβ ≥ 1)
• ⃓Aβ⃓ >= 1
• ∠ Aβ = 0o

To start the oscillations, the total phase shift of the

circuit must be 360° and the magnitude of the loop
gain must be greater than one.
• Feedback circuits decides the frequency of
oscillation

• Frequency of oscillation is the frequency at

which Barkhausen condition is satisfied.
Necessary condition for oscillation
• Aβ =1 (Barkhausen Condition)
• Feedback circuit is frequency dependent
circuit (we use L and C in feedback circuit)
• Aβ =1 : is satisfied at one particular frequency
• This frequency is also the frequency of the
output signal.
 Transistor amplifier as Oscillator
• Output of amplifier 180o out of phase.
• We introduce a circuit which introduces a
additional 180o in addition. (phase shifting
network )
• Makes input to amplifier 360o
• Output is fed in phase to input (positive
feedback)

• Oscillator converts DC signal to AC

 Aβ <1
• If Aβ <1 ,

• And the output will die out slowly

(attenuated)
 Aβ >1
• If Aβ >1 ,

• And the output builds up as shown which is

again undesirable.

Extra slide
 Aβ =1 (oscillator condition)
• If Aβ =1 ,

• And the output is a steady sine wave output.

Extra slide
 Transistor Oscillators
• Depending on the type of phase shifter circuit oscillators we have following
types of oscillators:
1. RC Oscillators
– Uses RC phase shifter network
– Low frequency oscillators
2. Wein bridge Oscillator
– Variable frequency oscillator
– By changing value of elements we can change value of frequency
3. Hartley oscillator
– Uses tank circuit (LC circuit ) with tapped inductor
– High frequency oscillators
4. Collpits Oscillator
– Uses tank circuit (LC circuit) with tapped capacitor
– More stable than hartley oscillator
5. Crystal Oscillator
– Uses crystal in feedback look
– High frequency oscillators
– Highest frequency stability (means frequency remains constant irrespecitve of surrounding
conditions)
RC Phase Shift Oscillator
Collpits Oscillator
Hartley Oscillator
Crystal Oscillator
RC Phase Shift Oscillator
•Amplifier provides output with a 1800 phase shift

•3 stages of RC phase shift circuit connected

between collector and base.

•Each stage provides 600 phase shift.

•Three stages provide a total phase shift of 1800

•RC phase shift network provides positive

feedback

ƒr is the Output Frequency in Hertz

R is the Resistance in Ohms
C is the Capacitance in Farads
N is the number of RC stages. (N = 3)

RC phase shift network

 Hartley Colpitts
Oacillator Oscillator

Both use tank circuit for feedback

Hartley uses tapped inductor
Colpitts uses tapped capacitor
Concept

LC resonant circuit resonates at

1
𝑓=
2π 𝐿. 𝐶
• Due to supply V

• The capacitors C1 and C2 get charged.

• On acquiring the maximum charge feasible,

they start to discharge via the inductor L.

• During this process, the electrostatic energy

stored in the capacitor gets converted into
magnetic flux which in turn is stored within
the inductor in the form of electromagnetic
energy.

• Next, the inductor starts to discharge which

charges the capacitors once again.

• Likewise, the cycle continues which gives rise

to the oscillations in the tank circuit.
Collpits Oscillator • The power supply is switched ON

• The transistor starts to conduct

• increasing the collector current IC

• due to which the capacitors C1 and C2 get

charged.

• On acquiring the maximum charge feasible,

they start to discharge via the inductor L.

• During this process, the electrostatic energy

stored in the capacitor gets converted into
magnetic flux which in turn is stored within the
inductor in the form of electromagnetic
energy.

• Next, the inductor starts to discharge which

charges the capacitors once again.

• Likewise, the cycle continues which gives rise

to the damped oscillations in the tank circuit.
• The two capacitors C1 & C2 are center tapped and
grounded

• The feedback voltage is the voltage across C2.

• the voltage across capacitor C2 (feedback voltage) is 1800

with the voltage across capacitor C1 (output voltage).

• The common emitter transistor produces 1800 phase shift

between the input and output voltage.

• Thus, from the Barkhausen criterion we can get undamped

continuous oscillations.

• feedback ratio given by (C1 / C2).

• The frequency of such a Colpitts Oscillator depends on the

components in its tank circuit and is given by
 • On switching ON the power supply
Hartley
Oscillator • the transistor starts to conduct, leading to an increase
in the collector current, IC which charges the capacitor
C.

• On acquiring the maximum charge feasible, C starts to

discharge via the inductors L1 and L2.

• This charging and discharging cycles result in the

damped oscillations in the tank circuit.

• The oscillation current in the tank circuit produces an

AC voltage across the inductors L1 and L2 which are out
of phase by 180o as their point of contact is grounded.
The feedback voltage across L2 which is already 180o out-of-phase

the transistor is provided by an additional 180o phase-shift due to the transistor action.

