AXTALApplicationNoteAXAN101

MiniatureTemperatureSensorCrystalsRKTV206

TheminiaturetemperaturesensorcrystalsRKTV206withadiameterofonly2mmallowsthe
highresolutionprecisionmeasurementsoftemperature.Itisaspeciallydesignedtuningfork
crystalwitharesonancefrequencyintherange32kHzto36kHzandhasatemperature
coefficientofabout51.8ppm/K@25C.InconnectionwithareferencecrystalRKOV206
theoveralltemperaturecoefficientcanbeincreasedbyafactorof>50throughtheuseof
theheterodyneprinciple.
ThemainfeaturesoftheRKTV206are
Wideoperatingtemperaturerange50Cto+180C(standard)andoptionallyupto
+320C
HighresolutiondowntoKrange
Shorttimeconstantduetolowthermalmass
highshockandvibrationresistance
miniaturesize(2mmdiameter)
Typicalapplicationsare
precisionelectronicthermometers
precisiontemperaturecontrollers
Temperaturetofrequency(T/f)converters

Theadvantageoverothertemperaturesensorsis,thatitallowsadirectconversionof
temperaturetoadigitalsignal(frequency),whichcanbedirectlyprocessedbya
microcontroller.

Package

TheRKTV206comesinacylindricalmetalpackagewithadiameterof2mmandalengthof6
mm.Thepackageissealedwithhightemperaturesolder(standard).Forthehigh
temperatureoptionslaserweldingisused.

Fig.1:Packagedrawing

GmbH & Co. KG

Rmerring9
D74821Mosbach
Germany

Page1(6)

web:www.AXTAL.com
fon:+49(6261)939834
fax:+49(6261)939836
email:info@axtal.com

Frequencyvs.Temperaturecharacteristic

TemperaturesensorcrystalRKTV206

ThetemperaturesensorcrystalRKTV206showsamonotonicresponseoftheresonance
frequencyvs.temperatureTascanbeseeninFig.2(bluedotanddashline).

Temperature Sensor RKTV/RKOV 206

0

RKOV206

frequency / Hz

33,200

-200

33,000

-400

32,800

-600
-800

32,600

beatfrequency
-1,000

32,400

delta f / Hz

33,400

-1,200

32,200

RKTV206

RKTV206

32,000

-1,400

RKOV206
delta f / Hz

31,800

-1,600

31,600
0

50

100

150

200

250

300

-1,800
350

Temperature / C

Fig.2:Frequencyvs.temperatureofRKTV206andRKOV206

Itcanbeapproximatedbytheequation

f T (T ) f 0 a1 (T T0) a 2 (T T0 ) 2
where
fT=crystalfrequencyattemperatureT(inC)
f0=crystalfrequencyatreferencetemperatureT0,here32720Hz
T0=referencetemperatureT0=0C
a1=(1.760.1)Hz/K
a2=(0.003100.0001)Hz/K2

Forhigheraccuracyoverawidetemperaturerangeanapproximationbya3rdorder
polynomialisrecommended:

f T (T ) f 0 a1 (T T0) a 2 (T T0 ) 2 a 3 (T T0 ) 3

GmbH & Co. KG

Rmerring9
D74821Mosbach
Germany

Page2(6)

web:www.AXTAL.com
fon:+49(6261)939834
fax:+49(6261)939836
email:info@axtal.com


ReferencecrystalRKOV206

ThereferencecrystalRKOV206isatuningforkcrystal,whosefrequencyhasonlysmall
temperaturedependence.
Thef(T)responseisshowninFig.2asdashedline.Itcanbedescribedbytheequation

f ref (T ) f 0 ref a 2 (T T0 ) 2
with
fref=crystalfrequencyattemperatureT(inC)
f0ref=crystalfrequencyatreferencetemperatureT0,here33225Hz
T0=referencetemperatureT0=(255)C
a2=(0.001200.0001)Hz/K2

Beatfrequency

IfthereferencecrystalRKOV206isusedincombinationwiththesensorcrystalRKTV206,
bothcrystalsareusedinpairswithafrequencydifferenceofabout550Hz@25C.
Ifbothcrystalsaresubjecttothesametemperature,theresultingfrequencydifference
(beatfrequency)betweenRKTV206andRKOV206isshowninFig.2(greendottedline).
ThetemperaturecoefficientofthebeatfrequencyisdepictedinFig.3.Itis15timeshigher
thanthetemperaturecoefficientoftheRKTVfrequencyalone(at25C).

