Semiclassical theory of shot noise in mesoscopic conductors

M.J.M. de Jong and C.W.J. Beenakker

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 1996, vol. 230, issue 1, 219-248

Abstract: A semiclassical theory is developed for time-dependent current fluctuations in mesoscopic conductors. The theory is based on the Boltzmann-Langevin equation for a degenerate electron gas. The low-frequency shot-noise power is related to classical transmission probabilities at the Fermi level. For a disordered conductor with impurity scattering, it is shown how the shot noise crosses over from zero in the ballistic regime to one-third of the Poisson noise in the diffusive regime. In a conductor consisting of n tunnel barriers in series, the shot noise approaches one-third of the Poisson noise as n goes to infinity, independent of the transparency of the barriers. The analysis confirms that phase coherence is not required for the occurrence of the one-third suppression of the shot noise. The effects of electron heating and inelastic scattering are calculated, by inserting charge-conserving electron reservoirs between segments of the conductor.

Keywords: Noise and fluctuations; Electronic transport theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1996
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:230:y:1996:i:1:p:219-248

DOI: 10.1016/0378-4371(96)00068-4

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