White Paper: Crystal Oscillators: History, Parameters, And Types

By John Esterline, Greenray Industries, Inc.

Abstract

Precision quartz oscillators have been a mainstay of embeddable timing solutions for over half a century. Crystal oscillators are flexible and rugged making them ideal for a wide range of applications. Because of the versatility there are many types of crystal oscillators with unique attributes. This paper covers oscillator types and defines and explains many of the parameters associated with crystal oscillators. Attributes and parameters such as phase noise, jitter, short term stability, long term stability, and temperature performance are all covered.