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AP242401 04.99
Ceramic Resonator Oscillators of the
C500 / C166 Microcontroller Family
1
Introduction
This Application Note provides basic knowledge necessary to understand the behavior of a ceramic
resonator in the application. The content concerning the measurements to find the right external
circuits is a general information and is valid for all pierce oscillators using an oscillator-inverter. The
appendix includes recommendations for different members of the C500 and C166 Family. The
cooperation between the IC oscillator and the ceramic resonator is not always working properly
because of a wrong composition of external circuits or using a resonator including capacitors with
wrong values.
Therefore
Infineon Technologies
(MD AE) and
Murata
built up a cooperation to support our
customers with the appropriate knowledge to guarantee a problem-free operation of the oscillator.
The effort for the determination of the external circuits of a ceramic resonator oscillator is much
more extensive than for a quartz crystal oscillator. Because of that Murata offers the service to
check the original PCB of the customer and gives a recommendation for the right type of resonator
and right composition of external circuits.
2
Differences between Quartz Crystals and Ceramic Resonators
2.1
Fundamental Differences
The physical base of both components is the piezo electrical effect which transforms electrical
power to vibration. A quartz crystal (also called quartz crystal resonator) consists of a synthetic
single crystal with single polar axes. The basis material of a ceramic resonator is sintered ceramic
powder. This polycrystal material with random polar axis gets a polarization treatment with high
voltage to remain in permanent polarization.
The following table shows the general differences between a quartz crystal and a ceramic
resonator. It claims not to be complete!
Table 1
General Differences between Quartz Crystals and Ceramic Resonators
Ceramic Resonator
Quartz Crystal
Price Factor (depends on quality)
1
2
Frequency Tolerance over all
high
low
Mechanical Shock Resistance
very good
good
Tank for Overtone Oscillation
no
yes
Tendency to spurious Oscillation
high
low
Integrated Caps available
yes
no
Drive Level Dependence of R
1
(DLD)
Drive Level free Circuit Design
no
yes
yes
no