Numerical modelling of semiconductor devices

ABSTRACT MSc THESIS NUMERICAL MODELING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES M. izzettin YILMAZER DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS INSTITUTE OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF ÇUKUROVA Supervizor: Assist. Prof. Metin ÖZDEMİR Year: 1999, Pages: 98 Jury: Assist. Prof. Metin ÖZDEMİR : Prof. Yüksel UFUKTEPE : Assoc. Prof. Ramazan ESEN Semiconductor devices are used in many different fields in industry. It is important to know the electrical and optical properties of these devices for both their optimum use and for new areas of applications. These properties can be investigated in laboratory studies as well as using computer simulation techniques. The aim of the present study is first to investigate the. methods of numerical simulation of semiconductor devices and then to find the characteristics of a given semiconductor device under various conditions. The effects of environmental conditions and some material parameters on device characteristics are also to be studied. The Monte Carlo Method is used as the numerical simulation technique. In order to use this method effectively, the details of interaction between the charge carriers and the various imperfections in the crystal (phonons, ions, dislocations, impurities etc.) must be known and these interactions should be able to be simulated by the Monte Carlo technique. In this modelling process, the effects of parameters such as temperature, carrier density, impurity concentration on the performance and basic characteristics of the device are also analysed. The required computer programs are written in Fortran language. The Monte Carlo Method is a suitable and fast method to solve many body problems such as transport of charge carriers because it provides simultaneous simulation of many particles, and permits an easy addition of material properties to the simulation program. More importantly it does not require the solution of a wave function for each carrier in the whole space, which would require a tremendous amount of computation time. Key Words: Semiconductor, Monte Carlo Method, Scattering mechanism, Simulation, Modeling. II