It was recalled that rapid advances in the technology of nano-scale integration, opto-electronics and micro-machines made the susceptibility of semiconductor systems to electronic noise a critical matter. Defects (especially extended ones) in crystalline structures were sites of intense scattering and trapping in carrier flows, and were therefore recognized as being strong generators of noise. Attention here was focused on the 1/f noise generated by dislocations. A new noise figure of merit was introduced here and was applied to analysis of the potential use of materials such as Si, Si–Ge, SiC, GaAs, GaN, and AlN. The potential low-noise performance of the materials was related to the presence of dislocations. A model was developed which linked the magnitude of the recombination rate at dislocations to fluctuations in current; which could be measured by using electron-beam induced-current techniques. This model considered the dynamic

change in the dislocation potential for a defect within the active area of a device, when – for example - the external bias changed at a p–n junction.

Dislocation-Induced Noise in Semiconductors. S.Milshtein: Journal of Physics - Condensed Matter, 2002, 14[48], 13387-95