Editing Multivibrator (section)

{{Short description|Electronic circuit used to implement two-state devices}}
A '''multivibrator''' is an [[electronic circuit]] used to implement a variety of simple two-state<ref name="Jain">{{cite book
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 | title  = Digital Electronics Practice Using Integrated Circuits
 | publisher = Tata McGraw-Hill Education
 | date   = 1983
 | pages  = 159
 | url    = https://books.google.com/books?id=tx8myLcDahgC&q=multivibrator+%22two+states%22&pg=PA159
 | isbn   = 0074516922
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 | url    = https://books.google.com/books?id=Vk56HO8jf_AC&q=multivibrator+%22two+states%22&pg=PA268
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 }}</ref><ref name="Clayton">{{cite book
 | last1  = Clayton
 | first1 = G B
 | title  = Operational Amplifiers, 2nd Ed.
 | publisher = Elsevier
 | date   = 2013
 | pages  = 267
 | url    = https://books.google.com/books?id=NQ4SBQAAQBAJ&q=multivibrator+%22two+states%22&pg=PA267
 | isbn   = 978-1483135557
 }}</ref> devices such as [[relaxation oscillator]]s, [[timer]]s, [[flip-flop (electronics)|latches and flip-flops]].  The first multivibrator circuit, the astable multivibrator [[electronic oscillator|oscillator]], was invented by [[Henri Abraham]] and [[Eugene Bloch]] during [[World War I]]. It consisted of two vacuum tube amplifiers cross-coupled by a resistor-capacitor network.<ref name="Abraham">{{cite journal |last = Abraham |first = H. |author2=E. Bloch |title = Mesure en valeur absolue des périodes des oscillations électriques de haute fréquence |trans-title=Measurement of the periods of high frequency electrical oscillations |language=fr |journal = Annales de Physique |volume = 9 |issue = 1 |pages = 237–302 |publisher = Société Française de Physique |location = Paris |date = 1919 |doi = 10.1051/jphystap:019190090021100  |bibcode = 1919AnPh....9..237A }}</ref><ref name="Ginoux">{{cite journal |last = Ginoux |first = Jean-Marc |title = Van der Pol and the history of relaxation oscillations: Toward the emergence of a concepts |journal = Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science |date = 2012 |volume = 22 |issue = 2 |page = 023120 |doi = 10.1063/1.3670008 |pmid = 22757527 |arxiv = 1408.4890 |bibcode = 2012Chaos..22b3120G |s2cid = 293369 }}</ref> They called their circuit a "multivibrator" because its output waveform was rich in [[harmonic]]s.<ref>''Multivibrator'' in ''IEEE Std. 100 Dictionary of Standards Terms 7th ed.'', IEEE Press, 2000 {{ISBN|0-7381-2601-2}} page 718</ref> A variety of active devices can be used to implement multivibrators that produce similar harmonic-rich wave forms; these include transistors, neon lamps, tunnel diodes and others. Although cross-coupled devices are a common form, single-element multivibrator oscillators are also common.

The three types of multivibrator circuits are:

[[Image:Original Abraham-Bloch multivibrator circuit.png|thumb|Original [[vacuum tube]] Abraham-Bloch multivibrator oscillator, from their 1919 paper]]
# '''Astable multivibrator''', in which the circuit is not stable in either [[State (computer science)|state]] —it continually switches from one state to the other. It functions as a [[relaxation oscillator]].
# '''Monostable multivibrator''', in which one of the states is stable, but the other state is unstable (transient). A trigger pulse causes the circuit to enter the unstable state. After entering the unstable state, the circuit will return to the stable state after a set time. Such a circuit is useful for creating a timing period of fixed duration in response to some external event. This circuit is also known as a '''one shot'''.
# '''Bistable multivibrator''', in which the circuit is stable in either state. It can be flipped from one state to the other by an external trigger pulse. This circuit is also known as a [[flip-flop (electronics)|flip-flop]] or latch. It can store one [[bit]] of information, and is widely used in digital logic and [[computer memory]].

Multivibrators find applications in a variety of systems where square waves or timed intervals are required. For example, before the advent of low-cost integrated circuits, chains of multivibrators found use as [[frequency divider]]s.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} A free-running multivibrator with a frequency of one-half to one-tenth of the reference frequency would accurately lock to the reference frequency. This technique was used in early electronic organs, to keep notes of different [[octave]]s accurately in tune. Other applications included early [[television]] systems, where the various line and frame frequencies were kept synchronized by pulses included in the video signal.