Extre m e l o w v oltage oscillator

Last Modification: November 3, 2013

Fig. 1: Hartley oscillator powered by a peltier

element.

The aim for increasingly lower supply voltages is especially noticeable in the field of PC-technology. In the early days a
voltage of 5 volt were the norm, nowadays runs everything at 3,3 V and the CPU-core on even lower voltages. And there are
the mobile devices that are satisfied with the voltage of a single penlight or coin cell.

But... the supply voltage can be even lower...

The picture on the right shows a hartley oscillator that already works with a voltage of 10 mV. Here is a peltier element used
as a power source. A slight touch with a finger is enough to get the oscillator running.

J-FET as the active element

A circuits that has to work on very low voltages can make very good use of the benefits a Junction-FET. In contrast to bipolar
transistors these components don't suffer of the PN-junction voltage which is circa 500 to 600 mV at low currents.

Fig. 2: Drain current vs. VD-S of

some J-FET's

Fig. 3: Gain (G) vs. VD-S of some J-

FET's

In a junction-FET a drain current flows already at a gate-source voltage of 0 volt. At a low drain-source voltage Vds follows
the drain current this voltage in a proportional way as shown in figure 2.
That a drain current is flowing is point a, the second condition is that the gain is sufficient at low voltages. Figure 3 shows
that the gain is dependent of the drain-source voltage. The gain is expressed drain current change per gate-source voltage
change: G = ΔId / ΔVgs.

Choosing a J-FET type

Of the four types J-FET's who where available for this test appears the BF245A to have the most beneficial properties. This
type has the lowest stationary current and also the highest gain. There are most likely J-FET types who have even better
properties, but they weren't available at the moment the test took place.

Hartley oscillator

Fig. 4: Extreme low voltage

hartley oscillator.

A Hartley type oscillator is chosen for this extreme low-voltage design. This type of oscillator has a direct DC-coupling
between the gate and source by the winding N1 of the transformer. Hereby the DC-setting Vgs = 0 V of the J-FET is realized.

To let the oscillator function at 10 millivolt the gain of a single J-FET appears not to be enough. By putting two J-FET's in
parallel the gain became more sufficient.
The oscillation frequency is approximately 20 kHz and it outputs a voltage of circa 1,2 V. At 10 mV the circuit draws a current
of 70 µA.
The energy the oscillator delivers is extremely small. The load of a measurement instrument can already be too much. The
test is done with an oscilloscope with an 1:10 probe that has an ohmic resistance of 10 MΩ and a capacity of 12 pF.

The transformer
The turn ratio of the transformer ensures that the gate gets a high enough drive voltage to let the oscillator function. The
transformer is made with an Amidon EA-77-188 core. N1 has 900 turns Ø0,1 mm enamelled copper wire. N2 has 4 turns of
brass strip with a thickness of 50 µm and a width equal to the bobbin height.

At 03 dec 2013, 20:08:28 wrote sv3ora

This is great! I have managed to get oscillations down to 86mv see my related page http://www.neazoi.gr/energy-
harvesting/index.htm
Do you have any of these cores so I could buy them to perform the experiment?

At 03 dec 2013, 21:16:36 wrote Freddy

Sorry, this is the only core of this type I have. But you could try it with an other small core with a μr of around 2000. And
keep trying to get the voltage lower!

At 04 mei 2019, 12:17:45 wrote Jindra

I would argue that putting two BF245A in parallel does not increase gain. Contrary to what you suggest, their
transconductance (measured in mA/V) must be average of individual gm of each of the two JFETs.
On the other hand, BF245A has very low drain current at Vgs = 0V (according to data sheet, between 0.5 and 2.2 mA).
By putting two BF245A in parallel you increase the current and that probably enables the oscillations to start. In other
words, the initial resistance between Vin and the coil is lower.
You could probably achieve the same by using a single BF245B or BF245C. However, using two JFETs in parallel will allow
for higher maximum drain current and power loss. I think it is a good idea.
Maybe I would try 2x BF245B in parallel and look if the output improves.

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