Hence the signal which appears at the transistor's output will be amplified and will have
a net phase-shift of 360o.
 Frequency of output waveform of
Hartley oscillator

Feedback ratio : β = L2 / L1

LC oscillator, a circuit which can be used

for frequencies in between 1MHz and 500MHz
 Colpitts Oscillator

The advantage of this type of capacitive circuit configuration is that

• with less self and mutual inductance within the tank circuit

•Hence frequency stability of the oscillator is improved

• along with a more simple design.

 Drawback of LC and RC oscillators
• Introduction:
• More practical for frequencies much below 1MHz

– RC oscillators become more practical than LC types

because of the physical size

– and expense of the inductors and capacitors required

at low frequencies.
 RC has a drawback at
variable frequency
• A problem arises with RC oscillators however, when a
variable frequency is required.
• In LC oscillators a single tuned circuit controls the
frequency,
– which can be changed simply by making either a single
inductor or a single capacitor variable.
– The frequency of oscillation in RC types, such as the phase
shift oscillator, is controlled using multiple RC combinations
to produce the correct amount of phase shift at the
required frequency.
• To alter the frequency, it is therefore necessary to alter the value
of at least three components, either resistors or capacitors
simultaneously.

• Ganged variable capacitors may be used, the size of capacitors

needed at low (e.g. audio) frequencies means that the capacitors
would have to be physically too large to be practicable.

• multiple variable resistors but much more difficult to ensure that

the tracking of such components is accurate enough, i.e. as the
resistance of the multiple resistors is varied, they must each
change their resistance at exactly the same rate. Again the cost of
suitable components becomes impractical for many purposes.
So for variable frequency we use
Wien Bridge Oscillator

Wein Bridge oscillator is a audio oscillator for all

frequencies in the range 20 Hz to 20kHz.
• The two most common audio-oscillator circuits
are the Wien bridge oscillator and the phase-shift
oscillator, both of which employ RC feedback
networks.

• The Wien bridge offers some very attractive

features, including
– a straightforward design,
– a relatively pure sine-wave output,
– and a very stable frequency.
Wien Bridge Oscillator Circuit
Wein Bridge Circuit • At a particular frequency the values of the resistance
and the capacitive reactance will become equal to each
Feed back circuit other

• The condition for balance for an ac bridge is

Input Z1 Z4 = Z2 Z3

Output • producing maximum output voltage.

• This frequency is referred to as resonant frequency
which is given as

The bridge is balanced at a frequency:

1
f =
2 (C1 R1C 2 R2 ) 1 / 2
If C1 = C2 = C and R1 = R2 =R
1
f =
2RC
Where
f = frequency of oscillation of the circuit in Hertz
C = capacitance in farads
R = resistance in ohms
The base current of the first
transistor is changed randomly due
to noise in the DC supply.

The base current is applied to the

collector terminal of the first
transistor and the phase shift is
about the 180°.

The output of the first transistor is

given to the base terminal of the
second transistor Q2 with the help of
the capacitor C4.

Further, this signal is amplified by

the second transistor of collector
terminal.

BJT amplifier Q2 provides 180o phase

shifted output.

The output is given to wein bridge

Feed back circuit.
 Advantages
• The overall gain is quite high because of two
transistors.
• The frequency of oscillations can be easily
changed by using a potentiometer.
 Disadvantages
• The circuit requires two transistors and a large
number of components
• It cannot generate very high frequencies
 Crystal Oscillator
• Certain crystalline materials
– Rochelle salt
– Quartz
– Tourmaline
• Exhibit piezoelectric effect
• i.e. when we apply an ac voltage across them, they vibrate at a
frequency of applied voltage
• Conversely when placed under mechanical strain to vibrate they
produce ac voltage.
• Such crystals which exhibit piezo electric effect are called as
piezoelectric crystals.
• Quartz is most commonly used
– Because it is inexpensive and readily available in nature.
The crystal actually behaves as a series R-L-C circuit in parallel with
CM where CM is the capacitance of the mounting electrodes.
 Series / Pierce Crystal Oscillator

At resonance
Crystal offers minimum impedance
And feeds the output signal to the input
There is a 180ophase shift making the feedback positive.
 Series mode crystal oscillator
• To excite a crystal for operation in the series-resonant mode
– it may be connected as a series element in a feedback path,
– In this mode of operation the crystal impedance is the smallest and the amount of
positive feedback is the largest.
– Resistor R1, R2 and RE provide a voltage-divider stabilized dc bias circuit,
– the capacitor CE provides ac bypass of the emitter resistor Re
– the radio-frequency coil (RFC) provides for dc bias -while decoupling any ac signal on
the power lines from affecting the output signal.
– The voltage feedback signal from the collector to the base is maximum when the
crystal impedance is minimum (that is, The series-resonant mode).
– The coupling capacitor Cc has negligible impedance at the circuit operating frequency
but blocks any dc between collector and base.
– The circuit shown in figure is generally called the Pierce crystal. The resulting circuit
frequency of oscillations is set by the series resonant frequency of the crystal.
– Variations in supply voltage, transistor parameters, etc. have no effect on the circuit
operating frequency which is held stabilized by the crystal.
– The circuit frequency stability is set by the crystal frequency stability, which is good.