A transducer based upon vacuum tunneling

The phenomenon of quantum-mechanical vacuum tunneling of electrons between conductors is highly sensitive to the separation of the conductors. This sensitivity is exploited by using vacuum tunneling to detect the relative motion of two conductors. The basic theory of the tunneling transducer is presented. It is shown that the vacuum tunneling transducer can be more sensitive than a conventional reciprocal transducer and that it can surpass the limits which the amplifier forces upon a reciprocal transducer. The noise present within the tunneling transducer is discussed, and experimental results are presented.<>