Excess low frequency noises in some electronic materials and components
We devised burst noise eliminating equipment and characterized the 1/f and burst noise in some electronic materials, components, electric contacts and bipolar transistors. The burst-eliminated noise spectrum is the 1/f type. The noise intensity is proportional to the square of the current and to the fifth power of the contact resistance. This contact resistance dependence of the noise is analyzed with the constriction resistance of the contact surface material. The measured results are also shown in the amplitude and phase fluctuations in the transistor collector current. They are also of 1/f type and correlate each other. On the other hand, we did not find this correlation in another transistor with burst noise. Hence, the 1/f fluctuation is considered to be due to diffusion or mobility fluctuation and the burst noise is not due to the diffusion process in the solid.
1/f Noise in Metal Contacts and Granular Resistors
To measure the current noise in metal contacts and granular resistors, we arranged a noise measuring system with a switched-capacitor filter. The samples are crossbar contacts and grphite thick-film resistors. All noise spectra are the 1/f type. The noise of crossbar contacts and thick-film resistors increases in proportion to the fifth and third power of the resistance, respectively. A model for the noise of metal contacts and granular resistors is proposed. It is based on the spontaneous fluctuation of temperature of the small Conducting spots between metal surfaces and granular boundaries, respectively. The results of the analysis are qualitatively in agreement with those of measurement.
Modeling Coherent Backscattering Errors in Fiber Optic Gyroscopes for Sources of Arbitrary Line Width
We present a new model of the noise and drift induced by coherent backscattering in a fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) interrogated with a light source of arbitrary temporal coherence. This study is critical to understand whether a FOG driven with a laser instead of a broadband source can attain high sensitivity and stability, which would have the overwhelming benefit of improving the FOG scale factor stability by at least ten-fold and would enable the use of FOGs for inertial navigation of aircrafts. Analytical and numerical solutions bring to light two significant new predictions. First, coherent-backscattering noise can be made negligibly small by utilizing a laser with a very narrow linewidth (less than ~ 20 kHz), although in this regime the drift is high. Second, by using a laser with a broad linewidth (greater than ~ 10 MHz), both the noise and the drift are low enough for aircraft inertial navigation. The dependencies of the noise and drift on fiber loss, loop coupling coefficient, and backscattering coefficient are also presented to define the optimum mode of operation of this new class of FOGs.