[paper] NESS Open-Source TCAD Environment

Cristina Medina-Bailon, Tapas Dutta, Fikru Adamu-Lema, Ali Rezaei, Daniel Nagy,

Vihar P. Georgiev, and Asen Asenov

Nano-Electronic Simulation Software (NESS): 

A Novel Open-Source TCAD Simulation Environment

Journal of Microelectronic Manufacturing

Vol 3 (4) : 20030407 2020

DOI:  10.33079/jomm.20030407

Abstract: This paper presents the latest status of the open source advanced TCAD simulator called Nano-Electronic Simulation Software (NESS) which is currently under development at the Device Modeling Group of the University of Glasgow. NESS is designed with the main aim to provide an open, flexible, and easy to use simulation environment where users are able not only to perform numerical simulations but also to develop and implement new simulation methods and models. Currently, NESS is organized into two main components: the structure generator and a collection of different numerical solvers; which are linked to supporting components such as an effective mass extractor and materials database. This paper gives a brief overview of each of the components by describing their main capabilities, structure, and theory behind each one of them. Moreover, to illustrate the capabilities of each component, here we have given examples considering various device structures, architectures, materials, etc. at multiple simulation conditions. We expect that NESS will prove to be a great tool for both conventional as well as exploratory device research programs and projects.

Fig: Randomly generated atomistic device considering random discrete dopants (RDD) and metal gate granularity (MGG) in the NESS simulation domain

Acknowledgments: This project was initiated by the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 688101 SUPERAID7 and has received further funding from EPSRC UKRI Innovation Fellowship scheme under grant agreement No. EP/S001131/1 (QSEE), No. EP/P009972/1 (QUANTDEVMOD) and No. EP/S000259/1 (Variability PDK for design based research on FPGA/neuro computing); and from H2020-FETOPEN-2019 scheme under grant agreement No.862539-Electromed-FET OPEN. The coauthors would like to thank Dr. Carrillo-Nuñez, Dr. Lee, Dr. Berrada, Dr. Badami, and Dr. Duan for their former contribution to NESS; as well as Dr. Donetti for the possibility of using the 1DMC tool. 

[paper] SPICE Compact Model for Schottky-Barrier FETs

Sheikh Aamir Ahsan, Member, IEEE, Shivendra Kumar Singh, Chandan Yadav, Member, IEEE, Enrique G. Marín, Member, IEEE, Alexander Kloes, Senior Member, IEEE

and Mike Schwarz, Senior Member, IEEE

A Comprehensive Physics-Based Current–Voltage SPICE Compact Model 

for 2-D-Material-Based Top-Contact Bottom-Gated Schottky-Barrier FETs

IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, vol. 67, no. 11, pp. 5188-5195, Nov. 2020

DOI: 10.1109/TED.2020.3020900

Abstract: In this article, we report the development of a novel physics-based analytical model for explaining the current–voltage relationship in Schottky barrier (SB) 2D material field effect transistors (FETs). The model has at its core the calculation of the surface-potential (SP) which is accomplished by invoking 2-D density of states in conjunction with Fermi–Dirac (FD) distribution for electron and hole statistics. The explicit computation for the SP, carried out using the Lambert-W function together with Halley’s method, is used to construct the SP-based band-diagram for realizing the transparency of the SBs. Thereafter, the ambipolar current is derived in terms of the electron and hole injection phenomena the thermionic emission and Fowler–Nordheim tunneling mechanisms at the SB contacts. Furthermore, drift-diffusion current is derived in terms of the SP and incorporated in the model to account for the scattering in the intrinsic 2D channel. Finally, the Verilog-A model is validated against experimental IV data reported in the literature for two different 2D material systems. This is the first demonstration of an explicit SP-based SPICE model for ambipolar SB-2-D-FETs that is simultaneously built on tunneling-emission and driftdiffusion formalisms.

Fig: (a) Band-diagram sketched along positive y-direction underneath the source electrode. Blue and black lines represent bands before and after applying Vgs. (b) ψ-based diagram sketched along positive x, constructed after calculating ψs and ψd. The geometrical screening length λ is given by λ ≈ (tox t2D)^1/2.

Acknowledgement: This work was supported in part by the National Project Implementation Unit (NPIU) through the third phase of Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP-III) Project and in part by DST-SERB Startup Research Grant under Award SRG/2019/001122.