Noise-dissipation relation for nonlinear electronic circuits

TL;DR

This paper extends the fluctuation-dissipation theorem to derive a speed limit for nonlinear electronic circuits, establishing a fundamental lower bound on dissipation related to charge transfer speed, noise, and energy use.

Contribution

It introduces a practical speed limit theorem for nonlinear electronic devices based on stochastic thermodynamics, linking dissipation, noise, and transfer speed.

Findings

Derived a lower bound on dissipation for charge transfer

Applied the theorem to an industrial nMOS switching circuit

Showed high energy costs for fast, low-noise operations

Abstract

An extension of fluctuation-dissipation theorem is used to derive a "speed limit" theorem for nonlinear electronic devices. This speed limit provides a lower bound on the dissipation that is incurred when transferring a given amount of electric charge in a certain amount of time with a certain noise level (average variance of the current). This bound, which implies a high energy dissipation for fast, low-noise operations (such as switching a bit in a digital memory), brings together recent results of stochastic thermodynamics into a form that is usable for practical nonlinear electronic circuits, as we illustrate on a switching circuit made of an nMOS pass gate in a state-of-the-art industrial technology.