ELECTRONIC CIRCUTS

LESSON 30 INTRODUCTION TO OSCILLATORS

Objective
i. To study the definition and working of oscillators. ii. To study the concept of positive feedback. iii. To differentiate between damped and un- damped oscillations. iii. Thirdly, an alternator can not produce high frequency oscillations whereas an oscillator can produce oscillations ranging from a few Hz to several MHz. So, I hope now that you will not confuse oscillators with alternators. Although, oscillations can be produced by mechanical devices ( e.g. alternators), but still we prefer electronic oscillators because of their following advantages:i. An oscillator is a non-rotating device. Consequently, there is little wear and tear and hence longer life .

Introduction
Many electronic devices require a source of energy at a specific frequency which may range from a few Hz to several MHz. This task is achieved by an electronic device called an oscillator, which is a circuit that generates an ac output signal without requiring any externally applied input signal. Contents From the introductory paragraph, you all must have got a rough idea about what is an oscillator. It is basically a device which generates oscillations of desired frequency. Next question in your mind will be where is this oscillator used or what are its applications. The answer to this question is that it is extensively used in electronic equipments like in radio and television receivers. They are also used to generate high frequency wave ( carrier wave ) in the tuning stages. Oscillators are also widely used in radar, electronic computers and other electronic devices. Oscillators can produce sinusoidal or non-sinusoidal ( say square) waves. In our discussion, I shall confine myself to sinusoidal oscillators. So, how to you define sinusoidal oscillators? You can put it this way, Sinusoidal oscillators are electronic devices that generates sinusoidal oscillations of desired frequency. Students, when you talk of an oscillator as generating a frequency, you should note that it does not create energy, but merely acts as an energy converter. It receives d.c. energy and changes it into a.c. energy of desired frequency. The frequency of oscillations depends upon the constants of the device. All of you please note that oscillations are produced without any external signal source. The only input power to an oscillator is the d.c. power supply. A very interesting part is that an alternator can also produce sinusoidal oscillations of 50 Hz. But, can you call it as an oscillator ? You can not. Now, why is it so ? i. Firstly, an alternator is a mechanical device having rotating parts whereas an oscillator is a non rotating electronic device.

ii. Due to the absence of moving parts, the operation of an oscillator is quite silent. iii. An oscillator can produce waves from 20 Hz to extremely high frequencies ( > 100 MHz). iv. The frequency of oscillations can be easily changed when desired. v. It has good frequency stability. By this I mean that the frequency once set remains constant for a considerable period of time. vi. It has very high efficiency. Our next topic of discussion is different types of sinusoidal oscillations. You can broadly classify the sinusoidal electrical oscillations into two types. They are:i. Damped oscillations: The electrical oscillations whose amplitude goes on decreasing with time are called damped oscillations.

ii. Secondly, an alternator converts mechanical energy into a.c. energy while you know an oscillator converts d.c.energy into a.c.energy.

Obviously, the electrical system in which these oscillations are generated has losses and some energy is lost during each oscillation. Further, no means are provided to compensate for the losses and consequently the amplitude of the generated wave decreases gradually. But, here you have to note that the frequency of oscillations remain unchanged since it depends upon the constants of the electrical system.

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ii. Un-damped Oscillations: The electrical oscillations whose amplitude remains constant with time are called un-damped oscillations.

coil is maximum. This is shown in fig (ii) . Now, obviously, you will find that the electro-static energy across the capacitor is completely converted into magnetic field energy around the coil. iii. Once the capacitor is discharged , the magnetic field will begin to collapse and produce a counter e.m.f. . According to Lenzs law, the counter e.m.f. will keep the current flowing in the same direction. The result is that the capacitor is now charged with opposite polarity, making upper plate of capacitor negative and lower plate positive as you can see in fig (iii). iv. After the collapsing field has recharged the capacitor, the capacitor now begins to discharge; current now flowing in the opposite direction. Fig (iv) shows capacitor fully charged and maximum current flowing. As you must have understood, the sequence of charge and discharge results in alternating motion of electrons or an oscillating current. The energy is alternately stored in the electric field of the capacitor ( C ) and the magnetic field of the inductance coil ( L ). This interchange of energy between L and C is repeated over and over again resulting in the production of oscillations. Can you tell me which type of oscillations are produced by the tank circuit ? O.K. let us see now what is the answer. If there were no losses in the tank circuit to consume the energy, then you can very well guess that the inter change of energy between L and C would continue indefinitely. However, in a practical tank circuit, there are resistive and radiation losses in the coil and dielectric losses in the capacitor. So, during each cycle, a small part of the originally imparted energy is used upto overcome these losses. The result is that the amplitude of oscillating current decreases gradually and eventually it becomes zero when all the energy is consumed as losses. This explanation must have given you the answer. It is right, the tank circuit by itself will produce damped oscillations.

