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A crystal oscillator is an electronic oscillator circuit that uses a piezoelectric crystal as a frequency-selective element. [1] [2] [3] The oscillator frequency is often used to keep track of time, as in quartz wristwatches, to provide a stable clock signal for digital integrated circuits, and to stabilize frequencies for radio transmitters and receivers.
Quartz clocks and quartz watches are timepieces that use an electronic oscillator regulated by a quartz crystal to keep time. This crystal oscillator creates a signal with very precise frequency , so that quartz clocks and watches are at least an order of magnitude more accurate than mechanical clocks .
Crystal oscillators can be manufactured for oscillation over a wide range of frequencies, from a few kilohertz up to several hundred megahertz.Many applications call for a crystal oscillator frequency conveniently related to some other desired frequency, so hundreds of standard crystal frequencies are made in large quantities and stocked by electronics distributors.
The most-common linear oscillator in use is the crystal oscillator, in which the output frequency is controlled by a piezo-electric resonator consisting of a vibrating quartz crystal. Crystal oscillators are ubiquitous in modern electronics, being the source for the clock signal in computers and digital watches, as well as a source for the ...
[90] [91] By the 1950s, hydrothermal synthesis techniques were producing synthetic quartz crystals on an industrial scale, and today virtually all the quartz crystal used in the modern electronics industry is synthetic. [78] An early use of the piezoelectricity of quartz crystals was in phonograph pickups.
Quartz clocks employ a crystal oscillator made from a quartz crystal that uses a combination of both direct and converse piezoelectricity to generate a regularly timed series of electrical pulses that is used to mark time. The quartz crystal (like any elastic material) has a precisely defined natural frequency (caused by its shape and size) at ...
Quartz and quartzite have about the same lifespan, according to Chadha. However, natural quartzite does edge out quartz by a hair. “With quartzite, if there’s a little nick or something, it ...
Technologically, quartz oscillators can be made with circuit-centric programmable architectures like those used in MEMS, but historically only a minority have been built this way. MEMS oscillators are also significantly immune to shock and vibration and have shown production quality levels higher than those associated with quartz.