Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Imperial College London

EE 2.3: Semiconductor Modelling in SPICE Course homepage: http://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/paul.mitcheson/teaching

SPICE algorithms and internals

Paul D. Mitcheson paul.mitcheson@imperial.ac.uk Room 1111, EEE

EE2.3 Semiconductor Modelling in SPICE / PDM v1.0

Aims and Objectives

1.1. Course Aims
To show how SPICE solves circuit problems To explain the three main SPICE semiconductor models

1.2. Learning Objectives

By the end of these lectures you should be able to: Understand the internal operation of 3 types of simulation in SPICE Know what the SPICE model parameters mean and how they relate to physical quantities Appreciate the issue of simulation convergence and how the semiconductor models used try to improve convergence Be able to use your own custom semiconductor models in SPICE (see study group sheet) EE2.3 Semiconductor Modelling in SPICE / PDM v1.0 2

2. Syllabus
SPICE internals and algorithms SPICE semiconductor models o Diode o BJT o MOSFET

3. Problem Sheet
An exercise done in SPICE in the labs which gets you used to the SPICE model parameters, and shows you some of the dynamic effects of devices that you have seen the theory for in the first part of the course.

EE2.3 Semiconductor Modelling in SPICE / PDM v1.0

4. Recommended Reading
This part of the devices course is relatively self contained. If, however, you want to know more about SPICE, the following are good books: Semiconductor Device Modelling with SPICE, Giuseppe Massobrio and Paolo Antognetti, McGraw-Hill Inc. Inside SPICE, overcoming the obstacles of circuit simulation, Ron Kielkowski, McGraw-Hill Inc. SPICE for circuits and electronics using PSpice, Muhammad H. Rashid, Prentice Hall

EE2.3 Semiconductor Modelling in SPICE / PDM v1.0

5. Introduction
You received an introduction to SPICE in the first year design project. Briefly, to remind you of the history and development of the software: SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) is a well-known circuit simulator computer program which began with a mainframe program written at UC Berkeley by Lawrence Nagel (and others) during his PhD. The SPICE solver or engine (the core part of the program i.e. the part that solves the circuit equations) is free software but it is command line driven and is thus regarded as difficult to use. Commercial versions (mostly based on the 2G7 release of the Berkeley program [PSpice is based on 2G7]) are available which provide a graphical interface and up to date component libraries In this part of the course we will look briefly at the internal workings of SPICE, the semiconductor models that are used and how they relate to the device theory you have already studied. EE2.3 Semiconductor Modelling in SPICE / PDM v1.0 5

6. How SPICE solves circuit bias points

Why do we care how SPICE works internally? When things go wrong with a simulation, having some insight into the operation of the program helps you figure out how to make your simulation run and also allows you to use the program in a more efficient way.

We will look in detail at how SPICE solves DC bias point simulations and then look briefly at some other types of simulation. DC type calculations are fundamental to the operation of the other types of simulation and (with the exception of transient simulations) - easy to extend the DC analysis that SPICE does to the other types of analysis.

EE2.3 Semiconductor Modelling in SPICE / PDM v1.0

6.1. A simple resistive circuit

SPICE firstly forms a set of nodal equations for a circuit is it trying to solve. These are formed from the netlist. Lets see with an example. Consider the following basic circuit:

R1 R2 R3 R4 I1

n1 n0 n2 n0 n0

n2 n2 n3 n3 n1

5 10 5 10 3
Figure 1 Simple circuit with current source excitation

Firstly, SPICE forms a set of nodal equations based on KCL:

V1 V2 3+ =0 5

V2 V1 V2 V2 V3 + + =0 5 10 5

V3 V2 V3 + =0 5 10
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EE2.3 Semiconductor Modelling in SPICE / PDM v1.0

These are rearranged and written in matrix form:

0 V1 3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.2 V = 0 2 0.2 0.3 0 V3 0

Gaussian elimination is used to form an upper triangular matrix which is solved using back substitution (first solve for V3, then V2, then V1).

0 V1 3 0.2 0.2 0 V = 3 0 . 3 0 . 2 2 0 0.25 0 V3 3

You can see that this matrix is very easy to solve on computer, no matter how big it is. EE2.3 Semiconductor Modelling in SPICE / PDM v1.0 8

SPICE always tries to solve for nodal voltages which satisfy KCL by forming an equation of the form:

[G] [V ] = [I ]
The current matrix is known. This is important. Mostly the entry in the current matrix will be zero as KCL requires currents into a node sum to zero), It will be non-zero if an active device, such as a current source, is present. In other words, the I matrix lists the current being actively injected into each node. Changing the current source for a voltage source makes it harder to solve(!) Lets try doing the same thing with voltage sources:

[R] [I ] = [V ]
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Consider the circuit below and the equivalent nodal equations

V1 V2 =0 5 V2 V1 V2 V2 V3 + + =0 5 10 5 I1 +

Figure 2 Simple circuit with voltage excitation

V3 V2 V3 =0 5 10

We cannot form the matrix equations the voltages at the nodes (other than n1) are not known we do not know the [V] matrix in its entirety and thus cannot perform Gaussian elimination!