ELECTRONIC CIRCUTS

Although the electrical system in which these oscillations are being generated has also losses, but now right amount of energy is being supplied to overcome the losses. Consequently, the amplitude of the generated wave remains constant. Here I would like to emphasize that an oscillator is required to produce un-damped electrical oscillations for utilizing in various electronics equipments. Now, we will study about oscillatory circuit. A circuit which produces electrical oscillations of any desired frequency is known as an oscillatory circuit or tank circuit. A simple oscillatory circuit consists of a capacitor( C ) and inductance coil ( L ) in parallel as shown below:

This electrical system can produce electrical oscillations of frequency determined by the values of L and C. To understand how this comes about, you consider a capacitor to be charged from a d.c. source with a polarity as shown in fig (i) above. i. In the position shown in fig (i) , the upper plate of capacitor has deficit of electrons and the lower plate has excess of electrons. Therefore, there is a voltage across the capacitor and the capacitor has electro-static energy.

The frequency of oscillations in the tank circuit is determined by the constants of the circuit viz, L and C. The actual frequency of oscillations is the resonant frequency ( or natural frequency ) of the tank circuit and is given by :

f r = 1/ 2LC.
From the above equation, you can see that the frequency of oscillations in the tank circuit is inversely proportional to L and C. You can easily justify this. Look, if I use a large value of capacitor, it will take longer for the capacitor to charge fully, and also longer to discharge. What will its result be then ? Definitely, it will lengthen the period of oscillations in the tank circuit, or equivalently, lower its frequency. Now moving on to the inductance coil. With a large value of inductance, the opposition to change in current flow is greater and hence the time required to complete each cycle will be longer. Therefore, you can draw the conclusion that the greater

ii. When switch S is closed as shown in Fig (ii) , the capacitor will discharge through inductance and the electron flow will be in the direction indicated by the arrow. This current flow sets up magnetic field around the coil. Due to the inductive effect, the current builds up slowly towards a maximum value. The circuit current will be maximum when the capacitor is fully discharged. At this instant, electro-static energy is zero but because electron motion is greatest ( i.e. maximum current ) , the magnetic field energy around the
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the value of inductance, the longer is the period, or the lower is the frequency of oscillations in the tank circuit. If you remember, I have told you earlier, that in practice, we need continuous un-damped oscillations for the successful operation of electronics equipments. But, you also know that a tank circuit produces damped oscillations. So, the question is how to utilize this tank circuit in electronics. In order to make the oscillations in the tank circuit un-damped, it is necessary to supply correct amount of energy to the tank circuit at the proper time intervals to meet the losses. But do note that any energy which would be applied to the circuit must have a polarity conforming to the existing polarity at the instant of application of energy. If the applied energy is of opposite polarity, it would oppose the energy in the tank circuit, causing stoppage of oscillations. Therefore, in order to make the oscillations in the tank circuit un-damped, the following conditions must be fulfilled :i. The amount of energy supplied should be such so as to meet the losses in the tank circuit and the a.c. energy removed from the circuit by the load. For instance, if losses in LC circuit amount to 5 mW and a.c. output being taken is 100 mW, then power of 105 mW should be continuously supplied to the circuit.

circuit that produces oscillations without any external signal source. If I open the switch S in the figure, I get the circuit as shown:

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Now what does this signify ? It means that I am removing the input signal. However, the feedback voltage is still applied to the input signal. The amplifier will respond to this signal in the same way that it did to the input signal and that is the feedback voltage will be amplified and sent to the output. The function of the feedback network is to send a portion of the output back to the input. Therefore, the amplifier receives another input cycle and another output cycle is produced. This process will continue so long as the amplifier is turned on. Therefore, the amplifier will produce sinusoidal output with no external signal source. Some points which you should note carefully are listed below:i. A transistor amplifier with proper positive feedback will work as an oscillator.

ii. The applied energy should have the same frequency as that of the oscillations in the tank circuit. iii. 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. So ,if these conditions are satisfied, the circuit will produce continuous un-damped output. Positive Feedback Amplifier Oscillator. A transistor amplifier with proper positive feedback can act as an oscillator. You must remember that a positive feedback amplifier is the one that produces a feedback voltage that is in phase with the original input signal. As you can see, this condition is met in the circuit shown below.

ii. The circuit needs only a quick trigger signal to start the oscillations. Once the oscillations have started, no external signal source is needed. iii. In order to get continuous un-damped output from the circuit , the following condition must be met: A = 1. where, A= voltage gain of amplifier without feedback = feedback fraction. Can you tell me what is this condition called ? This relation is called as Barkhausen criterion. Today we will stop our discussion here . Before that, we will glance through what we have studied in todays lecture.
Glossary

I. From all our previous discussions, how will you define an oscillator ? Well, you can define an electronic oscillator in any one of the following four ways :A phase shift of 180 is produced by the amplifier and a further phase shift of 180 is introduced by feedback network. So, by how many degrees does the signal get shifted? Right , by 360. This signal is then fed back to the input. That is now I can say that the feedback voltage is in phase with the input signal. If you look at the above figure carefully, you will see that the circuit is producing oscillations in the output. However, this circuit has an input signal. But, then this is inconsistent with our definition of an oscillator which states that an oscillator is a 1. It is a circuit which converts dc energy into ac energy at a very high frequency. 2. It is an electronic source of alternating current or voltage having sine, square or sawtooth or pulse shapes. 3. It is a circuit which generates an ac output signal without requiring any externally applied input signal. 4. It is an unstable amplifier. II. The electrical oscillations whose amplitude goes on decreasing with time are called damped oscillations .
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III. The electrical oscillations whose amplitude remains constant with time are called un-damped oscillations. IV. A positive feedback amplifier is the one that produces a feedback voltage that is in phase with the original input signal. V. A transistor amplifier with proper positive feedback will work as an oscillator.
Some questions for you to answer now.

