Development of an interactive design environment for heterostructure and quantum-well devices

Heterostructures provide so many design parameters that it is impractical to adequately explore the design space empirically. The ability to evaluate the effects of changes to any design parameter rapidly is needed. A program, BandProf, that implements a one-dimensional, zero-current model to determine the self-consistent electrostatic potential and thus the energy-band profile is discussed. Realistic physical models are employed, including multiple-band extrema and full impurity statistics. This approach to device simulation, demanding results in a few seconds for structures of arbitrary design, requires that elegant and robust techniques be applied to every task performed by the program. Two such innovations embodied in BandProf are described.