Things To Know About Quartz Crystal Unit and Murata Ceramic Resonator

Do you know where quartz crystal unit is used? No! You will have to follow the rest of the post for that. First of all, let’s understand what a crystal oscillator is? Well, this is can be defined as a circuit of electronic oscillator  that makes use of the mechanical resonance of piezoelectric vibrating crystal. This material helps to create the electrical signal by maintaining a constant frequency. In fact, because of this particular frequency, it becomes easy to keep time track. This in turn helps in the task of providing a stable clock signal for the digital integrated circuits, and also for stabilizing the frequencies needed for radio transmitters and receivers. 

Now a ceramic resonator like Murata Ceramic Resonator is basically an electronic component that comprise of a piece of a piezoelectric ceramic material. It comes with two or more than two metal electrodes attached to it. So this device operates as a reference signal generator and the frequency is adjusted by the size and thickness of the given ceramic element.

Well, a crystal oscillator relies on the minute change in a quartz crystal shape under an electric field. This is a property, known by the name of electrostriction or even inverse piezoelectricity. A voltage applied to an electrode on the crystal causes it to change shape and then return back to its original shape once the voltage is removed. 

The quartz is known to oscillates at a stable frequency; hence, it acts like an RLC circuit; however, with a slight high Q factor. Once a quartz crystal gets properly adjusted to a certain frequency it maintains that frequency with high stability. 

Quartz crystals are made for frequencies ranging from a few tens of mHz to hundreds of µHz. Most of the quartz crystal unit is used for consumer devices such as clocks, radios, wristwatches, computers, and mobiles. 

However in applications where small size and weight is needed crystals can be replaced by thin film bulk acoustic resonators especially when a high frequency resonance is needed. Quartz crystals are easily found inside most of the test and measurement equipment, like counters, oscilloscopes, and signal generators.