Origin of 1/f3/2noise in GaAs thin-film resistors and MESFET's

This paper addresses the problem of 1/f3/2low-frequency noise in GaAs thin-film resistors and MESFET's. Experimental data seem to rule out the existence of the so-called "diffusion noise" usually invoked in GaAs devices. Therefore, we propose a new "surface thermal-noise" model based on the existence of lumped thermal-noise generators distributed along the semiconductor-air or semiconductor-dielectric protection interface. The observed dependence of the low-frequency noise on the surface resistance of different MESFET's supports our conclusions.