  A nonlinear RLC resonator is investigated experimentally and numerically
using bifurcation analysis. The nonlinearity is due to the parallel combination
of a semiconductor rectifier diode and a fixed capacitor. The diode's junction
capacitance, diffusion capacitance, and DC current-voltage relation each
contribute to the nonlinearity. The closely related RL-diode resonator has been
of interest for many years since its demonstration of period-doubling cascades
to chaos. In this study a direct comparison is made of dynamical regime maps
produced from simulations and circuit measurements. The maps show the variety
of limit cycles, their bifurcations, and regions of chaos over the 2-d
parameter space of the source voltage's frequency and amplitude. The similar
structures of the simulated and experimental maps suggests that the diode
models commonly used in circuit simulators (e.g., SPICE) work well in
bifurcation analyses, successfully predicting complex and chaotic dynamics
detected in the circuit. These results may be useful for applications of
varactor-loaded split ring resonators.
