A crystal oscillator is an electronic oscillator circuit that uses the mechanical resonance of a vibrating crystal of piezoelectric material to create an electrical signal ...CrystaloscillatorFromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopediaJumptonavigationJumptosearchCrystaloscillatorAminiature16MHzquartzcrystalenclosedinahermeticallysealedHC-49/Spackage,usedastheresonatorinacrystaloscillator.TypeElectromechanicalWorkingprinciplePiezoelectricity,ResonanceInventedAlexanderM.Nicholson,WalterGuytonCadyFirstproduction1918ElectronicsymbolAcrystaloscillatorisanelectronicoscillatorcircuitthatusesthemechanicalresonanceofavibratingcrystalofpiezoelectricmaterialtocreateanelectricalsignalwithaconstantfrequency.[1][2][3]Thisfrequencyisoftenusedtokeeptrackoftime,asinquartzwristwatches,toprovideastableclocksignalfordigitalintegratedcircuits,andtostabilizefrequenciesforradiotransmittersandreceivers.Themostcommontypeofpiezoelectricresonatorusedisaquartzcrystal,sooscillatorcircuitsincorporatingthembecameknownascrystaloscillators.[1]However,otherpiezoelectricmaterialsincludingpolycrystallineceramicsareusedinsimilarcircuits.Acrystaloscillatorreliesontheslightchangeinshapeofaquartzcrystalunderanelectricfield,apropertyknownaselectrostrictionorinversepiezoelectricity.Avoltageappliedtoanelectrodeonthecrystalcausesittochangeshape;whenthevoltageisremoved,thecrystalgeneratesasmallvoltageasitelasticallyreturnstoitsoriginalshape.Thequartzoscillatesatastableresonantfrequency,behavinglikeanRLCcircuit,butwithamuchhigherQfactor(lessenergylossoneachcycleofoscillation).Onceaquartzcrystalisadjustedtoaparticularfrequency(whichisaffectedbythemassofelectrodesattachedtothecrystal,theorientationofthecrystal,temperatureandotherfactors),itmaintainsthatfrequencywithhighstability.[4]Quartzcrystalsaremanufacturedforfrequenciesfromafewtensofkilohertztohundredsofmegahertz.Asof2003,aroundtwobillioncrystalsaremanufacturedannually.[5]Mostareusedforconsumerdevicessuchaswristwatches,clocks,radios,computers,andcellphones.Howeverinap