Barkhausen Criteria :

Conditions which are required to be satisfied to operate the circuit

as an oscillator are called as “Barkhausen criterion” for sustained
oscillations.

The Barkhausen criteria should be satisfied by an amplifier with

positive feedback to ensure the sustained oscillations.

For an oscillation circuit, there is no input signal “Vs”, hence the

feedback signal Vf itself should be sufficient to maintain the
oscillations.

The Barkhausen criterion states that: • The loop gain is equal to

unity in absolute magnitude, that is, | β A | = 1 and

• The phase shift around the loop is zero or an integer multiple of

2π radian (180°)

Oscillator oscillator is a mechanical or electronic device that works

on the principles of oscillation:

a periodic fluctuation between two things based on changes in

energy. Computers, clocks, watches, radios, and metal detectors are
among the many devices that use oscillators.

Damped Oscillation : whose amplitude reduce with time are called

damped oscillation.
Undamped Oscillation: In oscillation if its amplitude doesn't change
with time then they are called Undamped oscillation.

Classification of electronic oscillators

1. LC oscillator :- a. Hartley oscillator b. Colpitt's oscillator c. Tuned

collector oscillator 2. RC oscillator :- a. Phase shift oscillator b.
Wien bridge oscillator

RC Phase shift oscillator.

RC phase shift oscillator or simply RC oscillator is a type of

oscillator where a simple RC network (resistor-capacitor) network is
used for giving the required phase shift to the feedback signal.

In LC oscillators like Hartley oscillator and Colpitts oscillator an LC

network (inductor- capacitor network) is used for providing the
necessary positive feedback.

The main feature of an RC phase shift oscillator is the excellent

frequency stability. The RC oscillator can output a pure sine wave
on a wide range of loads.

RC phase shift network.

RC phase shift network is a simple resistor capacitor network that

can be used to give a desired phase shift to a signal. The circuit
diagram of a simple single stage RC network is shown in the figure
below.

Theoretically in a simple RC circuit , the output voltage will lead the

input voltage by a phase angle Φ =90°.
Anyway in practical case the phase angle will be something below
90° just because it is impossible to get a purely ideal capacitor.

Phase shift of a practical RC network depends on the value of the

capacitor, resistor and the operating frequency.

Let F be the operating frequency, R be the resistance and C be

the capacitance. Then the capacitive reactance Xc to the
frequency F can be given by the equation Xc = 1 / (2πFC)

The effective impedance of the circuit can be given by the equation Z

= √( R² + Xc²)

The phase angle of the RC network can be derived as Φ = tan-

1
(Xc/R)

Just by making an RC network with phase shift equal to 60° and

cascading three of them together the desired phase shift of 180° can
be attained.

This 180° phase shift by the RC network plus the 180° phase shift
made by the transistor gives a total phase shift of 360° between the
input and output which is the necessary condition for maintaining
sustained oscillations.

The circuit diagram of a three stage RC network producing a phase

shift of 180° is shown in the figure below.

Connecting such a three stage RC phase shift network between the

input and output of a common emitter transistor amplifier will
result in a transistor based RC phase shift oscillator. The circuit
diagram is shown below.

In the circuit diagram resistor R1 and the resistor R (close to the

base of Q1 in the diagram) gives a voltage divider bias to the
transistor Q1.
Resistor Rc limits the collector current while Re is meant for
thermal stability.
Ce is the emitter by-pass capacitor and Cout is the output DC
decoupling capacitor.
By using more than three RC phase shift stages (like 4 x 45°) the
frequency stability of the oscillator can be further improved.
The frequency of the transistor RC phase shift oscillator oscillator
can be expressed by the equation:

Where F is the frequency, R is the resistance, C is the capacitance

and N is the number of RC phase shift stages.
The RC pahse shift oscillator can be made variable by making the
resistors or capacitors variable.
The common approach is to leave the resistors untouched the three
capacitors are replaced by a triple gang variable capacitor.

RC phase shift oscillator using opamp.

