SPICE Modeling of Photoelectric Effects in Silicon With Generalized Devices

Modeling photoelectric effects in semiconductors with electrical simulators is demonstrated in typical 1-D and 2-D architectures. The concept is based on a coarse meshing of the semiconductor with the so-called generalized lumped devices, where equivalent voltages and currents are used in place of minority carrier excess concentrations and minority carrier gradients, respectively, and where the light-induced excess carrier concentration in silicon is introduced by means of internal current sources. Generation, propagation, and collection of these minority carriers are analyzed for different structures which can behave as photosensors or solar cells. Both static and transient operations are found in good agreement with TCAD numerical simulations while using the same physical and geometrical parameters.