Abstract
We have investigated three‐dimensional (3D) effects in sub‐micron GaAs MESFETs using a parallel Monte Carlo device simulator, PMC‐3D [1]. The parallel algorithm couples a standard Monte Carlo particle simulator for the Boltzmann equation with a 3D Poisson solver using spatial decomposition of the device domain onto separate processors. The scaling properties of the small signal parameters have been simulated for both the gate width in the third dimension as well as the gate length. For realistic 3D device structures, we find that the main performance bottleneck is the Poisson solver rather than the Monte Carlo particle simulator for the parallel successive overrelaxation (SOR) scheme employed in [1]. A parallel multigrid algorithm is reported and compared to the previous SOR implementation, where considerable speedup is obtained.
Highlights
As semiconductor device dimensions continue to shrink in ultra-large scale integration technology, there is an increasing need for full, three-dimensional (3D) device models to accurately represent the physical characteristics of the device
Solution of the Boltzmann equation using Monte Carlo methods is currently one of the most widespread techniques used in device simulation at this level of modeling [2]
Parallel or multiprocessor computers provide some relief to the computational requirements of Monte Carlo device simulation
Summary
As semiconductor device dimensions continue to shrink in ultra-large scale integration technology, there is an increasing need for full, three-dimensional (3D) device models to accurately represent the physical characteristics of the device. Solution of the Boltzmann equation using Monte Carlo methods is currently one of the most widespread techniques used in device simulation at this level of modeling [2]. In a Monte Carlo device simulation, the solution of the particle motion is synchronized with the solution of Poisson’s equation so as to provide an accurate representation of the time dependent evolution of the fields in the semiconductor.
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