How many Types of Multivibrators Are There?

what is multivibrator?

The name mutivibrator designates a group of the circuits widely applied for switching as shift registers or temporary memories and as square were timing oscillator or clocks. These circuits are basically closed loop feedback circuits operating with the feedback.

Types of multivibrators

There are three general types of multivibrators, which are:

The astable or free running mutivibrator which has no stable states. It continuously switched between two limits without application of an external signal it is a square wave oscillator.
The monostable or one shot multivibrator: it has one only stable state. It can be switched from stable state to the other, it then returns to the first stable state after a time delay.
The bistable or flip flop. It has two stable states and can be triggered from one stable state to the other by external signal.

Uses of multivibrators

Some of the uses of multivibrators are:

They are used as Frequency dividers
Used as a saw tooth generators
They are used as wave and pulse generators
They are used as standard frequency source
They are used in radar and tv circuits
They are also used as memory elements in computer

What is meant by Astable multivibrator ?

Astable multivibrator

The astable or free-running multivibrator continuously switches from one state to the other and back to the first state. In other words, it switches between two limits without the application of an external signal. It is a square rectangular wave oscillator.
It is also called a free-running relaxation oscillator. It has no stable state but only has two half-stable states between which it oscillates.
In this circuit, none of the two transistors reach a stable state. When one transistor is ON the other transistor is OFF and in this way, they continuously switch to and fro at a rate depending on the RC time constant in the circuit. In this way, it oscillates and generates pulses. Besides this two outputs of 180º are available.
It has two also two energy storing capacitors.

Applications astable multivibrator

The astable or free-running multivibrator is used as a square wave frequency generator
As a timing oscillator or clock of a computer system.
It is also used for flashing lights, switching, and power supply circuits.

What is meant by One shot Or Mono State Multivibrator?

It has only one stable state. It can be switched from a stable state to a quasi-stable state by an external signal, it then returns to the stable state after a time delay.
It is also known as a single-shot or one-shot multivibrator. Other names of monostable multivibrators are delay multivibrators and uni multivibrators.
It has one absolutely stable state and one quasi-stable state.
It can be switched to a quasi-stable state by an external trigger but it returns to the stable condition after delay time which is determined by the components of a circuit. It supplies a single output pulse of the desired duration for every input trigger pulse.
It has one capacitor as an energy storage element.

Applications of mono stable multivibrator

The monostable multivibrator is used as a delay and timing circuit.
It is also used for temporary memories.
It is often used to trigger another pulse generator.
It is used for regenerating old and worn-out pulses.

What is meant by bistable (flip flop) multivibrator?

It has two stable states and can be triggered from one stable state to the other by an external signal.
It is also known as a flip flop multivibrator. It has two stable states. It can remain in either of these two states unless an external trigger pulse switches it from one state to the other. It has no energy-storing element.

Bistable multivibrator applications

The bistable multivibrator or Flip Flop is of great importance in digital operation in computers, and digital communications.
It is also used for reversing to the supply to a given circuit or changing the supply to two circuits at regular intervals.