Modeling of three-dimensional diffusible resistors with the one-dimensional tube multiplexing method

Electronic-behavior modeling of three-dimensional (3D) p(+)-pi-p(+) and n(+)-nu-n(+) semiconducting diffusible devices with highly accurate resistances for the design of analog resistors, which are compatible with the CMOS (complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor) technologies, is performed in three dimensions with the fast tube multiplexing method (TMM). The current-voltage (I-V) curve of a silicon device is usually computed with traditional device simulators of technology computer-aided design (TCAD) based on the finite-element method (FEM). However, for the design of 3D p(+)-pi-p(+) and n(+)-nu-n(+) diffusible resistors, they show a high computational cost and convergence that may fail with fully non-separable 3D dopant concentration profiles as observed in many diffusible resistors resulting from laser trimming. These problems are avoided with the proposed TMM, which divides the 3D resistor into one-dimensional (1D) thin tubes with longitudinal axes following the main orientation of the average electrical field in the tubes. The I-V curve is rapidly obtained for a device with a realistic 3D dopant profile, since a system of three first-order ordinary differential equations has to be solved for each 1D multiplexed tube with the TMM instead of three second-order partial differential equations in the traditional TCADs. Simulations with the TMM are successfully compared to experimental results from silicon-based 3D resistors fabricated by laser-induced dopant diffusion in the gaps of MOSFETs (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors) without initial gate. Using thin tubes with other shapes than parallelepipeds as ring segments with toroidal lateral surfaces, the TMM can be generalized to electronic devices with other types of 3D diffusible microstructures.