Tunneling

[George Herold]

Hi Guys, I’m back from the APS March meeting.
I had a request from a Physics Prof for Quantum Mechanics experiments.

“What sort of QM?”, I asked. (There being QM in almost everything
these days.)
“Tunneling”, was the reply.
I mentioned there was tunneling in low voltage Zeners and in tunnel
diodes.

Now I’ve never looked at low voltage zeners, but in theory tunneling
should give a current that increases exponentially with the voltage.
Figure 4 here,
http://www.diodes.com/datasheets/ds30410.pdf
seems to show such behavior for the two lowest voltages.

I’m not sure how to ‘show’ that it’s tunneling though.
(A forward biased diode shows the same exponential I/V.)
I suppose I could look at the shot noise and perhaps show that it’s
not an avalanche process.

So I have two questions;
Anyone know of a good review paper on low voltage zener physics.
And are there any tunnel diodes still in production?

Thanks,
George H.

 

[Glenn]

On 25/03/13 18.40, George Herold wrote:
....

So I have two questions;
Anyone know of a good review paper on low voltage zener physics.
And are there any tunnel diodes still in production?

Thanks,
George H.

Hi George

You can make/discover your own tunneldiodes - actually components with
negative differential resistance:


By Nyle Steiner K7NS 2001.
Zinc Negative Resistance RF Amplifier for Crystal Sets and Regenerative
Receivers Uses No Tubes or Transistors:
http://www.sparkbangbuzz.com/els/znrfamp2-el.htm

-

Neon lamps can also function as amplifiers ;-)

Neon Lamp Tricks! Neon Lamp Multivibrator:
http://donklipstein.com/sillyne2.html
Citat: "...This is an oscillator circuit using two neon lamps, two
resistors, and one capacitor..."

-

Solid state negative differential resistance components was discovered
several times about 100 years ago:

Cristadyne: Semiconductor archaeology or tribute to unknown precursors:
http://www.a-reny.com/iexplorer/cristadyne.html
Quote: "...In 1923, Oleg Losev [O. V. Lossev, Lossew] (1903-1942) ( See
link below ) managed to make a high frequency generator using such a
detector. But it was polarized. This indicates that this diode had a
characteristic curve in which a negative slope was present. And this
makes one think of the tunnel effect diode invented a half a century
later...These layouts where part of what one called CRYSTADYNE [or
Cristadyne, Crystodyne ] systems. But in those days, the technical
performance and industrial ease of the new increasing valve technology
made these layouts to be ignored, and then forgotten..."


The Wireless World and Radio Review. October 1, 1924 and October 8,
1924: "The Crystal As A Generator And Amplifier" by Victor Gabel.


Radio News, September, 1924, pages 294-295, 431: The Crystodyne Principle:
http://earlyradiohistory.us/1924cry.htm
Quote: "...SEVERAL experimenters have observed that some contacts, such
as crystal and metal or crystal and carbon generally employed as
detectors may produce undamped oscillations of any frequency, exactly as
the vacuum tube oscillator. The same contact may also be utilized as an
amplifier. Oscillating crystals are not new since they were investigated
as far back as 1906 by well known engineers, but it was not until lately
that a Russian engineer, Mr. O. V. Lossev, succeeded in finding some
interesting uses for oscillating crystals..."


Radio News, September, 1924, page 291: A Sensational Radio Invention By
HUGO GERNSBACK:
http://earlyradiohistory.us/1924sens.htm
Quote: "...Stated in a few words, the invention encompasses an
oscillating crystal...In other words, THE CRYSTAL NOW ACTUALLY
REPLACES THE VACUUM TUBE. That this is a revolutionary radio
invention need be emphasized no further. [Here Hugo Gernsback was way
ahead of his time]...We can not only detect with the crystal, but we can
also amplify with it...we can now also transmit with the Crystodyne,
and, as a matter of fact, a number of students in Russia have actually
sent messages with such sets over distances of more than three-quarters
of a mile during the past few months..."


