ECE/ChBE 4752

SUPREM Simulation Guide

Fall 2010
 Discussion Topics
• What is SUPREM?
• Location of Computers with SUPREM
• Using SUPREM Oxidation Example we will discuss:
– Starting SUPREM
– Running SURPEM simulation
– Viewing and Modifying Graphs (TONYPLOT)
– Viewing Output window
• Netlist Structure of SSUPREM3
– Headings/Comments
– Initialize
– Diffusion
– Etch
– TonyPlot
 What is SUPREM
• A universal 1-D process simulator
• Allow to simulate the various process
steps
– Diffusion
– Oxidation
– Implantation
– Epitaxial growth
– Deposition or etching
 Computer Labs for SUPREM
• Klaus building room 1440.
– http://gtalumni.org/map/index.php?id=153
– Accessible to all students enrolled in one of
ECE or ECE cross linked course.
• User ID/ Password
– GT account
Starting SUPREM

To start SUPREM, click on:

“Start>Programs>Silvaco”
 Starting SUPREM

Next, double click on the “Deckbuild” icon

“Deckbuild” is Interactive Deck Development and Runtime environment.
 Starting SUPREM

This will open a blank file. Click “File>Open” to open the netlist that will be simulated
 Starting SUPREM

Once you have chosen the file, click OK and the file contents will appear.

(Note: This is not

the only way to open
a file. If you save
a text file with a “.in”
extension, double
clicking on that file
will cause deckbuild
to open it as well).
 Running SUPREM Simulation

To simulate the netlist, click on the green arrow (“Run”) as shown

below:
 Running SUPREM Simulation
Once the simulation is complete, a plot of the simulation data will be available
(TONYPLOT)
 TONYPLOT Graphs
To change the labels (x label, y label, title) on a TONYPLOT graph, click on
“Plot>Annotation” from the Tonlyplot window:
TONYPLOT Graphs

From the Annotation window, the

X, Y, and Titles can be changed
 TONYPLOT Graphs

The final graph will look like:

 Saving TONYPLOT Graphs

To save the Tonyplot graph click on “File>Save As” and chose

the desired file format (.jpg, .bmp, etc.).
 Saving Output Window
Sometimes it is very difficult to read from the graph exact values that you are
interested in. The output file can provide a more accurate result than an
estimation from the output graph. To view the output file, first save it by
clicking on “File>Save Output Window” from the Deckbuild window:
 Saving Output Window
Choose the name and location of the file. The file will be given a .txt
extension
 Opening Output Window
To open the output window, select it by clicking on it once. Then click the
right mouse button and select “Open With>WordPad”.
 Viewing Output Window
The output window provides the results from the simulation.
 Diffusion Example
The graph below provides the Tonyplot for a diffusion problem
 Diffusion Example

The output file from this diffusion simulation can tell us exactly where the
junction depth is for this example:

Junction Depths and Integrated Dopant

Concentrations for Each Diffused Region
layer region type junction depth net act total chem
no. no. (microns) Qd (1/cm^2) Qd (1/cm^2)
1 2 p 0.0000 3.4687E+13 3.5123E+13
1 1 n 6.6202 3.2902E+11 3.6783E+11
 Understanding SUPREM netlist

Below is a simple SUPREM netlist that grows an oxide layer on top

of the Silicon Substrate. The next slides will explain the SUPREM syntax
required to perform process steps such as diffusion, oxidation, etc.

go ssuprem3

TITLE Oxidation Example

COMMENT Initialize silicon substrate
INITIALIZE <100> Silicon Phosphor Concentration=1e16
COMMENT Ramp furnace up to 1100 C over 10 minutes in N2
DIFFUSION Time=10 Temperature=900 Nitrogen T.rate=20
COMMENT Oxidize the wafers for 5 minutes at 1100 C in dry O2
DIFFUSION Time=5 Temperature=1100 DryO2
COMMENT Oxidize the wafers for 120 minutes at 1100 C in wet O2
DIFFUSION Time=120 Temperature=1100 WetO2
COMMENT Oxidize the wafers for 5 minutes at 1000 C in dry O2
DIFFUSION Time=5 Temperature=1100 DryO2
COMMENT Ramp furnace down to 900 C over 10 minutes in N2
DIFFUSION Time=10 Temperature=1100 Nitrogen T.rate=-20

PRINT Layers Chemical Concentration Phosphor

TONYPLOT
STOP End oxidation example
Netlist Structure (Heading, Title, Comments)
Sample Code:

go ssuprem3

TITLE Lab 6 Diffusion Simulation (Find P-well depth)

COMMENT Initialize silicon substrate

Notes:

• Always include the “go ssuprem3” command line at the beginning of the
simulation code.

• The TITLE Command is used to provide a title to the current simulation.

• The COMMENT Command allows for use of comments for code

clarification.
 Netlist Structure (Initialize Statement)
Sample Code:

Initialize <100> Silicon Phosphor Concentration=5e14 Thick = 8

Notes:

• The Initialize statement sets up the initial structure and the parameters
that will be used in the process.

• The “Thick” parameter tells the simulator how deep the simulation is (how
thick the wafer is). By default, Thick = 2 μm. You may need to change this
option for diffusion simulation.

