Adjustable Wien Bridge Oscillator

Adjustable Wien Bridge Oscillator
INTRODUCTION
The W ien bridge oscillat or is developed by Maxwien in the year 1981. The W ien
bridge oscillator is based on the bridge circuit it consists of f our resistors and two
capacitors and it is used f or the measurement of impedance. The huge amount of
f requency is produced by the W ien bridge oscillator. The f eedback circuit is used by
the W ien bridge oscillator and the circuit con sists of a series RC circuit which is
connected to the par allel RC circuit. The components of the circuit have same values
which give the phase delay and phase advance circuit with th e help of f requency.
The W ien Bridge Oscillator is so called because the cir cuit is based on a
f requency-select ive f orm of the W hetstone bridge circuit. The W ien Bridge oscillat or is
a two-stage RC coupled amplif ier circuit that has good stabilit y at its r esonant
f requency, low distortion and is ver y easy to tune making it a popular circuit as an
audio f requency oscillator but the phase shif t of the output signal is considerabl y
dif f erent f rom the previous phase shif t RC Oscillator .
The W ien Bridge Oscillator uses a f eedback circuit consisting of a series RC
circuit connected with a par allel RC of the same component values pr oducing a
phase delay or phase advance circuit depending upon the f requency. At the resonant
f requenc y ƒr the phase shif t is 0°.

RC Phase Shift Netw ork
The above RC net wor k consists of a series RC circuit connected to a parallel
RC f orming basically a High Pass Filter connected to a Low Pass Filt er producing a
ver y select ive second -order f requency dependent Band Pass Filter with a high Q
f actor at the selected f requency, ƒr.
At low f requencies the react ance of the series capacitor (C1) is ver y high
so acts like an open circuit and blocks any input signal at Vin. Theref ore there is no
output signal, Vout. At high f requencies, the reactance of the parallel capacitor, (C2)
is ver y low so this parallel connected capacitor acts like a short circuit on the output
so again there is no output signal. However, bet ween these t wo extremes the out put
voltage reaches a maximum value with the f requency at which this happens being
called the Resonant Frequency, (ƒr).
At this resonant f requency, the circuit reactance equals its resistance as
Xc = R so the phase shif t between the input and out put equals zero degrees. The
magnitude of the output volt age is theref ore at its maximum and is equal to one third
(1/3) of the input volt age as shown.

Output Gain and Phase Shift
It can be seen that at ver y low f requencies the phase angle bet ween the input
and output signals is "Positive" (Phase Advanced), while at ver y high f requencies the
phase angle becomes "Negative" ( Phase Delay). In the middle of these two point s the
circuit is at its resonant f requency, (ƒr) with the t wo signals being "in-phase" or 0. W e
can theref ore def ine this resonant f requency point with the f ollowing expression.
Resonant Frequency
W here:
ƒr is the Resonant Frequency in Hert z
R is the Resistance in Ohms
C is the Capacitance in Farads

Then this f requency selective RC net work f orms the basis of the Wien Bridge
Oscillator circuit. If we now place this RC net work across a non-inverting amplif ier
which has a gain of 1+R1/R2 the f ollowing oscillator circuit is produced.
Wien Bridge Oscillator
The output of the operational amplif ier is f ed back to both the inputs of the
amplif ier. One part of the f eedback signal is connected to the invert ing input
terminal (negative f eedback) via the r esistor divider net work of R1 and R2 which
allows the amplif iers volt age gain t o be adjusted within narr ow limits. The other part
is f ed back to the non-inverting input terminal (posit ive f eedback) via the RC W ien
Bridge net work.
The RC net work is connect ed in the positive f eedback path of the amplif ier and
has zer o phase shif t a just one f requency. Then at the selected resonant f requency,
(ƒr) the voltages applied to the inverting and non-invert ing inputs will be equal and
"in-phase" so the posit ive f eedback will cancel out the negative f eed back
signal causing the circuit to oscillate.

Also the volt age gain of the amplif ier cir cuit MUST be equal to three "Gain = 3"
f or oscillations to start. This value is set by the f eedback resistor net work, R1 and R2
f or an inverting amplif ier and is given as the ratio -R1/R2. Also, due to the open-loop
gain lim itations of operational amplif iers, f requencies above 1 MHz are unachievable
without the use of special high f requency op-amps.
Wien Bridge Oscillator Summary
Then f or oscillat ions to occur in a Wi en Bridge Oscillat or circuit the f ollowing
conditions must apply.
1. W ith no input signal the W ien Bridge Oscillator produces output oscillat ions.
2. The W ien Bridge Oscillat or can produce a large range of frequencies.
3. The Voltage gain of the amplif ier must be at least 3.
4. The network can be used wit h a Non-inverting amplif ier.
5. The input resistance of the amplif ier must be high compared to R so that the
RC net work is not overloaded and alter the required conditions.
6. The output resistance of the amplif ier must be low so that t he eff ect of
external loading is minim ized.
7. Some method of stabilizing the amplitude of the oscillations must be provided
because if the volt age gain of the amplif ier is too small the desired oscillat ion
will decay and stop and if it is too larg e the output amplitude rises to
the value of the supply rails, which saturates the op-amp and causes the
output wavef orm to become distorted.
8. W ith amplitude st abilizat ion in the f orm of f eedback diodes, oscillations f rom
the oscillator can go on indef initely.

Adjustable Wien Bridge Oscillator

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Adjustable Wien Bridge Oscillator

capacitors and it is used f or the measurement of impedance. The huge amount of

dif f erent f rom the previous phase shif t RC Oscillator .

The W ien Bridge Oscillator uses a f eedback circuit consisting of a series RC

f requenc y ƒr the phase shif t is 0°.

The above RC net wor k consists of a series RC circuit connected to a parallel

f actor at the selected f requency, ƒr.

called the Resonant Frequency, (ƒr).

At this resonant f requency, the circuit reactance equals its resistance as

(1/3) of the input volt age as shown.

ƒr is the Resonant Frequency in Hert z

R is the Resistance in Ohms

C is the Capacitance in Farads

which has a gain of 1+R1/R2 the f ollowing oscillator circuit is produced.

Wien Bridge Oscillator

Bridge net work.

signal causing the circuit to oscillate.

without the use of special high f requency op-amps.

Wien Bridge Oscillator Summary

Then f or oscillat ions to occur in a Wi en Bridge Oscillat or circuit the f ollowing

conditions must apply.

2. The W ien Bridge Oscillat or can produce a large range of frequencies.

3. The Voltage gain of the amplif ier must be at least 3.

4. The network can be used wit h a Non-inverting amplif ier.

RC net work is not overloaded and alter the required conditions.

external loading is minim ized.

7. Some method of stabilizing the amplitude of the oscillations must be provided

output wavef orm to become distorted.

the oscillator can go on indef initely.

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