Recent Advances in High Performance Process TCAD

Abstract

Process technology computer-aided design (TCAD) deals with simulating semiconductor device fabrication steps, such as etching and deposition, to enable computer-based device designs. The simulation backends are based on a variety of numerical methods, e.g., particle transport, surface advection, diffusion, and stress calculation, underlining the inter-disciplinary nature of this topic. The rapidly evolving device concepts in electronics more and more utilize
the third dimension - in contrast to previous planar technologies - to sustain the demand for higher integration densities: More compute performance or storage capacity is required whilst simultaneously limiting power consumption and if possible reducing device sizes. Future device designs will continue on this three-dimensional (3D) design path which will further increase the already dire need for fast and accurate 3D simulation capabilities to fully capture 3D effects arising during the individual fabrication steps. In this talk, recent advances in high performance process TCAD will be presented. The focus will be on accelerated flux calculation approaches and re-distancing algorithms: both important for a wide range of processing
steps but also potentially relevant to other application areas. The financial support by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs and the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development is gratefully acknowledged.