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Oscillator
For resonance,
where XCT is the total capacitance in parallel with the inductor. This gives the resonance
frequency (and oscillating frequency) as,
Consideration of the LC network shows that its attenuation (from the amplifier output to
input) is due to the voltage divider effect of L and C1. This gives,
It can be shown that the required 180° phase shift occurs when
and this gives,
As in the case of all oscillator circuits, the loop gain must be a minimum of one to ensure
oscillation. Therefore,
or,
When deriving the above equations, it was assumed that the inductor coil resistance is very
much smaller than the inductor impedance; that is, that the coil Q factor (ω L/R) is large.
This must be taken into considered when selecting an inductor. It was also assumed that the
amplifier input resistance is much greater than the impedance of C1 at the oscillating
frequency. Because of the inductor resistance and the amplifier input resistance, and because
of stray capacitance effects when the oscillator operates at a high-frequency, the amplifier
voltage gain usually has to be substantially larger than C1/C2.
Circuit Design:
Colpitts oscillator design can commence with selection of the smallest capacitor (C2) much
larger than stray capacitance, or with selection of a convenient value of L. To keep the
amplifier input voltage to a fairly low level, the feedback network is often designed to
attenuate the output voltage by a factor of 10. This requires that C1/C2 ≈ 10. (It should be
recalled that large ACL values require larger op-amp bandwidths.) Also, XC2 should be much
larger than the amplifier output impedance. Using the desired oscillating frequency, L can be
calculated from Eq. 16-4. Amplifier input resistor R1 must be large enough to avoid
overloading the feedback network, (R1 ≫ XC1). Resistor R2 is determined from ACL and R1.