ABSTRACT
Analytical solutions of the Boltzmann transport equation are possible only under very restrictive assumptions. Most conventional device simulations are based on approximate models for transport that are derived from the Boltzmann equation, coupled to Poisson’s equation for self-consistency. In the simplest approach, the Relaxation-Time Approximation (RTA) is invoked, where the total distribution function is split into a symmetric term in terms of the momentum and an asymmetric term in the momentum. The chapter describes the use of the RTA is prohibitive and one has to use the Rode method, and the scattering mechanisms. It presents the simulation results that result from the implementation of the Rode method. Six scattering mechanisms are considered: acoustic deformation potential scattering, ionized impurity scattering, neutral impurity scattering, piezoelectric scattering, intervalley phonon deformation potential scattering, and polar optical phonon scattering. The plasmon scattering of electrons represents the long-range part of the electron–electron interaction.
