High-field noise in metallic diffusive conductors

We analyse high-field current fluctuations in degenerate conductors by mapp ing the electronic Fermi-liquid correlations at equilibrium to their semi-c lassical non-equilibrium form. Our resulting Boltzmann description is appli cable to diffusive mesoscopic wires. We derive a non-equilibrium connection between thermal fluctuations of the current and resistive dissipation. In the weak-held limit this is the canonical fluctuation-dissipation theorem. Away from equilibrium, the connection enables explicit calculation of the e xcess 'hot-electron' contribution to the thermal spectrum. We show that exc ess thermal noise is strongly inhibited by Pauli exclusion. This behaviour is generic to the semi-classical metallic regime.