Oscillators

Chapter 16. Floyd 7th edition

Dr. Muhammad Faraz

Department of Electronics Engineering
University of Engineering & Technology Taxila
Email: Muhammad.faraz@uettaxila.edu.pk
 Introduction
• Oscillators are electronic devices that generate an output signal without the
necessity of input signal.

• Different types of oscillators produce various types of outputs including sine

wave, square wave, triangular waves and saw tooth waves.

• In this chapter, several types of basic oscillator circuits using both discrete
transistors and op-amps as the gain elements are introduced.
 Introduction
• Sinusoidal oscillator operation is based on the principle of positive feedback,
where a portion of output signal is fed back to the input in a way such that
causes it to reinforce itself and thus sustains a continuous output signal.

• Oscillators are widely used in communication systems (i.e. radio and television
to generate high frequency carrier wave) as well as in digital systems including
computers to generate required frequencies and timing circuits.

• Oscillators are also found in many types of test instruments like those used in
the laboratory (i.e. function generator).
 The Oscillator
• An oscillator is a circuit that produces a periodic waveform on its output with
only the dc supply voltage as an input.
• An oscillator converts electrical energy from dc supply to periodic waveforms
• A repetitive input signal is not required except to synchronize oscillations in
some applications.
• The output voltage can either be sinusoidal or non-sinusoidal, depending on
the type of oscillator.
 Types of Oscillators
• Two major classifications for oscillators are:

• Feedback Oscillators (to generate sinusoidal waveforms)

• RC and LC Feedback Oscillators

• Relaxation Oscillators (to generate square or other non-sinusoidal

waveform)
Feedback Oscillators
Sinusoidal Oscillators
i. Damped Oscillations: The
electrical oscillations whose
amplitude goes on decreasing
with time are called damped
oscillations.

ii. Undamped Oscillations: The

electrical oscillations whose
amplitude remain constant with
time are called undamped
oscillations.
 Feedback Oscillators
• In feedback oscillators a fraction of
output signal is returned to the input
with no net phase shift, resulting in
the reinforcement of the output
signal.
• After oscillations are started the loop
gain is maintained at 1 to maintain
oscillations.
• A feedback oscillator contains an
amplifier for gain (either discrete
transistor or an op-amp) with a
positive feedback circuit that
produces phase shift and provides
attenuation.
Positive Feedback
 Conditions for Oscillations
• Two conditions required for sustained oscillations are:
1. The phase shift around feedback loop must be effectively 0°.
2. The voltage gain Acl, around the closed feedback loop (loop gain) must
equal 1.
Barkhausen Criterion

=1

:-or Acl = Av mv
 Start-up Conditions
• The unity gain condition must be met for oscillations to be sustained.

• For oscillations to begin, the voltage gain around a positive feedback loop
must be greater than 1 so that the amplitude of the output can be build up to
a desired level.

• The gain then must decrease to 1 so that output stays at the desired level and
oscillations is sustained.
Start-up Conditions
 Oscillators with RC feedback Circuits
• Three types of feedback oscillators that use RC circuits to produce
sinusoidal outputs are:

1. Wien-Bridge Oscillator
2. Phase-Shift Oscillator
3. Twin T-Oscillator

• Generally RC feedback oscillators are used up to frequency of 1 MHz.

• The Wien-Bridge Oscillator is by far most widely used RC feedback

oscillators for this range of frequencies.
 Feedback Oscillators
1. Wien-Bridge Oscillator
• A fundamental part of Wien-Bridge
oscillator is the lead lag circuit as
shown in the figure.
• R1 and C1 forms the lag portion of the
circuit whereas R2 and C2 forms the
lead portion.
• At low frequencies the lead portion
of the circuit dominates because of
the high reactance of C2.
• As the frequency increases, XC2
decreases, allowing the output
voltage to increase.
 Feedback Oscillators
1. Wien-Bridge Oscillator
• At some specified frequency the response of the lag circuit takes over, and
decreasing the value of XC1 causes the output voltage to decrease.
• At resonant frequency fr, the attenuation (Vout / Vin) of the circuit is 1/3 if
R1 = R2 and XC1 = XC2.

:- Proof derived Appendix B,

Page 943
Wien-Bridge Oscillator
The Basic Circuit

Non-inverting
configuration
Wien-Bridge Oscillator
Positive Feedback Condition for Oscillation
1. Phase shift around a
positive feedback loop
must be 0° and is met
when frequency is fr
because phase shift
through lead-lag circuit is
0°.
2. The gain around a
closed loop must be unity
is met when Acl = 3.
Wien-Bridge Oscillator
Start-up Condition
Initially the closed loop
gain must be (Acl > 3) until
the output signal levels
build up to desired level
The gain of the amplifier
must decrease to 3 so
that the total gain around
the closed loop is 1
 Wien-Bridge Oscillator
Start-up Condition
• Figure shows a method of achieving sustained
oscillations.
• When dc power is first applied, both the zener
diodes appear as open.
• This places R3 in series with R1, thus increasing
the closed loop gain of the amplifier as follows
(R1=2R2)

• Initially a small feedback signal develops from

noise or turn on transients.
 Wien-Bridge Oscillator
Start-up Condition
• The lead-lag circuit permits only a signal with frequency equal to fr to appear in
phase at the non inverting input.

