The Distributed Tunnel Diode Oscillator

The tunnel diode oscillator in which the negative conductance is distributed along a quarter wave transmission line rather than lumped at the terminals is analyzed to determine the oscillation frequency and power output. The analysis assumes a parabolic variation of negative conductance with bias voltage and an operating frequency high enough so the equivalent linearization technique of Kryloff and Bogoliuboff can be applied. The analysis indicates that the distributed oscillator should give 2/3 the power at times the frequency and at 2 times the load resistance of a lumped oscillator with the same total inductance capacitance and negative conductance. Series parasitic resistance is shown primarily to decrease the output power while series parasitic inductance and shunt capacitance of the transmission line primarily decrease the output frequency. Measurements of output frequency on experimental oscillators are in quantitative agreement with the analysis while measurements of output power are in qualitative agreement.