Fluctuations in Bistable Tunnel Diode Circuits

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Abstract
In a series of preceding papers connection has been made between the physics of the activated jump over a static potential barrier and related computing devices. This paper treats a more complicated system, namely, the tunnel diode, which stores information in one of two possible dissipative states. The activated jump between dissipative states is analyzed. An idealized physical model is used to find which of the two states is the really preferred one, and to also evaluate the rate at which fluctuations bring about an approach to this preferred distribution. To simplify the analysis, the case where the tunnel diode is in series with a vacuum diode, rather than a resistor, is emphasized. For typical germanium Esaki diodes, activated jumps are improbable if the junction cross section exceeds 10−11 cm2.

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