1/f noise and nonlinear effects in thin metal films

Abstract

Work on Iaf noise and nonlinear effects in thin metal films is reviewed. The experimental dependences of the Iaf-noise level and the I-V cubic nonlinearity coefficient of films on their thickness, temperature, and internal mechanical stres-ses are presented. The data on the effect of film microstructure on the Iaf-noise level are also given. The Iaf-noise spectral density and the I-V nonlinearity coefficient both show an activation temperature dependence and an exponential inter-nal-mechanical-stress dependence, for metal films with ele-vated mobile-defect concentrations. A physical model of the Iaf noise and I-V nonlinearity is analyzed which involves the creation and annihilation of quasi-equilibrium vacancies in the bulk of the metal film and enables the observed relationship between the experimental data and the Iaf noise and the I-V nonlinearity to be explained.