Unified framework for thermal, electrical, magnetic, and optical semiconductor device modeling

The “thermodynamic model” constitutes a unified theoretical framework for the coupled simulation of carrier and energy flow in semiconductor devices under general ambient conditions such as, e.g., the presence of a quasi-static magnetic field or the interaction with an electromagnetic radiation field (light). The current relations governing particle and heat transport are derived from the principles of irreversible phenomenological thermodynamics; the driving forces include drift, diffusion, thermal diffusion, and deflection by the Lorentz force. All transport coefficients may be interpreted in terms of well-known thermodynamic effects and, hence, can be obtained from theoretical calculations as well as directly from experimental data. The thermodynamic model allows the consistent treatment of a wide variety of physical phenomena which are relevant for both the operation of electronic devices (e.g., lattice heating, hot carrier and low temperature effects) and the function of microsensors and actuators (e.g., thermoelectricity, galvanomagnetism and thermomagnetism).