3-D TCAD Monte Carlo Device Simulator: State-of-the-art FinFET Simulation

Abstract

This work presents a comprehensive description of an in-house 3D Monte Carlo device simulator for physical mod-eling of FinFETs. The simulator was developed to consider var-iability effects properly and to be able to study deeply scaled devices operating in the ballistic and quasi-ballistic regimes. The impact of random dopants and trapped charges in the die-lectric is considered by treating electron-electron and electron-ion interactions in real-space. Metal gate granularity is in-cluded through the gate work function variation. The capability to evaluate these effects in nanometer 3D devices makes the pre-sented simulator unique, thus advancing the state-of-the-art. The phonon scattering mechanisms, used to model the transport of electrons in pure silicon material system, were validated by comparing simulated drift velocities with available experi-mental data. The proper behavior of the device simulator is dis-played in a series of studies of the electric potential in the device, the electron density, the carrier's energy and velocity, and the Id-Vg and Id-Vd curves.