Bell Labs – The Transistor – Other Claims to the Invention:
http://www.beatriceco.com/bti/porticus/bell/belllabs_transistor1.html
Quote: "...This effect, he stated, was discovered by Dr W. H. Eccles in
1910, and remarked: “It is hard to realize that it took about ten years
for practical active crystal-diode circuits to appear, in spite of
Ditcham's reminder—circuits that included both RF and AF
amplification...Most of the credit for creating practical devices [of
this kind] goes to O. V. Lossev of Russia, whether or not he knew of
Eccles' pioneer work a decade earlier..."


Glenn

PS: Happy nutting...or neon lamping...

 

[Glenn]

On 25/03/13 18.40, George Herold wrote:
....

So I have two questions;
Anyone know of a good review paper on low voltage zener physics.
And are there any tunnel diodes still in production?

Thanks,
George H.

Hi George

A little about negative [differential] resistance:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_resistance

Glenn

 

[Glenn]

On 25/03/13 18.40, George Herold wrote:
....

So I have two questions;
Anyone know of a good review paper on low voltage zener physics.
And are there any tunnel diodes still in production?

Thanks,
George H.

Hi George

A little about negative [differential] resistance:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_resistance

Glenn

They aren't cheap:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=tunnel+diode

Glenn

 

[Glenn]

AMS Semiconductor Tutorials:
http://www.americanmicrosemi.com/information/tutorial/index.php?t_id=11

/Glenn

 

[George Herold]

On 25/03/13 18.40, George Herold wrote:
...

So I have two questions;
Anyone know of a good review paper on low voltage zener physics.
And are there any tunnel diodes still in production?

Thanks,
George H.

Hi George

You can make/discover your own tunneldiodes - actually components with
negative differential resistance:

By Nyle Steiner K7NS 2001.
Zinc Negative Resistance RF Amplifier for Crystal Sets and Regenerative
Receivers Uses No Tubes or Transistors:http://www.sparkbangbuzz.com/els/znrfamp2-el.htm

-

Neon lamps can also function as amplifiers ;-)

Neon Lamp Tricks! Neon Lamp Multivibrator:http://donklipstein.com/sillyne2.html
Citat: "...This is an oscillator circuit using two neon lamps, two
resistors, and one capacitor..."

-

Solid state negative differential resistance components was discovered
several times about 100 years ago:

Cristadyne: Semiconductor archaeology or tribute to unknown precursors:http://www.a-reny.com/iexplorer/cristadyne.html
Quote: "...In 1923, Oleg Losev [O. V. Lossev, Lossew] (1903-1942) ( See
link below ) managed to make a high frequency generator using such a
detector. But it was polarized. This indicates that this diode had a
characteristic curve in which a negative slope was present. And this
makes one think of the tunnel effect diode invented a half a century
later...These layouts where part of what one called CRYSTADYNE [or
Cristadyne, Crystodyne ] systems. But in those days, the technical
performance and industrial ease of the new increasing valve technology
made these layouts to be ignored, and then forgotten..."

The Wireless World and Radio Review. October 1, 1924 and October 8,
1924: "The Crystal As A Generator And Amplifier" by Victor Gabel.

Radio News, September, 1924, pages 294-295, 431: The Crystodyne Principle:http://earlyradiohistory.us/1924cry.htm
Quote: "...SEVERAL  experimenters have observed that some contacts, such
as crystal and metal or crystal and carbon generally employed as
detectors may produce undamped oscillations of any frequency, exactly as
the vacuum tube oscillator. The same contact may also be utilized as an
amplifier. Oscillating crystals are not new since they were investigated
as far back as 1906 by well known engineers, but it was not until lately
that a Russian engineer, Mr. O. V. Lossev, succeeded in finding some
interesting uses for oscillating crystals..."

