Tool provides process and device simulation
-- EDN, January 18, 2001
Avanti's Taurus family of products for simulating emerging nanoscale and high-frequency-wireless technologies now offers more capabilities. Tsuprem-4 and Taurus-Process provide a SiGe (silicon-germanium) model for process simulation. The implementation of this model through Taurus-PMEI allows users to change the parameters and customize the model to suit process conditions, such as the interaction of SiGe with carbon. To provide greater accuracy and predictive simulation of processes using equipment from several manufacturers, Avanti's process simulators use extensively calibrated parameters for ion implantation, impurity activation, and transient-enhanced diffusion. Other major enhancements include the ability to simulate advanced materials and process steps, such as carbon-doped silicon and nickel and cobalt silicidation.
Taurus-Device now offers simulation of many hetero-junction devices, such as HEMIs and HTBs, with fully coupled energy-balance equations. In addition, a new capability allows you to analyze noise independently of frequency of operation for an arbitrary device structure. Medici, a 2-D device simulator, can now model quantum-mechanical tunneling phenomena with new self-consistent and valence-band direct-tunneling analysis. The software also includes a density-gradient method that you can apply in quantum-mechanical models.
Raphael and Aurora, Avanti's characterization products, address the interconnect-analysis and parameter-extraction domains. Raphael has an improved characterization interface and supports conformal dielectrics. The new version of Aurora has direct-extraction capability, an enhanced external-simulator interface, including transient- and ac-analysis capability, and support for the BSIM4 (HSpice Level 54) model.
Avanti Corp, www.avanticorp.com.
-by Gabe Moretti
