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TD Oscillator

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7 views

TD Oscillator

Uploaded by

Lin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Tunnel Diode Oscillator

The tunnel diode helps in generating a very high frequency signal of nearly
10GHz. A practical tunnel diode circuit may consist of a switch S, a resistor R
and a supply source V, connected to a tank circuit through a tunnel diode D.

Working
The value of resistor selected should be in such a way that it biases the
tunnel diode in the midway of the negative resistance region. The figure
below shows the practical tunnel diode oscillator circuit.

In this circuit, the resistor R1 sets proper biasing for the diode and the
resistor R2 sets proper current level for the tank circuit. The parallel
combination of resistor Rp inductor L and capacitor C form a tank circuit,
which resonates at the selected frequency.
When the switch S is closed, the circuit current rises immediately towards
the constant value, whose value is determined by the value of resistor R and
the diode resistance. However, as the voltage drop across the tunnel diode
VD exceeds the peak-point voltage Vp, the tunnel diode is driven into
negative resistance region.
In this region, the current starts decreasing, till the voltage V D becomes
equal to the valleypoint voltage Vv. At this point, a further increase in the
voltage VD drives the diode into positive resistance region. As a result of this,
the circuit current tends to increase. This increase in circuit will increase the
voltage drop across the resistor R which will reduce the voltage V D.

V-I characteristic curve


The following graph shows the V-I characteristics of a tunnel diode −
The curve AB indicates the negative resistance region as the resistance
decreases while the voltage increases. It is clear that the Q-point is set at the
middle of the curve AB. The Q-point can move between the points A and B
during the circuit operation. The point A is called peak point and the point B
is called valley point.
During the operation, after reaching the point B, the increase in circuit
current will increase the voltage drop across the resistor R which will reduce
the voltage VD. This brings the diode back into negative resistance region.
The decrease in voltage VD is equal to the voltage VP and this completes one
cycle of operation. The continuation of these cycles produces continuous
oscillations which give a sinusoidal output.

Advantages
The advantages of a tunnel diode oscillator are as follows −

 It has high switching speeds.


 It can handle high frequencies.

Disadvantages
The disadvantages of a tunnel diode oscillator are as follows −
 They are low power devices.
 Tunnel diodes are a bit costly

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