Cyclostationary shot noise in mesoscopic measurements

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical analysis of phase-dependent shot noise in mesoscopic systems driven by time-dependent currents, demonstrating how this effect can improve shot noise measurement accuracy in nonlinear samples.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework for phase-dependent shot noise in mesoscopic measurements and proposes a method for more precise shot noise measurement in nonlinear high-impedance samples.

Findings

Phase-dependent shot noise varies with local-oscillator phase.

The theory applies to radio-frequency single-electron transistors.

The method enables accurate shot noise measurement in nonlinear samples.

Abstract

We discuss theoretically a setup where a time-dependent current consisting of a DC bias and two sinusoidal harmonics is driven through a sample. If the sample exhibits current-dependent shot noise, the down-converted noise power spectrum varies depending on the local-oscillator phase of the mixer. The theory of this phase-dependent noise is applied to discuss the measurement of the radio-frequency single-electron transistor. We also show that this effect can be used to measure the shot noise accurately even in nonlinear high-impedance samples.