Tunnel diode oscillator for 0.001 ppm measurements at low temperatures

The results of a systematic study of the design considerations of a low‐temperature tunnel diode oscillator are presented. The calculated circuit performance satisfactorily describes the measured frequency noise and dependence on bias voltage, magnetic field, and temperature. The overall performance allows measurement of changes in the resonant frequency of an LC circuit with a precision of 0.001 ppm. One can thereby detect extremely small changes in a number of material properties such as thermal expansion, surface impedance, and electric and magnetic susceptibilities.