Manufacturing path
Device & TCAD Engineering
A free 10-lesson path through device physics and TCAD: semiconductor physics and doping, the p-n junction and MOS capacitor, the planar MOSFET and short-channel effects, FinFET and gate-all-around structures, process and device simulation, variability and reliability, compact models (BSIM) and the PDK, and design-technology co-optimization.
- 10
- lessons
- Beginner to Intermediate
- level
- Free
- every lesson
Device & TCAD Engineering
- 1What Device and TCAD Engineers DoHow device and process-integration engineering connects semiconductor physics to the design side: process simulation, device simulation, compact models, and where this role sits relative to design, process and PD.
- 2Semiconductor Physics RefresherEnergy bands, doping and carrier concentration, and drift and diffusion as the two mechanisms that move charge through a semiconductor, as the physics foundation the rest of this path builds on.
- 3The PN Junction and MOS CapacitorDepletion region and built-in potential at a p-n junction, and the accumulation, depletion and inversion regimes of a MOS capacitor as the C-V curve that underlies every MOSFET's gate.
- 4The Planar MOSFETThreshold voltage, short-channel effects, drain-induced barrier lowering and subthreshold swing, including why 60 mV/decade is a hard physical limit on a conventional MOSFET at room temperature.
- 5FinFET and Gate-All-AroundWhy multi-gate structures improve short-channel control, how fin quantization sets width in discrete steps, the move to nanosheet gate-all-around transistors, and CFET at a concept level.
- 6Process SimulationHow TCAD predicts the structure a fabrication sequence will produce, covering models for ion implant, diffusion, oxidation and etch/deposition, using tools such as Sentaurus Process or Victory Process as examples.
- 7Device SimulationThe drift-diffusion model device simulators solve, why meshing the structure matters, and how Id-Vg and Id-Vd curves are extracted to give threshold voltage, on-current and off-current.
- 8Variability and ReliabilityRandom dopant fluctuation, line-edge roughness and work-function variation as sources of device-to-device mismatch, and bias temperature instability, hot-carrier injection and time-dependent dielectric breakdown as wear-out mechanisms.
- 9Compact Models and the PDKWhat BSIM is and why SPICE needs a compact model at all, how parameter extraction fits a model to measured or simulated data, and how process corners and Monte Carlo variation reach the PDK designers actually use.
- 10Design-Technology Co-OptimizationWhat DTCO means in practice, how cell track height is chosen jointly with device structure, scaling boosters such as backside power delivery and buried power rails, and how DTCO decisions reach physical design.