Column: Design with frequency components
Choosing the right crystal – Is the size alone decisive?
In this series of tutorials, we will focus on the diff erent component types for timing, synchronization and frequency control, their basic parameters and how to best use them in various applications
By Daphne Popescu, Product and Sales Management, and Wendy Stewart, Sales and UK Offi ce Manager, GEYER Electronic D
ue to fast evolving and highly competitive industry sectors, the requirements for components are stringent: small, low
power and cost eff ective. In the previous two installments of this
series we provided an overview of the diff erent types of crystals and oscillators, a short guide on which product to choose when, and some basic engineering rules and design parameters. Here we will show how to choose the right crystal for a design, keeping in mind the technical and commercial requirements.
Design goal and component selection Oſt en the search and choice of frequency- generating components is limited to the recommendation of the IC manufacturer and price competitiveness. However, before that, one should consider the design goal and what’s required to achieve it.
Within a design, the role of a quartz
crystal can be boiled down to the following: • It generates a stable oscillation; • It provides compatibility with the IC/ MCU used on the board;
• It maintains accuracy over temperature and time;
• It ensures reliability and longevity. T e main decisive technical parameters
are shown in Table 1, with examples and their meaning for a design, whilst focusing mainly on current SMD components rather than older package types. When it comes to the crystal and its
meeting the market requirements for “small, low power and cheap”, does its size really matter, and are there drawbacks for a crystal in a small package?
Table 2: Summary of crystal package sizes and their key parameters Table 1: The main parameters to consider when choosing a crystal
Table 2 shows the comparison of three
diff erent SMD crystal package sizes with respect to parameters that are infl uenced by size.
18 November 2025
www.electronicsworld.co.uk
An important role in the choice of
the crystal is the pulling sensitivity, oſt en referred to as trimming sensitivity, although there is a diff erence between
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