Ultra-low noise nanoscale transistors for metrology of noise, energy harvesting and biosensing applications (Invited)

Flicker or 1/f noise in metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) has been identified as the main source of noise at low frequency. It often originates from an ensemble of a huge number of charges becoming trapped and de-trapped, or from mobility fluctuation. However, for nanoscale transistors, equations based on the density of traps are no more valid due to the small number of traps. Fluctuations at contacts can also be the dominant source of noise. Here, we summarize our results in this topic and show in addition that nanoscale transistors provide unique opportunities for metrological studies of noise. In particular, we propose an alternative to the criticized but widely used unified number and correlated mobility fluctuation model for MOSFETs, discuss the dielectric polarization/mobility noises as sources of 1/f noise for trap-free gate oxides and a model for Schottky-barrier-based nanoscale transistors. In a second part, we summarize our results for noise in liquid-gated nanoscale (0D) transistor sensors with applications in energy harvesting and biosensing.