TCAD is a term I first heard at a Stanford summer conference on process and device modeling. Originally intended to distinguish process and device modeling from other types of semiconductor simulation. Today it’s use often includes circuit simulation. For the purposes of this website, the original intent is retained.
The use of TCAD has come a long way, and it is now a critical tool for many of today’s advanced technologies.
Calibrating a TCAD simulator properly is a core requirement for maximizing the benefits of TCAD. There is a small set of principles that define a good methodology for TCAD.
- Completeness
- Physical correctness
- Fitting (parameter optimization) as a last resort: The required set of parameters can be optimized by proper mathematical fitting to improve results. As a purely mathematical fitting it does not necessarily enhance the models ability to predict other results, and it may make it worse.
