Cloud native EDA tools & pre-optimized hardware platforms
The continued scaling of logic and memory interconnect stacks is leading to a dramatic increase in the resistance of metal lines and vias due to conductivity degradation from surface and grain boundary scattering. First principles atomic-scale simulations including electron-phonon scattering effects support the screening and characterization of metal alternatives to Cu (for example Ru, Co, Rh) and the barrier materials that are sometimes needed for their integration into interconnect stacks.
Key Benefits of QuantumATK
As transistor scaling reduces the area available for metal-semiconductor contacts, the impact of contact resistance on transistor performance increases. Therefore, the detailed modeling of metal-semiconductor contacts has become an essential component of transistor optimization.
Atomic-scale modeling of metal-semiconductor contacts in QuantumATK provides key insights on how to optimize contact resistance, including:
The nanoscale of today’s and future metal-semiconductor contacts render its experimental characterization challenging. The atomic-level modeling in QuantumATK provides the key benefit of a first-principles description to complement experimental characterization to guide transistor optimization.
Atomic-scale modeling can give insights into the pattern collapse due to zipping effect that happens during layer deposition on top of fins and other high-aspect patterns
Key Benefits of QuantumATK
With transistor scaling, new channel structures and materials need to be investigated as a means to improve carrier mobility and achieve the target performance. The change in composition and 2D quantum-mechanical confinement of semiconductor structure in, for example, a nanosheet, significantly alters the bandstructure, resulting in changes to the effective masses and mobility of the carriers relative to bulk materials. This, consequently, has a primary impact on the carrier transport in the channel and requires TCAD models to be equipped with new relevant parameters. Although it is possible to measure some of these parameters experimentally, it is much simpler and faster to obtain them from atomic-scale simulations with QuantumATK.
Key Benefits of QuantumATK
Spin-transfer torque RAM (STT-RAM) is a novel non-volatile memory with unique properties that make it attractive for embedded and solid-state drive applications. QuantumATK enables the investigation and optimization of the material stacks that comprise the magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) in the STT-RAM bit cells. Since the first-principles calculations in QuantumATK do not require empirical inputs, users can efficiently investigate the very large set of material stacks using key attributes such as:
Non-ideal material stacks, such as oxidized interfaces and impure materials, can also be handled, thereby allowing the modeling of realistic structures. QuantumATK is a valuable simulation platform to support the R&D of next-generation spin-based non-volatile memories in the semiconductor industry.
Interested in applying QuantumATK software to your research? Test our software or contact us at quantumatk@synopsys.com to get more information on QuantumATK platform for atomic-scale modeling.