Analysis of minority-carrier transport in polysilicon devices

Key assumptions are made, with justification, to simplify the three-dimensional, nonlinear boundary-value problem that defines minority-carrier transport, including recombination, in polysilicon devices. These assumptions enable the separation of the grain-boundary recombination analysis, which is based on quasi-equilibrium in the space-charge region, from the intragrain transport analysis, which is done by partitioning the grain into subregions in which the minority-carrier flow is predominantly one-dimensional. The analyses are coupled through the effective minority-carrier recombination velocity at the grain boundary, which generally is dependent on the minority-carrier density in the quasi-neutral grain. Limitations of the model implied by the quasi-equilibrium assumption are effectively removed by recognizing that when conditions obtain that negate quasi-equilibrium, the effective recombination velocity is fixed at the minority-carrier kinetic-limit velocity. The model development is facilitated by computer-aided numerical analysis of the grain-boundary recombination and is supported by qualitative discussion of the underlying physics.