Not exactly a TV mast head amplifier but it would certainly operate quite well at lower frequencies down to audio.
RF Buffer Amplifier With Shunt Feedback

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The input impedance is determined by the resistor R1 while the output impedance initially is probably around R5. The voltage gain is determined by the ratio of R3 the feedback resistor Rfb, R3 to R1, the input resistor. In this case 5K6 / 1K or a typical 5.6 voltage gain or 15 dB demanded of any amplifier.

Q.1 Differentiate between oscillators and alternators. Q.2 List the various applications of oscillators. Q.3 How are oscillations produced in the tank circuit ? Q.4 Which are the conditions that need to be satisfied for the oscillations in a Tank circuit to be used in electronic equipments ? Conclusion An oscillator is an electronic device used for the purpose of generating a signal. Oscillators are found for example in computers, wireless receivers and transmitters, and audiofrequency equipment, and music synthesizers. Every oscillator has at least one active device. This active device acts as an amplifier. There are many types of oscillator devices, but they all operate according to the same basic principle: an oscillator always employs a sensitive amplifier whose output is fed back to the input in phase. Thus, the signal regenerates and sustains itself. This is known as positive feedback. Additional Points To Study
Broad Band Amplifiers

RF buffer amplifier with shunt feedback and emitter degeneration schematic Lets look at the choke RFC. What does it achieve for us?. Any inductor resists or opposes a change in current flowing in it. This has the effect of dumping any r.f. voltage through C3 coupling capacitor. Better still we will replace our RFC with a broadband transformer. In a lot of applications we want a large bandwidth and because our broad band amplifier can be subject to strong in band signals it is necessary to bias our amplifier to a reasonably high standing collector current. In this application we will bias for a modest standing current of 10 mA.

Broad band amplifiers are amplifiers which will reproduce a wide range of signals without significant loss throughout the pass band. A typical broad band amplifier is a mast head amplifier erected on a TV mast and designed not only to amplify VHF and UHF TV signals but also to establish a low noise figure. Not all broad band amplifiers are that wide . Broad band amplifiers can be designed either with or without broad band transformers. A typical example without broad band transformers is shown in figure below.

RF buffer amplifier with shunt feedback Now some very interesting things occur here. Firstly the amplifier is broad band by nature and the bandwidth would be a function of the transistors used. We would not take the expression broad band too literal here. Certainly we would expect several MHz bandwidth centered around say 20 MHz.
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Wideband RF amplifier with shunt feedback and emitter degeneration A broad band output transformer of this type is simply wound usually on a ferrite toroid with a reactance equal to 4 to 5 times the nominal primary load impedance at the lowest frequency of interest. In this application our transformer is the 4:1 impedance transfer variety. That means T1 transforms 200 ohms

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down to 50 ohms. It follows for a reactance of say 800 ohms at 2 MHz we would need an inductance of about 63 mH. That could be easily achieved with 30 bi-filar turns on an FT-5061 toroid. Now bifilar simply means take two equal lengths of winding wire, stretch the wires by clamping one end in a vise and pulling gently. Next you have to twist the entire length of the wires until you achieve about one twist per inch. If you have a hand drill bend a nail into a hook shape and tie the other end of the wires to that and clamp into the chuck of the hand drill. While maintaining tension gently twist the wires. Having twisted the wires you need to wind the turns through the toroid. Now any decent broad band amplifier needs a quality transistor. The one indicated a 2N5179 has an Ft of about 1 GHz. Always select a transistor with an Ft of at least 10 times the highest frequency expected, an IC rating well inside anticipated currents. Also note some higher current applications often require heat sinking. Finally the upper frequency limit in you broad band amplifier is often determined by the length of the wire actually used in the transformer. It begins to approach substantial portions of the upper frequency limits wavelength.
What are buffer amplifiers?

Notes

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What exactly is a buffer amplifier, what is its purpose in life? This class of amplifier is designed to follow low level stages, one example is a crystal oscillator. An oscillator for optimum performance can not be loaded down, it needs an intermediate stage following. This will then present a sufficiently high enough input impedance so it is not considered a significant load to the oscillator. The intermediate or buffer stage, while not representing a load must then have a sufficiently low output impedance to drive successive stages.

The FET represents a high input impedance (Z) but a relatively low output impedance. This buffer amplifier configuration, called a source follower, is capable of high power gain, perhaps as much as 25 db but the voltage output would be only around 90% of the input which is a voltage gain of -0.5 dB (loss) .

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