Crystals combine tight frequency stability with minimal aging

ECS Inc supplies special B series surface-mount crystals which feature very low first-year aging, giving developers a way to achieve very low frequency drift over lifetime. 

The technology underlying the B series quartz crystal oscillators derives from the process for manufacturing oven-controlled crystal oscillators (OCXOs), in which these components are tested to ensure operation under specified conditions. 

When quartz vibrates, the structure of its resonating surface relaxes, which causes frequency drift. All crystals undergo this effect for the first few years of life. As in OCXO testing, the B series crystal is pre-aged and pre-stressed, so that by the time it is in use as a quartz oscillator in an application, the relaxation and associated frequency drift have already occurred. 

In other words, the ECS aging process at the factory primes the crystal for superior performance in an oscillator circuit. The procurement of a low first-year aging crystal such as the ECX-2236B enables the engineer to produce a crystal oscillator frequency that will not drift beyond a usable range.

This low drift over lifetime means that the ECS Inc B series crystals have been deployed globally in applications such as:

• Smart city infrastructure, including lighting and signaling
• 3D cameras, virtual reality and artificial intelligence devices
• Atmospheric satellite connections

AEC-Q200-qualified B series crystals are available for use in automotive applications.