Measurement of Low-Frequency Noise of Modern Low-Noise Junction Field Effect Transistors

Abstract

A description of the low-noise measurement system designed for experimental investigation of low-frequency noise of modern low-noise junction field effect transistors (JFETs) at a frequency range from 0.5 Hz to 50 kHz is presented. The noise floor of the system in terms of noise voltage spectral density is about 1.3 nV//spl radic/Hz at frequency 0.5 Hz, 0.6 nV//spl radic/Hz at frequency 1 Hz, 0.08 nV//spl radic/Hz at frequency 10 Hz, and /spl les/0.04 nV//spl radic/Hz at frequencies 100 Hz-50 kHz. Such a system makes it possible to measure 1/f noise and channel thermal noise of modern very low noise n-channel JFETs. Specifically, discrete samples of JFETs, IF9030, IF1801, IF3601, and 2N4338, were investigated at the frequency range mentioned above. The system provided negligible contribution of all noise sources except intrinsic noise of measured JFETs which was a 1/f noise at frequencies f < 10 Hz and a channel thermal noise at frequencies f /spl ges/ 10 Hz. The measured values of the equivalent input noise voltage spectral density e/sub n/ of the best samples from investigated JFETs IF9030, IF1801, IF3601, and 2N4338 were 2.7, 3.2, 3.4, and 22 nV//spl radic/Hz at frequency 0.5 Hz; 1.5, 2.1, 1.8, and 14 nV//spl radic/Hz at frequency 1 Hz; and 0.5, 0.4, 0.6, and 3.2 nV//spl radic/Hz at frequencies more than 1 kHz, correspondingly.