The circuit diagram of an RC phase shift oscillator is shown above.
Feedback resistor Rf and resistor R (close to the inverting pin of the
opamp in the circuit) is used to set the gain of the oscillator. Three
stage phase shift network comprising of R and C produces 180°
phase shift and the opamp itself wired in inverting mode produces
another 180° phase shift.
Thus the required phase shift of 360° is obtained between input
and output.
Wien Bridge Oscillator
Another type of popular audio frequency oscillator is the Wien
bridge oscillator circuit. This is mostly used because of its
important features. This circuit is free from the circuit
fluctuations and the ambient temperature.
The main advantage of this oscillator is that the frequency can be
varied in the range of 10Hz to about 1MHz whereas in RC
oscillators, the frequency is not varied.
Construction
The circuit construction of Wien bridge oscillator can be explained
as below. It is a two-stage amplifier with RC bridge circuit. The
bridge circuit has the arms R1C1, R3, R2C2 and the tungsten lamp Lp.
Resistance R3 and the lamp Lp are used to stabilize the amplitude of
the output.
The following circuit diagram shows the arrangement of a Wien
bridge oscillator.

The transistor T1 serves as an oscillator and an amplifier while the

other transistor T2 serves as an inverter. The inverter operation
provides a phase shift of 180o. This circuit provides positive
feedback through R1C1, C2R2 to the transistor T1 and negative
feedback through the voltage divider to the input of transistor T2.
The frequency of oscillations is determined by the series element
R1C1 and parallel element R2C2 of the bridge.
f=12πR1C1R2C2−−−−−−−−−√f=12πR1C1R2C2
If R1 = R2 and C1 = C2 = C
Then,
f=12πRCf=12πRC
Now, we can simplify the above circuit as follows −
The oscillator consists of two stages of RC coupled amplifier and a
feedback network. The voltage across the parallel combination of R
and C is fed to the input of amplifier 1. The net phase shift through
the two amplifiers is zero.
The usual idea of connecting the output of amplifier 2 to amplifier 1
to provide signal regeneration for oscillator is not applicable here as
the amplifier 1 will amplify signals over a wide range of frequencies
and hence direct coupling would result in poor frequency stability.
By adding Wien bridge feedback network, the oscillator becomes
sensitive to a particular frequency and hence frequency stability is
achieved.
Operation
When the circuit is switched ON, the bridge circuit produces
oscillations of the frequency stated above. The two transistors
produce a total phase shift of 360o so that proper positive feedback
is ensured. The negative feedback in the circuit ensures constant
output. This is achieved by temperature sensitive tungsten lamp L p.
Its resistance increases with current.
If the amplitude of the output increases, more current is produced
and more negative feedback is achieved. Due to this, the output
would return to the original value. Whereas, if the output tends to
decrease, reverse action would take place.
Advantages
The advantages of Wien bridge oscillator are as follows −
The circuit provides good frequency stability.

 It provides constant output.
 The operation of circuit is quite easy.
 The overall gain is high because of two transistors.
 The frequency of oscillations can be changed easily.
 The amplitude stability of the output voltage can be
maintained more accurately, by replacing R2 with a
thermistor.
Disadvantages
The disadvantages of Wien bridge oscillator are as follows −
 The circuit cannot generate very high frequencies.
 Two transistors and number of components are required
for the circuit construction.

Colpitts oscillator

he frequency of oscillations for a Colpitts oscillator is determined by the resonant

frequency of the LC tank circuit and is given as:
where CT is the capacitance of C1 and C2 connected in series and is given as:

A Colpitts Oscillator circuit having two capacitors of 24nF and 240nF respectively
are connected in parallel with an inductor of 10mH. Determine the frequency of
oscillations of the circuit, the feedback fraction and draw the circuit.
The oscillation frequency for a Colpitts Oscillator is given as:

As the colpitts circuit consists of two capacitors in series, the total capacitance is
therefore:

The inductance of the inductor is given as 10mH, then the frequency of oscillation is:

The frequency of oscillations for the Colpitts Oscillator is therefore 10.8kHz with the
feedback fraction given as:

Hartley Oscillator
In this Hartley Oscillator circuit, the DC Collector current flows through part of the
coil and for this reason the circuit is said to be “Series-fed” with the frequency of
oscillation of the Hartley Oscillator being given as.

Note: LT is the total cumulatively coupled inductance if two separate coils are used
including their mutual inductance, M.
The frequency of oscillations can be adjusted by varying the “tuning” capacitor, C or
by varying the position of the iron-dust core inside the coil (inductive tuning) giving
an output over a wide range of frequencies making it very easy to tune. Also
the Hartley Oscillator produces an output amplitude which is constant over the entire
frequency range.