structural:expansion, information:highlighting, information:filtering
Drive level

The crystals have to be driven at the appropriate drive level. Low-frequency crystals, especially flexural-mode ones, may fracture at too high drive levels. The drive level is specified as the amount of power dissipated in the crystal. The appropriate drive levels are about 5 μW for flexural modes up to 100 kHz, 1 μW for fundamental modes at 1–4 MHz, 0.5 μW for fundamental modes 4–20 MHz and 0.5 μW for overtone modes at 20–200 MHz. Too low drive level may cause problems with starting the oscillator. Low drive levels are better for higher stability and lower power consumption of the oscillator. Higher drive levels, in turn, reduce the impact of noise by increasing the signal-to-noise ratio.