Radio News, September, 1924, page 291: A Sensational Radio Invention By
HUGO GERNSBACK:http://earlyradiohistory.us/1924sens.htm
Quote: "...Stated in a few words, the invention encompasses an
oscillating crystal...In other words, THE  CRYSTAL  NOW  ACTUALLY
REPLACES  THE  VACUUM  TUBE. That this is a revolutionary radio
invention need be emphasized no further. [Here Hugo Gernsback was way
ahead of his time]...We can not only detect with the crystal, but we can
also amplify with it...we can now also transmit with the Crystodyne,
and, as a matter of fact, a number of students in Russia have actually
sent messages with such sets over distances of more than three-quarters
of a mile during the past few months..."

Bell Labs � The Transistor � Other Claims to the Invention:http://www.beatriceco.com/bti/porticus/bell/belllabs_transistor1.html
Quote: "...This effect, he stated, was discovered by Dr W. H. Eccles in
1910, and remarked: �It is hard to realize that it took about tenyears
for practical active crystal-diode circuits to appear, in spite of
Ditcham's reminder�circuits that included both RF and AF
amplification...Most of the credit for creating practical devices [of
this kind] goes to O. V. Lossev of Russia, whether or not he knew of
Eccles' pioneer work a decade earlier..."

Glenn

PS: Happy nutting...or neon lamping...

Hi Glenn, Thanks, I'm not so much looking for a negative resistance
device as I am for tunneling.

(If I had a tunnel diode on hand I'd want to look at the I-V curve at
very low voltage.. way before the first peak in current.)

Hmm maybe frustrated total internal reflection would be easier?

George H.

 

[George Herold]

On 25/03/13 18.40, George Herold wrote:
...

So I have two questions;
Anyone know of a good review paper on low voltage zener physics.
And are there any tunnel diodes still in production?

Thanks,
George H.

Hi George

A little about negative [differential] resistance:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_resistance

Glenn

Grin.. QM tunneling
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_tunnelling
George H.

 

[George Herold]

On 25/03/13 18.40, George Herold wrote:
....

Hi George

A little about negative [differential] resistance:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_resistance

Glenn

They aren't cheap:http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=tunnel+diode

Glenn- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yeah I found some 1N3716's for ~$10.

George H.

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

On 25/03/13 18.40, George Herold wrote:
....

So I have two questions;
Anyone know of a good review paper on low voltage zener physics.
And are there any tunnel diodes still in production?

Thanks,
George H.

Hi George

A little about negative [differential] resistance:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_resistance

Glenn

They aren't cheap:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=tunnel+diode

Glenn

$2 each for the NOS Russian GaAs ones isn't bad.

Aeroflex offers Ge ones, but I bet they're a lot more $$.

 

[George Herold]

On 25/03/13 18.40, George Herold wrote:
....
So I have two questions;
Anyone know of a good review paper on low voltage zener physics.
And are there any tunnel diodes still in production?
Thanks,
George H.
Hi George
A little about negative [differential] resistance:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_resistance
Glenn

They aren't cheap:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=tunnel+diode

Glenn

$2 each for the NOS Russian GaAs ones isn't bad.

Aeroflex offers Ge ones, but I bet they're a lot more $$.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Do you think these are still being made in Russia?

George H.

 

[Glenn]

On 25/03/13 19.58, George Herold wrote:
....

Hi Glenn, Thanks, I'm not so much looking for a negative resistance
device as I am for tunneling.

(If I had a tunnel diode on hand I'd want to look at the I-V curve at
very low voltage.. way before the first peak in current.)

Hmm maybe frustrated total internal reflection would be easier?

George H.

Hi Goerge

Here are some tunneling devices:

DIY:
Quantum Tunneling on Your Kitchen Table:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050306140327/www.altair.org/Qtunnel.htm
Quote: "...
In this Homegrown Quantum Tunnel experiment, the Quantum Barrier is big
enough to see (more than a inch wide), and made of household materials.
....
In this experiment we will use giant photons travelling in paraffin to
tunnel under a barrier of air.
...."


