A large project (START) on "Simulation of Advanced Semiconductor Devices", funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Science and Research (BMWF) through the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), has entered into its third year with positive international evaluation.
The project includes several research topics, such as modeling of novel semiconductors (strained Si/SiGe, various III-Vs, as well as the Group IV-VI material systems). The device applications include advanced high-frequency high-power heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) and high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), as well as quantum wires and high-efficiency solar cells.
The physical material properties of wide ranges of material compositions, temperatures, doping concentrations, etc. are analyzed using Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. New 2D Ensemble Monte Carlo code was developed and verified versus bulk MC code for different materials. It is used as a platform for the development of 2D Wigner quantum MC code.
Physics-based analytical models for the lattice, thermal, band-structure, and transport properties of various semiconductor materials, as well as models for important high-field and high-doping effects taking place in the devices, are derived and implemented in the device simulator Minimos-NT. The models are calibrated against experimental data from our scientific partners. Novel device structures are investigated, designed, and optimized.