UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

The sinusoidal oscillators generates purely sinusoidal waveform at the output.

Barkhausen criteria:

AEC
Page 1
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

AEC
Page 2
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

AEC
Page 3
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

RC Phase shift oscillator:

AEC
Page 4
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

Transistorised RC phase shift oscillator:

AEC
Page 5
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

RC phase shift oscillator consists of a common emitter single stage amplifier and a phase shifting
network consisting of three identical RC sections.

AEC
Page 6
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

Derivation for the frequency of oscillation:

AEC
Page 7
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

AEC
Page 8
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

AEC
Page 9
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

AEC
Page 10
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

AEC
Page 11
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

AEC
Page 12
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

RC phase shift using op-amp:

When used as RC oscillators, Operational Amplifier RC Oscillators are more

common than their bipolar transistors counterparts. The oscillator circuit consists of a
negative-gain operational amplifier and a three section RC network that produces the
180o phase shift. The phase shift network is connected from the op-amps output back
to its “inverting” input as shown below.
Op-amp Phase-lead RC Oscillator Circuit

As the feedback is connected to the inverting input, the operational amplifier is

therefore connected in its “inverting amplifier” configuration which produces the
required 180o phase shift while the RC network produces the other 180o phase shift at
the required frequency (180o + 180o). This type of feedback connection with the
capacitors in series and the resistors connected to ground (0V) potential is known as
a phase-lead configuration. In other words, the output voltage leads the input voltage
producing a positive phase angle.
But we can also create a phase-lag configuration by simply changing the positions of
the RC components so that the resistors are connected in series and the capacitors are
connected to ground (0V) potential as shown. This means that the output voltage lags
the input voltage producing a negative phase angle.

AEC
Page 13
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

Op-amp Phase-lag RC Oscillator Circuit:

However, due to the reversal of the feedback components, the orginal equation for the frequency
output of the phase-lead RC oscillator is modified to:

Although it is possible to cascade together only two single-pole RC stages to provide the
required 180o of phase shift (90o + 90o), the stability of the oscillator at low frequencies is
generally poor.
One of the most important features of an RC Oscillator is its frequency stability which is its
ability to provide a constant frequency sine wave output under varying load conditions. By
cascading three or even four RC stages together (4 x 45o), the stability of the oscillator can be
greatly improved.
RC Oscillators with four stages are generally used because commonly available operational
amplifiers come in quad IC packages so designing a 4-stage oscillator with 45o of phase shift
relative to each other is relatively easy.
RC Oscillators are stable and provide a well-shaped sine wave output with the frequency being
proportional to 1/RC and therefore, a wider frequency range is possible when using a variable
capacitor. However, RC Oscillators are restricted to frequency applications because of their
bandwidth limitations to produce the desired phase shift at high frequencies.

AEC
Page 14
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

Wien Bridge oscillator:

AEC
Page 15
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

AEC
Page 16
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

AEC
Page 17
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

Hartley oscillator:

It uses two inductive reactances and one capacitive reactances in its feedback network is called
Hartley oscillator.

Transistorized Hartley oscillator:

AEC
Page 18
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

The frequency of oscillation is given by,

Where,

AEC
Page 19
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

Colpitts oscillator:

Transistorised colpitts oscillator:

AEC
Page 20
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

Derivation of frequency of oscillation:

AEC
Page 21
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

AEC
Page 22
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

AEC
Page 23
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

AEC
Page 24
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

Crystal oscillator:

Series and parallel resonance:

Under resonant condition is minimum which is resistance R.

The series resonance frequency is given as,

AEC
Page 25
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

AEC
Page 26
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

Difference between RC phase shift and wein bridge oscillator:

Tunnel diode oscillator:

The tunnel diode helps in generating a very high frequency signal of nearly 10GHz. Tunnel diode circuit
may consist of a switch S, a resistor R and a supply source V, connected to a tank circuit through a tunnel
diode D.

Working

The value of resistor selected should be in such a way that it biases the tunnel diode in the
midway of the negative resistance region. The figure below shows the tunnel diode oscillator
circuit.

AEC
Page 27
UNIT 4 Sinusoidal Oscillators

In this circuit, the resistor R1 sets proper biasing for the diode and the resistor R2 sets proper
current level for the tank circuit. The parallel combination of resistor Rp inductor L and
capacitor C form a tank circuit, which resonates at the selected frequency.
When the switch S is closed, the circuit current rises immediately towards the constant value,
whose value is determined by the value of resistor R and the diode resistance. However, as the
voltage drop across the tunnel diode VD exceeds the peak-point voltage Vp, the tunnel diode is
driven into negative resistance region.
In this region, the current starts decreasing, till the voltage VD becomes equal to the valley point
voltage Vv. At this point, a further increase in the voltage VD drives the diode into positive
resistance region. As a result of this, the circuit current tends to increase. This increase in circuit
will increase the voltage drop across the resistor R which will reduce the voltage VD.
The applications of a tunnel diode oscillator are as follows −

 It is used in relaxation oscillators.

 It is used in microwave oscillators.
 It is also used as Ultra high speed switching device.
 It is used as logic memory storage device.

AEC
Page 28