characterization, modeling, and design of esd protection circuits

174 Appendix A. Tracer User’s Manual
A.1 Command Line
Usage: tracer inputfile tracefile [outputfile]
• inputfile is the name of the PISCES input deck which defines the device structure
to be simulated and specifies what physical models are to be used. Basically, it contains
everything in a normal PISCES deck except the solve card specifications (Section A.7).
• tracefile is a file containing instructions on how to conduct the trace as well as
specifications for bias conditions on all electrodes (Sections A.2 through A.6).
• outputfile is an optional specification of the name of the file where the simulation
data is to be written (Section A.8). If outputfile is not given, the name of the
output file defaults to inputfile.out.
A.2 Trace File
The trace specification file, tracefile, is similar to a PISCES or SUPREM input deck.
Each line begins with a word designating what type of statement, or “card,” it is. The four
possibilities are CONTROL, FIXED, OPTION, and SOLVE. Also, a line may start with
a “$” for comments. Such lines are ignored. The cards may appear in any order, and a card
may be continued on following lines by placing a “+” at the beginning of each subsequent
line. The “+” should be separated from the parameters on the line by at least one space.
Each option in a card should have the following structure: “param = paramvalue”. Spaces
separating the “=” sign are optional. The parameters for each card are described in the
following four sections. As with PISCES syntax, parameter names and values are not
case-sensitive and may be abbreviated provided they remain unambiguous. Square
brackets, [], enclosing a parameter indicate that it is optional (note that some of these
parameters are only optional in the sense that they will default to a certain value if not
specified in tracefile). A vertical line, |, represents a logical OR--only one of a list of
parameters separated by “|” signs can be specified.
All electrodes in the device must have representation in the tracefile. Each electrode
must appear as one, and only one, of the following: the CONTROL electrode, a FIXED
electrode, or an open contact (OPENCONT1 or OPENCONT2) on the SOLVE card.