Video: Quantum tunneling on the kitchen table:

What is Quantum Tunneling?:

Shark and Ralphie (not Shrödinger cats this time...) (4:19...):

National Institute Of Standards And Technology (NIST) (2004, February
2). New Cryogenic Refrigerator Dips Chips Into A Deep Freeze. ScienceDaily:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040202071058.htm
Quote: "... The refrigerator is made from a sandwich of nomal-
metal/insulator/superconductor junctions. When a voltage is applied
across the "sandwich," high-energy (hot) electrons tunnel from the
normal metal through the insulator and into the superconductor. As the
hottest electrons leave, the temperature of the normal metal drops
dramatically..."


-

And now to something completely weird:

Web archive backup: July 22, 1997, The New York Times Company: Signal
Travels Farther and Faster Than Light:
http://web.archive.org/web/20081227...a.edu/~dzierba/HonorsF97/Week1/NYTJuly22.html
Quote: "..."We find," Chiao said, "that a barrier placed in the path of
a tunneling particle does not slow it down. In fact, we detect particles
on the other side of the barrier that have made the trip in less time
than it would take the particle to traverse an equal distance without a
barrier -- in other words, the tunneling speed apparently greatly
exceeds the speed of light. Moreover, if you increase the thickness of
the barrier the tunneling speed increases, as high as you please..."


Markus Pössel: Faster-than-light (FTL) speeds in tunneling experiments:
an annotated bibliography:
http://www.aei.mpg.de/~mpoessel/Physik/FTL/tunnelingftl.html
Quote: "...An experiment of theirs, where a single photon tunnelled
through a barrier and its tunneling speed (not a signal speed!) was 1.7
times light speed, is described in Steinberg, A.M., Kwiat, P.G. & R.Y.
Chiao 1993: "Measurement of the Single-Photon Tunneling Time" in
Physical Review Letter 71, S. 708--711..."

Glenn

 

[Glenn]

Is this related?:


University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2013, March 18). Electrons
are not enough: Cuprate superconductors defy convention. ScienceDaily:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130319091727.htm
Citat: "...
"This result is telling us that the physics cannot be described by
electrons alone," Phillips said. "This means that the cuprates are even
weirder than previously thought: Something other than electrons carries
the current."
....
Now the researchers are exploring possible candidates for
current-carriers, particularly a novel kind of excitation called
unparticles.
...."

Glenn

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

Do you think these are still being made in Russia?

George H.

Do I think so? Nope, but that and $1.60 will get you a Tim Horton's
coffee.

 

[George Herold]

On 25/03/13 19.58, George Herold wrote:
...





Hi Goerge

Here are some tunneling devices:

DIY:
Quantum Tunneling on Your Kitchen Table:http://web.archive.org/web/20050306140327/www.altair.org/Qtunnel.htm
Quote: "...
In this Homegrown Quantum Tunnel experiment, the Quantum Barrier is big
enough to see (more than a inch wide), and made of household materials.
...
In this experiment we will use giant photons travelling in paraffin to
tunnel under a barrier of air.
..."

Video: Quantum tunneling on the kitchen table:

Yeah the frustrated TIR of which I spoke.

What is Quantum Tunneling?:

Hmm that's OK except the last bit, The electron spending some time in
the nucleous is *not* due to tunneling.
(Oh well no ones perfect.)

Shark and Ralphie (not Shr dinger cats this time...) (4:19...):

National Institute Of Standards And Technology (NIST) (2004, February
2). New Cryogenic Refrigerator Dips Chips Into A Deep Freeze. ScienceDaily:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040202071058.htm
Quote: "... The refrigerator is made from a sandwich of nomal-
metal/insulator/superconductor junctions. When a voltage is applied
across the "sandwich," high-energy (hot) electrons tunnel from the
normal metal through the insulator and into the superconductor. As the
hottest electrons leave, the temperature of the normal metal drops
dramatically..."

Oh, at low temperatures Josephson junctions show tunneling with a
vengenace!

George H.

 

[Glenn]

Here is more George

Communication faster than Light:
http://startrek.ehabich.info/nimtz.htm

Übertragung schneller als das Licht:
http://web.archive.org/web/20000611060801/w3.zdf.msnbc.de/news/21931.asp

How Dr Gunter Nimtz is sending Mozart's 40th Symphony several times
faster than the speed of light across 12 cm of laboratory bench in
Germany using the tunnel effect:
http://archive.org/details/IanWoolfMozartFasterThanLight

Glenn

 

[Glenn]

On 25/03/13 21.25, George Herold wrote:
....

