Quartz

Crystals, oscillators and transducers (piezo, QCM, TIC)

 

Contents

 Introduction

 Quartz Piezo transducers

 Quartz Crystal Micro-balance or QCM

 

 

Quartz related definitions

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Introduction

Stabitech manufactures two main types of quartz related products:

 Crystals

 Oscillators

To make use of crystals you have to provide your own oscillator circuit to make the cristal resonate at it's nominal frequency. With oscillators this circuit is integrated within the housing, saving you some circuit design effort.

When choosing a specific quartz product it is vital to be aware of the following parameters of the device.

Oscillator

Crystal

Holder type

Holder type

Nominal frequency

Adjustment tolerance

(Temperature) Drift

Power requirements

Drive level

Output signal

 

Ageing

 

 

 

 

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Quartz Piezo Transducers

For special applications we provide stress transducers made of X-cut quartz plates. They come in different sizes. Both faces are finished with gold plating for better conductivity. We can make these transducers to your specification. Please contact us for further information about this topic.

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Quartz Crystal Micro-balance or QCM

Quartz crystals when properly conditioned can be used as small mass balances. The crystals inside the oscillator housing is made to oscillate on it's nominal resonance frequency. If a dust or other particle hits the vibrating surface of the crystal and sticks to it, it increases the moving mass by a tiny amount, resulting in a minute drop in frequency. This drop in frequency is proportional to the mass acquired by the crystal's surface.

QCM's come in two types:

 Goldplated

 Goldplated/carbon coated

Note: These devices are highly sensitive! Main applications: Contamination monitoring in space (related to ion-propulsion) and contamination monitoring under laboratory vacuum conditions.

The detection threshold is about 10 nano grams!

The aperture is normally 6 or 7 millimeters in diameter

The nominal frequency is usually 10 or 11 MHz.

Usually DIL-14 housing is requested. If needed we can supply DIL-8 aswell.

We can supply 1 (one) QCM sample or TIC sample once on a trial basis. We offer samples of QCM (NOT CARBON COATED!) for 65.00 Euro. A TIC sample wil cost 75.00 Euro.

For further information about these specials, please contact us.

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