Excess low-frequency noise in PtSi on p-type Si Schottky diodes

The power spectrum for platinum silicide on p-type silicon Schottky diodes has been measured for the diodes available on an infrared focal plane array. A careful experimental technique is used to separate the mutual drift of the array as a whole from the drift of the individual diodes. The power spectrum of the noise associated with the diode appears to be white, even for frequencies below 3.0 x 10 to the -5 Hz. This result is compared with recent models of 1/f noise. The measurements were made on an infrared camera that used a 160 x 244 PtSi infrared focal plane array. The data from each pixel were digitized to 12 b (0-4095 ADUs). The digital data were transferred to a Hewlett-Packard series 300 computer via the GPIO bus. The camera operated at 30 frames/s.