Noise selection in multielectrode devices by using a correlation spectrum analyzer

In this article, we present a technique to sort out in a multielectrode device a vanishing small noise component between two electrodes affected by a much larger overall noise. The technique is based on the use of a correlation spectrum analyzer and has proven to detect a currentnoise of interest as low as 1 fA/Hz−−−√ in the presence of undesirable noise of 50 fA/Hz−−−√. The possibility offered by this technique is useful in a number of applications, ranging from gate current investigation in metal-oxide-semiconductorfield effect transistors to the study of leakage currents in nanodevices.