Spontaneous reverse current due to the brillouin emf in a diode

Abstract

It has been shown by Brillouin that, to satsify the second law of thermodynamics, a diode at finite temperature must generate a dc signal which just compensates the current resulting from the rectification of thermal noise. It is shown that this signal should actually be observable (as a spontaneous reverse current) when the diode is connected to a resistor at a lower temperature than itself. A successful experiment to observe the signal is described. © 1969 The American Institute of Physics.