Quote:
Originally Posted by Argus25
If a Tunnel diode is used in reverse (called a back diode) it acts like a diode with zero forward voltage drop, but it only works for low level signals because its effective PIV rating is quite low.
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Ever since the 2016 thread on diode detectors, it's been a subject which I keep a constant eye on, and some time ago, I found references to the use of tunnel diodes (TD) as detectors for low signal levels. Unfortunately, it seems that most of the papers I found (typically from the 1960's) looked the question from a theoretical standpoint. None of the papers I found and filed have any practical descriptions of such detectors.
One reason for my interest in TD's is simply that I have some, salvaged from a computer board in the early 1970's, but for those who do not have them in their junk boxes, quite a range of ex-Soviet TD's are available cheaply on-line.
If it's the case that the TD's have limited signal handling capacity, can't this be made a virtue by way of needing to reduce the coupling of the TD to the circuit under test, and so imposing minimum loading on that?
B