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    Generalized Scharfetter--Gummel schemes for electro-thermal transport in degenerate semiconductors using the Kelvin formula for the Seebeck coefficient
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2019) Kantner, Markus
    Many challenges faced in today's semiconductor devices are related to self-heating phenomena. The optimization of device designs can be assisted by numerical simulations using the non-isothermal drift-diffusion system, where the magnitude of the thermoelectric cross effects is controlled by the Seebeck coefficient. We show that the model equations take a remarkably simple form when assuming the so-called Kelvin formula for the Seebeck coefficient. The corresponding heat generation rate involves exactly the three classically known self-heating effects, namely Joule, recombination and Thomson--Peltier heating, without any further (transient) contributions. Moreover, the thermal driving force in the electrical current density expressions can be entirely absorbed in the (nonlinear) diffusion coefficient via a generalized Einstein relation. The efficient numerical simulation relies on an accurate and robust discretization technique for the fluxes (finite volume Scharfetter--Gummel method), which allows to cope with the typically stiff solutions of the semiconductor device equations. We derive two non-isothermal generalizations of the Scharfetter--Gummel scheme for degenerate semiconductors (Fermi--Dirac statistics) obeying the Kelvin formula. The approaches differ in the treatment of degeneration effects: The first is based on an approximation of the discrete generalized Einstein relation implying a specifically modified thermal voltage, whereas the second scheme follows the conventionally used approach employing a modified electric field. We present a detailed analysis and comparison of both schemes, indicating a superior performance of the modified thermal voltage scheme.
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    Multi-dimensional modeling and simulation of semiconductor nanophotonic devices
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2019) Kantner, Markus; Höhne, Theresa; Koprucki, Thomas; Burger, Sven; Wünsche, Hans-Jürgen; Schmidt, Frank; Mielke, Alexander; Bandelow, Uwe
    Self-consistent modeling and multi-dimensional simulation of semiconductor nanophotonic devices is an important tool in the development of future integrated light sources and quantum devices. Simulations can guide important technological decisions by revealing performance bottlenecks in new device concepts, contribute to their understanding and help to theoretically explore their optimization potential. The efficient implementation of multi-dimensional numerical simulations for computer-aided design tasks requires sophisticated numerical methods and modeling techniques. We review recent advances in device-scale modeling of quantum dot based single-photon sources and laser diodes by self-consistently coupling the optical Maxwell equations with semiclassical carrier transport models using semi-classical and fully quantum mechanical descriptions of the optically active region, respectively. For the simulation of realistic devices with complex, multi-dimensional geometries, we have developed a novel hp-adaptive finite element approach for the optical Maxwell equations, using mixed meshes adapted to the multi-scale properties of the photonic structures. For electrically driven devices, we introduced novel discretization and parameter-embedding techniques to solve the drift-diffusion system for strongly degenerate semiconductors at cryogenic temperature. Our methodical advances are demonstrated on various applications, including vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, grating couplers and single-photon sources.