Patent GB-1010626-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in oscillator circuits
IPC: H03K4/88
Filed: 1963-11-08
Abstract: 1,010,626. Photo-electric oscillator circuit. PHILIPS ELECTRONIC & ASSOCIATED INDUSTRIES Ltd. Nov. 8, 1963 [Nov. 13, 1962], No. 44176/63. Heading G1A. [Also in Divisions H1 and H3] An oscillator circuit (to produce a saw-tooth waveform) comprises a light-emissive device connected in parallel with a photo-resistor, this parallel arrangement being connected in series with a resistor to supply terminals across which a D.C. source can be connected, such that when the voltage across the light-emissive device exceeds its breakdown voltage, it emits light substantially immediately and when the voltage decreases below the breakdown voltage, it ceases to emit light immediately, the circuit also comprising means for supplying synchronizing pulses either to the light-emissive device or direct to the photo-resistor. In one embodiment (Fig. 1) the light-emissive device comprises a gas-filled triode 1 filled with a rare gas e.g. neon or argon, and the photo-resistor 6 may be of, for example, cadmium sulphide or cadmium selenide. The supply voltage V B  is much higher than the breakdown voltage of the lightemissive device. When the tube has broken down and is conducting, light (visible, U.V. or I.R.) is emitted from the glow discharge and illuminates the photo-resistor 6, the resistance of which rapidly decreases, the voltage across the photo-resistor also follwing this, to form the fly-back of the sawtooth waveform, until the tube extinguishes. At this point light ceases to be emitted from the tube and the photo-resistor returns to its unilluminated value, in a time determined by the time required for the return of electrons, excited into the conduction band, back to the valence band of the photoresistor material. Since this recombination time for hole-electron pairs is much longer than that for excitation, the rise in resistance is a much slower process than the drop, resulting in the long stroke of the sawtooth waveform. When the resistance 6 has returned to such a value that the breakdown voltage is again exceeded, the cycle is repeated. The stroke period of the sawtooth is thus dependent on the recombination time of the photo-resistor 6 but also depends on V B  and the value of resistor 7. The oscillator can be synchronised by applying to the control grid of the tube 1 positive going pulses 5 which if of longer duration than the fly-back period, increase this period. The tube 1 may be replaced by a series arrangement of a Zener diode 9 (Fig. 2) and a light-emitting p-n or p-i-n device 10. This arrangement is connected, with respect to the supply V b , so that when the voltage across the Zener diode 9 is less than its breakdown voltage, it is non-conductive, and so that the diode 10 can conduct. Operation of the circuit is similar to the value circuit, such that when the Zener diode 9 breaks down, current flows through the diode 10, which omits light, until the decrease in the resistance of 6 cuts off the current. Synchronization pulses are applied between the Zener diode 9 and the diode 9 and reel have only a small amplitude. In a third embodiment (Fig. 3) a thyristor light source 11 is used together with an extinguishing coil 12. Operation of the circuit is similar to the other embodiments. A unijunction transistor 13 (Fig. 4) may be used to determine the breakdown voltage in a further alternative circuit. When the voltage at the emitter of the transistor receeds a predetermined value, the transistor passes a large current which causes the light source 10 to emit. If the effective resistance of the transistor so is small that the minimum flow of current through it causes the source 10 to emit, the resistance 17 is necessary in the circuit. Instead of applying synchronization pulses as current of voltage pulses, they may be applied direct to the photo-resistor as light pulses.