Electrostatics in semiconducting devices II: Solving the Helmholtz equation

Abstract

The convergence of iterative schemes to achieve self-consistency in mean field problems such as the Schrödinger-Poisson equation is notoriously capricious. It is particularly difficult in regimes where the non-linearities are strong such as when an electron gas in partially depleted or in presence of a large magnetic field. Here, we address this problem by mapping the self-consistent quantum-electrostatic problem onto a Non-Linear Helmoltz (NLH) equation at the cost of a small error. The NLH equation is a generalization of the Thomas-Fermi approximation. We show that one can build iterative schemes that are provably convergent by constructing a convex functional whose minimum is the seeked solution of the NLH problem. In a second step, the approximation is lifted and the exact solution of the initial problem found by iteratively updating the NLH problem until convergence. We show empirically that convergence is achieved in a handfull, typically one or two, iterations. Our set of algorithms provide a robust, precise and fast scheme for studying the effect of electrostatics in quantum nanoelectronic devices.