• For this particular example, there is a (1 0 0) Silicon wafer with an initial

Phosphorus concentration of 5 x 1014 and a thickness of 8 um.
 Netlist Structure (Diffusion Statement)
The Diffusion Statement has many different purposes in the SUPREM
simulations performed for this class including:

• Increasing the temperature of the furnace.

• Creating an oxidation layer using wet oxidation process.

• Creating an oxidation layer using dry oxidation process.

• Diffusing dopant into wafer (Pre-depth process)

• Diffusing dopant deeper into wafer (Drive-in process)

 Netlist Structure (Diffusion Statement)
Increasing the temperature of the furnace.

Sample Code:

COMMENT Ramp furnace up to 1100 C over 10 minutes in N2

DIFFUSION Time=10 Temperature=900 Nitrogen T.rate=20

Notes:

• This diffusion statement will increase the temperature of the furnace to

a final temperature of 1100oC, beginning at a temperature of 900oC

• The rate of temperature increase is 20oC/min (this number can be negative

to indicate a decrease in temperature.

• The total time the increase in temperature rises is 10 minutes.

• The ambient gas in the furnace is Nitrogen. (Thus no oxide layer can be
grown during the ramping process)
 Netlist Structure (Diffusion Statement)
Creating an oxidation layer using wet oxidation process.

Sample Code:

COMMENT Oxidize the wafers for 60 minutes at 1100 C in wet O2

DIFFUSION Time=60 Temperature=1100 WetO2

Notes:

• This diffusion statement will perform a wet oxidation process for 60 minutes
at a temperature of 1100oC.
 Netlist Structure (Diffusion Statement)
Creating an oxidation layer using dry oxidation process.

Sample Code:

COMMENT Oxidize the wafers for 5 minutes at 1000 C in dry O2

DIFFUSION Time=5 Temperature=1100 DryO2

Notes:

• This diffusion statement will perform a dry oxidation process for 5 minutes
at a temperature of 1100oC.
 Netlist Structure (Diffusion Statement)
Diffusing dopant into wafer (Pre-deposition process)

Sample Code:

COMMENT P-well pre-dep

DIFFUSION Time = 25 Temperature = 900 Boron Solidsol
print Layers Active Concentration Phosphor Boron Net
structure outfile=time100.str

Notes:

• This diffusion statement will perform a pre-depth diffusion process, using

Boron, at 900oC for 25 minutes.

•The “Solidsol” statement will set the concentration of the specified impurity
(Boron in this example) in the ambient gas at the surface of the wafer to
the default solid solubility of the impurity in silicon.

•The structure statement (outfile=) will save the results in tonyplot format.
(Save multiple files for different processes, if desired).
 Netlist Structure (Diffusion Statement)
Print Statement

Sample Code:

print Layers Active Concentration Phosphor Boron Net

Notes:

Layers – indicates that specific information about layers (such as junction

depth, layer thickness, etc.) will be included in the output file.

Active – indicates that the electrically active impurity concentrations will be

include in the output file.

Concentration Phosphor Boron Net – indicates that the concentration of

Boron, Phosphorus, and the Net versus depth will be included in the output
file.
 Netlist Structure (Diffusion Statement)
Diffusing dopant deeper into wafer (Drive-in process)

Sample Code:

COMMENT P-well Drive in

Diffusion Time = 350 Temperature = 1175 Nitrogen
print Layers Active Concentration Phosphor Boron Net
structure outfile=time200.str

Notes:

• This diffusion statement will perform a drive in diffusion process, using

Nitrogen as the inert ambient gas, at a temperature of at 1175oC for 350
minutes.

•Notice, the difference between the pre-depth step and the drive in step is
“Solidsol” being replaced with “Nitrogen”.
 Netlist Structure (Etch all Oxide)
Sample Code:

ETCH Oxide all

Notes:

• The ETCH command can be used to remove a particular material from the
substrate. The above statement can be used to etch away all oxide.
Netlist Structure (TONYPLOT and STOP)
Sample Code:

TONYPLOT
STOP End oxidation example

Notes:

• The TONYPLOT command will start the tonyplot program that is used
to view simulation results.

•The STOP command will indicate to the simulator where to end the
simulation.
Netlist Structure ( additional syntax information)

• SUPREM is not case sensitive (DIFFUSION = diffusion)

• Line continuation is preformed with the “\” character.

• Create and/or modify netlist with any text editor program, but save with
“.in” extension. This way you can write net lists at any computer before
simulating them in SUPREM.
 SUPREM Commands

None None
Title/Comment

antimony/arsenic/boron/phosphorus concentration (cm^-3)

Initialize
Silicon spaces (#) – number of spaces to be
<100>/<110>/<111> used in the calculation
thickness (um)
dx (um)-grid spacing at xdx
xdx (um)-distance from the top of
the first layer at which the grid
spacing is dx

Diffusion antimony/arsenic/boron/phosphorus HCl% (%)

dryO2/nitrogen/wetO2 pressure (atm)
Solidsol-sets surface conc to solid solubility temp (Celsius)
time (min)
Active/chemical/all/total/net Xmin (um)
Print
antimony/arsenic/boron/phosphorus layers Ymin (um)