Pulse and Digital Circuits

16.4 TUNNEL DIODES

In a p−n diode, the width of the depletion layer varies inversely as the square root of impurity concentration. Thus, the smaller the impurity concentration (doping), the larger the depletion region and vice-versa. The impurity concentration, in a p−n junction diode is of the order of 1 in 108. With this impurity concentration, the width of the depletion layer is typically 5 microns (5 × 10⁻⁶ m). If on the other hand, if this impurity concentration is increased to 1 in 103, the width of the depletion region may be as small as 0.01 microns (0.01 × 10⁻⁶ m) i.e., the depletion layer becomes very thin. Thus, if a p−n junction diode is formed with such high impurity concentrations, the barrier becomes very thin. When the depletion ...