ABSTRACT
Extreme environments for electronics primarily refer to operating conditions that span a wide temperature range (typically −230°C to +130°C) and a spectrum of high-energy incident radiation (including heavy ions, electrons, protons, and electromagnetic radiation). These conditions are well outside the current commercial and even military specifications, thereby necessitating focused research, design, and validation of devices, circuits, and systems for applications [1]. In addition, the escalating device count and circuit complexity in modern integrated circuit (IC) technologies, coupled with the inefficiency of fabrication and experimental testing of each design variant, mandate extensive use of hierarchical simplification and accurate technology computer-aided design (TCAD) tools in the design and analysis processes. This chapter attempts to address both aspects mentioned earlier by describing the important features, applications, and limitations of TCAD tools, specifically, at the device physics level and mixed mode (coupled device TCAD + circuit simulator), for modeling extreme environment electronics.
