Lecture 6 Electronics

2
Oscillators (8022110-4)

Dr. Esam Zafar

Electrical Engineering Department
Faculty of Engineering & Islamic Architecture
Umm – Al Qura University
[email protected]
Office: Electrical Engineering Departmen- Ground floor - 210
Lecture objectives

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

Dr. ESAM ZAFAR

The Oscillator
• An oscillator is a circuit that produces a periodic waveform on its
output with only the dc supply voltage as an input.
• The output voltage can be either sinusoidal or non-sinusoidal,
depending on the type of oscillator.
• Two major classifications for oscillators are:
❑Feedback oscillators.
❑Relaxation oscillators.

Dr. ESAM ZAFAR

Feedback Oscillators
• The feedback oscillator 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.
Dr. ESAM ZAFAR
 Feedback Oscillators
Positive feedback: The feedback circuit shifts
the phase 180° and an
Vf, is amplified to
The signal sustains itself within inverting amplifier is
produce the output
the loop and a continuous required to provide another
voltage, which in
sinusoidal output is produced 180° phase shift so that
turn produces the
(Oscillation) there is no net phase shift.
feedback voltage

Dr. ESAM ZAFAR

Feedback Oscillators
Conditions for Oscillation:
• Two conditions are required for a sustained state of oscillation:
1. The phase shift around the feedback loop must be effectively 0°.
2. The voltage gain, Acl, around the closed feedback loop (loop gain) must
equal 1 (unity).

The voltage gain around the closed

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

Dr. ESAM ZAFAR

Feedback Oscillators
Conditions for Oscillation:
• If a sinusoidal wave is the desired output what happened to the
signal if the loop gain is greater than 1?
It will cause the output to rapidly saturate at both peaks of the
waveform, producing unacceptable distortion.
• To avoid this, some form of gain control must be used to keep the
loop gain at exactly 1 once oscillations have started.
• For example, if the attenuation of the feedback circuit is 0.01, the
amplifier must have a gain of exactly 100 to overcome this
attenuation and not create un acceptable distortion (0.01 * 100 = 1).

Dr. ESAM ZAFAR

Feedback Oscillators
Start-up condition for Oscillation:

The voltage gain around the

positive feedback loop must be
greater than 1 so that the The gain must then decrease to 1 so
amplitude of the output can that the output stays at the desired
build up to a desired level. level and oscillation is sustained.

Dr. ESAM ZAFAR

Oscillators with RC Feedback Circuits
• Three types of feedback oscillators that use RC circuits to produce
sinusoidal outputs are:
i. The Wien-bridge oscillator
ii. The phase-shift oscillator
iii. 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.
Dr. ESAM ZAFAR
Oscillators with RC Feedback Circuits
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.
• At lower frequencies, the lead circuit At this point, the
dominates due to the high reactance of C2 attenuation of the circuit is
As the frequency increases, XC2 decreases, 1/3 if R1=R2 and XC1 = XC2
thus allowing the output voltage to
increase.

• At some specified
frequency, the response of
the lag circuit takes over,
The output voltage peaks at a
and the decreasing value of
XC1 causes the output frequency called the resonant
voltage to decrease frequency, fr
Dr. ESAM ZAFAR
Oscillators with RC Feedback Circuits
The Wien-Bridge Oscillator:
• The lead-lag circuit in the Wien-bridge oscillator has a resonant
frequency, at which the phase shift through the circuit is 0o 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.

Dr. ESAM ZAFAR

Oscillators with RC Feedback Circuits
The basic circuit of Wien-Bridge Oscillator:
• The Wien-bridge oscillator circuit can be
viewed as a noninverting amplifier
configuration with the input signal fed
back from the output through the lead-lag
circuit.
• Recall that the voltage divider determines
the closed-loop gain of the amplifier:

Wien bridge circuit combines a voltage

divider and a lead-lag circuit.
Dr. ESAM ZAFAR
Oscillators with RC Feedback Circuits
The basic circuit of Wien-Bridge Oscillator:
• The Wien-bridge oscillator schematic
drawn in different but equivalent way

• The redrawn circuit shows that the op-

amp is connected across the bridge
circuit. One leg of the bridge is the lead-
lag circuit, and the other is the voltage
divider

Wien bridge circuit combines a voltage

divider and a lead-lag circuit. Dr. ESAM ZAFAR
 Oscillators with RC Feedback Circuits
Positive Feedback Conditions for Oscillation:

The unity-gain condition

in the feedback loop is
met when Acl = 3
The 2 conditions
To achieve a closed-loop
to achieve
gain of 3, R1 = 2R2
oscillation
The 0° phase-shift
condition is met
when the frequency
is fr Dr. ESAM ZAFAR
Oscillators with RC Feedback Circuits
Positive Feedback start-up condition for Oscillation:

Initially, the closed-loop gain Ideally, the gain of the amplifier

of the amplifier itself must be must then decrease to 3 so that the
more than 3 until the output total gain around the loop is 1 and
signal builds up to a desired the output signal stays at the
level desired level, thus sustaining
oscillation
Dr. ESAM ZAFAR
Oscillators with RC Feedback Circuits
Positive Feedback start-up condition for Oscillation:
• Another method for achieving sustained oscillations is to use
the voltage-divider circuit with an additional resistor R3 in
parallel with a back-to-back Zener diode arrangement.
• When dc power is first applied, both Zener diodes appear as
opens. This places R3 in series with R1, which increases the Acl:

• When the output signal reaches the Zener breakdown voltage,

the Zeners conduct and effectively short out R3. This lowers the
amplifier’s closed loop gain to 3. At this point, the total loop
gain is 1 and the output signal levels off and the oscillation is
sustained. Self-starting Wien-bridge oscillator
using back-to-back zener diodes.
Dr. ESAM ZAFAR
Oscillators with RC Feedback Circuits
The Phase-Shift Oscillator:
• A sinusoidal feedback oscillator called the phase-shift oscillator contains three RC circuits in
the feedback loop, which 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 0°) phase shift around the feedback loop.

Dr. ESAM ZAFAR

Oscillators with RC Feedback Circuits
The Phase-Shift Oscillator:
• The attenuation, B, of the three-section RC feedback circuit is:

𝑅3
,where 𝐵 =
𝑅𝑓

• To meet the greater-than-unity loop gain requirement, the closed-loop voltage gain of the
op-amp must be greater than 29 (set by Rf and R3).
• The frequency of oscillation fr is stated in the following equation, where R1=R2=R and
C1=C2=C3=C:

Dr. ESAM ZAFAR

Oscillators with RC Feedback Circuits
Example 1:
(a) Determine the value of Rf necessary for the circuit to operate as an oscillator.
(b) Determine the frequency of oscillation.

Dr. ESAM ZAFAR

Oscillators with RC Feedback Circuits
Example 1 solution:
𝟏 𝑹𝟑
a. 𝑨𝒄𝒍 = 𝟐𝟗 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑩 = = :
𝟐𝟗 𝑹𝒇
𝑹𝒇
∴ = 𝟐𝟗 → 𝑹𝒇 = 𝟐𝟗𝑹𝟑 = 𝟐𝟗 𝟏𝟎𝒌 = 𝟐𝟗𝟎 𝒌Ω
𝑹𝟑

b. R1=R2=R and C1=C2=C3=C:

𝟏 𝟏
𝒇𝒓 = = ≅ 𝟔. 𝟓 𝒌𝑯𝒛
𝟐𝝅 𝟔𝑹𝑪 𝟐𝝅 𝟔(𝟏𝟎𝒌)(𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟏𝝁)

Dr. ESAM ZAFAR