Random telegraph signals and 1/f noise in a silicon quantum dot

We investigated random telegraph signals and 1/f noise in a submicron metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor at low temperatures in the Coulomb-blockade regime. The rich noise characteristics were studied as a function of gate voltage, drain current, and temperature, both in and beyond the Ohmic regime. The results can be understood within a simple model assuming a uniform potential fluctuation of constant magnitude at the location of the dot. Clear signatures of electron heating are found from the noise at higher currents.