Strong Low-Frequency Noise in Polysilicon Emitter Bipolar Transistors with Interfacial Oxide due to Fluctuations in Tunneling Probabilities

Strong 1/f α (2>α>1) noise was observed in polysilicon emitter bipolar transistors with an interfacial oxide layer sandwiched between the polysilicon and monocrystalline silicon emitter regions but not in similar transistors without interfacial oxide. The noise was explained as fluctuations in the carrier tunneling probabilities through the interfacial oxide. A simple equivalent circuit was proposed to model the strong 1/f α noise.