Hmm that's OK except the last bit, The electron spending some time in
the nucleous is *not* due to tunneling.
(Oh well no ones perfect.)

....

Hi George

Is it because of the standing space-time electron waves ;-)

Milo Wolff's Quantum Science Corner's: The Quantum Universe:

Quote: "...Actually, in the H atom both the electron wave-structure and
the proton have the same center. The electron's structure can be
imagined like an onion – spherical layers of waves around a center. The
amplitude of the waves decreases like the blue standing wave in the
bottom diagram. There are no point masses – no orbits, just waves...".

Atomic Orbitals:
http://www.chemistry.nmsu.edu/studntres/chem111/resources/notes/atomic_orbitals.html

The Orbitron. a gallery of atomic orbitals and molecular orbitals on the
WWW:
http://winter.group.shef.ac.uk/orbitron/

Glenn

 

[Jeroen]

Quote: "..."We find," Chiao said, "that a barrier placed in the path of
a tunneling particle does not slow it down. In fact, we detect particles
on the other side of the barrier that have made the trip in less time
than it would take the particle to traverse an equal distance without a
barrier -- in other words, the tunneling speed apparently greatly
exceeds the speed of light. Moreover, if you increase the thickness of
the barrier the tunneling speed increases, as high as you please..."

Bah.

All these experiments have in common that they send the shortest
possible pulse of whatever signal through a saturating medium.
As a result, what gets through is a strongly attenuated fraction
of just the leading edge. Due to the bandwidth limits, both input
and output are still roughly the same Gaussian shape.

They then usually scale up the output pulse to disguise the
attenuation and cry: Look! Faster than light transmission!

Jeroen Belleman

 

[Glenn]

Bah.

All these experiments have in common that they send the shortest
possible pulse of whatever signal through a saturating medium.
As a result, what gets through is a strongly attenuated fraction
of just the leading edge. Due to the bandwidth limits, both input
and output are still roughly the same Gaussian shape.

They then usually scale up the output pulse to disguise the
attenuation and cry: Look! Faster than light transmission!

Jeroen Belleman

Hi Jeroen

Please explain this - single-photons - not photon clusters:


Markus Pössel: Faster-than-light (FTL) speeds in tunneling experiments:
an annotated bibliography:
http://www.aei.mpg.de/~mpoessel/Physik/FTL/tunnelingftl.html
Quote: "...An experiment of theirs, where a single photon tunnelled
through a barrier and its tunneling speed (not a signal speed!) was 1.7
times light speed, is described in Steinberg, A.M., Kwiat, P.G. & R.Y.
Chiao 1993: "Measurement of the Single-Photon Tunneling Time" in
Physical Review Letter 71, S. 708--711..."

Glenn

 

[Glenn]

On 25/03/13 21.25, George Herold wrote:
....
....

Hi George

Is it because of the standing space-time electron waves ;-)

Milo Wolff's Quantum Science Corner's: The Quantum Universe:

Quote: "...Actually, in the H atom both the electron wave-structure and
the proton have the same center. The electron's structure can be
imagined like an onion – spherical layers of waves around a center. The
amplitude of the waves decreases like the blue standing wave in the
bottom diagram. There are no point masses – no orbits, just waves...".

Atomic Orbitals:
http://www.chemistry.nmsu.edu/studntres/chem111/resources/notes/atomic_orbitals.html


The Orbitron. a gallery of atomic orbitals and molecular orbitals on the
WWW:
http://winter.group.shef.ac.uk/orbitron/

Glenn

Sorry the link leaped forward in time:
http://web.archive.org/web/20111229192231/http://quantummatter.com/articles/see_an_electron.html

Glenn

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

Do I think so? Nope, but that and $1.60 will get you a Tim Horton's
coffee.

A bit more data on them:-

http://goo.gl/Mwjkh