80A17 Thermodynamics of continua [See also 74A15]
We derive an optoelectronic model based on a gradient formulation for the relaxation of electron-, hole- and photon-densities to their equilibrium state. This leads to a coupled system of partial and ordinary differential equations, for which we discuss the isothermal and the non-isothermal scenario separately.
We show that many couplings between parabolic systems for processes in solids can be formulated as a gradient system with respect to the total free energy or the total entropy. This includes Allen-Cahn, Cahn-Hilliard, and reaction-diffusion systems and the heat equation. For this, we write the coupled system as an Onsager system $(X,\Phi,K)$ defining the evolution $\dot{U} = -K(U)D\Phi(U)$. Here $\Phi$ is the driving functional, while the Onsager operator $K(U)$ is symmetric and positive semidefinite. If the inverse $G = K^{-1}$ exists, the triple $(X,\Phi,G)$ defines a gradient system. Onsager systems are well suited to model bulk-interface interactions by using the dual dissipation potential $\Psi^*(U,\Xi) = 1/2 <\Xi,K(U)\Xi>$. Then, the two functionals $\Phi$ and $\Psi^*$ can be written as a sum of a volume integral and a surface integral, respectively. The latter may contain interactions of the driving forces in the interface as well as the traces of the driving forces from the bulk. Thus, capture and escape mechanisms like thermionic emission appear naturally in Onsager systems, namely simply through integration by parts.