A PARALLEL MULTIGRID SOLVER APPLIED TO THE SIMULATION OF THERMAL-OXIDATION AND DIFFUSION-PROCESSES

The complexity of the future processing models and the need for three- dimensional simulation require both efficient numerical methods and fa st computers. In this paper, a general parallel PDE solver is presente d, which has been adapted to the solution of so-called coupled problem s. The numerical solution strategy exploits the optimal behavior of mu ltigrid methods and the grid partitioning for an easy parallelization. As the typical thermal processes in VLSI process simulation can be co nsidered as a coupled problem, the program has been applied to this im portant class of applications. The flow of the silicon dioxide is mode led as viscous flow. The impurity diffusion takes oxidation enhancemen t into account. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.