Application of an improved band-gap narrowing model to the numerical simulation of recombination properties of phosphorus-doped silicon emitters

The commonly used band-gap narrowing (BGN) models for crystalline silicon d o not describe heavily doped emitters with desirable precision. One of the reasons for this is that the applied BGN models were empirically derived fr om measurements assuming Boltzmann statistics. We apply a new BGN model der ived by Schenk from quantum mechanical principles and demonstrate that carr ier degeneracy and the new BGN model both substantially affect the electron -hole product within the emitter region. Simulated saturation current densi ties of heavily phosphorus-doped emitters, calculated with the new BGN mode l, are lower than results obtained with the widely used empirical BGN model of del Alamo. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.