• This feedback signal is amplified and continuously reinforced, resulting in a buildup

of the output voltage.

• When the output voltage reaches the zener breakdown voltage, the zener conducts
and effectively short out R3.

• This lowers the amplifier closed loop gain to 3.

• At this point the total loop gain is 1 and the output signal levels off and oscillations is
sustained.
 Wien-Bridge Oscillator
Start-up Condition
• Although zener feedback is simple, it suffers from the nonlinearity of the Zener
diode that occurs in order to control the gain.

• It is difficult to achieve undistorted sinusoidal output waveform.

• The gain can be controlled using a JFET as a voltage controlled resistor in a

negative feedback path.

• This method can produced an excellent sinusoidal waveform that is stable.

• A JFET operating with a small or zero VDS is operating in the ohmic area.
 Wien-Bridge Oscillator
Start-up Condition
• As the gate voltage increases, the
drain source resistance increases.

• If JFET is placed in the negative

feedback path, automatic gain
control can be achieved because of
this voltage-controlled resistance.
 Wien-Bridge Oscillator
Start-up Condition
• With no output signal, the gate is at zero volts, causing the drain to source
resistance to be at the minimum.

• With this condition, the loop gain is greater than 1.

• Oscillations begin and rapidly build to a large output signal.

• Negative excursions of the output signal forward bias diode D1 causing

capacitor C3 to charge to negative voltage.

• This voltage increases the drain source resistance of the JFET and reduces the
gain and hence the output.
 Example 1
Q.

Solution:-
The Phase shift Oscillator
• Phase Shift Circuit: A phase shift
essentially consists of an R-C
network.
• Figure 1 shows a single section of
RC network.
• Voltage V’1 across R leads the
applied voltage by 𝜑°
• The value of 𝜑 depends on the
value of R and C.
• If the value of R changes the 𝜑 also
changes.
• In practice R is varied to such a
value that V’1 leads V1 by 60°.
 The Phase shift Oscillator
• Figure shows three section of RC network.
• Each section produces a phase shift of 60°.
• Consequently a total phase shift of 180° is produced i.e. voltage V2 lead the
voltage V1 by 180°.
 The Phase shift Oscillator
• Figure shows the circuit of Phase shift oscillator.
• It consists of a single transistor amplifier and a RC phase shift network.
• The phase shift network consists of three sections R1C1, R2C2, R3C3.
• At some particular frequency fo, the phase shift in each RC section is 60° so
that the total phase shift produced by the RC network is 180°.
• The frequency of oscillations is given by:
The Phase shift Oscillator
• When circuit is switched on, it
produces oscillations of frequency
determined by eq. given above.
• The output Eo of the amplifier is
fed back to RC feedback network.
• This network produces a phase
shift of 180 ° and a voltage Ei
appears at its output which is
applied to the transistor amplifier.
• A phase shift of 180° is produced
by the transistor amplifier.
• A further phase shift is produced
by the RC network.
• As a result the entire phase shift
around a closed loop is 360°
 Example 2
Q. In phase shift oscillator given above R1 = R2 = R3 = 1 MΩ and C1 = C2 = C3 = 68
pF. At what frequency does the circuit oscillate?
 Example 3
Q. A phase shift oscillators uses 5 pF capacitors. Find the value of R to produce a
frequency of 800 KHz
 Twin-T oscillator
• Another type of RC feedback
oscillator is called twin-T because
of the two T-type RC filters used in
the feedback loop as shown in
figure (a).
• One of the twin-T filters has the
low pass response, and the other
has a high pass response.
• The combined parallel filters
produce a band stop or notch
response with a center frequency
equal to the desired frequency of
oscillation fr as shown in figure (b).
 Twin-T oscillator
• Oscillation can not occur at frequencies above and below fr because of
negative feedback through the filters.
• At fr, there is negligible negative feedback; thus the positive feedback through
the voltage divider (R1 and R2) allows the circuit to oscillate.
Oscillators with LC Feedback circuits
• LC feedback elements are normally used in oscillators that require
higher frequency of oscillations.
• Several types of resonant LC feedback oscillators are:

1. Colpitts Oscillator
2. Clapp Oscillator
3. Hartley Oscillator
4. Armstrong Oscillator
5. Crystal Controlled Oscillator
 Oscillators with LC Feedback circuits
• Oscillatory Circuit: A circuit which produces electrical oscillations of any
desired frequency is known as oscillatory circuit or tank circuit.
• A simple oscillatory circuit consists of a capacitor (C) and inductance coil (L) in
parallel as shown in figure.

