We address the fundamental question wether generation recombination noise can transform into shot noise at increasing values of the applied bias (current or voltage). From the seminal work of Van Vliet and Fassett (1965) the analytical answer to this question is affirmative. By contrast, recent numerical results by Bonani and Ghione (1999) provided a negative answer. For a simple semiconductor two level model consisting of a conducting band and an impurity level which provides charge carriers we solve exactly the appropriate second order stochastic differential equation self-consistently coupled with the Poisson solver. The effect of the diffusion current, neglected in the first analytical approach, is found to inhibit the cross-over between generation-recombination and shot noise, thus confirming more recent numerical results. Open problems related to the microscopic interpretation of these new results are pointed out.
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