Technology Path-Finding

Advanced logic process development involves deep understanding of quantum physics and significant optimization. We collaborated with GTS in a detailed physics study of the vertical surrounding gate transistor (SGT), which also included performance optimization. With the GTS Nano Device Simulator and GTS Cell Designer we made good progress in SRAM and single device development. GTS Nano Device Simulator has a powerful parallel computation algorithm which makes it very cost effective. Throughout the collaboration the GTS team were always helpful and reacted quickly to all our queries. We would like to thank them for the excellent technical cooperation.

Our research on highly-scaled future CMOS devices and circuits requires the physics-based device simulations beyond the scope of conventional TCAD tools with drift-diffusion method. The tools VSP and NDS from GTS have helped us greatly to explore the electronic structure and transport in nano-scale devices. The predictive power and excellent agreement with experiments has allowed us to build compact models for future technology with high confidence. The tools are easy to use and efficient, and the experts at GTS have provided excellent support.

We use GTS Framework and Minimos-NT for our R&D work of CMOS FEOL process. The GUI based software, including 3D device editor, is easy to use for all the engineers. Minimos-NT is robust and fast for the device simulations. Moreover, the GTS team is very active to develop / include state-of-the-art models, such as reliability models. I think GTS Framework is a flexible and cost-effective TCAD solution.

Many analog designers refrain from using TCAD because of the time and knowledge necessary to get started. With GTS Framework and its sophisticated user interface we could investigate a complex ESD-related issue within several days. Based upon included examples the two-dimensional structure could be created within half a day. This without previous knowledge on the tools. Support from Global TCAD Solutions was very responsive. I could directly talk to a knowledgeable engineer who understood and solved our issues within minutes.

GTS Framework has a nice user interface that made it easy to create our complex silicon structures. The Minimos simulator interface is very flexible and shows all parameter options. We used the tool to perform heavy ion particle simulations. GTS provided a very useful example of a heavy ion simulation that helped us build our radiation simulation environment. The detailed documentation is very good, but when I did have a question, the support I received from everyone at GTS was outstanding.

Besides our development work on the core features of VSP carried out in my group, we are using GTS Framework as a versatile working environment for VSP and MINIMOS. The efficient and easy-to-use capabilities for editing 3D nano structures as well as viewing and analyzing simulation results make GTS Framework a useful and time-saving tool-set. We employ the web version in lab courses on classical device simulation for bachelor students and on quantum device simulation for master students. The integrated tutorials and examples help our students getting started quickly.