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Therefore, we would like to analyse circuits with current sources instead of voltage sources because the [I] matrix is always known, and we can therefore solve the circuit using Gaussian elimination. This is a special property about current excited circuits. Remarkable but true! So how do we cope with a voltage source in the circuit? After all, power supplies and batteries are voltage sources, not current sources! Use a Norton Equivalent circuit argument. Although it is not always clear how to do this as we will now see.

It is clear that in the case of Figure 2 on the last slide, the voltage source and current source could easily be converted into a Norton equivalent source. But.

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How can you convert this circuit with branches into a Norton source?

Figure 3 Tricky to convert to a Norton source?

Figure 4 Not really!

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6.2. Solving circuits with non-linear elements

Lets look at a simple circuit with a diode present. What happens to the matrix equation that SPICE has to work with? Consider the following circuit with just 1 unknown node:

V1 V1 5 + + Is exp = 0 vt 2
This single nodal KCL equation is a transcendental (meaning it is an equation involving terms other than simple polynomials which generally cannot be rearranged so that the variable becomes the subject of the equation) and thus the equation can only be solved numerically.

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If we tried to form this into our G*V=I form and solve the normal way we would get:

V1 [0.5][V1 ] = 5 I s exp V t
We do not need to make any Gaussian elimination operations to solve this because there is only 1 node But it is still not clear how to solve it because it is transcendental.

But we can solve it using the Newton-Raphson algorithm, with which you should be familiar..

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Lets remind ourselves how this works. The Newton-Raphson algorithm is as follows:

Vn+1

F (Vn ) = Vn F ' (Vn )

Where Vn+1 is the voltage at the next iteration and Vn is the voltage at the current iteration. This does not mean the voltage at node n or node n+1. For the simple circuit above:
V1 F (V1 ) = 5 I s exp V 0.5V1 t

Therefore we have:
V1n 5 I s exp V 0.5V1n t = V1n V1n I sV1n exp V 0.5 t

V1n +1

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6.3. Bringing it all together

So, in a slightly larger circuit, lets see what happens: Firstly, all voltage sources are replaced with current sources to give a circuit that looks something like the example below:

Figure 5 Solve using Gaussian Elimination and Newton-Raphson

The equations are:

V2 V1 3+ =0 5

V2 V2 V1 V2 + + I s exp =0 5 10 Vt
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EE2.3 Semiconductor Modelling in SPICE / PDM v1.0

These can be formed into the following matrix equations:

3 0.2 0.2 V 1 V2 = 0.2 0.3 V 2 I s exp V t

To solve these matrix equations, SPICE first uses Gaussian elimination to form the following matrices:

3 V 0 . 2 0 . 2 1 0 0.1 V 2 = I s exp V2 3 V t
Then, Newton-Raphson will be used to solve the transcendental equation for V2, before back substitution is used to find V1. We now have an idea how SPICE can solve with resistors, but what about L and C? EE2.3 Semiconductor Modelling in SPICE / PDM v1.0 17

How are inductors and capacitors solved in a DC bias point simulation? Simple - Capacitors are set open circuit and inductors to short circuit.

You now know the basics of how SPICE solves operating point (static DC analysis) problems!

The topic of Newton-Raphson brings us nicely onto the next topic

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7. Simulation Convergence and Convergence Aids

SPICE will fail to converge if the Newton-Raphson algorithm cannot find a solution for the nodal voltages. Many of you may have already have seen convergence problems in PSpice. When SPICE fails to converge, the program stops with an error message about the voltages and currents that failed to converge.

7.1. Basic Convergence Parameters

The iterative Newton-Raphson algorithm, if converging, produces more and more accurate estimates of a solution with each iteration. Trade-off here with the time taken to find a result and the accuracy of the result.

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 There are limits that must be set by the SPICE user for the accuracy of the simulations (or, as you have done up to now, you can simply accept the default values). The important parameters are:

RELTOL Fractional tolerance of voltages and currents VNTOL Node voltage tolerance ABSTOL Current branch tolerance ITL1 The number of iterations allowed for a bias point calculation

If we only have tolerances on voltages, non-linear elements may cause problems with branch currents The ABSTOL parameter was introduced in SPICE version 2 to overcome this problem

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Thus, the flow of the program is thus:

1. If number of iterations > ITL1, break 2. Do Newton-Raphson iteration to solve for nodal voltages 3. Check the solutions against VNTOL and RELTOL 4. If solution not converged within parameters, goto 2, else goto 5 5. Check branch currents (known from the nodal voltages) against ABSTOL and RELTOL 6. If not converged, goto 1 else finish

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7.2. Convergence Problems An example

Lets consider SPICE trying to solve the following simple circuit DC bias analysis with the Newton-Raphson algorithm and see where we might run into trouble. Well do Newton-Raphson graphically to see how the problems might arise.

