Spontaneous Reverse Current due to the Brillouin EMF in a Diode
Abstract
It has been shown by Brillouin that, to satsify the second law of thermodynamics, a diode at finite temperature must generate a dc signal which just compensates the current resulting from the rectification of thermal noise. It is shown that this signal should actually be observable (as a spontaneous reverse current) when the diode is connected to a resistor at a lower temperature than itself. A successful experiment to observe the signal is described.
- Publication:
-
Applied Physics Letters
- Pub Date:
- January 1969
- DOI:
- 10.1063/1.1652709
- Bibcode:
- 1969ApPhL..14...54G