pytaurus

Repository that provide a wrapper to use the software Sentaurus TCAD with Python.

Projects

Basics

Import the library and create an instance

from pytaurus import Project

path = '/path/to/TCAD/project'
project = Project(path)

Running simulations

Running a simple simulation:

exit_code = project.gsub()

It is also possible to choose the nodes to simulate by giving a list of integer:

exit_code = project.gsub(nodes=[1, 2, 3])

Cleaning project

exit_code = project.gcleanup()

Custom environment

When remotely calling subprocess call, it can happen that issue related to the environment variable arise.

such error include and are not limited to:

Job failed
Error: set ISEDB environment variable
gjob exits with status 1

If such error arises, it is possible to manually set needed environment variables for the smooth running of the simulation.

from pytaurus import Project

path = '/path/to/TCAD/project'
project = Project(path)

tcad_path = '/usr/synopsys/L_2016/bin'
scl_path = '/usr/synopsys/SCL/linux64/bin'
license_path = '/usr/synopsys/SCL/admin/license/license.dat'
stdb_path = '/home/user/STDB'

project.set_environment(
    tcad_path=tcad_path,
    scl_path=scl_path,
    license_path=license_path,
    stdb_path=stdb_path
)

exit_code = project.gsub()

The environment can also be passed directly when creating the instance:

project = Project(path, environment=custom_environment)

Or when cleaning or running the project:

gsub_exit_code = project.gsub(environment=custom_environment)
gclean_exit_code = project.gcleanup(environment=custom_environment)

Note: When calling subprocess, the argument shell is set to True. It does implicate security considerations even if this argument is needed for running simulation (When shell is set to False, there are issues with environment variables, moreover, it is impossible to use a custom environment if the shell is not invoked)

PLT Files

This repository contains a very simple class to convert "plt" file to different formats such as dataframe, csv or dictionary. The class can be easily added to your project. This allows to efficiently process files coming from software such as Sentarurus TCAD.

A raw plt file is also provided to test the script. The file was downloaded from the National Tsinghua University website. It is part of the 3D TCAD Simulation for CMOS Nanoeletronic Devices book.

Basics

Import the library and create an instance

from pytaurus import PLTFile

filepath = 'file.plt'
plt_file = PLTFile(filepath)

Getting the keys

keys = plt_file.get_keys()
print(keys)

Conversions

The different conversions:

# Dataframe
dataframe = plt_file.to_dataframe()
print(dataframe)

# CSV file
path_csv_file = 'file.csv'
plt_file.to_csv(path_csv_file)

# Dictionary
dictionary = plt_file.to_dict()
print(dictionary)

It is also possible to filter the wanted keys during the conversion

keys = ['d_total_current', 'd_inner_voltage']
dictionary = plt_file.to_dict(keys=keys)
print(dictionary)

Keys and Kwargs

By default, the keys in the files are in the form "D Total Current", however, to make the name more pythonic, they are converted by default to snake case ex: "d_total_current" (by replacing spaces by underscore and removing uppercase). The snake_case argument allows to enable and disable this feature (True by default).

Installation

This library contains only a few helper functions. It is therefore possible to integrate them directly in your project. Otherwise, the command to install the repository via pip is:

pip install git+https://github.com/thomashirtz/pytaurus#egg=pytaurus

Citation

If you use this software in your research, please cite of the article that leads to this tool :)

@article{hirtz2021framework,
  title={Framework for TCAD augmented machine learning on multi-I--V characteristics using convolutional neural network and multiprocessing},
  author={Hirtz, Thomas and Huurman, Steyn and Tian, He and Yang, Yi and Ren, Tian-Ling},
  journal={Journal of Semiconductors},
  volume={42},
  number={12},
  pages={124101},
  year={2021},
  publisher={IOP Publishing}
}

License

 Copyright 2021 Thomas Hirtz

 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 You may obtain a copy of the License at

     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.