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An efficient velocity–space model of carrier transport in Gallium Arsenide
Author(s) -
Dunn Douglas E.,
de Araujo Carlos A. Paz
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
international journal of numerical modelling: electronic networks, devices and fields
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.249
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1099-1204
pISSN - 0894-3370
DOI - 10.1002/jnm.1660040405
Subject(s) - boltzmann equation , scattering , monte carlo method , statistical physics , semiclassical physics , gallium arsenide , computational physics , anisotropy , physics , space (punctuation) , computer science , optics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , quantum , statistics , operating system
A new GaAs carrier transport modelling methodology is presented, designed to address the competing needs of microscopic detail and of computational efficiency. The rationale for advanced semiclassical models based on the Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) are reviewed and discussed in terms of the unique properties of GaAs. A new methodology is then presented, formulated around a one‐dimensional velocity–space variable. It includes a realistic description of the GaAs band structure including multiple valleys, non‐parabolicity, and anisotropy, which is used to explicitly evaluate the scattering distributions, and rates, for different scattering mechanisms. These in turn allow a direct evaluation of the BTE scattering inegral, which is solved iteratively with the non‐scattering terms. Based on this methodology, a prototype model is shown to reproduce the GaAs velocity–field relationship in homogeneous, undoped material. Band structure and forward‐scattering effects are clearly visible in the model's solutions for the carrier velocity distribution. The model's computational simplicity, combined with a finer level of detail, makes it suitable for device simulation without invoking Monte Carlo or other computationally intensive methods.