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Title: Microscopic analysis of electron noise in GaAs Schottky barrier diodes

Journal Article · · Journal of Applied Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.366044· OSTI ID:538419
;  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Departamento de Fisica Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Salamanca, Plaza de la Merced s/n, 37008 Salamanca (Spain)
  2. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica della Materia, Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, Universita di Lecce, Via Arnesano, 73100 Lecce (Italy)
  3. Centre dElectronique et de Micro-Optoelectronique de Montpellier (CNRS UMR 5507), Universite Montpellier II, F-34095 Montpellier Cedex 5 (France)

A microscopic analysis of current and voltage fluctuations in GaAs Schottky barrier diodes under forward-bias conditions in the absence of 1/f contributions is presented. Calculations are performed by coupling self-consistently an ensemble Monte Carlo simulator with a one-dimensional Poisson solver. By using current- and voltage-operation modes the microscopic origin and the spatial location of the noise sources, respectively, is provided. At different voltages the device exhibits different types of noise (shot, thermal, and excess), which are explained as a result of the coupling between fluctuations in carrier velocity and self-consistent field. The essential role of the field fluctuations to correctly determine the noise properties in these diodes is demonstrated. The results obtained for the equivalent noise temperature are found to reproduce the typical behavior of experimental measurements. An equivalent circuit is proposed to predict and explain the noise spectra of the device under thermionic emission-based operation. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}

OSTI ID:
538419
Journal Information:
Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 82, Issue 5; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1997
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English