Shot Noise at High Temperatures

We propose an effective field theory describing the time dependent fluctuations of electrons in conducting systems, generalizing the well known kinetic theory of fluctuations. On several examples, we show its equivalence, (when quantum corrections are neglected) to a microscopic quantum mechanical non-linear $\sigma$-model theory. We apply then the theory to analyze the effects of strong electron-electron and electron-phonon scattering on the statistics of current fluctuation...

We study the behavior of shot noise in resonant tunneling junctions far from equilibrium. Quantum-coherent elastic charge transport can be characterized by a transmission function, that is the probability for an incoming electron at a given energy to tunnel through a potential barrier. In systems such as quantum point contacts, electronic shot noise is oftentimes calculated based on a constant (energy independent) transmission probability, a good approximation at low temperat...

In this article we present simple approaches to the calculation of P(i) (the probability distribution of current fluctuations) in a tunnel junction, and to the effect of the environment on noise measurements in terms of the modification of P. We do not provide rigorous calculations, but simple considerations that bear the essential ingredients of the phenomena. We also discuss the effect of a finite measurement bandwidth. We report experimental results of the first measuremen...

We have used numerical modeling and a semi-analytical calculation method to find the low frequency value S_{I}(0) of the spectral density of fluctuations of current through 1D arrays of small tunnel junctions, using the ``orthodox theory'' of single-electron tunneling. In all three array types studied, at low temperature (kT << eV), increasing current induces a crossover from the Schottky value S_{I}(0)=2e<I> to the ``reduced Schottky value'' S_{I}(0)=2e<I>/N (where N is the ...

A theory is presented for the universal reduction of shot noise by Coulomb repulsion, which was observed in computer simulations of a disordered non-degenerate electron gas by Gonzalez et al. (cond-mat/9803372). The universality of the reduction below the uncorrelated value is explained as a feature of the high-voltage regime of space-charge limited conduction. The reduction factor depends on the dimensionality d of the density of states, being close but not quite equal to 1/...

We present the first measurements of the third moment of the voltage fluctuations in a conductor. This technique can provide new and complementary information on the electronic transport in conducting systems. The measurement was performed on non-superconducting tunnel junctions as a function of voltage bias, for various temperatures and bandwidths up to 1GHz. The data demonstrate the significant effect of the electromagnetic environment of the sample.

Shot noise in diffusive mesoscopic conductors, at finite observation frequencies $\omega $ (comparable to the reciprocal Thouless time $\tau_T^{-1}$), is analyzed with an account of screening. At low frequencies, the well-known result $S_I(\omega)=2eI/3$ is recovered. This result is valid at arbitrary $\omega \tau_T$ for wide conductors longer than the screening length. However, at least for two very different systems, namely, wide and short conductors, and thin conductors ov...

We studied electronic relaxation in long diffusive superconductor / normal metal / superconductor (S/N/S) junctions by means of current noise and transport measurements down to very low temperature (100mK). Samples with normal metal lengths of 4, 10 and 60 micrometer have been investigated. In all samples the shot noise increases very rapidly with the voltage. This is interpreted in terms of enhanced heating of the electron gas confined between the two S/N interfaces. Experim...

When an electric current passes across a potential barrier, the partition process of electrons at the barrier gives rise to the shot noise, reflecting the discrete nature of the electric charge. Here we report the observation of excess shot noise connected with a spin current which is induced by a nonequilibrium spin accumulation in an all-semiconductor lateral spin-valve device. We find that this excess shot noise is proportional to the spin current. Additionally, we determi...

We consider wide ballistic microcontacts with electron-electron scattering in the leads and calculate electric noise and nonlinear conductance in them. Due to a restricted geometry the collisions of electrons result in a shot noise even though they conserve the total momentum of electrons. We obtain the noise and the conductivity for arbitrary relations between voltage V and temperature T. The positive inelastic correction to the Sharvin conductance is proportional to T at lo...