Material Models Using Ansys Lumerical CHARGE — Lesson 2

Semiconductors

Electronic Properties

Every semiconductor material used in the CHARGE simulation should have its electronic properties specified. In this video, we will learn how to edit electronic properties in the Material Database and add an object to the tree.


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Recombination

In addition to the electronic properties, the recombination properties of the semiconductor can also be included in the CHARGE simulation. In this video, you will learn about various recombination models and how to use them.

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Conductors and Insulators

Conductors

Conductors are treated as perfect electrical conductors in a CHARGE simulation. Therefore, the electrostatic potential is constant over the entire domain of the conductor. Conductors are used to specify electrostatic boundary conditions for semiconductors and must be associated with a contact in an electrical simulation. The only defining characteristic of a conductor in CHARGE simulations is its work function, which describes the energy cost of removing an electron from the material.

Insulators

Materials that are defined as insulators are treated as ideal electrical insulators with a constant isotropic DC permittivity. Insulators contain no free charge and specify flux boundary conditions in an electrical simulation. For an insulator in a CHARGE simulation, the relative permittivity (or dielectric constant) of the material needs to be specified and is assumed to be the DC (zero frequency) value.

Alloys

CHARGE supports simulation with alloy materials, which combine two or more base materials. Some of the commonly used alloys are available in the Material Database. But you can create your own, as will be shown in this video.

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