The Wien-Bridge Oscillator

sCR
R
Z
P
+
=
1
and
1
S
sCR
Z
sC
+
= which gives: ( )
( )

+ +
|
|

\
|
+ =
sCR sCR R
R
s T
/ 1 3
1
1
1
2

Now since the circuit is a positive feedback circuit, the condition for oscillation is simply: T(j) = 1 i.e.
( )
( )

+ +
|
|

\
|
+ =
CR j CR j R
R
j T
o o
o

/ 1 3
1
1
1
2
= 1
Since T(j
o
) must be real, the imaginary part of the above expression must be zero i.e.
CR j
CR j
o
o

1
+ = 0
Which gives the frequency of oscillation as:
CR
o
1
= or
CR
f
o
2
1
=
And the magnitude condition then becomes: |

\
|
|
|

\
|
+ =
3
1
1 1
1
2
R
R
2
1
2
=
R
R

Note that to ensure the startup of oscillation, we may need 2
1
2
>
R
R

Example:
Design the above Wien-bridge oscillator to oscillate at f
o
= 20 kHz.
Solution:
From above,
CR
f
o
2
1
=
o
f
CR
2
1
= =
( )
3
10 20 2
1

= 7.96 10
-6

As usual in many electronic circuit designs, there is no unique solution and reasonably sized component values
should be chosen whenever possible. A 10 k resistor and a 796 pF capacitor satisfy this requirement. R
2
= 20 k
and R
1
= 10 k would satisfy the requirement, R
2
/R
1
= 2.
Q. How would you kick-start the above circuit into oscillation ?
Note - the Wien-bridge oscillator is one of the most popular audio frequency oscillators because of its simplicity
and stability.
Ex. Design the above Wien-bridge oscillator for f
o
= 800 Hz. Assume R = R
1
= 10 k.
(Ans: C 0.02 uF, R
2
= 20 k)
Consider the circuit shown right consisting of an op-amp connected
in a non-inverting configuration and two RC networks connected as
a frequency selecting feedback circuit. Since the non-inverting
amplifier introduces zero phase shift, the feedback circuit must also
introduce zero phase shift for the circuit to oscillate. The loop gain
is the product of the amplifier gain and the feedback transfer
function, i.e.
( )
S P
P
Z Z
Z
R
R
s T
+
|
|

\
|
+ =
1
2
1
where Z
P
and Z
S
are the parallel and series RC network impedances
respectively, i.e.
Wien-Bridge Oscillator

Z
S

Z
P

v
O

v
I