Device Simulation Framework
Atlas is a 2D and 3D device simulator that performs DC, AC, and transient analysis for silicon, binary, ternary, and quaternary material-based devices. Atlas enables the characterization and optimization of semiconductor devices for a wide range of technologies.
Introduction
Device simulation helps users understand and depict the physical processes in a device and to make reliable predictions of the behavior of the next device generation. Two-dimensional device simulations with properly selected calibrated models and a very well-defined appropriate mesh structure are very useful for predictive parametric analysis of novel device structures. Two- and three-dimensional modeling and simulation processes help users obtain a better understanding of the properties and behavior of new and current devices. This helps provide improved reliability and scalability, while also helping to increase development speed and reduce risks and uncertainties.
Features
- Accurately characterizes physics-based devices in 2D or 3D for electrical, optical, and thermal performance without costly split-lot experiments
- Solves yield and process variation problems for optimal combination of speed, power, density, breakdown, leakage, luminosity, and reliability
- Fully integrated with Athena process simulation software, comprehensive visualization package, extensive database of examples, and simple device entry
- Largest selection of silicon, III-V, II-VI, IV-IV, or polymer/organic technologies, including CMOS, bipolar, high voltage power device, VCSEL, TFT, optoelectronic, LASER, LED, CCD, sensor, fuse, NVM, ferro-electric, SOI, Fin-FET, HEMT, and HBT
- Connects TCAD to tapeout with direct import of Atlas results into Utmost for SPICE parameter extraction
- Parallel processing supported on multi-core, multiple processor SMP machines and distributed computing
- Worldwide support
- Silvaco’s secure encryption for maximum customer and third party intellectual property protection
Benefits
- Electrical, thermal and optical characterization of advanced semiconductor devices allows for device performance optimization
- Addresses challenges of current technologies to help users reduce product development time
- Exploration of novel device technologies for next-generation devices
Applications
Power
Atlas’s capabilities optimizes electrical and thermal behavior of power devices, such as power MOS, LDMOS, SOI, thyristors and IGBTs. The extended precision numerics used by Atlas allow the stable and accurate simulation of wide bandgap materials such SiC and GaN. These devices can also be embedded with a circuit and simulated by the built-in SPICE circuit simulator.
Advanced CMOS
Hot carrier, stress and quantum correction and tunneling models allow for the simulation of advanced CMOS devices such as FinFET and FDSOI.
Wave functions in the 10 nm diameter channel of surround
gate transistor for the valley with in-plane effective masses mx=my=mt=0.19m0 and
out of plane mass mz=me=0.91m0
nm rectangular structure doped to 1020 cm-3 as found by fast product-space
2D Schrodinger solver on a mesh with 5041 grid points.
Compound Semiconductor
Support for a wide range of compound materials, such as SiGe, GaAs, AlGaAs, InP, SiC, GaN, AlGaN and InGaN, allow the characterization of complex compound semiconductor devices.
Display
Atlas’ support for advanced defect models allows the characterization of thin-film devices.
The metal electrode geometry is important for devices such a bottom gate a-Si TFTs. TFT 3D correctly accounts for these geometrical effects on the current and capacitance.
Optoelectronic
The optoelectronic response of devices such as solar cells, CMOS image sensors, LEDs oLEDs, LASERs and VCSELS can be simulated using Atlas. Mode solver, ray-trace, Transfer Matrix Method (TMM), Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) optical method are available.
Radiation
Radiation effects such as Single Event Effects (Single Event Upset, Single Event Burnout, Singlet Event Gate Rupture), total dose and dose rate can be simulated in steady-state, AC and transient.
Novel Devices
Models for ferroelectric dielectric, magnetic, and ion transport allow novel devices to be characterized.
Atlas Modules
S-Pisces
2D Silicon Device Simulator. S-Pisces is an advanced 2D device simulator for silicon based technologies that incorporates both drift-diffusion and energy balance transport equations. A large selection of physical models are available which include surface/bulk mobility, recombination, impact ionization and tunneling models.
Luminous
2D Optoelectric Device Simulator. Luminous is an advanced device simulator specially designed to model light absorption and photogeneration in non-planar semiconductor devices. Exact solutions for general optical sources are obtained using geometric ray tracing.
