Numerical modeling of magnetic-field-sensitive semiconductor devices

Abstract

Semiconductor devices in the presence of a magnetic field have been modeled numerically. The two-dimensional distributions of the electric potential, the electron concentration, and the hole concentration in a silicon slab exposed to a magnetic field have been computed. We have generalized the well-known Scharfetter-Gummel scheme to the case of two dimensions and nonzero magnetic field and employed a finite-difference technique. Our results are in support of earlier results in case of Hall plates. In intrinsic or closely intrinsic silicon, our results show both magnetoconcentration and space-charge effects. As a realistic example of a magnetic-field sensor, we have modeled a p ⁺ -i-n ⁺ silicon diode with split contacts.