Electronic Noise due to Temperature Difference Across Single Molecule Conductors: Beyond Standard Thermal and Shot Noises

Since the discovery of electronic thermal and shot noises a century ago, these two forms of fundamental noise have an enormous impact on science and technology. They are regarded as valuable probes for quantum and thermodynamic quantities, but also as an undesired noise in electronic devices. Recently, we identified a different fundamental electronic noise that is activated by temperature difference across nanoscale conductors. This noise, which we denote as the delta-T noise, opens the door for detecting temperature differences across nanoscale conductors without the need for fabricating sophisticated local probes. In the context of modern electronics, temperature differences are often unintentionally generated across electronic components. Taking into account the contribution of the overlooked delta-T noise in these cases, is of central importance for high performance electronics at the nanometer scale.