Organic Solar
Organic Solar Cell and Photodetector Simulator. Organic Solar module enables Atlas to simulate the electrical and optical properties of organic solar cell devices, photodetectors and image sensors. Organic Solar allows steady-state, transient, and AC simulation of the electrical and optical behavior of photovoltaic organic devices. The exciton densities, diffusion, generation/recombination and dissociation characteristics can all be simulated.
MixedMode
Circuit Simulation for Advanced 2D Devices. MixedMode is a circuit simulator that includes physically-based devices in addition to compact analytical models. Physically-based devices are used when accurate compact models do not exist, or when devices that play a critical role must be simulated with very high accuracy. Physically-based devices are placed in a SPICE netlist circuit description and may be simulated using any combination of Atlas 2D modules. The MixedMode XL license enables MixedMode users to use an unlimited number of physical devices or compact model elements in their circuits.
VCSEL
Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser Simulations. VCSEL is used in conjunction with the Atlas framework to produce physically based simulations of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs). VCSEL joins sophisticated device simulation to obtain electrical and thermal behavior with state of the art models for optical behavior.
Quantum
2D Simulation Models for Quantum Mechanical Effects. Quantum provides a set of models for simulation of various effects of quantum confinement and quantum transport of carriers in semiconductor devices. A Schrodinger – Poisson solver allows calculation of bound state energies and associated carrier wave functions self consistently with electrostatic potential. Schrodinger solver can be combined with the Non-equilibrium Green’s Function (NEGF) approach in order to model ballistic quantum transport in 2D or cylindrical devices with strong transverse confinement. Quantum also includes models for the quantum mechanical corrections to drift-diffusion and hydrodynamic equations.
Magnetic
The Magnetic module enables the Atlas device simulator to incorporate the effects of an externally applied magnetic field on the device behavior. The dynamics of the charge carrier motion are modified by the addition of the Lorentz force.
Blaze
2D Device Simulator for Advanced Materials. Blaze simulates devices fabricated using advanced materials. Includes a library of physical models and material parameters for binary, ternary and quaternary semiconductors.
Giga
2D Non-Isothermal Device Simulator.
Giga combined with S-Pisces and Blaze device simulators allows simulation of self heating effects. Models in Giga include heat generation, heat flow, lattice heating, heat sinks, and effects of local temperature on physical constants.
LED
2D Light Emitting Diode Simulator. LED is a module used for simulation and analysis of light emitting diodes. It is integrated with the Blaze simulator and allows simulation of electrical, optical and thermal behavior of light emitting diodes.
TFT
2D Amorphous and Polycrystaline Device Simulator. TFT is an advanced device technology simulator equipped with the physical models and specialized numerical techniques required to simulate amorphous or polysilicon devices including thin film transistors. Specialized applications include large area display electronics such as Flat Panel Displays (FPDs) and solar cells.
Organic Display
OLED And OTFT Organic Display Simulator. Organic Display module enables Atlas to simulate the electrical and optical properties of organic display devices such as OTFTs and OLEDs. Organic Display allows steady-state and transient simulation of the electrical and optical behavior of active organic devices including singlet and triplet exciton densities, dopant exciton density, and optical emission characteristics.
More
Laser
Semiconductor Laser Diode Simulator. Laser is the world’s first commercially available simulator for semiconductor laser diodes. Laser works in conjunction with Blaze in the Atlas framework to provide numerical solutions for the electrical behavior (DC and transient responses) and optical behavior of edge emitting Fabry-Perot type lasers diodes.
Ferro
Ferroelectric Field Dependent Permitivity Model. Ferro has been developed to combine the charge-sheet model of FET with Maxwell’s first equation which describes the properties of ferroelectric film. The model can accurately predict the static I-V behavior of these devices as well as the dynamic response in transient and small signal modes.
Noise
2D Small Signal Noise Simulator. Noise combined with S-Pisces or Blaze allows analysis of the small-signal noise generated within semiconductor devices. Noise provides accurate characterization of all small-signal noise sources and extracts figures of merit which are essential for optimizating circuit design.
