Abstract
Low-frequency noise measurements have been made throughout the entire useful bias range of germanium and GaAs Esaki diodes. Evidence is presented in agreement with Esaki and Yajima that a near square-law relationship exists between the mean-square, short-circuit noise current and excess current for bias voltages beyond the valley voltage in germanium diodes. Attempts to find a like relationship in GaAs were not conclusive. Measurements of the noise within the negative-resistance regions of the diodes showed a nearly continuous exponential relationship between excess noise and bias for the germanium units and a similar plot was obtained for the GaAs diodes, except a well-defined peak in the noise current was found at about 0.2 v forward bias. The evidence that the results indicate a rather continuous distribution of allowed states in the forbidden band of the germanium samples and a possible localized maximum in these states in the GaAs samples is discussed.
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