| Abstract: | The proposed algorithm solves equations governing the behaviour of semiconductor devices using a finite element technique. Electrostatic potential and the hole and electron quasi-Fermi potentials are chosen as the solution variables. The equation set is written in a steady-state form using these three variables and this gives rise to a system of three nonlinear partial differential equations. The equations, which are intimately coupled, are solved simultaneously using a weighted residual formulation. Convergence of the nonlinear solution procedure using any initial guess is guaranteed by employing ‘incremental loading’ coupled to a test for divergence that is applied at each iterative step. The triangular elements used in the program are automatically generated from a mesh of eight-node isoparametric elements that is itself an automatically generated subdivision of a small number of eight-node (super) elements. A novel method of generating an initialisation state using the boundary element method is also described. |