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V1 1

V1 2

V1 1

V1 2 V1 3

Figure 6 Initial guess

Figure 7 First iteration

Figure 8 Second iteration

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 Imagine that the first guess had been at a lower voltage. Then the tangent at the first iteration would be almost vertical and the algorithm can get stuck. There are convergence problems associated with very high conductance There are convergence problems associated with very high resistance

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7.3. The GMIN Convergence Parameter

GMIN is a pure conductance and one is placed in parallel with every pn junction implemented in SPICE. Designed to stop divide by zero errors when simulating the exponentials of pn junctions, and to reduce the problem that an iteration may take the next voltage iteration far from the final solution.

Figure 9 pn junction with GMIN convergence parameter

This means that the slope of the exponential of the diode in reverse bias is at least equal to GMIN. EE2.3 Semiconductor Modelling in SPICE / PDM v1.0 25

 In addition, GMIN is the minimum conductance allowed between any two neighbouring nodes in SPICE. If you set a resistance between two nodes with a conductance of less than GMIN, the simulator will not run. Be careful when you set GMIN Think before you simulate! Will it alter the outcome of the simulation?

7.4. Setting the convergence parameters

Alter the convergence Tools|PSpice|Options parameters in

Why alter the defaults? Think about the simulation you are running

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How do the other sorts of simulation work in SPICE?

7.5. DC sweep simulations
An extension to the bias point simulation. The steady state solutions to a circuit are simulated for a range of DC voltages of a chosen voltage source in the circuit For the first voltage value to be simulated, SPICE does iterations to find the bias point in the normal way. The outcome of this simulation is then used as the starting points for the nodal voltages for the first value in the DC sweep and so on Problems can arise in convergence when a voltage changes particularly quickly. There is also an ITL2 parameter EE2.3 Semiconductor Modelling in SPICE / PDM v1.0 27

7.6. AC Simulations
So far, we have seen SPICE effectively solve linear and non-linear elements in DC simulations. Performing an AC simulation is not so different from a DC simulation! This is because SPICE does not simulate non-linear elements in the AC simulation no Newton-Raphson When you do an AC simulation in SPICE to get a bode plot of a circuits frequency response, the simulator makes linearised small-signal models of any non-linear devices. These are essentially the same models as you have seen in your analogue electronics course. SPICE solves the nodal equations in almost exactly the same way as it would for a DC simulation only now the program cannot set inductances to short circuits and capacitors to open circuit. They simply become complex impedances. Consequently, at each given frequency, SPICE solves the matrix equations of the form [G][V]=[I], where the matrices now become complex. 28 EE2.3 Semiconductor Modelling in SPICE / PDM v1.0

Example of an AC solution
V1 V2 3+ =0 5 V2 V1 V2 V2 V3 + + =0 5 10 5

V3 V2 j 50V3 = 0 5
0 V1 3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.2 V2 = 0 0.2 0.2 50 j 0 V3 0

and solve using Gaussian elimination

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This type of AC simulation can lead to problems.

What happens if you simulate an opamp in AC mode with a gain of 100 and an input voltage of 10 V?

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7.7. Large signal Transient Simulations

These are the most complex type of simulation because they show the complete semiconductor models realistically at all operating points the full non-linear models are used (as in a DC bias point simulation and therefore Newton-Raphson is heavily used) In contrast to the DC bias point simulations, capacitors and inductors cannot be set to open and short circuit respectively. SPICE makes heavy use of numerical integration in these simulations. The exact detail of these simulations is however beyond the scope of this course for the time we have. So, what models does SPICE use internally for its semiconductor devices and how do they relate to the understanding you already have of semiconductor devices? We will look at the three most common devices, the p-n diode, the BJT and the MOSFET, starting next time. EE2.3 Semiconductor Modelling in SPICE / PDM v1.0 31

8. Summary of this Lecture

SPICE likes to work with current excited circuits. Voltage excited circuits go though Thevenin to Norton transformation This allows Gaussian elimination to be used to solve the matrices Newton-Raphson is used to solve equations with non-linear elements (such as diodes) Convergence aids are used to control simulation accuracy and to slightly modify nonlinear devices to improve convergence The DC sweep and AC simulations are simple extensions to the DC bias point simulation. The transient simulation is more complex and beyond the scope of this course.

9. Next time.
We will look at the SPICE diode model EE2.3 Semiconductor Modelling in SPICE / PDM v1.0 32