An oscillator produces an alternating output voltage

of fixed or variable frequency.

The waveform of many types of oscillator is a sinusoid
(p. 44) but other waveforms may be generated
such as triangular, sawtooth, and square waves. Circuits
that produce square waves, often called astable multivibrators,
are described on p. 43.
Oscillators may be based on a single transistor but
an op amp is preferred for greater reliability. Each of
the three oscillators described in this topic operates
on a different principle but are all op amp oscillators.
The main requirement is that the op amp should
have a full-power bandwidth that includes the
intended operating frequency.

PHASE SHIFT OSCILLATOR

All three oscillators rely on positive feedback to
keep them oscillating. Part of the output of the op
amp is fed back to its non-inverting input to maintain
the oscillations.
The voltage at the positive terminal of the op amp
is held constant at half the supply, and stabilised by
the capacitor.
A rising voltage at the output is fed back to the
inverting input (2), causing a fall of output. This is
negative feedback and the op amp would have a
stable output. There is positive feedback too, through
the phase shift network.
The network consists of three high-pass filters in
series. On p. 48, it is explained that the output from a
low-pass filter lags behind the input by up to 90_.
Conversely the output of a high-pass filter leads input
by up to 90_.
Three filters could produce a phase lead of up to
270_. At a particular frequency the lead will be 180_.
The signal passing through the phase-shift network is
fully out of phase with the op amp output. This signal
is now amplified and inverted by the op amp, so it is
in phase with the negative feedback signal. The output
from the circuit is unstable and oscillates
strongly.
The output waveform is a sinusoid with frequency
f 5 1/15.39RC.
The circuit is a simple one that is best used as a
fixed-frequency oscillator. It would be too difficult to
have variable resistors or capacitors in the network
and to tune them all at the same time.

Power Amplifiers
A power amplifier is used to produce a major effect
on the surroundings. Examples are power audio
amplifiers, producing sound at high volume, or motor

control circuits actuating the arm of an industrial

robot or aligning the dish of a radio telescope. Other
examples include the circuits that produce the dramatic
effects of disco lighting. The power of these
devices is rated in tens or hundreds of watts, sometimes
more. Even a pocket-sized CD player can have
a 700 mW output, yet the laser light signal that its
head is picking up from the disc is far less powerful
than that.
The electrical signals that initiate any of these
actions may be of extremely low power. For example,
the power output of a microphone or many other
types of sensor, or the control outputs from a microcontroller,
are usually rated at a few milliwatts. The
aim is to amplify the power of the signals from these
devices so that they can drive powerful speakers,
motors or lamps.
The power at which a device is operating depends
on only two quantities, the voltage across the device
and the current flowing through it. The relationship is
simple:
P5IV
The amplifiers that we have described in Topics 8
to 12 have mainly been voltage amplifiers. Some,
such as the FET amplifiers, actually produce a current
that is proportional to their input voltage but, even
then, we usually convert this current to an output
voltage by passing it through a resistor. Thus the
early stages of amplification are usually voltage
amplification. Since P is proportional to V, amplifying
the voltage amplitude of a signal amplifies its
power by the same amount.
Descriptions of voltage amplifiers often refer to
the fact that the currents in amplifiers are small. In
many instances the collector or drain current is only
1 mA. There is good reason for this.
As explained in Topic 27, large currents through a
semiconductor device generate noise. This type of
noise is a random signal, which shows up as backgound
hissing in an audio circuit. If the audio signal
is weak, it may not be possible to pick it out against
a noisy background. In other kinds of circuit it may
become evident as unpredictable behaviour, making
the circuit unreliable.
When a signal has been through several stages of
amplification it may have reached an amplitude of a
few volts or perhaps a few tens of volts. But, for the
reason given above, its current is rated as no more
than a few milliamps, perhaps less. Consequently, its
power level is low. The next and final stage is to
amplify the current.

CURRENT AMPLIFIERS

The two current amplifiers most often used are the

common-drain amplifier and the common-collector
amplifier. Both of these are voltage follower amplifiers.
Their voltage gain is just less than 1 and they
both have high current gain. In addition, they have
low output resistance, a useful feature when driving
high-power devices.
Self Test

What are the alternative names for CD and CC amplifiers ?

The voltage output of these amplifiers is generated

by passing a variable current through a resistor,
either the drain resistor or the collector resistor. The
value of the resistor is chosen so that, when there is
no signal, the output voltage sits at half way
between the 0 V line and the supply voltage. This
gives the output voltage room to swing to maximum
extent in either direction without clipping or
bottoming.
An amplifier of this type is known as a Class A
amplifier. We examine this type in more detail in the
next section.