Sensitivity analysis and optimal design in charge transport problems

The focus of this paper is the accurate and efficient determination of sensitivities of electrostatic potential and charge density in charge transport problems, and the use of these sensitivities to carry out optimal design. Direct differentiations of the boundary integral formulation of Poisson's equation for charge conservation and of the non‐linear partial differential equation for current continuity are carried out to obtain equations satisfied by the sensitivities. Methods for solving the sensitivity equations are discussed. A numerical implementation of the methods is validated through several examples. It is demonstrated that the Design Sensitivity Coefficients (DSCs) of the quantities of interest in charge transport are obtained accurately and that optimal design problems can be solved efficiently using these DSCs.