Crystal, Silicon, Ceramic, and LC Material Properties and Features (April 2013)

A comparison of crystal oscillators and Si-MEMS oscillators

A wide variety of electronic devices require reference signals. Crystal devices are one source of reference clocks, but by no means are they the only one. Other sources include, LC oscillators, which consist of an inductor (L) and a capacitor (C) that resonate when connected to generate a frequency. CR oscillators, are used to charging/discharging circuits comprised of a capacitor (C) and resistor (R) to generate a reference frequency, and ceramic oscillators use piezoelectric ceramics consisting primarily of lead zirconium titanate (PZT); and silicon-based oscillators, which use micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. The type of oscillator you choose will depend on the application.