A detailed investigation of heterojunction transport using a rigorous solution to the Boltzmann equation

Author

Stettler, Mark A. ; Lundstrom, Mark S.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Electr. Eng., Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN, USA

Volume

41

Issue

4

fYear

1994

fDate

4/1/1994 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

592

Lastpage

600

Abstract

A detailed study of electron transport across an Np⁺ heterojunction diode is performed using a rigorous numerical solution to the Boltzmann equation. Results are presented for the I-V characteristic and the average electron energy, temperature, energy flux, and quasi-Fermi levels as a function of position. Comparison with a simple analytical treatment shows good agreement for the current and quasi-Fermi level splitting versus bias. The distribution functions near the heterojunction interface are also investigated and found to be distinctly non-Maxwellian. Finally, the results are used to examine the boundary conditions of hydrodynamic quantities at the heterojunction

Keywords

Boltzmann equation; Fermi level; p-n heterojunctions; semiconductor device models; semiconductor diodes; Boltzmann equation; I-V characteristic; Np⁺ heterojunction diode; average electron energy; boundary conditions; distribution functions; energy flux; heterojunction interface; heterojunction transport; hydrodynamic quantities; quasi-Fermi level splitting; temperature; Analytical models; Boltzmann equation; Boundary conditions; Distribution functions; Electrons; Frequency; Heterojunctions; Hydrodynamics; Semiconductor diodes; Thermionic emission;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/16.278515

Filename

278515