ABSTRACT
Early circuit simulators were developed under contract for the US department of defense and consequently had analyses that determined the sensitivity of a circuit to ionizing radiation. Fortunately, advances in modeling tools and methods have improved quality and timely delivery of compact model enhancements in recent years, relegating some of the modeling mechanics to automation. The source code for each device model is a collection of files contained in a model’s folder. The compact modeler must create and maintain these files. There are wide variety of integrated software development environments that support the programmer in all aspects of creating, managing, compiling, and testing program code. Compact modeling has come full circle from its bold beginning to first include, exclude, and now once again include radiation effects. Compact models represent an astonishing accumulation of knowledge of semiconductor device operation. Compact modeling is no longer limited to simulation and programming experts but is now accessible to domain experts through compact model toolkits.