Temperature coefficient of beat frequency (RKOV206-RKTV 206)

1,000
900
800

ppm/K

700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Temperature / C

Fig.3:TemperaturecoefficientofthebeatfrequencybetweenRKTVandRKOV

GmbH & Co. KG

Rmerring9
D74821Mosbach
Germany

Page3(6)

web:www.AXTAL.com
fon:+49(6261)939834
fax:+49(6261)939836
email:info@axtal.com


Practicalapplication

Bothcrystalscanbeoperatedseparatelyinasuitableoscillatorcircuit.Therearetwo
recommendedcircuits,thePierceoscillatorwithonelogicinvertergate,andthe
Heegnercircuit,whichusestwologicinvertersinseries.

Pierceoscillatorcircuit

ThebasiccircuitosshowninFig.4.

Fig.4:Pierceoscillatorcircuit

TheresistorRGKisneededtolinearisethetransfercharacteristicoftheinvertergate.Its
typicalvalueisabout1~10MforHCMOSlogicgates.
TheseriesresistorRVisrequiredtoprotectthecrystalfromoverloadbyexcessivecrystal
current,whichcanleadtoapermanentdamageofthecrystal.Itsvalueisintherangeof
about47kto470k.Asthisresistorreducestheloopgain,itmustbeselectedcarefully.
ThetwocapacitorsCX1andCX2areintherangeof4.7pFto10pF.
Thelinebetweenthecrystalterminalsandtheoscillatorcircuitmustbeshort(afewcm)and
havelowacapacitancetogroundandbetweenthetwolines.

Twoinverter(Heegner)circuit

Thiscircuitbasicallyconsistsoftwologicinvertergatesconnectedinseries,andthecrystalis
insertedbetweentheoutputofthesecondinvertertotheinputofthefirstinverter.This
circuitallowstoconnectthecrystalwithsomewhatlongerleadsthanthePierceoscillator.

GmbH & Co. KG

Rmerring9
D74821Mosbach
Germany

Page4(6)

web:www.AXTAL.com
fon:+49(6261)939834
fax:+49(6261)939836
email:info@axtal.com

IntherealcircuitofFig.5,additionalcomponentsareinsertedtoavoidoverloadingor
damagingofthecrystalandspuriousoscillations.

Fig.5:Twoinverter(Heegner)oscillatorcircuit

ThediodesD1andD2areSchottkytypeslikeBAS4004orsimilar.
Theproposedvaluesoftheothercomponentsare

RF1=RF2=300k
R1=5.1k
C1=10pF
C2=470pF
Thevaluesaregivenforguidanceonly,andmaybeneededtobemodified,dependingon
thelogicgatesused.

Heterodyning(mixing)circuit

Togeneratethebeatfrequency,theoutputsignaloftheRKTVandtheRKOVoscillatormust
beconnectedtoamixer.Theoutputmustbefilteredbyasuitablelowpassfilterwitha
cornerfrequencyofabout2~3kHz.
MixingcanbeaccomplishedbyadigitalmixerusingaquadNANDICasshowninFig.6.

Fig.6:DigitalmixerwithfourNANDs

GmbH & Co. KG

Rmerring9
D74821Mosbach
Germany

Page5(6)

web:www.AXTAL.com
fon:+49(6261)939834
fax:+49(6261)939836
email:info@axtal.com


TheR1C1lowpassshownintheschematicisonlysymbolicandmaynotprovidesufficient
filtering.

Alternativelythemixingcanbeperformeddirectlybysoftwareinamicrocontroller.

Mosbach,June2014

BerndNeubig

Disclaimer
Thecontentofthisapplicationnoteissolelyforinformationpurposes.Thedeductionofconclusions
andtheirimplementationisinthesoleresponsibilityoftheuser.Thereforeanyliabilityclaims
towardsAXTALareexplicitlyexcluded.

GmbH & Co. KG

Rmerring9
D74821Mosbach
Germany

Page6(6)

web:www.AXTAL.com
fon:+49(6261)939834
fax:+49(6261)939836
email:info@axtal.com