An energy‐transport model for semiconductor heterostructure devices: application to AlGaAs/GaAs MODFETs

Abstract

A stationary 3D energy‐transport model valid for semiconductor heterostructure devices is derived from a semiclassical Boltznmann equation by the moment method. In addition to the well‐known conservation equations, we obtain original interface conditions, which are essential to have a mathematically well‐posed problem. An appropriate modelling of the physical parameters appearing in the system of equations is proposed for gallium arsenide. The model being written and its particularities mentioned, we present a novel numerical algorithm to solve it. The discretization of the equations is achieved by means of standard and mixed finite element methods. We apply the model and numerical algorithm to simulate a 2D AlGaAs/GaAs MODFET. Comparisons between expenrimental measurements and calculations are carried out. The influence of the modelling of the physical parameters, especially the electron mobility and the energy relaxation time, is noted. The results show the satisfactory behaviour of our model and numerical algorithm when applied to GaAs heterostructure devices.

Citation

Lab, C. and Caussignac, P. (1999), "An energy‐transport model for semiconductor heterostructure devices: application to AlGaAs/GaAs MODFETs", COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 61-76. https://doi.org/10.1108/03321649910236993