SLLA549 July 2021 TCAN4550 , TCAN4550-Q1 , TCAN4551-Q1
Method 1: Current Probe
Measure the RMS current (IRMS) through the crystal using a current probe. This method provides the least external load on the oscillator circuit that would result in measurement error, but it requires board level modifications to accommodate the current probe.
Carefully remove the crystal from the board and insert a wire between the crystal pin and the PCB long enough to insert a current probe around the wire. Using a scope, measure the RMS current and or peak-to-peak current.
The RMS current can be calculated from the peak or peak-to-peak current by the following formula:
Method 2: Differential Active FET Probe
An alternative method is to calculate the IRMS current by measuring the voltage swing across the crystal with a differential active FET probe that has less than 1pF of capacitance. The probe capacitance will need to be factored into the calculation because it will add error to the measurement.
Measure the RMS voltage or peak-to-peak voltage across the crystal.
The RMS voltage can be calculated from the peak-to-peak voltage by the following formula:
Method 3: Single-ended Active FET Probe
Another alternative method is to calculate the IRMS current by measuring the voltage swing at the input to the amplifier with an active FET probe that has less than 1pF of capacitance. The probe capacitance will need to be factored into the calculation because it will add error to the measurement. Measure the RMS voltage or peak-to-peak voltage across the CL2 capacitor on the amplifier input side of the crystal. The current flowing through this capacitor is approximately equal to the current flowing through the crystal with only a negligible amount flowing into the amplifier which can usually be neglected.
The RMS voltage can be calculated from the peak-to-peak voltage by the following formula:
It is recommended to keep the load capacitance within the crystal manufacturer’s recommendation. However with lower load capacitors, the OSC2 swing can be too close to ground. This could trigger the CLKIN detection circuit that disables the oscillator and stops the oscillations. To avoid the CLKIN detection circuit disabling the oscillator, the load capacitance needs to increase resulting in lower drive levels as well, or a dampening resistor (Rd) needs to be added between the amplifier output and the crystal + CL1 net. This allows lower drive levels to be achieved without increasing the load capacitance beyond the recommended value.