1/f Noise and intermittency due to diffusion of point defects in a semiconductor material

Diffusion of point defects is investigated as a possible origin of 1/f noise in a semiconductor; as an example, diffusion of donor atoms in a strongly extrinsic semiconductor is dealt with. Due to diffusion of donor atoms, the generation–recombination (g–r) process at a certain site may be regarded as an intermittent stochastic process; consequently, the spectral patterns of this process are established. The time of intermission is equivalent to the time a donor atom takes to return to a certain site. Simulating the random walk of donor atoms on a simple cubic lattice this return time is found to be distributed like a power law and can be the source of 1/f noise in semiconductor with inhomogeneous current distribution.