The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 30, 1996
Filed:
Dec. 12, 1994
U.S. Philips Corporation, New York, NY (US);
Abstract
The invention relates to a tunnel diode provided with two metallically conducting electrodes (1, 2) with an insulating dielectric (3) in between, which forms a barrier with a barrier level for electrons and which has a thickness such that electrons can tunnel through the barrier from the one to the other electrode. Such a tunnel diode has the disadvantage that it has no memory. In many applications it is desirable for the tunnel diode to hold a certain switching state, such as open/closed. According to the invention, the tunnel diode is characterized in that the dielectric (3) comprises a layer of a material which is ferroelectric at room temperature with a remanent polarization which influences the barrier level. It is achieved thereby that the tunnel diode has various switching states in dependence on the remanent polarization of the dielectric (3). The switching state is maintained until the polarization of the dielectric (3) changes.