Lecture 31 Op amp Based Sinusoidal Oscillator Objectives: To present the most famous op amp based oscillators (a) Wien-Bridge

(b) Phase shift, (c) Quadrature. The Wien-Bridge Oscillator The Wien-Bridge oscillator circuit is shown in Fig. 1. It uses an op amp connected in the non-inverting configuration exhibiting gain of 1+R2/R1. An RC network is connected in the positive feedback path of the amplifier.

Rs Vp Rp Cp R1 R2

Cs Vo

Fig. 1: Wien-Bridge Oscillator The characteristic equation (CEQ) of the oscillator can be developed as follows: sC R + 1 1 First, note that Z s = Rs + = s s sCs sCs Then, write KCL at V p
Vp Rp + V p sC p + (V p Vo ) sCs =0 ( sCs Rs + 1)

1 sCs sCsVo V p + sC p + =0 ( sCs Rs + 1) ( sCs Rs + 1) Rp

(1)

Since v+=v- of the op amp, VDR gives:

Vp = R1 Vo R1 + R2 (2)

Substituting (2) in (1) produces: Vo

1 sCs sCsVo R1 =0 + sC p + ( R1 + R2 ) Rp ( sCs Rs + 1) ( sCs Rs + 1) sCs Rs + 1 + sC p ( sCs Rs + 1) R p + sCs R p sCs R1 =0 R p ( sCs Rs + 1) ( R1 + R2 ) ( sCs Rs + 1)

Since, Vo 0

Multiplying by ( R1 + R2 ) Rp ( sCs Rs + 1)
R1 s 2C p R p Rs + sCs Rs + sC p R p + sCs R p + 1 sCs R p [ R1 + R2 ] = 0

Let R p = Rs = R and C p = Cs = C s 2C 2 R 2 R1 + 3sCRR1 + R1 sCR p [ R1 + R2 ] = 0 Substituting s=jo for physical frequency of oscillation and solving:
2 Real =0 ; o C 2 R 2 R1 + R1 = 0 o =

1 CR

Imaginary = 0; j3oCRR1 joC [ R1 + R2 ] R = 0 Dividing by joCR gives: 3R1 R1 + R2 or

R2 2 R1

One must select R2/R1 slightly greater than 2 to make sure that oscillations will start. Also, it can be shown that the roots of the CEQ will be in the right half of the s-plane if R2/R1=2+, where is a small positive number. Figure 2 shows the Wien-Bridge Oscillator incorporating the limiter that was introduced in previous class, for amplitude control.

Fig. 2: A Wien-Bridge Oscillator with a limiter used for amplitude control Another practical implementation of the Wien-Bridge Oscillator is shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3: A Wien-Bridge Oscillator with alternative method of amplitude stabilization Potentiometer P is varied until oscillations starts. The diodes will conduct, as the oscillation signal grows. This causes the effective resistance between a and b to decrease. When the output amplitude makes the loop gain exactly unity, equilibrium will be reached and the output sinusoidal signal amplitude will be constant.

The phase shift Oscillator Fig. 4 shows the basic structure of the phase shift oscillator. It uses a negative gain amplifier (usually inverting amplifier) with gain of K. In the feedback loop three sections of RC network are incorporated.

Fig. 4: Phase-shift oscillator When the phase shift of the RC ladder network becomes 180o (o must be up) , the circuit will oscillate (i.e. the total phase shift around the loop is 360 or 0). In fact, the minimum required section of the RC network is three. Three RC circuit can provide up to 270o phase shift, however, two RC sections can not provide 180o at a finite frequency! When the value of K becomes equal to the inverse of the loss in the RC network transfer function, oscillations will sustain (i.e. the magnitude of the loop gain is unity). In practice, however, K is selected slightly higher than that value to ensure the start of oscillation. Example 1: Find the frequency and condition of oscillation for the phase shift oscillator shown in Fig. 5.

