A 1/F NOISE MODEL BASED ON FLUCTUATING DEFECT STATES

A model for 1/f noise is developed that is based on fluctuations of the number of energy states associated with extended defects and the defect gradient. The tendency for the source of the states such as dislocations to equilibrate by diffusion leads to a 1/f spectral distribution of the effective number of states. When the states are near the Fermi level and active in processes such as carrier recombination or tunneling in semiconductor devices, the fluctuations appear as 1/f noise in voltage or current. The model is quantitative and predicts low noise for a very uniform density of defects or very small defect size. The Hooge dimensionless constant is identified in terms of the defect structure.