Formulation of Macroscopic Transport Models for Numerical Simulation of Semiconductor Devices

According to different assumptions in deriving carrier and energy flux equations, macroscopic semiconductor transport models from the moments of the Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) can be divided into two main categories: the hydrodynamic (HD) model which basically follows Bløtekjaer’s approach [1, 2], and the Energy Transport (ET) model which originates from Strattton’s approximation [3, 4]. The formulation, discretization, parametrization and numerical properties of the HD and ET models are carefully examined and compared. The well-known spurious velocity spike of the HD model in simple nin structures can then be understood from its formulation and parametrization of the thermoelectric current components. Recent progress in treating negative differential resistances with the ET model and extending the model to thermoelectric simulation is summarized. Finally, we propose a new model denoted by DUET (Dual ET) which accounts for all thermoelectric effects in most modern devices and demonstrates very good numerical properties. The new advances in applicability and computational efficiency of the ET model, as well as its easy implementation by modifying the conventional drift-diffusion (DD) model, indicate its attractiveness for numerical simulation of advanced semiconductor devices.