Efficient and accurate use of the energy transport method in device simulation

Important questions in the application of the highly efficient energy transport method for electron device simulation are addressed by comparing an energy transport calculation with a Monte Carlo calculation used as a control. It is shown that, to calculate average electron energy, it is necessary to incorporate velocity overshoot at certain points in device simulations. Further, energy relaxation times must be taken as functions of energy and may be used as a vehicle for compensation for the neglect of backscattering of cold electrons in regions where energy is rapidly changing. Finally, incorporation of the heat flow vector appears to be unnecessary in the cases studied