Semiconductor Device Physics and the Modeling of Small Semiconductor Devices

The symbiotic relationship between modeling the underlying physics in semiconduc tors and modeling small semiconductor devices is discussed. Both modeling activities depend on large scale computing in an intrinsic way, with progress tied to the continued growth in raw computing power. Modeling the underlying physics in semiconductors involves the numerical evaluation of electronic material properties from detailed physical theories, e.g., bandstructure, scattering rates and conductivity. Device modeling takes the results of these materials calculations and incorporates them into a device context, i.e., computational domains representing a device geometry complete with doping profiles, contacts, and external electrical and/or optical excitations. The mutual benefit between these disciplines is obvious: predictive device modeling benefits from the physics modeling, since improved physical models yield more predictive device models; physics modeling often needs a device context to allow the theory to be directly compared with experimental data derived from device measurements. This chapter reviews our work in both of these areas.

By: S. E. Laux (Univ. of IL) and M. V. Fischetti

Published in: RC20597 in 1996

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