Hydrodynamical modeling of charge carrier transport in semiconductors (Q5929815)

This paper provides an excellent overview on recent extensive research on the hydrodynamic modeling of charge carrier transport in submicrometer semiconductor devices, a subject to which the authors have made relevant contributions [\textit{A. M. Anile} and \textit{S. Pennisi}, Phys. Rev., B 46, No. 20, 13186--13193 (1992); \textit{A. M. Anile} and \textit{V. Romano}, Continuum Mech. Thermodyn. 11, No. 5, 307--325 (1999; Zbl 1080.82584); \textit{A. M. Anile, C. Maccora} and \textit{R. M. Pidatella}, COMPEL 14, No. 1, 1--18 (1995; Zbl 0843.76056)]. The paper, which originated as lectures at a summer school on industrial mathematics, is pedagogical, clear and very informative: it contains 67 references and several explicit illustrations on the evolution of the energy, velocity and density profiles, and it combines detailed physical information with suitable discussions of the relevant mathematical techniques. Hydrodynamical descriptions are those using a few macroscopic variables instead of the full molecular velocity distribution function, which is difficult to analize and unnecessary for many practical purposes. The authors present several modelization schemes using several sets of independent variables: the simplest models include density and momentum of the carriers; other ones include, furthermore, energy and, the most elaborate ones, incorporate, too, viscous pressure and energy flux as additional independent variables. The authors combine kinetic theory, maximum entropy principle and extended thermodynamics to encompass with these increasingly sophisticated and efficient descriptions, and discuss their relative merits on the basis of comparisons with the results of Monte Carlo simulations. The systems studied are n\(^+\)-n-n\(^+\) silicon diodes, and include also non-parabolic effects.