This book summarizes the research of more than a decade. Its early motivation dates back to the eighties and to the memorable talks Dr. C. Moglestue (FHG Freiburg) gave on his Monte-Carlo solutions of the Boltzmann transport equation at the NASECODE conferences in Ireland. At that time numerical semiconductor device modeling basically implied the application of the drift-diffusion model. On the one hand, those talks clearly showed the potential of the Monte-Carlo model for an accurate description of many important transport issues that cannot adequately be addressed by the drift-diffusion...

Device simulation has two main purposes: to understand and depict the physical processes in the interior of a device, and to make reliable predictions of the behavior of an anticipated new device generation. Towards these goals the quality of the physical models is decisive. The introductory chapter of this book contains a critical review on models for silicon device simulators, which rely on moments of the Boltzmann equation. With reference to fundamental experimental and theoretical work an extensive collection of widely used models is discussed in terms of physical accuracy and application...

Communication and information systems are subject to rapid and highly so phisticated changes. Currently semiconductor heterostructure devices, such as Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors (HBTs) and High Electron Mobility Transis tors (HEMTs), are among the fastest and most advanced high-frequency devices. They satisfy the requirements for low power consumption, medium integration, low cost in large quantities, and high-speed operation capabilities in circuits. In the very high-frequency range, cut-off frequencies up to 500 GHz 557] have been reported on the device level. HEMTs and HBTs are...

Computer-aided-design (CAD) of semiconductor microtransducers is relatively new in contrast to their counterparts in the integrated circuit world. Integrated silicon microtransducers are realized using microfabrication techniques similar to those for standard integrated circuits (ICs). Unlike IC devices, however, microtransducers must interact with their environment, so their numerical simulation is considerably more complex. While the design of ICs aims at suppressing "parasitic effects, microtransducers thrive on optimizing the one or the other such effect. The challenging quest for...

This book represents a comprehensive text devoted to charge transport at semiconductor interfaces and its consideration in device simulation by interface and boundary conditions. It contains a broad review of the physics, modelling and simulation of electron transport at interfaces in semiconductor devices. Particular emphasis is put on the consistent deriva tion of interface or boundary conditions for semiconductor device simula tion. The book is of interest with respect to a wide range of electronic engineering activities, as process design, device design, process character ization,...

The application of the Monte Carlo method to the simulation of semiconductor devices is presented. A review of the physics of transport in semiconductors is given, followed by an introduction to the physics of semiconductor devices. The Monte Carlo algorithm is discussed in great details, and specific applications to the modelling of semiconductor devices are given. A comparison with traditional simulators is also presented.

During the first decade following the invention of the transistor, progress in semiconductor device technology advanced rapidly due to an effective synergy of technological discoveries and physical understanding. Through physical reasoning, a feeling for the right assumption and the correct interpretation of experimental findings, a small group of pioneers conceived the major analytic design equations, which are currently to be found in numerous textbooks. Naturally with the growth of specific applications, the description of some characteristic properties became more complicated. For...

To be perfect does not mean that there is nothing to add, but rather there is nothing to take away Antoine de Saint-Exupery The drift-diffusion approximation has served for more than two decades as the cornerstone for the numerical simulation of semiconductor devices. However, the tremendous speed in the development of the semiconductor industry demands numerical simulation tools that are efficient and provide reliable results. This makes the development of a simulation tool an interdisciplinary task in which physics, numerical algorithms, and device technology merge. For the sake of an...

Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) transistors are the basic building block ofMOS integrated circuits (I C). Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuits using MOS technology have emerged as the dominant technology in the semiconductor industry. Over the past decade, the complexity of MOS IC's has increased at an astonishing rate. This is realized mainly through the reduction of MOS transistor dimensions in addition to the improvements in processing. Today VLSI circuits with over 3 million transistors on a chip, with effective or electrical channel lengths of 0. 5 microns, are in volume...

It was about 1985 when both of the authors started their work using multigrid methods for process simulation problems. This happened in dependent from each other, with a completely different background and different intentions in mind. At this time, some important monographs appeared or have been in preparation. There are the three "classical" ones, from our point of view: the so-called "1984 Guide" 12J by Brandt, the "Multi-Grid Methods and Applications" 49J by Hackbusch and the so-called "Fundamentals" 132J by Stiiben and Trottenberg. Stiiben and Trottenberg in 132J state a "delayed...