System for measuring auto- and cross correlation of current noise at low temperatures

We describe the construction and operation of a two-channel noise detection system for measuring power and cross spectral densities of current fluctuations near 2 MHz in electronic devices at low temperatures. The system employs cryogenic amplification and fast Fourier transform based spectral measurement. The gain and electron temperature are calibrated using Johnson noise thermometry. Full shot noise of 100 pA can be resolved with an integration time of 10 s. We report a demonstration measurement of bias-dependent current noise in a gate defined GaAs/AlGaAs quantum point contact. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.