2D Simulation of a Silicon MESFET with a Nonparabolic Hydrodynamical Model Based on the Maximum Entropy Principle

A hydrodynamical model for electron transport in silicon semiconductors, which is free of any fitting parameters, has been formulated on the basis of the maximum entropy principle. The model considers the energy band to be described by the Kane dispersion relation and includes electron–nonpolar optical phonon and electron–acoustic phonon scattering. The set of balance equations of the model forms a quasilinear hyperbolic system and for its numerical integration a recent high-order shock-capturing central differencing scheme has been employed. Simulations of an n+–n–n+ silicon diode have been presented and comparison with Monte Carlo data shows the good accuracy of the model and performance of the numerical scheme. Here the results of simulations of a silicon MESFET in the two-dimensional case are presented. Both the model and the numerical scheme demonstrate their accuracy and efficiency as CAD tools for modeling realistic submicron electron devices.