Synopsys Sentaurus TCAD

Products:

Sentaurus Calibration Workbench:

Sentaurus Calibration Workbench is built for automated workflow-oriented calibration of TCAD models, based on innovative machine learning (ML) capabilities. It is designed to leverage TCAD technology to the next level by enabling users to calibrate process and device simulation models rapidly and systematically for maximum accuracy and predictivity, and thus, reduce the need for expensive experimental wafers in the technology/device development and optimization phases.

Use Cases:

• Calibrating FinFET or GAA FET process parameters with fewer silicon iterations.
• Improving model predictivity during early R&D phases.

Process Simulation:

Sentaurus Process is the industry standard for simulating the fabrication steps of semiconductor processes, ranging from silicon-based logic, memory, power, and CIS technologies to SiC-based technologies. Sentaurus Process supports the modeling of implantation, diffusion and dopant activation, thermal oxidation, mechanical stress, and epitaxial growth. Sentaurus Topography supports the modeling of topographical steps including etching, deposition, CMP, and electroplating.

Use Cases:

• Optimizing high-voltage LDMOS devices.
• Simulating SiC-based trench MOSFET processing.
• Evaluating thermal budget for FinFETs and power devices.

Process Emulation:

Sentaurus Process Explorer is a fast 3D process emulator used to identify and correct process integration issues during technology development. Sentaurus Process Explorer produces highly realistic 3D representations of process structures using GDSII mask data and a process recipe as input. Sentaurus Process Explorer is linked to the Synopsys Sentaurus TCAD simulators, such as Raphael FX, to enable the high accuracy RC extraction in Design Technology Co-Optimization (DTCO) applications.

Use Cases:

• Detecting design-rule violations early in DTCO.
• Creating virtual process corners for interconnect variability studies.
• Linking with Raphael FX for accurate RC extraction.

Structure Editing:

Sentaurus Structure Editor is a device structure editor used to create structures for device simulation when process simulation is not required. Sentaurus Structure Editor uses geometric primitives powered by the ACIS® geometry kernel to render complex device shapes. A graphical user interface serves as the front end for mesh generation engines available in Sentaurus Process and Sentaurus Device. The Sentaurus Structure Editor command language recreates the device structure in batch mode as part of a simulation flow.

Use Cases:

• Manually defining advanced device geometries (e.g., stacked nanosheet FETs).
• Quick prototyping of novel device architectures.
• Used in research labs for modeling exploratory devices.

Device Simulation:

Sentaurus Device is the industry standard for simulating the electrical characteristics of silicon-based and compound semiconductor devices as a response to external electrical, thermal or optical boundary conditions. Advanced physical models for quantum effects, ballistic transport, tunneling processes, stress engineering, hot carrier effects, and other transport phenomena support the optimization of state-of-the-art devices ranging from advanced logic and memory to analog, power and optoelectronics devices.

Use Cases:

• Simulating FinFET/GAA inverter characteristics.
• Optimizing tunnel FETs or photodiodes.
• Studying self-heating in GaN or SiC power devices.

Sentaurus Mesh:

Sentaurus Mesh is a suite of tools that produce finite-element meshes for use in applications such as semiconductor device simulations, process simulations, and electromagnetic simulations. It has three mesh generation engines: an axis-aligned mesh generator, an offsetting mesh generator, and a tensor-product mesh generator. Sentaurus Mesh also provides a set of tools that perform operations on boundary representations and meshes.
Sentaurus Mesh reads the input geometry from a boundary file stored in the TDR format with the _bnd.tdr file extension. Some TDR files from Sentaurus Process and Sentaurus Interconnect with the _fps.tdr and _sis.tdr file extensions, respectively, contain two geometry objects: one for the volumetric data and one for the boundary representation. Sentaurus Mesh reads the boundary object in these TDR files, but it ignores other geometry objects.

Sentaurus Visual:

Sentaurus Visual allows you to visualize complex simulation results generated by physical simulation tools in one, two and three dimensions. You can visualize data for an initial understanding and analysis, and then modify the plots to gain a new perspective.

Sentaurus Visual can be used to create plots that display fields, geometries, and regions, including results such as p-n junctions and depletion layers. It also allows you to view I–V curves and doping profiles, and provides tools to zoom, pan, and rotate images. You also can extract data using measure and probe tools.
The user interface provides direct and easy-to-use functionality, as well as advanced controls for expert users. With the user interface of Sentaurus Visual, you can systematically visualize devices as xy, 2D, and 3D plots.

