Iterative Methods in Semiconductor Device Simulation

A number of Krylov-subspace methods and their applicability to the drift-diffusion equations for semiconductors devices are surveyed. The role of the underlying discretization is considered, including both the traditional box-method variant of the Scharfetter-Gummel scheme and a new upwinding (streamline-diffusion-like) procedure. Several preconditioners are treated, including a novel alternate block factorization method.