ON THE DEFINITION OF VOLTAGE AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL VOLTAGES OF A SEMICONDUCTOR-DEVICE

The voltage between tno points is the line integral of the electric fi eld between the two points. The voltage between the metal contacts def ining two terminals of a device is also the difference between the qua si-Fermi level at the terminals. However, the voltage between two poin ts internal to an isothermal semiconductor device is not necessarily t he difference between quasi-Fermi levels. Rather, the voltage involves both quasi-Fermi level and chemical potential differences. An example of a device having ideal ohmic contacts illustrates these points. The results and their application pertain to semiconductor device analysi s.