Interconnect Simulation:

Interconnect simulation tools address the electrical and reliability performance of middle-of-line and back-end-of-line interconnect structures. Raphael FX is the industry gold-standard 3D field solver for extracting the resistance and capacitance of detailed interconnect structures, SRAM cells, and standard cells in DTCO. Sentaurus Interconnect simulates the reliability of interconnect structures based on the mechanical stress generated through thermal processing and externally applied forces.

Use Cases:

• Extracting parasitics for SRAM cell layouts.
• Assessing electromigration and stress migration risks.
• Linking to StarRC for full-chip physical design signoff.

TCAD Environment:

Sentaurus Workbench is a complete graphical environment for creating, managing, executing, and analyzing TCAD simulations. Its intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) allows users to efficiently navigate and automate the typical tasks associated with running TCAD simulations such as managing the information flow, including preprocessing of user input files, parameterizing projects, setting up and executing tool instances, optimization, and visualizing results. Sentaurus Visual is an advanced visualization tool for TCAD data. It includes extensive capabilities for plotting and interactively manipulating xy data as well as 2D and 3D TCAD structures.

Use Cases:

• Teaching device physics in academic settings.
• Automating multi-parameter optimization studies.
• 3D visualization of potential/field/temperature distributions.

TCAD-to-SPICE:

Mystic extracts compact model parameters (standard SPICE models, macro models, Verilog-A models) from Sentaurus TCAD output, enabling technology development and DTCO teams to simulate the impact of new transistor designs using circuit-level metrics before wafers are available. The TCAD-to-SPICE flow also supports the simulation of the impact of process variability at the circuit-level through the extraction of variation-aware compact models using the variability engine Garand VE and the model card generator RandomSpice.

Use Cases:

• Circuit designers evaluating impact of new transistor architectures.
• Variability-aware modeling of process-induced shifts in threshold voltage.
• Early PDK development and DTCO studies.

Extraction Continuum:

The Extraction Continuum provides an automated flow to transition from one field solver to another, making the DTCO chain more efficient. It also brings design PPA closer to process capabilities due to tighter correlation between the tools. The Extraction Continuum is comprised of three Synopsys tools: Raphael FX, QuickCap NX and StarRC.

Use Cases:

• Bridging early process data to layout-aware extraction tools.
• Ensuring accurate parasitic modeling in custom and standard cell libraries.
• Speeding up DTCO loops for advanced nodes (3nm, 2nm).

Application Domains:

Synopsys Sentaurus TCAD is trusted by semiconductor companies, research labs, and universities worldwide for applications including:

• Advanced Logic Technologies:

  Sentaurus Device simulates advanced logic technologies such as FinFET and FDSOI, including stress engineering, channel quantization effects, hot carrier effects and ballistic transport and many other advanced transport phenomena. Sentaurus Device also supports the modeling of SiGe, SiSn, InGaAs, InSb and other high mobility channel materials and implements highly efficient methods for modeling atomistic and process variability effects.

• Compound Semiconductor Technologies:

  Sentaurus Device can simulate advanced quantization models including rigorous Schrödinger solution and complex tunneling mechanisms for transport of carriers in heterostructure devices like HEMTs and HBTs made from, but not limited to, GaAs, InP, GaN, SiGe, SiC, AlGaAs, InGaAs, AlGaN and InGaN.

• Optoelectronic Devices:

  Sentaurus Device has the capability to simulate the optoelectronic characteristics of semiconductor devices like CMOS image sensors and solar cells. Options within Sentaurus Device also allow for rigorous solution of the Maxwell’s wave equation using FDTD methods.

• Power Electronic Devices:

  Sentaurus Device is the most flexible and advanced platform for simulating electrical and thermal effects in a wide range of power devices such as IGBT, power MOS, LDMOS, thyristors, and high-frequency high-power devices made from wide band-gap material like GaN and SiC.

• Memory Devices:

  With advanced carrier tunneling models for gate leakage and trapping de-trapping models, Sentaurus Device can simulate any floating gate device like SONOS and flash memory devices including devices using high-K dielectric.

• Radiation Effects:

  The impact of radiation on semiconductor device operations can be studied with Sentaurus Device. Both single event effects, which include single event upset (SEU) and single event transient (SET), and total ionization dose (TID) effects can be simulated.

• Novel Semiconductor Technologies:

  Advanced physics and the ability to add user-defined models in Sentaurus Device allow for investigation of novel structures made from new material.

Explore Synopsys Sentaurus TCAD in detail: https://www.synopsys.com/manufacturing/tcad.html