The sequence of charge and discharge results in alternating motion of electrons or an

oscillating current.
Oscillators with LC Feedback circuits
• As there are resistive and radiation losses in the coil and dielectric losses in
the capacitor
• The result is that the amplitude of oscillating current decreases gradually and
eventually becomes zero when all the energy is consumed as losses.
• Therefor the tank circuit itself will produce damped oscillations as shown in
figure.
 Oscillators with LC Feedback circuits
• In practice we need continuous undamped oscillations for the successful
operation of the electronic equipment.
• In order to make the oscillations in the tank circuit undamped, it is necessary
to apply correct amount of energy to the tank circuit at the proper time
intervals to meet the losses.
• Following conditions must be fulfilled to make the oscillations undamped.
1. The amount of energy should be such as to meet the losses in the tank circuit.
2. The applied energy should have the same frequency as that of oscillations in
the tank circuit.

3. The applied energy should be in phase with the oscillations set up in the tank
circuit i.e. it should aid the tank circuit oscillations.
 Oscillators with LC Feedback circuits
• The above mentioned conditions can be met using transistor oscillator circuits.
• Figure below shows block diagram of transistor oscillator and its essential
components.
 Oscillators with LC Feedback circuits
The Colpitts Oscillator
• Figure shows Colpitts oscillator that
uses an LC circuit in the feedback
loop to provide necessary phase
shift and to act as a resonant filter
that passes only the desired
frequency of oscillations.
• The approximate frequency of
oscillation is the resonant frequency
of oscillation and is given by

:-
The Colpitts Oscillator
Conditions for Oscillations and Start-up
• The attenuation B or mv of the
feedback resonant circuit in the
Colpitt oscillator is basically
determined by the values of C1 and
C2.
• Figure shows that the circulating
tank current is through C1 and C2
(they are effectively in series).
• The voltage developed across C2 is
the oscillator’s output voltage Vout
and the voltage developed across
C1 is the feedback voltage Vf.
 The Colpitts Oscillator
Conditions for Oscillations and Start-up
• The expression for attenuation B is:
 The Colpitts Oscillator
Conditions for Oscillations and Start-up
• For the oscillations to be self-starting AvB must be greater than 1, (AvB > 1).
• Therefore the voltage gain must be slightly greater than
The Colpitts Oscillator
Loading of the feedback Circuit Affects the Frequency of
Oscillations
• As shown in figure that the input
impedance of the amplifier act as
load on a resonant feedback circuit
and reduces the Q of the circuit.
• The resonant frequency of the
parallel resonant circuit depends on
the Q, according to the following
formula

If Q > 10 then
1 If Q < 10 then fr is
fr =
2𝜋√𝐿𝐶𝑇 reduced significantly
The Colpitts Oscillator
Loading of the feedback Circuit Affects the Frequency
of Oscillations
• A FET can be used in place of a BJT to
minimize the effect of loading of
transistor’s input impedance as
shown in the figure.
The Colpitts Oscillator
Loading of the feedback Circuit Affects the Frequency of
Oscillations
• In some cases, one way to eliminate the effect of load resistance is by
transformer coupling.
Example 4
Q. Determine the frequency of
oscillator in figure. Assume there is
negligible loading on the feedback
circuit and its Q is greater than 10.
Also find the frequency if the
oscillator is loaded to a point where
the Q drops to 8.
 The Clapp Oscillator
• The Clapp oscillator is a variation of
Colpitts.
• The basic difference is the additional
capacitor C3 in series with the
inductor in the resonant feedback
circuit as shown in the figure.
• C3 is in series with C1 and C2 hence
the total capacitance is
 The Clapp Oscillator
• The frequency of oscillation for Q > 10 is

• If C3 is much smaller than C1 and C2, then C3 almost entirely controls the
resonant frequency.

• As C1 and C2 are both connected to ground at one end, the junction

capacitance of the transistor and the other stray capacitance appear in
parallel with C1 and C2 to ground, altering their effective values.

• C3 is not effected and thus provides more accurate and stable frequency of
oscillations.
 The Hartley Oscillator
• The Hartley oscillator is similar to
Colpitts oscillator except that the
feedback circuit consists of two series
inductors and a parallel capacitor.
• The frequency of oscillation for Q > 10
is

• The attenuation B of the feedback

circuit is
 The Hartley Oscillator
• To assure startup condition Av must be greater than 1/B.

• Loading of the tank circuit has the same effect in the Hartley oscillator as in
the Colpitts, that is the Q is decreased and thus fr decreases.