Advances in Low-Frequency Noise Measurements

A special issue of Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292). This special issue belongs to the section "Circuit and Signal Processing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 15434

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, Messina University, 98166 Messina, Italy
Interests: flicker noise; spectral analysis; low frequency fluctuations; noise measurement systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Low-frequency noise measurements are widely recognized as one of the most sensitive tools for the investigation of the quality and reliability of electron devices and systems. The fluctuations that are recorded at the ends of a biased device carry information about the interaction of the charge carriers with the detailed microstructure of the device, and important information about conduction mechanisms in new devices can be obtained from measuring noise. Moreover, it has been suggested that the observation of the noise generated in sensing devices can be used to increase the sensitivity and selectivity of sensors. Notwithstanding the huge amount of scientific literature on the subject, the fundamental mechanisms leading to the generation of low-frequency noise are not fully understood, even in mature devices. With the continuous introduction of new active materials and new advanced devices, being able to measure, characterize, and, possibly, identify the main factors affecting noise in a given technology is of paramount importance. On the one hand, investigating low-frequency noise can provide clues for a deeper understanding of the conduction mechanism in exotic materials and devices; on the other hand, understanding noise origin is a key factor for introducing process changes aimed at increasing the signal-to-noise ratio in emerging technologies.

This Special Issue focuses on the latest advances in the field of low-frequency noise measurements, with a particular focus on experimental results relating to new and advanced electron devices, applications in the field of quality and reliability, measurement methodologies, and dedicated instrumentation. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Low-frequency noise in electron devices and circuits;
  • Low-frequency noise in advanced materials;
  • Low-frequency noise in optical devices;
  • Low-frequency noise measurement methodologies and instrumentation;
  • Application of low-frequency noise to the evaluation of the quality and reliability of electron devices and systems;
  • Low-frequency noise simulation and modeling.

