Tunnel-diode junction capacitance measurement

This paper describes a basic HF (as contrasted to VHF or microwave frequency) substitution technique for measurement of tunnel-diode junction capacitance. This technique was devised to solve the problem of series lead inductance errors resulting from the high conductance of these diodes and the resultant fractional Q's of their junction capacitances in the HF region. The paper also describes an extension of this technique which has made possible the determination of diode capacitances as low as 2 µµf in the negative resistance region for diodes having time constants<10^{-10}with an uncertainty of less than ±0.25 µµf.