COLPITTS OSCILLATOR

BACKGROUND
• A Colpitts oscillator, invented in
1918 by American engineer 
Edwin H. Colpitts.
• Fun Fact: His team successfully
demonstrated the first transatlantic
radio telephone in 1915.
THEORY

• It consists of a tank circuit

which is an LC resonance sub
circuit made of two series
capacitors connected in parallel
to an inductor and frequency of
oscillations can be determined
by using the values of these
capacitors and inductor of the
tank circuit.
THEORY

• It is known for using a capacitive divider as its feedback

source.
• It is almost similar to Hartley oscillator.
o Termed as electrical dual of Hartley oscillator.
o Designed for the generation of high frequency sinusoidal oscillations
with radio frequencies typically ranging from 10KHz to 300MHz.
o Difference between two oscillators:
 Colpitts Oscillator: Uses tapped capacitance.
 Hartley Oscillator: Uses tapped inductance.
CIRCUIT EXPLANATION

• Feedback network is made up of a

pair of tapped capacitors and an
inductor to produce a feedback
necessary for oscillations.
o Output voltage is developed across C1.
o Feedback voltage is developed across C2.
• RE resistor provides stabilization for
circuit against variations in
temperature.
CIRCUIT EXPLANATION

• The capacitor CE connected in

the circuit which is parallel to the
RE, provides low reactive path to
the amplified AC signal acting as
Bypass capacitor.
• Resistors R1 and R2 form voltage
divider for circuit and provide
bias to the transistor.
CIRCUIT EXPLANATION

• The circuit consists of a RC

coupled amplifier with common
emitter configuration
transistor.
• The coupling capacitor
provides an AC path from the
collector to the tank circuit.
HOW DOES IT WORK?

• Whenever power supply is switched on, capacitors C1 and C2 start

charging and after the capacitors get fully charged, the capacitors starts
discharging through the inductor L in the circuit causing damped harmonic
oscillations in the tank circuit.
• AC voltage is produced across C1 and C2 by the oscillatory current in the
tank circuit.
• While these capacitors get fully discharged, the electrostatic energy stored
in the capacitors get transferred in the form of magnetic flux to the
inductor. Thus, the inductor gets charged.
HOW DOES IT WORK?

• When the inductor starts discharging, the capacitors start

charging again. This process of energy charging and
discharging capacitors and inductor continues causing the
generation of oscillations. The frequency of these oscillations
can be determined by using the resonant frequency of the
tank circuit consisting of inductor and capacitors.
CIRCUIT EXPLANATION

• For sustained oscillations, the total

phase shift must be 0° or 360°.
• As C1 and C2 are center tapped and
grounded, the voltage across C2 is
180° with the voltage across C1.
• The common emitter transistor
produces 180° phase shift between
the input and output voltage.
APPLICATIONS

• Colpitts oscillators are used for high frequency range and high frequency
stability
• A surface acoustical wave (SAW) resonator
• Microwave applications
• Mobile and communication systems
• Used in chaotic circuits which are capable to generate oscillations from
audio frequency range to the optical band. These application areas include
broadband communications, spectrum spreading, signal masking, etc.
SAMPLE PROBLEM

•   the transistor Colpitts oscillation of

For
Fig. and the following circuit values,
calculate the oscillation frequency:
• L = 100uH
• = 0.5mH
• C1 = 0.005uF
• C2 = 0.01uF
• CC = 10uF
SOURCES

• https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/oscillator/colpitts.html
• https://www.elprocus.com/colpitts-oscillator-circuit-working-a
nd-applications/
• http://www.circuitstoday.com/colpitts-oscillator
• https://www.electronicshub.org/colpitts-oscillator/