A TCAD approach to the physics-based modeling of frequency conversion and noise in semiconductor devices under large-signal forced operation

The paper presents a novel, unified technique to evaluate, through physics-based modeling, the frequency conversion and noise behavior of semiconductor devices operating in large-signal periodic regime. Starting from the harmonic balance (HB) solution of the spatially discretized physics-based model under (quasi) periodic forced operation, frequency conversion at the device ports in the presence of additional input tones is simulated by application of the small-signal large-signal network approach to the model. Noise analysis under large-signal operation readily follows as a direct extension of classical approaches by application of the frequency conversion principle to the modulated microscopic noise sources and to the propagation of these to the external device terminals through a Green's function technique. An efficient numerical implementation is discussed within the framework of a drift-diffusion model and some examples are finally provided on the conversion and noise behavior of rf Si diodes.