Talk:Tunnel diode

Image
I made this image modeled after some Gunn diode sketches online, but maybe it applies to tunnel diodes too? - Omegatron 04:55, July 31, 2005 (UTC)


 * That's pretty much what the Quadrant-I V/I curve looks like for Tunnel Diodes as well.


 * Atlant 22:20, 31 July 2005 (UTC)


 * Elsewhere, someone asked about semiconductor curve tracers and that set me to thinking more about this image: there's one subtlety that one might argue is lacking in the curent picture. In practice, you can't ever "trace out" parts of this curve because in practical circuits, the diode will "snap" from one state to the other, leaping over large parts of the negative-resistance portion of the curve. I don't know that we need to illustrate that, but I'll mention it here on the talk page if only for completeness. It's really pretty cool to see on the curve tracer "out in the wild".


 * Atlant 14:35, 10 August 2005 (UTC)


 * What do you mean snap?
 * We shouldn't mislead people with the image. Here are a bunch of others
 * It doesn't quite show that flat region... - Omegatron 14:47, August 10, 2005 (UTC)


 * 'Snap' as in an extremely rapid (ns or ps) transition. It's this rapid switch-over that made tunnel diodes so useful as, for example, trigger detectors in oscilloscopes.


 * Meanwhile, I'm confused about yourpoint re: the picture. I said the current picture was fine and the alternate pictures you've linked seem essentially identical (on inspecting the first two).


 * Atlant 15:39, 10 August 2005 (UTC)

Tunnel diodes are fast
This article is wrong on at least one level; the switching 'frequency' is orders of magnitude higher, development never stopped on TDs. In 1970, the Tektronix S-52 Pulse Generator used a TD to achieve a 25ps rise time step, about a 14GHz bandwidth. PPL sold TD generators that go down to 5ps. Nowadays you'd use a RTD to go even faster. These whacko physics things are always orders of magnitude faster than commercial cmos processes, etc... 207.134.93.241


 * Well, this is Wikipedia, so you know what to do: be bold and update the page as you see fit! And we'll all thank you for it!


 * Atlant 14:05, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

Merge Esaki Diode with Tunnel Diode
Yes. Esaki invented it. Same device. Should be merged but still call article 'Tunnel Diode' (I like the name)Light current 01:49, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

Explanation of reverse bias operation is a little difficult to understand
Could someone please put together a graph of the V/I curve for reverse bias operation of tunnel diodes, too? I found the explanation of its operation when reverse biased too difficult to understand properly without one. Thanks in advance.

Another resource
This page has further documentation on tunnel diodes. Disclaimer - I'm the author of that copyright violation which is provided as a service with no advertisements, etc. 20 Dec 2005.

Bandgap Diagram
Does anyone have any tunnel diode bandgap diagrams lying around on their computer somewhere? I was thinking about putting some up if not. It would be helpful to explain the different regions of operation.

Gunn diode
To me the difference betwee a Tunnel diode and a Gunn Diode is not clear. From both articles I would conclude they're the same which I understand is not the case. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.25.234.146 (talk) 23:31, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Longevity
So what's the fuss over devices from the 1960s still working? I have resistors, transistors, diodes and vacuum tubes from the 1960s that still work. I have WWII resistors that work, 1960s ICs that work, etc. It's not really a unique property of tunnel diodes. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.50.254.191 (talk) 15:31, 28 October 2010 (UTC)

Dates
Why does the top summary say it was invented in 1958 but first manufactured in 1957 by Sony? Did they invent it after they started selling it for a year...?

This device was invented in 1958 but manufacture started in 1957
I am just barging through here to point out the impossibility of both of these statements being accurate "It was invented in August 1958 by Leo Esaki" and "Tunnel diodes were first manufactured by Sony in 1957".

I have no alternate sources for this information and I've left it unedited for the time being because I don't know which piece of information is incorrect or in what way, but I'd suggest replacing these statements with something a little more vague if no reliable sources are available. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.130.63.244 (talk) 11:43, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

Lay person explanation needed
Can we please have an explanation of the diodes function, and what is different from normal diodes, that is accesable to lay people? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 168.97.133.244 (talk) 15:30, 24 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Agreed -- as WP's primary audience is not engineers (who certainly have much better references at hand!), articles should be shaded toward the intelligent lay person, if not curious people in general. Mention of the satellite power-management modules is a good start though could be elaborated a bit. Any good effort to answer the eternal question "well, so what?" will improve access to knowledge. Weeb Dingle (talk) 12:51, 14 April 2017 (UTC)

Oleg Losev
Not a word about him? 81.167.16.211 (talk) 06:56, 24 May 2014 (UTC)

NEE-01 Power Supply Switcher
The article states: "In 2013 the NEE-01 Pegaso and NEE-02 Krysaor satellites used power management modules based on a series of tunnel diodes to fast switch between solar powered operation and battery powered operation replacing otherwise very complex electronics with a few devices." However I just read through the linked article, and see no reference to this circuit.

Can someone provide links to the circuit design or description? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.124.150.5 (talk) 19:02, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

India Education Program course assignment
This article was the subject of an educational assignment supported by Wikipedia Ambassadors through the India Education Program.

The above message was substituted from by PrimeBOT (talk) on 19:59, 1 February 2023 (UTC)