characterization, modeling, and design of esd protection circuits

180 Appendix A. Tracer User’s Manual
the curve, such as the breakdown voltage of a single-junction device. If smoothness is
required, a lower value should be specified. Setting MINCUR below 1X10-15A/µm is
not recommended because Tracer has problems controlling smoothness at such low
currents. Default: 0.0A/µm.
• MINDL is the minimum normalized step size allowed in the trace. Usually the user
does not need to adjust this parameter. Increasing MINDL will reduce the smoothness
of the trace by overriding the angle criteria, resulting in more aggressive projection and
fewer simulation points. Reducing MINDL will enhance the smoothness and increase
the number of points in the trace. Default: 0.1.
• FREQUENCY specifies how often the binary output (solution) files of the trace are
saved. All I-V points are saved in outputfile. However, the PISCES solution files
corresponding to these points are saved only if they are designated by FREQUENCY.
If FREQUENCY=0, none of the solutions is saved, except perhaps the turning points
(see below). If FREQUENCY=5, e.g., the solution file of every fifth point will be
saved to files named soln.5, soln.10, etc., along with its PISCES input file (input.5,
input.10, ...) and output I-V file (iv.5, iv.10, ...). Default: 0.
• TURNINGPOINTS is either YES or NO. If it is YES, the binary output (solution) file
from PISCES will be saved whenever the slope of the I-V curve changes sign, i.e., there
is a turning point. The name of the output file is soln.num, where num is the number of
the current solution. For example, if the 25th point has a different sign than the 24th
point, Tracer will save a file called soln.25. Default: NO.
• VERBOSE is either YES or NO. If it is YES, certain information about each solution
(which the user may not be interested in) is printed in outputfile. The information
consists of the external control-electrode voltage, the load resistance on the control
electrode, the slope (differential resistance) of the solution, the normalized projected
distance of the next simulation I-V point, and the normalized angle difference between
the last two simulation points. Default: NO.