JPH01309232A - Tunnel electron tube - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to eliminate the physical and technical restrictions owing to using a semiconductor by composing of an electrode couples approaching each other to make it possible to let flow a tunnel current in a space, and one or more electrodes to make it possible to control the tunnel current. CONSTITUTION:An anode 2 very close to cathodes 1 is provided, and by applying a positive voltage to the cathode 2 making cathode 1 as a standard, electrons flow from the cathode 1 to the anode 2 through the space by the tunnel phenomenon. Between the cathodes 1 and the anode 2, grids 3 being the control electrodes are arranged and by making the voltage of the grids 3 negative to the cathodes 1, the tunnel current value can be controlled. Consequently, such an electron tube has the property strong to radiant rays, and can be applied to the electric circuit for an artificial satellite and the like without providing a radiant ray shield. The restriction by using a semiconductor can be eliminated consequently.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial use of diacritics] This invention provides a method for using diacritics as one of the active elements in an electric circuit.
This invention relates to a tunnel electron tube that is operated by controlling a spatial tunnel zF.

[Prior art] Traditionally, active elements in electric circuits have been electron tubes, and in recent years transistors and FETs, etc. Without these functions and OX elements, various high-tech industries including the current electronics industry have It is so basic that it cannot continue to exist, and its range of applications has expanded dramatically through improvements in its characteristics and the development of new varieties, and it is becoming more and more pervasive.

However, since these active elements use semiconductors based on silicon or other materials, their range of application is limited by their various physical properties. For example, which was not clearly recognized until now, the carrier density in silicon decreases logarithmically as the ambient temperature decreases, reducing the amplification factor of the device.

This is particularly noticeable at extremely low temperatures, and these active devices are generally unusable at extremely low temperatures. #
BEven for certain types of FETs that operate at low temperatures, the characteristics at room temperature and those at ultra-low temperatures are significantly different, so it is important to consider circuit design! i
1 is extremely difficult, and even if it were possible, it would be difficult to make it work stably, so it is not outside the realm of research.

If the temperature exceeds 100 degrees Celsius, there is a risk of running a fever.
Devices that can operate at temperatures exceeding 150°C have reliability
Except for electron tubes, which are completely obsolete in terms of density, there are none. In addition, when conventional semiconductor-based active devices are exposed to high levels of radiation, these radiations interact with atoms such as silicon within the device, resulting in not only unsatisfactory operation but also significant changes in their characteristics. There is a drawback that it becomes unusable.

``What the invention tries to solve!!! Title: The problem that this invention tries to solve is that in active elements of electric circuits, active elements based on semiconductors such as silicon use electrons and holes in substances as carriers. The objective is to eliminate the physical and technical constraints imposed by the use of the 111 IML by generating it using a method other than the 111 IML used in past electron tubes.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve these problems, one or more pole pairs that are close enough to each other to allow the tunneling current to flow in the space and one or more poles that can control the tunneling current in the space are used. Invented a tunnel electron tube consisting of electrodes.

[Example] Next, as one form of the present invention, an element having one control electrode shown in FIG. 1 will be described. cathode 1
When the anode 2 is placed very close to the anode 2 and a positive voltage is applied to the anode 2 with respect to the cathode 1, electrons flow through space from the cathode 1 to the anode 2 due to a tunneling phenomenon.

When a grid 3, which is a control electrode, is arranged between the cathode 1 and the anode 2 and the voltage of the grid 3 is made negative with respect to the cathode 1, the tunnel current value is controlled.

Since the size of the space from the cathode 1 to the anode 2 through which a spatial tunneling current can flow is sufficiently smaller than the mean free path of molecules in the atmosphere, there is no need to actively create a vacuum in this tunneling electron tube.

The tunneling current i current in a space large enough to replace conventional active elements can be achieved by manufacturing electrodes with spatially repeating patterns using microfabrication etc. as shown in Figure 1. Obtainable. Various shapes and arrangements other than those shown in FIG. 1 can be considered as long as the shape and arrangement can obtain the necessary tunnel current in the space, and various ideas can be made for the control X pole that controls the tunnel current in the space.

This tunnel electron tube takes advantage of the extremely short travel distance of electrons, and reduces the capacitance between the electrodes and arranges screen electrodes so that it can be used in higher frequency bands than microwaves. There are many possible methods.

In this tunnel electron tube, as shown in FIG. 2, a zero-power signal source 7 that can be operated by applying a bias is connected to the grid 3 in series with a reverse bias voltage R5, and between the cathode 1 and the grid 3. A voltage source 4 for generating a spatial tunneling current is connected in series with a load resistor 6 between the cathode 1 and the anode 2. When the voltage of the grid 3 is applied in a direction to suppress the tunnel current in the space by a human signal, the current flowing through the load resistor 6 decreases,
Conversely, if the tunnel current in the space is increased, the current flowing through the load resistor 6 will increase, so a voltage with an opposite phase proportional to the input signal will be generated across the load resistor 6, and an amplification effect can be performed. .

This tunnel electron tube is an ordinary transistor or FET.
It goes without saying that it can also be used as an element for constructing an integrated circuit with high integration density.

[Effects of the invention] This tunnel electron tube has characteristics that are resistant to gamma rays and high-energy radiation because it does not have a semiconductor that acts as a scintillator, which is the reason why conventional active elements such as transistors are weak against gamma rays and high-energy radiation. It can be applied to electrical circuits such as satellites without radiation shielding. In addition, it is possible to dramatically expand the operating temperature range, which is limited by the temperature characteristics of semiconductors in conventional devices. This opens up a new path for electrical circuits in areas where elements have not been available. Furthermore, since the traveling distance of electrons is extremely small, it is possible to obtain extremely high frequency characteristics, and it is also possible to obtain an integration density similar to that of an IC with 2 m of transistors stacked together. Furthermore, #I like the conventional one! New applications are expected that take advantage of the advantage of being able to perform reverse polarity operation, which is not possible even with dynamic elements, with the same circuit.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 shows one control made using microfabrication! An example of a tunneling electron tube with poles is shown. FIG. 2 is an example of a circuit for operating the present tunnel electron tube. 1... Cathode 2... Anode 3... Grid 4... Voltage source 5... Reverse bias voltage source 6... Load resistor 7... Input signal source Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A tunneling electron tube consisting of a pair of electrodes that are close enough to allow a spatial tunneling current to flow, and one or more electrodes that can control the spatial tunneling current.