an extremely stable semiconductor diode, having a very narrow highly doped p-n junction, in which electrons travel across the junction by means of the tunnel effect
Also called: Esaki diode
tunnel diode in American English
US
a semiconductor diode, containing many impurities, in which an increase in voltage across the diode first produces an increase in current, then a decrease, and finally another increase
used as an amplifier, oscillator, or computer switching element