As wireless communication is penetrating every corner of the globe, the optimum design and accurate analysis of RF, power semiconductor devices become one of the biggest challenges in EDA and TCAD (Technology CAD) tool development. The performance gauge for these devices is quite different from that for either digital or analog devices aimed at small-signal applications in that the power gain, efficiency, and distortion (or the range of linearity) are the utmost design concerns. In this article, the methodology and mathematical foundation for numerical analysis of large signal distortion at the device simulation level are discussed. Although the harmonic balance (HB) method has long been used in circuit simulation for large signal distortion analysis, the implementation of the same method in device simulation faces daunting challenges, among which are the tremendous computational cost and memory storage management. But the benefits from conducting such a device level simulation are also obvious--for the first time, the impact of technology and structural variation of device on large signal performance can directly be assessed. The necessary steps to make the HB analysis feasible in device simulation are outlined and algorithmic improvement to ease the computation/storage burden is discussed. The applications of the device simulator for various RF power devices, including GaAs MESFETs and silicon LDMOS (lateral diffusion MOS) are presented, and the insight gained from such an analysis is provided.

The full liquid crystal display (LCD) simulation with real transistors and other active components is unrealistic. Because a flat panel display (FPD) includes thin-film-transistors (TFT's) whose number is, at least, the number of total pixels. It hits the simulation limit of SPICE if the number of transistors are more than 0.5 million. This paper demonstrates a new, fast, and effective simulation method for a full LCD panel. The method makes it possible to simulate large LCD panels whereas the conventional method cannot handle. The simulation circuit consists of a-Si TFT model presented earlier, the liquid crystal, the pixel macro models, and interconnects. We show the model parameter extraction and the pixel macro modeling process associated with the simulation results. Using the simulation method presented here some larger LCD panels can be accurately simulated in less than a minute on a workstation.