Technical Papers and Presentations

Theoretical simulations play a crucial role in experimental research by validating physical models, identifying material properties, and enhancing results with spatial resolution. In this study, we present a numerical finite element simulation of single electrically contacted cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanowires using COMSOL Multiphysics® software. Our simulation focuses on key aspects such as surface potential, band alignment, and current-voltage characteristics. We compare our results with experimental data obtained from local photocurrent microscopy and Kelvin probe force microscopy on individually synthesized CdS nanowires by wet chemical methods.[1, 2] This comparative analysis deepens our understanding of the fundamental physics involved and provides material parameters that are difficult to obtain from experiments alone. We show that simulations based on the drift-diffusion (Semiconductor module) approach including local photo excitation and metal contacts on the surface, is able to provide comparable results and new insights, for example, into the type of recombination or the exact location of the electrons and holes, as well as the change in in the electric field due to photo excitation. In addition, we perform a spatially resolved sensitivity analysis of the fitted material parameters, revealing how different parameters influence the local response along the nanowire. This study culminates in a fully parameterized model that provides the ability to efficiently study the effect of different parameters within the material system.