Solution of the

Poisson/Laplace Equation
Dragica Vasileska
Electromagnetic Fields
Time Varying Fields
J
t
D
H
t
B
E
B
D

+
c
c
= V
c
c
= V
= V
= V
0

} } }
} }
}
} }
+
c
c
=
c
c
=
=
=
S S C
S C
S
V S
s d J s d D
t
l d H
s d B
t
l d E
s d B
dv s d D

Maxwells Eq. in Diff. Form Maxwells Eq. in Integral Form

E J H B E D

o c = = = , ,
Poissons Equation
We have the differential form of Gauss law


Using D = E and E = - in the above equation, we
get




This is the Poissons Equation
D V =
V V
( )
2
D= V =- E V c c c V V = V V V =
2
V

c
V =
Poisson/Laplace Equation Solution
Poisson/Laplace Equation
No knowledge of solving of PDEs
Method of images
With knowledge for solving of PDEs
Theoretical Approaches
Numerical Methods:
finite difference
finite elements
Poisson
Greens function method
Laplace
Method of separation of variables
(Fourier analysis)
Numerical Solutions Procedures
Governing
Equations
ICS/BCS
Discretization
System of
Algebraic
Equations
Equation
(Matrix)
Solver
Approximate
Solution
Continuous
Solutions
Finite-Difference
Finite-Volume
Finite-Element
Spectral
Boundary Element
Hybrid
Discrete
Nodal
Values
Tridiagonal
ADI
SOR
Gauss-Seidel
Krylov
Multigrid
DAE
U
i
(x,y,z,t)
p (x,y,z,t)
T (x,y,z,t)
or
| (,q,,,t )
Poisson Equation Application
Electromagnetic Problems

Electronics Devices

Biological Systems
.
.
.
Electronics Devices
Understand the operation of different semiconductor devices:

- Diodes

- BJTs

- MOSFETs

- MESFETs

- HEMTs
Physical Device Simulation
There are two main components in
any physical device simulator:
- Characterization of charge
motion due to driving forces and
diffusion process (transport)
- Fields due to charge distribution
and motion
Recessed MOSFET represented on 3D mesh
over finite domain (courtesy of S. M. Goodnick)
Initialize Data
Field Solver
Transport Kernel
yes
no
Criterion
satisfied?
START
STOP
Biological Ion Channels
Proteins that form nanoscopic aqueous tunnels in cell membrane
Enormous range of Biological functions
- regulate ion flow and composition inside cell
- control electrical signaling in the nervous system
- muscle contraction, drug delivery
Disease malfunctioning channels
Channels are naturally occurring device elements
Nanoscale devices with ~0.2-15nm in diameter and between 0.3-10nm
length
self-assembled
perfectly reproducible
have many specific built-in features and functions
can be mutated
Channels can be designed with specific conductances, selectivities and
functions
So, why are we interested in ion channels ??
http:// www.rcsb.org/pdb
nanoHUB.org
online simulations and more
Network for Computational Nanotechnology
A pn-diode has N
A
=N
D
=10
16
cm
-3
doping and a length of 1 um of both p and n-
regions. Calculate analytically and verify via simulations the values of the:
(a) Built-in voltage V
bi
(b) Total depletion region width W.
(c) Maximum electrical field at the metallurgical junction.
Analytically, the built-in voltage
is calculated using:
2
ln 0.69
A D
bi T
i
N N
V V V
n
| |
= =
|
\ .
One can also extract the
built-in voltage from the energy
band diagram using:
( )
1
bi Cp Cn
V E E
q
= =
V
bi
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Network for Computational Nanotechnology
Example 1: Charge Density
W
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online simulations and more
Network for Computational Nanotechnology
Example 1: Electric Field Profile
E
max