Equilibrium and shot noise in mesoscopic systems

Abstract

In contrast to bosons, electrons obey Fermi statistics. This spaces successive electrons in a densely occupied stream more regularly than is assumed by the shot-noise formula for uncorrelated electrons. We analyze noise in mesoscopic systems, due to the stochastic transmission of successive electron wave packets, invoking the method used in an earlier analysis of thermal equilibrium noise. The emphasis is on systems with one-dimensional leads, but with some attention to the multi-channel case. For the one-dimensional system with only two leads we treat the case where both thermal equilibrium noise and excess noise due to current flow are present simultaneously. We also analyze excess noise for a network with more than two one-dimensional leads, and for the case with two multichannel leads. The results are compared to earlier, more formal, analyses. © 1991.