Computer simulation of p–n junction devices

Abstract

We present here a computer program-the Semiconductor Device Simulator-which simulates the working of three p-n junction devices: the light-emitting diode, the solar cell, and the tunnel diode. This program enables students to create the device starting with two pieces of intrinsic semiconductor material, and doping them appropriately to create a p-n junction device of their choice. While creating the device, students can observe the changes in the energy bands and Fermi level as a response to doping. The device, once created, can then be incorporated into a circuit where the students can observe the energy bands, the I-V graph, as well as the intensity spectrum of the device in response to the changes in applied voltage and/or incident light. No prior knowledge of higher level mathematics is required to use the program. The program is available for Windows™ and Macintosh™ platforms. The flexibility of the program allows it to be used by students over a range of academic levels. We have field tested the program along with associated materials in both high school and university environments. The current version of the program contains modifications based on these field tests.

Teaching the relation between solar cell efficiency and annual energy yield

“…The parameters for mc-Si are a 1 = 0.197 ± 0.004, a 2 = −0.051 ± 0.006 and a 3 = 0.0269 ± 0.0011. The students now should add a column to the spreadsheet they are already using to calculate η (G) for all 8760 h. The specific yield Y P for all hours in the year is calculated in yet another column, using equation (12). The results are summarized in table 1.…”

“…[6][7][8][9]. In addition to using the computer for current-voltage characteristics analysis [10,11], modelling of p-n junction devices by means of computer simulation has been presented [12]. Some types of thin film solar cells can be made by students themselves using low technology fabrication, e.g., solar cells based on cadmium sulfide and cadmium telluride [13] and the easy-to-fabricate dye sensitized solar cell [14], which has found its way into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum at Utrecht University.…”

3-D device matrix approach: A new algorithm for plotting energy band diagrams in semiconductors

“…This tool will be of great help to the students who do not have higher level mathematics background or knowledge of quantum physics. The algorithm has been developed in an interactive and user friendly way to enable a naïve student to understand and appreciate the relationship between the band structure and external stimulations like doping and biasing [1], [2]. Apart from students, our algorithm is also important for device designers, who, many times have to analyze the device structure at different planes for numerous parameters.…”

Using isomorphic problems to learn introductory physics

“…There has been much research effort devoted to investigating and improving transfer of learning [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. In these investigations, issues about transfer of knowledge from one context to another have been discussed from different perspectives [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. The amount of knowledge a person has, the knowledge structure that the person constructs, and the context in which the knowledge is learned could all affect the person's ability to transfer knowledge acquired in one situation to another [27].…”