Lecture 2
OP-AMP-RC-Oscillators
Objectives
• What you will learn in Lecture 2
• Fixed and variable Frequency RC Oscillators.
• Wien Bridge Oscillator
• Operation of the Wien Bridge Circuit.
• The Variable Frequency Wien Bridge.
• Diode Stabilised Wien Bridge Oscillator.
• Phase Shift Networks.
• Cascaded High Pass (or Low Pass) Filters.
• Frequency of Oscillation.
• Buffered Phase Shift Oscillator.
RC oscillators
• RC oscillators are a type of feedback oscillator;
– they consist of an amplifying device with some of its output energy fed back into its
input through an RC network, to achieve positive feedback, causing it to generate
an oscillating sinusoidal voltage.
• They are used to produce lower frequencies, mostly audio frequencies,
in such applications as audio signal generators and electronic musical
instruments.
• The frequency of oscillation is determined by the Barkhausen criterion,
which says that the circuit will only oscillate at frequencies for which:
– the phase shift around the feedback loop is equal to 360° or a multiple of 360°, and
– the loop gain is equal to one.
RC oscillators (contd.)
• The purpose of the feedback RC network is to provide the correct phase
shift at the desired oscillating frequency so the loop has 360° phase
shift, so the sinewave, after passing through the loop will be in phase
with the sine wave at the input and reinforce it, resulting in positive
feedback.
• The amplifier provides gain to compensate for the energy lost as the
signal passes through the feedback network, to create sustained
oscillations.
• As long as the total gain around the loop is unity or higher, the circuit
will generally oscillate.
• Since the frequency is determined by the value of resistors and
capacitors, which vary with temperature, RC oscillators do not have as
good frequency stability as crystal oscillators.
Fixed & Variable Frequency RC Oscillators
• Audio oscillators produce waves having frequencies from about 20Hz to 20kHz
(the audio spectrum) and up to about 100kHz for ultrasonic purposes. Single
Frequency Oscillators that produce an audio frequency sine wave output have
many uses.
– Audio oscillators are used to produce sounds such as the simple warning beeps in anything
from automobiles to airliners.
• Audio Oscillators may also produce a range of frequencies by having multiple
frequency controlling elements, such as RC filters, selected by a series of switches
or keys, and have their wave-shape manipulated by extra circuitry for use in such
systems as electronic keyboards.
– Variable frequency oscillators are used in audio signal generators that are essential for testing
amplifiers and fault tracing in many electronics systems.
2.1 The Wien-Bridge Oscillator
• Figure 2.1 shows a Wien-bridge oscillator without the
nonlinear gain-control network.
• The OP AMP and resistors R3 and R4 form the amplifier part of
the oscillator. The OP AMP is connected in the non-inverting
configuration.
• The voltage gain of the amplifier is:
A(s) = Vo/Vi+ = 1 + R2/R1 (2.1)
• In the positive feedback path an RC network connects Vo to
Vi+. The circuit is often designed with equal resistors and equal
capacitors.
2.1 The Wien-Bridge Oscillator (contd.)
Figure 2.1 A Wien-bridge oscillator without amplitude stabilization.
2.1 The Wien-Bridge Oscillator (contd.)
• The feedback ratio of this network is:
(s) = Vi+/Vo = Zp/(Zp+Zs) (2.2)
• where Zp is the impedance of the parallel network and Zs is
the impedance of the series network.
2.1 The Wien-Bridge Oscillator (contd.)
The feedback ratio of the feedback network is:
2.1 The Wien-Bridge Oscillator (contd.)
The loop gain can be easily obtained by multiplying the transfer
function Va(s)/Vo(s) of the feedback network by the amplifier gain,
Substituting s = j results in
2.1 The Wien-Bridge Oscillator (contd.)
The loop gain will be a real number (i.e., the phase will be zero) at
one frequency given by
1
o C R
o C R
That is,
2.1 The Wien-Bridge Oscillator (contd.)
• To obtain sustained oscillations at this frequency, one
should set the magnitude of the loop gain to unity.
• This can be achieved by selecting R2/R1 = 2.
• To ensure that oscillations will start, one chooses R2/R1
slightly greater than 2.
• The reader can verify that if R2/R1 = 2 + , where is a
small number, the roots of the characteristic equation 1 -
A(s)(s) = 0 will be in the right half of the s plane.
2.2 Wien-Bridge Oscillator with amplitude control
• The amplitude of oscillation can be determined and stabilized by using
a nonlinear control network.
• Two different implementations of the amplitude-controlling function are
shown in Figs.(2.2) and (2.3).
• The circuit in Fig.(2.2) employs a symmetrical feedback limiter.
• It is formed by diodes D1 and D2 together with resistors R3, R4, R5, and
R6 .
• The limiter operates in the following manner: At the positive peak of the
output voltage vo, the voltage at node b will exceed the voltage v1
(which is about ⅓ vo), and diode D2 conducts.