Rf =100 k 16 nF 16 nF 16 nF Vo 10 k 10 k

Fig. 5: A practical phase-shift oscillator

Analysis:
KCL at V1

V1 + (V1 Vo ) sC + (V1 V2 ) sC = 0 R

V1[1 + 2 sCR] Vo sCR V2 sCR = 0

KCL at V2

(1) -------------(1)

V2 + (V2 V1 ) sC + V2 sC = 0 R

V2 [1 + 2 sCR] sCRV1 = 0
V1 = 1 + 2 sCR V2 sCR (2) --------(2)

KCL at V-=0:

(0 V2 ) sC +
V2 = Vo sCR f

(0 Vo ) =0 Rf
(3) --------(3)

Substituting (3) in (2)

V1 =

1 + 2 sCR Vo s 2C 2 RR f

(4) -----(4)

Substituting (4), (3) in (1)

(1 + 2sCR)(1 + 2sCR) R Vo Vo sCR + Vo = 0 2 2 s C RR f Rf

s 3C 3 R 2 R f Vo + (1 + 2sCR)(1 + 2sCR)Vo s 2C 2 R 2Vo = 0 s 3C 3 R 2 R f + 4s 2C 2 R 2 + 4sCR s 2C 2 R 2 + 1 = 0

Substituting s=jo for physical frequency of oscillation and solving:

Real=0: 3o C R + 1 = 0
2 2 2

o =
Imaginary=0:

1 (i.e. frequency of oscillation) 3CR

3 jo C 3 R 2 R f + joCR = 0

2 o C 2 RR f + 4 = 0

1 C 2 RR f + 4 = 0 2 2 3C R

R f 12 R = 0

R f 12 R

(i.e. condition of oscillation)

Phase shift oscillator employing a limiter for amplitude stabilization is shown in Fig. 6. The potentiometer (variable resistance) is changed until oscillation just starts.

Fig. 6: Phase-shift oscillator with a limiter used for amplitude control The Quadrature Oscillator The circuit of the Quadrature Oscillator uses two op amps as shown in Fig. 7. Since amplifier 1 is used as an integrator. The phase shift between the signal at vo2 and vo1

will be always 90 (i.e. the circuit provide two sinusoidal output in quadratue). Such quadrature oscillator has wide range of application in communication and control.

Fig. 7: A Quadrature Oscillator circuit Example 2: Find expression for the frequency and condition of oscillation for the Quadrature oscillator shown in Fig. 7. Analysis:
KCL at Vn1

0 Vo 2 1 Vo 2 + (0 Vo1 ) sC = 0 Vo1 = sCR R

(1)

KCL at Vp2

V p 2 Vo1 2R

V p 2 Vo 2 Rf

+ sCV p 2 = 0

Vp 2 [

V V 1 1 + + sC ] o1 o 2 = 0 2R R f 2R R f

(2)

But by VDR Vn 2 = V p 2 =

2R 1 Vo 2 = Vo 2 2R + 2R 2

eqn (2) Vo 2 [
Substituting (1) in (3)

1 2

V V 1 1 + + sC ] o1 o 2 = 0 2R R f 2R R f

(3)

V 1 1 1 1 Vo 2 [ + + sC ] + V o2 = 0 2 o2 2 2R R f 2 sCR Rf

Multiplying by

2sCR 2 R f

Vo 2 0 sCRR f 2 + sCR 2 + s 2C 2 R 2 R f + R f 2 sCR 2 = 0

Substituting s=jo for physical frequency of oscillation and solving:

Real=0: o C R R f + R f = 0 o =
2 2 2

Imaginary=0:

jo CRR f 2

1 frequency of oscillation CR

+ joCR 2 2 joCR 2 = 0

Divide by jo CR

1 R f R = 0 R f 2 R condition of oscillation 2

Finally, it is worth mentioning that these oscillators are suitable for low frequency applications (up to few hundreds of kHz). This is mainly due the small slew rate and limited gain-bandwidth product of the op amp.