Higher moments of noise

Abstract

In this article we present simple approaches to the calculation of P(i) (the probability distribution of current fluctuations) in a tunnel junction, and to the effect of the environment on noise measurements in terms of the modification of P. We do not provide rigorous calculations, but simple considerations that bear the essential ingredients of the phenomena. We also discuss the effect of a finite measurement bandwidth. We report experimental results of the first measurement of the third moment of voltage fluctuations in tunnel junctions, from room temperature down to 50mK. Then we discuss extensions of that measurements to finite frequencies and to the study of other systems. We show the first data of the third moment in the regime where the frequency is larger than the temperature. Finally we discuss a new quantity, the "noise thermal impedance", which links the second and third moment.