CURRENT NOISE IN THIN GOLD FILMS

Measurements have been made of the current noise in gold films deposited on glass substrates with surface resistivities in the range 10 to 104 Ω/sq. The experimental results have shown that the spectral noise power density may be expressed by where I is the direct current flowing through a gold film of surface resistance R at a temperature T, f is the noise-channel frequency, F(T) is a function of T and G(S) is a function of film structure. Observations have also been made on the phenomenon of noise bursts. The experimental data are interpreted in terms of a trap-assisted tunnelling conduction mechanism with a range of barrier widths. Further support is given to the proposed model from current-noise measurements made on cermet films.