ALAMODE: A Layered Model Development Environment

Abstract

To accurately simulate modern semiconductor process steps, TCAD tools must include a variety of physical models and numerical methods. Increasingly complex physical formulations are required to account for effects that were not important in previous generation of technology. As a specific example, the impurity diffusion mechanisms owing to point defects and damage kinetics are not well understood, and thus flexibility in definition of models is highly desirable. An object-oriented approach has been applied to implementing a 1-2-3D finiteelement dial-an-operator PDE solver. The control interface is based on Tcl and allows layered access to model definitions and solution techniques.