❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) — SemiDevKit

This FAQ summarizes commonly asked questions when using SemiDevKit, including:

• 🧪 TCAD Playgrounds
• 📐 BSIM4 Analyzers
• 🧮 Paramus Physical Edition
• 🏗 OpenLane-Lite
• General semiconductor device simulation workflows

🌐 1. General Questions

Q1. What is SemiDevKit?

SemiDevKit is a modular educational toolkit covering the full spectrum of semiconductor device and design workflows, including:

• Semiconductor device physics (Poisson equation, MOSFET models)
• BSIM4 compact modeling and SPICE-based analysis
• Reliability modeling (HCI, NBTI)
• Digital physical design (OpenLane-Lite)
• Ferroelectric (PZT) behavior
• Physical parameter extraction (Paramus)

Q2. Which operating system is recommended?

Linux or Windows with WSL2 is strongly recommended.
Native Windows execution is possible but not preferred.

Q3. Does SemiDevKit require a GPU?

No.
All simulations are CPU-based and do not require GPU acceleration.

🐍 2. Python & Environment

Q4. Which Python version should I use?

Python 3.9 – 3.12 is recommended.

Q5. Should I use a virtual environment?

Yes.
Using a Python virtual environment (venv) is strongly recommended to avoid dependency conflicts.

Q6. I get ModuleNotFoundError. What should I do?

Install the required dependencies:

pip install numpy scipy matplotlib pandas pyyaml

Ensure the correct virtual environment is activated before running any scripts.

⚡ 3. ngspice / SPICE Issues

Q7. ngspice cannot find a model file.

Ensure that .include paths use forward slashes (/), not backslashes (\), especially on Windows.

Q8. A sweep produced only one data point.

This usually indicates a simulation failure.
Check the ngspice .log files for convergence or syntax errors.

Q9. gmmax extraction fails.

This typically means the sweep data is incomplete, often due to invalid or non-converging model parameters.

🧪 4. TCAD Playground Questions

Q10. The Poisson solver diverges.

Try the following mitigation steps:

• Reduce doping concentration
• Increase oxide thickness (tox)
• Reduce the voltage sweep range

Q11. Why do results differ from commercial TCAD tools?

The TCAD playgrounds use simplified 1D educational models.
They are intended for conceptual understanding and trend analysis, not production-level accuracy.

🧬 5. Reliability (HCI / NBTI)

Q12. Are the HCI / NBTI models accurate?

They are simplified models designed for education and qualitative trend analysis.

Q13. Can I fit the models to real measurement data?

Yes.
You can adjust fitting parameters such as:

• A_vth, p_vth
• A_id, p_id

to match experimental degradation data.

🏗 6. OpenLane-Lite

Q14. OpenLane-Lite cannot find the PDK.

Ensure the following directory exists:

openlane-lite/pdks/

Q15. Docker does not work in WSL2.

Verify that the WSL2 backend is enabled in Docker Desktop and check:

wsl -l -v

Ensure your Linux distribution is running under WSL2.

🤝 7. Contribution

Q16. How can I contribute to SemiDevKit?

Contributions are welcome via Issues or Pull Requests:

https://github.com/Samizo-AITL/SemiDevKit

📜 8. License

Q17. What license does SemiDevKit use?

SemiDevKit uses a hybrid license model:

• MIT License — source code
• CC BY / CC BY 4.0 — documentation text
• CC BY-NC 4.0 — figures and diagrams

See license.md for full details.

📬 9. Contact

For additional questions or clarifications:

💡 If your question is not listed here, feel free to open an Issue on GitHub.