What Is A Ceramic Resonator

When connected in an electronic oscillator circuit resonant mechanical vibrations in the device generate an oscillating signal of a specific frequency like the similar quartz crystal they are used in oscillators for purposes such as generating.

What is a ceramic resonator.

Ceramic resonators are made of lead zirconium titanate pzt and are easier to manufacture than crystal oscillators made out of fine cut quartz. In terms of application ceramic resonators are used in microprocessors where their frequency stability is not important and crystal oscillators are used for more precise time based applications. Both ceramic resonators and quartz crystals work on the same principle. The ceramic resonators are not nearly as good as a crystal but they are good enough for serial and most other common tasks.

The vibrate mechanically when an ac signal is applied to them. Inner electrode capacitance fig. A typical ceramic resonator has three terminals. A ceramic resonator is an electronic component consisting of a piece of a piezoelectric ceramic material with two or more metal electrodes attached.

The ceramic resonator itself is a basic two terminal electronic component which has many similarities to a single crystal although the level of performance is not as high. Many of the official arduino boards use a ceramic resonator not a crystal. 5 5 impedance and phase characteristics for ceramic resonators. Ceramic resonators look similar.

Equivalent resistance l1. However the ceramic resonator has the advantage that it is a much lower cost electronic component and is therefore more applicable to mass produced rf circuit design. The resonator or crystal itself has two connections. The two main terminals are at each wide side of a thin ceramic material while the middle terminal is usually connected to the thin side and may be grounded or used to tap signal into the rest of the oscillator circuit.

There are various resonators that are used for an immense number of applications in the field of electronics. Quartz crystals are more accurate and temperature stable than ceramic resonators. A ceramic resonator is often used in place of quartz crystals as a reference clock or signal generator in electronic circuitry due to its low cost and smaller size. On the left the crystal right the ceramic resonator.