Since the discovery a century ago1–3 of electronic thermal noise and shot noise, these forms of fundamental noise have had an enormous impact on science and technology research and applications. They can be used to probe quantum effects and thermodynamic quantities4–11, but they are also regarded as undesirable in electronic devices because they obscure the target signal. Electronic thermal noise is generated at equilibrium at finite (non-zero) temperature, whereas electronic shot noise is a non-equilibrium current noise that is generated by partial transmission and reflection (partition) of the incoming electrons8. Until now, shot noise has been stimulated by a voltage, either applied directly8 or activated by radiation12,13. Here we report measurements of a fundamental electronic noise that is generated by temperature differences across nanoscale conductors, which we term ‘delta-T noise’. We experimentally demonstrate this noise in atomic and molecular junctions, and analyse it theoretically using the Landauer formalism8,14. Our findings show that delta-T noise is distinct from thermal noise and voltage-activated shot noise8. Like thermal noise, it has a purely thermal origin, but delta-T noise is generated only out of equilibrium. Delta-T noise and standard shot noise have the same partition origin, but are activated by different stimuli. We infer that delta-T noise in combination with thermal noise can be used to detect temperature differences across nanoscale conductors without the need to fabricate sophisticated local probes. Thus it can greatly facilitate the study of heat transport at the nanoscale. In the context of modern electronics, temperature differences are often generated unintentionally across electronic components. Taking into account the contribution of delta-T noise in these cases is likely to be essential for the design of efficient nanoscale electronics at the quantum limit.A fundamental electronic noise—beyond electronic thermal noise and voltage-activated shot noise—that is generated by temperature differences across nanoscale conductors is demonstrated, with possible implications for thermometry and electronics.

中文翻译：

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由于原子级结温差引起的电子噪声

自一个世纪前 1-3 年发现电子热噪声和散粒噪声以来，这些形式的基本噪声对科学技术研究和应用产生了巨大影响。它们可用于探测量子效应和热力学量 4-11，但它们在电子设备中也被认为是不受欢迎的，因为它们掩盖了目标信号。电子热噪声是在有限（非零）温度下的平衡状态下产生的，而电子散粒噪声是非平衡电流噪声，由入射电子的部分传输和反射（分区）产生。到目前为止，散粒噪声是由电压激发的，或者直接施加 8 或者由辐射激活 12,13。在这里，我们报告了由纳米级导体之间的温差产生的基本电子噪声的测量结果，我们将其称为“delta-T 噪声”。我们通过实验证明了原子和分子连接中的这种噪声，并使用 Landauer 形式主义 8,14 对其进行了理论分析。我们的研究结果表明，delta-T 噪声不同于热噪声和电压激活散粒噪声 8。与热噪声一样，它具有纯热源，但 delta-T 噪声仅在不平衡状态下产生。Delta-T 噪声和标准散粒噪声具有相同的分区起源，但被不同的刺激激活。我们推断 delta-T 噪声与热噪声相结合可用于检测纳米级导体之间的温差，而无需制造复杂的局部探针。因此，它可以极大地促进纳米尺度的热传输研究。在现代电子产品的背景下，电子元件之间经常会无意中产生温差。考虑到 delta-T 噪声在这些情况下的贡献可能对于在量子极限下设计有效的纳米级电子设备至关重要。 一种基本的电子噪声——超出电子热噪声和电压激活散粒噪声——由展示了纳米级导体之间的温差，可能对温度测量和电子学产生影响。