Analogue Electronics II

Lec. (14) : OSCILLATORS

Siddig Gomha
Email: [email protected]

Faculty of Engineering
 Chapter (16): OSCILLATORS
Faculty of Engineering

Contents:
• The Oscillator
• Feedback Oscillators
• Oscillators with RC Feedback Circuits
• Oscillators with LC Feedback Circuits
• Relaxation Oscillators
• The 555 Timer as an Oscillator

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 INTRODUCTION
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• Oscillators are electronic circuits that generate an output signal without the necessity
of an input signal.
• They are used as signal sources in all sorts of applications.
• Different types of oscillators produce various types of outputs including sine waves,
square waves, triangular waves, and sawtooth waves.
• In this chapter, several types of basic oscillator circuits using both discrete transistors
and op-amps as the gain element are introduced.
• Also, a popular integrated circuit, the 555 timer, is discussed in relation to its oscillator
applications.
• Oscillators are widely used in most communications systems as well as in digital
systems, including computers, to generate required frequencies and timing signals.
Also, oscillators are found in many types of test instruments like those used in the
laboratory.
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 Oscillator
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• An oscillator is a circuit that produces a periodic waveform on its output with only the dc supply voltage
as an input.
• A repetitive input signal is not required except to synchronize oscillations in some applications. The
output voltage can be either sinusoidal or nonsinusoidal, depending on the type of oscillator.
• Two major classifications for oscillators are feedback oscillators and relaxation oscillators.
• Essentially, an oscillator converts electrical energy from the dc power supply to periodic waveforms. A
basic oscillator is shown in Figure .

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 Feedback Oscillators
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• One type of oscillator is the feedback oscillator, which

returns a fraction of the output signal to the input with no
net phase shift, resulting in a reinforcement of the output
signal.
• After oscillations are started, the loop gain is maintained
at 1.0 to maintain oscillations.
• A feedback oscillator consists of an amplifier for gain
(either a discrete transistor or an op-amp) and a positive
feedback circuit that produces phase shift and provides
attenuation, as shown in Figure .

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 Feedback Oscillators
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• This basic idea is illustrated in Figure. As you

can see, the inphase feedback voltage, Vf, is
amplified to produce the output voltage,
which in turn produces the feedback voltage.
• That is, a loop is created in which the signal
sustains itself and a continuous sinusoidal
output is produced. This phenomenon is called
oscillation.
• In some types of amplifiers, the feedback
circuit shifts the phase 180° and an inverting
amplifier is required to provide another 180°
phase shift so that there is no net phase shift.
This is illustrated in Figure 16–3(b).

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 Feedback Oscillators
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Conditions for Oscillation

Two conditions, illustrated in Figure 16–4, are required for a sustained state of oscillation:
1. The phase shift around the feedback loop must be effectively 0 degree.
2. The voltage gain, Acl, around the closed feedback loop (loop gain) must equal 1 (unity).

The voltage gain around the

closed feedback loop, Acl, is the
product of the amplifier gain,
Av, and the attenuation, B, of
the feedback circuit.

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 Feedback Oscillators
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Start-Up Conditions
• For oscillation to begin, the voltage gain around the positive feedback loop must be greater than 1 so
that the amplitude of the output can build up to a desired level.
• The gain must then decrease to 1 so that the output stays at the desired level and oscillation is
sustained.

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 OSCILLATORS WITH RC FEEDBACK CIRCUITS
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• Three types of feedback oscillators that use RC circuits to produce

sinusoidal outputs are
• the Wien-bridge oscillator,
• the phase-shift oscillator, and
• the twin-T oscillator.
• Generally, RC feedback oscillators are used for frequencies up to about 1
MHz.
• The Wien-bridge is by far the most widely used type of RC feedback
oscillator for this range of frequencies.

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 OSCILLATORS WITH RC FEEDBACK CIRCUITS
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• The Wien-Bridge Oscillator

• One type of sinusoidal feedback oscillator is the Wien-bridge oscillator. A fundamental
part of the Wien-bridge oscillator is a lead-lag circuit like that shown in Figure 16–6(a).

The formula for the

resonant frequency

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 OSCILLATORS WITH RC FEEDBACK CIRCUITS
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• The Wien-Bridge Oscillator

• To summarize, the lead-lag circuit in the Wien-
bridge oscillator has a resonant frequency, fr,
at which the phase shift through the circuit is 0
degree and the attenuation is 1/3. Below fr the
lead circuit dominates and the output leads
the input. Above fr the lag circuit dominates
and the output lags the input.
• The Basic Circuit The lead-lag circuit is used in
the positive feedback loop of an opamp, as
shown in Figure 16–7(a). A voltage divider is
used in the negative feedback loop.

