High-Fidelity Predictive Simulation of μ-Structured Devices and Systems at the Rim of the Safe-Operating Area and Beyond

摘要

The development of microstructured semiconductor devices employed as sensors and actuators in microsystems or as high power devices in electrical energy technology is increasingly supported by predictive computer simulations on the basis of well-calibrated physical device models. Today's challenge is to make virtual experiments and tests on the computer, which are qualitatively reliable and quantitatively accurate even for device structures that have never been built before, and under operational conditions that very rarely occur as long as the device is kept within the “safe operating area (SOA)”. What we are interested in is to explore the rim of the SOA and even to go beyond it in order to study failure and, eventually, destruction mechanisms with a view to improving robustness and reliability of the devices. To this end, predictive high-fidelity computer simulations of “failure and virtual destruction” are of utmost importance. We will illustrate today's state of the art with reference to selected real-life examples.