Prof. Carmine Ciofi
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 4179 KiB  
Article
Compressed-Sensing-Based Time–Frequency Representation for Disturbance Characterization of Maglev On-Board Distribution Systems
by Lu Xing, Yinghong Wen, Shi Xiao, Jinbao Zhang and Dan Zhang
Electronics 2020, 9(11), 1909; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9111909 - 13 Nov 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1794
Abstract
The frequency variating source, linear generator, and switching devices lead to dynamic characteristics of the low-frequency conducted emissions within maglev on-board distribution systems. To track the time-varying feature of these disturbances, a joint time–frequency representation combined adaptive optimal kernel with compressed sensing technique [...] Read more.
The frequency variating source, linear generator, and switching devices lead to dynamic characteristics of the low-frequency conducted emissions within maglev on-board distribution systems. To track the time-varying feature of these disturbances, a joint time–frequency representation combined adaptive optimal kernel with compressed sensing technique is proposed in this paper. The joint representation is based on Wigner–Ville distribution, and employs adaptive optimal kernel to remove undesirable cross terms. The compressed sensing technique is introduced to deal with the tradeoff between cross-component reduction and auto-component smearing faced by kernel-function-based bilinear time–frequency representation. The time–frequency aggregation and accuracy performance of joint time–frequency representation is quantified using Rényi entropy and l1-norm. To verify its performance in disturbance signature analysis for distribution systems and primarily characterize the low-frequency conducted emissions of maglev, a maglev on-board distribution system experimental platform is employed to extract the low-frequency disturbances which pose threats to the controlling system. Comparison with Wigner–Ville distribution demonstrates the joint time–frequency representation method outperforms in tracking time-varying and transient disturbances of maglev on-board distribution systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Low-Frequency Noise Measurements)
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13 pages, 5332 KiB  
Article
Low-Noise Programmable Voltage Source
by Krzysztof Achtenberg, Janusz Mikołajczyk, Carmine Ciofi, Graziella Scandurra and Zbigniew Bielecki
Electronics 2020, 9(8), 1245; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9081245 - 2 Aug 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4781
Abstract
This paper presents the design and testing of a low-noise programmable voltage source. Such a piece of instrumentation is often required as part of the measurement setup needed to test electronic devices without introducing noise from the power supply (such as photodetectors, resistors [...] Read more.
This paper presents the design and testing of a low-noise programmable voltage source. Such a piece of instrumentation is often required as part of the measurement setup needed to test electronic devices without introducing noise from the power supply (such as photodetectors, resistors or transistors). Although its construction is based on known configurations, here the discussion is focused on the characterization and the minimization of the output noise, especially at very low frequencies. The design relies on a digital-to-analog converter, proper lowpass filters, and a low-noise Junction Field-Effect Transistors (JFET) based voltage follower. Because of the very low level of output noise, in some cases we had to resort to cross-correlation in order to reduce the background noise of the amplifiers used for the characterization of the programmable source. Indeed, when two paralleled IF9030 JFETs are used in the voltage follower, the output noise can be as low as 3 nV/√Hz, 0.6 nV/√Hz and 0.4 nV/√Hz at 1 Hz, 10 Hz and 100 Hz, respectively. The output voltage drift was also characterized and a stability of ±25 µV over 3 h was obtained. In order to better appreciate the performance of the low-noise voltage source that we have designed, its noise performances were compared with those of a set-up based on one of the best low-noise solid-state voltage regulators available on the market. Actual measurements of the current noise in a type-II superlattice photodetector are reported in which the programmable source was used to provide the voltage bias to the device. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Low-Frequency Noise Measurements)
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6 pages, 1754 KiB  
Article
Fourier Coefficients Applied to Improve Backscattered Signals in A Short-Range LIDAR System
by Iván Gómez-Arista, José A. Dávila-Pintle, Nancy Montalvo-Montalvo, Abel A. Rubin-Alvarado, Yolanda E. Bravo-García and Edmundo Reynoso-Lara
Electronics 2020, 9(3), 390; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9030390 - 27 Feb 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2511
Abstract
Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) is a remote sensing technique that measures properties of backscattered light in order to obtain information of a distant target. This work presents a method to improve the signal-to-noise ratio by 8 dB with respect to the direct [...] Read more.
Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) is a remote sensing technique that measures properties of backscattered light in order to obtain information of a distant target. This work presents a method to improve the signal-to-noise ratio by 8 dB with respect to the direct detection of the backscattered signal of a LIDAR system. This method consists of the measurement of the Fourier coefficients of the LIDAR signal, which is possible thanks to the novel coupling of a sequential equivalent time base sampling (SETS) circuit and a conventional lock-in amplifier that allows to measure the Fourier coefficients of the LIDAR signal, the results are comparable to noise elimination using Empirical Mode Decomposition. The feasibility of the proposal is demonstrated experimentally with mist. The method can be used to different applications of elastic-scattering LIDAR under the conditions of the devices for applied the phase sensitive detection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Low-Frequency Noise Measurements)
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14 pages, 2497 KiB  
Article
Single JFET Front-End Amplifier for Low Frequency Noise Measurements with Cross Correlation-Based Gain Calibration
by Graziella Scandurra, Gino Giusi and Carmine Ciofi
Electronics 2019, 8(10), 1197; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics8101197 - 21 Oct 2019
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 5375
Abstract
We propose an open loop voltage amplifier topology based on a single JFET front-end for the realization of very low noise voltage amplifiers to be used in the field of low frequency noise measurements. With respect to amplifiers based on differential input stages, [...] Read more.
We propose an open loop voltage amplifier topology based on a single JFET front-end for the realization of very low noise voltage amplifiers to be used in the field of low frequency noise measurements. With respect to amplifiers based on differential input stages, a single transistor stage has, among others, the advantage of a lower background noise. Unfortunately, an open loop approach, while simplifying the realization, has the disadvantage that because of the dispersions in the characteristics of the active device, it cannot ensure that a well-defined gain be obtained by design. To address this issue, we propose to add two simple operational amplifier-based auxiliary amplifiers with known gain as part of the measurement chain and employ cross correlation for the calibration of the gain of the main amplifier. With proper data elaboration, gain calibration and actual measurements can be carried out at the same time. By using the approach we propose, we have been able to design a low noise amplifier relying on a simplified hardware and with background noise as low as 6 nV/√Hz at 200 mHz, 1.7 nV/√Hz at 1 Hz, 0.7 nV/√Hz at 10 Hz, and less than 0.6 nV/√Hz at frequencies above 100 Hz. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Low-Frequency Noise Measurements)
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