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 OSCILLATORS WITH RC FEEDBACK CIRCUITS
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• The Phase-Shift Oscillator

• Figure 16–13 shows a sinusoidal feedback
oscillator called the phase-shift oscillator.
• Each of the three RC circuits in the feedback
loop can provide a maximum phase shift
approaching 90°.
• Oscillation occurs at the frequency where
the total phase shift through the three RC
circuits is 180°. The inversion of the op-amp
itself provides the additional 180° to meet
the requirement for oscillation of a 360° (or The attenuation, B, of the three-
0°) phase shift around the feedback loop. section RC feedback circuit is

The frequency of oscillation is

where R1 = R2 = R3 = R and C1 = C2 = C3 = C.
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 OSCILLATORS WITH RC FEEDBACK CIRCUITS
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 OSCILLATORS WITH RC FEEDBACK CIRCUITS
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 OSCILLATORS WITH LC FEEDBACK CIRCUITS
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• Although the RC feedback oscillators, particularly the Wien bridge,

are generally suitable for frequencies up to about 1 MHz, LC feedback
elements are normally used in oscillators that require higher
frequencies of oscillation.
• Also, because of the frequency limitation (lower unity-gain
frequency) of most op-amps, discrete transistors (BJT or FET) are
often used as the gain element in LC oscillators.
• There are several types of resonant LC feedback oscillators: the
Colpitts, Clapp, Hartley, Armstrong, and crystal-controlled oscillators.

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 OSCILLATORS WITH LC FEEDBACK CIRCUITS
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• The Colpitts Oscillator

• One basic type of resonant circuit feedback oscillator is
the Colpitts, named after its inventor—as are most of the
others we cover here.
• As shown in Figure 16–16, this type of oscillator uses an
LC circuit in the feedback loop to provide the necessary
phase shift and to act as a resonant filter that passes only
the desired frequency of oscillation.
• The approximate frequency of oscillation is the resonant
frequency of the LC circuitvand is established by the
values of C1, C2, and L according to this familiar formula:

• Where CT is the total capacitance. Because the

capacitors effectively appear in series around the tank
circuit, the total capacitance CT is
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 OSCILLATORS WITH LC FEEDBACK CIRCUITS
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 RELAXATION OSCILLATORS
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• A Triangular-Wave OscillatorThe second major category of oscillators is the relaxation oscillator. Relaxation
oscillators use an RC timing circuit and a device that changes states to generate a periodic waveform.
• The basic idea is illustrated in Figure 16–27(a) where a dual-polarity, switched input is used. We use the
switch only to introduce the concept; it is not a practical way to implement this circuit. When the switch is
in position 1, the negative voltage is applied, and the output is a positive-going ramp. When the switch is
thrown into position 2, a negative- going ramp is produced.
• If the switch is thrown back and forth at fixed intervals, the output is a triangular wave consisting of
alternating positive-going and negative-going ramps, as shown in Figure 16–27(b).

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 RELAXATION OSCILLATORS
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• A Practical Triangular-Wave Oscillator
• One practical implementation of a
triangularwave oscillator utilizes an op-amp
comparator with hysteresis to perform the
switching function, as shown in Figure 16–28.
• The frequency of both waveforms depends on
the R1C time constant as well as the
amplitude-setting resistors, R2 and R3.
• By varying R1 the frequency of oscillation can
be adjusted without changing the output
amplitude.R3.

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 RELAXATION OSCILLATORS
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 RELAXATION OSCILLATORS
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• A Square-Wave Oscillator
• The basic square-wave
oscillator shown in Figure 16–
34 is a type of relaxation
oscillator because its operation
is based on the charging and
discharging of a capacitor.
• Notice that the op-amp’s
inverting input is the capacitor
voltage and the noninverting
input is a portion of the output
fed back through resistors R2
and R3 to provide hysteresis.
 RELAXATION OSCILLATORS
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• THE 555 TIMER AS AN OSCILLATOR

• The 555 timer is a versatile integrated circuit with
many applications.
• A 555 timer connected to operate in the astable mode
as a free-running relaxation oscillator (astable
multivibrator) is shown in Figure 16–37.
• Notice that the threshold input (THRESH) is now
connected to the trigger input (TRIG).
• The external components R1, R2, and Cext form the
timing circuit that sets the frequency of oscillation.
• The 0.01 mF capacitor connected to the control
(CONT) input is strictly for decoupling and has no
effect on the operation.

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 RELAXATION OSCILLATORS
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• EXAMPLE 16–6
• A 555 timer configured
to run in the astable
mode (oscillator) is
shown in Figure
• 16–41. Determine the
frequency of the
output

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