3.

lunnel Diodes for low Noise Ampilneatlon

b Y

L. ARMSTRONG
Micro State Electronics Corp. Murray Hill, N. J.
The noise generated by tunnel diodes in amplifier circuits is directly proportional to the product of the nega tive resistance and currentat the operating point inthe negative resistance portion of the 1.V characteristic. In this paper, the factors influencin the negative resistanceecur. rent product, referred to as et shot noise constant K, will ! be discussed. Design factors that can be introduced to minimize K, and limitations thereof, will be reviewed. Experimental results on germanium tunnel diodes designed for lownoise amplification willbe presented to show the correlation of experimental measurements with the theoreti. cal background discussedpreviously. A new approach to the problem of obtaining low noise constant diodes will then be presented. This includes: a) Reasons forthe selection of gallium antimonide as a choice semiconductor material for low noise tunnel diodes. the metallurgy of this material and a b) A review of general description of GaSb tunnel diode fabrication tech. nalagy. c) A summary of results achieved to date showing the superiority of GaSb tunnel diodes over germanium units for low noiee amplifier applications.

4. Fabrication of a )Rugged, low-Peak Current High-speed tunnel Diode

bY S S IM, J. S LOGAN . . .
International Business Machines Corporation Poughkeepsie, New3York
A major roblem of highsspeed tunnel diodes has been poor reliagility due to fragility of the very small area junctions needed for low capacitance. This aper describes a solution to the roblem,based upon b u i d n g a mechani. cal su port very Jose to the junction. Important factors in the s3ection of the geometry of the supporting structure are discussed. Two general fabrication methods are pre. sented and compared. Electrical and mechanical character. istics and short*term reliability test results are given for diodes made by the processes described.

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