Measurements of the electronic current fluctuations of free-standing hydrogenated amorphous silicon nanoparticles are described. The nanoparticles are synthesized by high-density plasma chemical vapor deposition and are deposited onto conducting substrates. An insulating matrix, either silicon oxide or silicon nitride is then grown in order to electrically isolate the particles. Electronic measurements are performed in this transverse geometry, and underneath a top electrode of area 1mm x 1mm are typically 10,000 nanoparticles with an average diameter of 150 nm in parallel. The spectral density of the current fluctuations in the a-Si:H nanoparticles is well described by a 1/f frequency dependence for frequency f, as in the case of bulk a-Si:H films. The variation of the correlation coefficients with frequency octave separation of the noise power fluctuations in bulk a-Si:H films indicates serial interactions between fluctuators. In contrast, the octave separation dependence of the correlation coefficients for the nanoparticles are very well described by an ensemble of fluctuators whose amplitudes are independently modulated in parallel.
Measurements of the second spectra that characterize the non-Gaussian statistical nature of conductance fluctuations are reported for a series of hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films. The deposition conditions used to synthesize the films were systematically varied in order to observe the effect that differing amounts of disorder have on the noise statistics. One series of n-type films were deposited at varying substrate temperatures, another n-type series was grown at varying rf powers, and a third series of compensated films was synthesized with varying ratios of phosphine to diborane. None of these series shows any significant change in the non-Gaussian noise statistics as the long-range disorder and deposition properties are changed. Measurements of the second spectra for a film synthesized in an inductively coupled plasma thermal growth system, which yields nano-particles of ~ 150 nm in diameter, are also reported. These results are discussed in terms of models for the non-Gaussian noise properties in amorphous silicon.
Brains consist of complex networks of neurons possessing highly non-linear interactions, suggesting that neural systems will show cooperative dynamics. Previous studies of the non-Gaussian statistics of 1/f noise in spin glasses and amorphous semiconductors have revealed important information concerning interaction kinetics not available through other techniques. Five male Brown-Norway-Cross rats were chronically implanted with arrays of microwire electrodes from which local field potentials (LFPs) were recorded from the dorsocentral striatum as the animals performed complex navigational tasks. The power spectra displayed a frequency dependence significantly different from 1/f. The correlation coefficients of the Fourier transform of the LFPs from striatum showed significant non-zero correlations between frequencies separated by less than three octaves. This novel technique may be useful in measuring functional interactions in neural systems.
Conference Committee Involvement (3)
Fluctuations and Noise in Materials II
24 May 2005 | Austin, Texas, United States
Fluctuations and Noise in Materials
26 May 2004 | Maspalomas, Gran Canaria Island, Spain
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