We report shot noise measurements performed in mesoscopic tunnel barriers fabricated in a $\mathrm{GaAs}∕\mathrm{AlGaAs}$ heterostructure. Two sets of tunnel barriers of different size are used in the study. All large size samples and some of the small size samples show a nonlinear dependence of shot noise on tunneling current due to localized states inside the barriers. Both suppression and enhancement of shot noise have been observed. Some small size barriers, however, exhibit the shot noise behavior of an ideal tunnel barrier over a wide range of barrier transmission coefficients, tunneling currents, and bias voltages.

• Received 15 September 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.73.035424