Tunnel diodes creep into use so quietly
50 years ago today, in the December 7th 1960 issue of Electronics Weekly, this was the headline on the 'American Letter' column.
The story continues;
'There is still more talk of, than use, of tunnel diodes in the |United \States.
While semiconductor producers range from wholehearted to lukewarm in praise of the future of tunnel diodes, equipment manufacturers are generally making little effort to use them.'
'The main problem to solve is circuit designs that function reliably.'
However, despite the general caution in predicting a bright future, here and there the devices are beginning to make appearances in more than research and development projects.'
'Two West Coast firms, for example, have quietly introduced tunnel diodes into oscilloscopes.'
The two firms?
Tektronix and Hewlett-Packard.
How did Tek and HP use them in their 'scopes?
Also, are there any tunnel diodes easily available these days - small signal, or power(1A or so)? RS doesn't seem to sell them.