• This will clamp the positive peak to a value determined by R5, R6, and
the negative power supply.
2.2 Wien-Bridge Oscillator with amplitude control
(contd.)
• The value of the positive output peak can be calculated by
setting ( vb = v1 + VD2 ) and writing a node equation at node b
while neglecting the current through D 2.
• Similarly, the negative peak of the output sine wave will be
clamped to the value that causes diode D 1 to conduct.
• The value of the negative peak can be determined by setting ( v a
= v1 – VD1 ) and writing an equation at node a while neglecting
the current through D1.
• Finally, note that to obtain a symmetrical output waveform, R 3 is
chosen equal to R6, and R4 equal to R5.
2.2 Wien-Bridge Oscillator with amplitude control
(contd.)
Fig 2.2 A Wien-bridge oscillator with a limiter used for amplitude control.
2.2 Wien-Bridge Oscillator with amplitude control
(contd.)
• The circuit of Fig. 2.3 employs an implementation of the parameter-variation
mechanism of amplitude control.
• Potentiometer P is adjusted until oscillations just start to grow.
• As the oscillations grow, the diodes start to conduct, causing the effective
resistance between a and b to decrease.
• Equilibrium will be reached at the output amplitude that causes the loop gain
to be exactly unity.
• The output amplitude can be varied by adjusting potentiometer P
• As indicated in Fig. 13.6, the output is taken at point b rather than at the OP-
AMP output terminal because the signal at b has lower distortion than that at
a.
• To appreciate this point, note that the voltage at b is proportional to the
voltage at the OP-AMP input terminals and that the latter is a filtered (by the
RC network) version of the voltage at node a.
• Node b, however, is a high-impedance node, and a buffer will be needed if a
load is to be connected.
2.2 Wien-Bridge Oscillator with amplitude control
(contd.)
Figure 2.3 A Wien-bridge oscillator with an alternative method for amplitude stabilization.
2.3 The Phase-Shift Oscillator
• The phase shift oscillator makes use of an amplifier with an inverting gain, i.e. its
gain is negative.
• A negative gain is equivalent to a phase shift of ±180o.
• For the circuit to be an oscillator, the feedback network must introduce an
additional phase of ±180o so that the total phase is 0o (or ±360o).
• A phase shift of +180o can be obtained by cascading two RC high-pass filters.
• However, at the frequency where the phase shift is exactly +180o, the gain of the
filters is zero.
• By cascading three RC high-pass filters, there is a frequency at which the phase
shift is +180o and the gain is non-zero. Such a circuit is shown in Fig. 2.4.
2.3 The Phase-Shift Oscillator (contd.)
v’o
RF
C C C R
va vb
- vo
i1 i2 i3
+
R R
Figure 2.4 A phase-shift oscillator.
2.3 The Phase-Shift Oscillator (contd.)
• The figure shows the feedback loop broken so that the loop transfer
function can be written. Using KCL and KVL to analyse the phase shift
oscillator circuit we obtain:
2.3 The Phase-Shift Oscillator (contd.)
2.3 The Phase-Shift Oscillator (contd.)
It follows that Vo/V’o is given by
2.3 The Phase-Shift Oscillator (contd.)
• For s = jω,
• The numerator is a negative imaginary number for all frequencies.
• For the loop-gain to be 1 0o at any frequency, the denominator must
also be a negative imaginary number.
• This occurs when
2.3 The Phase-Shift Oscillator (contd.)
• The angular frequency ω0 satisfying this equation is:
• At this frequency, the transfer function reduces to
2.3 The Phase-Shift Oscillator (contd.)
• For the loop-gain to be unity, RF must have the value
RF = 29 R
• For this value, the circuit will oscillate at the frequency
2.4 The Phase-Shift Oscillator with amplitude control
• To ensure that oscillations start, the value of the open loop gain
has to be chosen slightly higher than the value that satisfies the
unity-loop-gain condition.
• Oscillations will then grow in magnitude until limited by some
nonlinear control mechanism.
• Figure 2.5 shows a practical phase-shift oscillator with a feedback
limiter, consisting of diodes D1 and D2 and resistors R1, R2, R3, and
R4 for amplitude stabilization.
• To start oscillations, R1 has to be made slightly greater than the
minimum required value.
• Although the circuit stabilizes more rapidly, and provides sine
waves with more stable amplitude, if R1 is made much larger than
this minimum, the price paid is an increased output distortion.
2.4 The Phase-Shift Oscillator with amplitude control
(contd.)
Fig 2.5 A practical phase-shift oscillator with a limiter for amplitude stabilization.
2.5 A Final Remark
• The OP AMP-RC oscillator circuits studied are useful for operation
in the range 10 Hz to 100 kHz (or perhaps 1 MHz at most).
• Whereas the lower frequency limit is dictated by the size of
passive components required, the upper limit is governed by the
frequency-response and slew-rate limitations of OP AMPs.
• For higher frequencies, circuits that employ transistors together
with LC tuned circuits or crystals are frequently used.
