The tunnel diode is a high-speed electronic component used in circuits and is a specific form of semiconductor. It was invented by physicist Leo Esaki in 1957 and is capable of operating at microwave frequencies. The diode’s design and materials contribute to its fast processing speed, making it useful in amplifiers, signal processors, frequency converters, and oscillators. It can be made from germanium, gallium arsenide, or silicon-based materials.
A tunnel diode is a high-performance electronic component used in high-speed electronic circuits. It is used as a specific form of semiconductor. Also called an Esaki diode after its inventor, the tunnel diode uses quantum mechanics to produce an extremely fast operating diode.
In 1957, physicist Leo Esaki, working for the company now known as Sony, designed the first palpable tunneling diode after discovering that forcing a tunneling effect on electrons created much faster processing of the signal sent through the diode. He won a Nobel Prize in Physics together with Brian Josephson in 1973 based on their discovery and design. After the implementation of tunnel diodes for a multitude of electronic devices manufactured by Sony Corporation, the use of tunnel diodes quickly spread to other manufacturers and many created their own tunnel diode designs based on the one created by Esaki.
Tunnel diodes are popular because they are capable of operating at speeds relative to the microwave frequency region. Their design and the materials used to create them allow them to run at such a high speed. This attribute allows the tunnel diode to become a viable part of many different electronic devices and the tunnel diode has been used by a number of electronics manufacturing companies since its inception.
The reason these diodes are able to operate as quickly as they create the processing speed they are capable of is due to the alignment of the conduction and valance electron bands within a broken bandgap. This alignment causes the circuit in which the diode is implemented to process the input signal significantly faster. As a result, the tunnel diode can be used in amplifiers and signal processors as well as frequency converters and oscillators.
The material from which the diode is made also contributes to how fast it is able to operate. The diode itself can be fabricated strictly from germanium, a lightweight, ultra-conductive material. This is the material that was primarily used when these types of diodes first became popular.
Later designs of the diodes were made with other conductive materials. Examples include gallium arsenide and silicon-based materials. The use of different materials increased or decreased the operating speed of the tunnel diode, depending on the use of the diode.
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