Analysis of Temperature Effect on p-i-n Diode Circuits by a Multiphysics and Circuit Cosimulation Algorithm

A novel cosimulation algorithm that combines physical-model-based multiphysics simulation with equivalent-model-based circuit simulation is proposed. In the algorithm, multiphysics simulation couples multiple physical equations (e.g., the electromagnetic, semiconductor transport, thermodynamics equations, etc.) to be solved numerically by an iterative approach. The multiphysics simulation is for modeling the electrothermal behavior of semiconductor devices, and then, it is incorporated into the circuit simulation to extend the simulation from semiconductor devices to circuits. Employing the proposed algorithm, sample numerical results for the temperature effect on circuits comprising commercial p-type-intrinsic-n-type diodes with a model number of mot_bal99lt1 are obtained and compared to measurement data. The comparison shows a good agreement between these two sets of data, which validates the feasibility and accuracy of the proposed algorithm. Moreover, the proposed algorithm can provide a useful physical mechanism for understanding temperature effect on semiconductor devices and circuits.