Semiconductor device simulation has played a key role in the design and development of novel device structures and technologies. Although device designs have benefited greatly from physics-based device simulation, the important area of large signal steady state distortion analysis has been somewhat neglected by the device simulation community. With the rapid growth of wireless communication systems and other analog designs where large signal distortion is critical, there is an ever-increasing need for such analysis capabilities at the device simulation level.
This work presents algorithms, results, and application examples aimed at solving nonlinear steady state device simulation problems in the frequency domain. The PISCES-II semiconductor device simulator has been extended to support a harmonic balance analysis capability. Harmonic balance, a frequency domain steady state analysis technique for nonlinear systems, is well-suited for high-frequency analog applications such as RF and microwave communication systems. Algorithms for applying the harmonic balance method to large scale systems of semiconductor device equations are presented, and the suitability of the techniques for practical problems is demonstrated. In particular, iterative Krylov subspace solution techniques with special-purpose preconditioners are introduced to solve the large scale systems of equations that arise. Harmonic balance analysis is applied to simulating harmonic and intermodulation distortion in industrial device structures, and the simulation results are compared to experimental measurements.
Presentations this quarter:
Further info on Boris Troyanovsky and his research.