Draw the characteristics of tunnel diode, showing operating regions. State two applications of tunnel diode.
Applications:
One of the important application of a tunnel diode is in high speed computers where the switching times in the order of nanoseconds or picoseconds are desirable.
A tunnel diode can be used at such high speeds as a result of the electrons “punching through” at velocities that far exceed those in conventional diodes.
The punching through takes place due to narrow depletion region.
Some other applications are :
1. In digital networks.
2. As a high speed switch.
3. As a high frequency oscillator.