An electronic oscillator is an electronic circuit that produces a periodic, oscillating

electronic signal, often a sine wave or a square wave. Oscillators convert direct current (DC) from a
power supply to an alternating current (AC) signal.
They are widely used in many electronic devices.
Common examples of signals generated by oscillators include
1. signals broadcast by radio and television transmitters,
2. clock signals that regulate computers and quartz clocks,
3. and the sounds produced by electronic beepers and video games.

Circuit satisfying Barkhausen Condition

Signal at the output (vo)

In electronics, the Barkhausen stability criterion is a mathematical condition to determine when a

linear electronic circuit will oscillate. It is widely used in the design of electronic oscillators, and also
in the design of general negative feedback circuits such as op amps, to prevent them from
oscillating.
It states that if A is the gain of the amplifying element in the circuit and (j) is the transfer function
of the feedback path, so A is the loop gain around the feedback loop of the circuit, the circuit will
sustain steady-state oscillations only at frequencies for which:
Barkhausen Condition:

The loop gain is equal to unity in absolute magnitude, that is, |A|=1 beta A|=1
The phase shift around the loop is zero or an integer multiple of <A = 2:

Barkhausen's criterion is a necessary condition for oscillation but not a sufficient condition

Wien Bridge Oscillator

It can be shown that, oscillations
Freq of oscillations= f 0

1
2RC

And RF and RG must satisfy the following

condition:
RF= 2RG

Example: Design a Wien bridge oscillator to generate a frequency f0=1kHz

Solution:

Choose RG=1K the RF = 2*RG = 2k.

Choose C=0.1F, the calculate R

1
2 10 0.1106
3

A phase-shift oscillator
A phase-shift oscillator is a linear electronic oscillator circuit that produces a sine wave output. It
consists of an inverting amplifier element such as a transistor or op amp with its output fed back to
its input through a phase-shift network consisting of resistors and capacitors in a ladder network.
The feedback network 'shifts' the phase of the amplifier output by 180 degrees at the oscillation
frequency to give positive feedback. Phase-shift oscillators are often used at audio frequency as
audio oscillators.
The following diagrams illustrate two types of phase shift oscillators

Square Wave Generators:

Period of oscillations

Frequency= f = 1/T

The time period of the output of the Op Am square wave generator can be expressed using the
above equation.

The common practice is to make the R3 equal to R2. Then the equation for the time period can be
simplified as:

T=2.1976R1C1
Example:
Design a square wave generator with a frequency = 1kHz.
Solution:
T = 1/f =0.001
Choose R2=R3 = 10 kW (just reasonable values)
Then choose C1 = 0.1f (Reasonable value)
The R1 = R1

0.001
2.197 0.1106