A method for computer aided noise analysis is presented which is based on a description of noise by means of correlation matrices. The method is a two-port analysis and it is, therefore, applicable to circuits which are composed of simple two-ports with known noise performance. The correlation matrix concept holds two main advantages over other methods of noise analysis. Partially correlated noise sources can be treated without any loss of efficiency and information concerning minimum noise figure and noise matching conditions is obtained.

An efficient method for computer aided noise analysis of linear amplifier networks

A survey is given of the most important noise problems in solid-state devices. Section II discusses shot noise in metal-semiconductor diodes, p-n junctions, and transistors at low injection; noise due to recombination and generation in the junction space-charge region; high-level injection effects; noise in photodiodes, avalanche diodes, and diode particle detectors, and shot noise in the leakage currents in field-effect transistors (FETs). Section III discusses thermal noise and induced gate noise in FETs; generation-recombination noise in FETs and transistors at low temperatures; noise due to recombination centers in the space-charge region(s) of FETs, and noise in space-charge-limited solid-state diodes. Section IV attempts to give a unified account of 1/f noise in solid-state devices in terms of the fluctuating occupancy of traps in the surface oxide; discusses the kinetics of these traps; applies this to flicker noise in junction diodes, transistors, and FETs, and briefly discusses flicker noise in Gunn diodes and burst noise in junction diodes and transistors. Section V discusses shot noise in the light emission of luminescent diodes and lasers, and noise in optical heterodyning. Section VI discusses circuit applications. It deals with the noise figure of negative conductance amplifiers (tunnel diodes and parametric amplifiers), and of FET, transistor, and mixer circuits. In the latter discussion capacitive up-converters, and diode, FET, and transistor mixers are dealt with.

Noise in solid-state devices and lasers

In the last decade an important shift has taken place in the design of hardware with the advent of smaller and denser integrated circuits and packages. Analysis techniques are required to ensure the proper electrical functioning of this hardware. In this paper we give a coherent survey of the modeling and computer-aided design techniques applicable to solving these problems. Methods are considered for the computation of resistances, capacitances, and inductances. Also, an extensive list of references is given.

Survey of computer-aided electrical analysis of integrated circuit interconnections

This contribution attempts to review certain resonance effects which occur in the dynamic behaviour of semiconductor lasers. To study these effects theoretically, a rate equation approach is used for single-mode operation in the region of lasing threshold. The two basic rate equations are given and their transient solutions discussed. The existence of two time constants in these equations, viz. the electron lifetimeτ
e and the photon lifetimeτ
e; gives rise to a characteristic resonance frequency in the GHz region. This resonance manifests itself in transient ‘spiking’ effects, in quantum noise phenomena, and in high-frequency modulation experiments. In a modified form the resonance frequency may also be studied in lasers with external cavities and in double-diode configurations (or, equivalently, conventional devices with non-uniform excitation along the cavity length). In the latter two examples mentioned above, the resonance is excited by optical feedback of the laser radiation into the active medium via a ‘lossy’ or insufficiently inverted region. In the ‘spiking’ oscillations commonly observed at the commencement of laser operation, the initial ‘population overshoot’ is the cause of the resonance. For the case of quantum noise it is the requirement that the photon and electron populations have integer values which supplies the driving force-a true quantum effect. High-frequency modulation experiments directly reveal the same resonance frequency where a strong maximum in modulation intensity occurs.

Rate equations and transient phenomena in semiconductor lasers

All-optical logic AND¿NOR gate with three inputs based on cross-gain modulation in a semiconductor optical amplifier

Since it is important to know the influence of the parasitic package elements on gain and input admittance, the equivalent circuits of three stripline packages are given belonging to three microwave bipolar transistors with fmax at approximately 10 GHz.

Equivalent networks for three different microwave bipolar transistor packages in the 2-10 GHz range

A compensation method is presented for the suppression of the discharge-modulation noise in a gas laser beam. The method uses an external KDP cell and is effective for a limited frequency band.

Suppression of discharge-modulation noise in a gas laser by means of an external modulator

A new computation method is given connected with the analysis of equivalent circuits including uncorrelated as well as correlated noise sources, thus saving computer time.

Computerized determination of electrical network noise due to correlated and uncorrelated noise sources

The delay time td between the onset of the current pulse and that of the light emission has been measured above threshold as a function of the diode current I for several GaAs laser diodes at a temperature of about 77° K. When plotted against In [I/(I—Ith)], td decreases with increasing current, but does not obey the linear relation found by others. The values of td measured near threshold are in satisfactory agreement with the spontaneous emission time calculated from theory. Although the measured curves are all of the same shape, differences of td exist among the diodes, which are supposed to be caused by the presence of traps.

Delay time between the current pulse and the light emission of GaAs laser diodes

Noise measurements of microwave transistors have shown that the optimum source admittance with respect to the minimum noise figure approaches the conjugate complex value of the transistor input admittance with increasing frequency. This fact is explained using the noise equivalent circuit of a microwave transistor.

M.J.O. Strutt

Papers

Equivalent networks for three different microwave bipolar transistor packages in the 2-10 GHz range

Suppression of discharge-modulation noise in a gas laser by means of an external modulator

Computerized determination of electrical network noise due to correlated and uncorrelated noise sources

Delay time between the current pulse and the light emission of GaAs laser diodes

Optimum source admittance for minimum noise figure of microwave transistors