The paper discusses a probabilistic model of a crystal oscillator at low drive levels where the noise intensity is comparable with the oscillation amplitude. The stationary probability density of the oscillations envelope is derived and investigated for the nonlinear resonator loses. A stochastic explanation is given for the well-known phenomenon termed sleeping sickness associated with losing a facility of self-excitation by a crystal oscillator after a long storage without a power supply. It is shown that, with low drive levels leading to an insufficient feedback, a crystal oscillator generates the noise-induced oscillations rather than it absolutely "falls in sleep".

Date Published: 5 March 2008
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 7009, Second International Conference on Advanced Optoelectronics and Lasers, 70091H (5 March 2008); doi: 10.1117/12.795284

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7009:
Second International Conference on Advanced Optoelectronics and Lasers
Igor A. Sukhoivanov; Vasily A. Svich; Yuriy S. Shmaliy, Editor(s)