Silencing noisy 2DEG wafers

Abstract

Telegraphic noise is one of the most significant problems that arises when making sensitive measurements with lateral electrostatic devices. In this paper we demonstrate that a wafer which had only produced devices with significant telegraph noise problems can be made to produce 'quiet' devices if a thin insulator layer is placed between the gates and the GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. A slow drift in the resulting devices is attributed to the trapping of charges within the specific insulator used. This charge can be manipulated, leading to strategies for stabilizing the device.