No output from Sentaurus TDR-to-DF-ISE converter

cjessima · July 29, 2022, 5:39pm

I’m trying to convert a TDR file output by Sentaurus to DF-ISE format, using Sentaurus Data Explorer. The TDR file is initially created by Sentaurus Device Editor, then read by Sentaurus Device, which does an IV ramp and saves the result.

When I try to convert the file (first using tdx --tdr-change-cs --traditional to change to DF-ISE coordinates, then using tdx --tdr2dfise to convert), it seems to run ok, printing Conversion TDR mixed element type to DF-ISE finished. However, no DF-ISE files seem to be created. What am I doing wrong?

Here is a printout showing the same problem occurring with an example TDR built into Sentaurus:

$ tdx --tdr-change-cs --traditional /files1/synopsys/sentaurus/S_2021.06/tcad/S-2021.06/Applications_Library/GettingStarted/svisual/export/npn_msh.tdr /files1/home/cjessima/tcad/tmp/npn_trad.tdr

****************************************************************************
***                       Sentaurus Data Explorer                        ***
***                          Version S-2021.06                           ***
***                      (2.7041644, x86_64, Linux)                      ***
***                                                                      ***
***                Copyright (c) 1994-2021 Synopsys, Inc.                ***
***                                                                      ***
***  This software and the associated documentation are confidential     ***
***  and proprietary to Synopsys, Inc.  Your use or disclosure of this   ***
***  software is subject to the terms and conditions of a written        ***
***  license agreement between you, or your company, and Synopsys, Inc.  ***
****************************************************************************
Warning: License feature tdx_all is about to expire in 22 days
Warning: License feature tdx_all is about to expire in 22 days
Converting /files1/synopsys/sentaurus/S_2021.06/tcad/S-2021.06/Applications_Library/GettingStarted/svisual/export/npn_msh.tdr to traditional (DFISE) coordinate system...
Conversion completed.

$ tdx --tdr2dfise /files1/home/cjessima/tcad/tmp/npn_trad.tdr /files1/home/cjessima/tcad/tmp/npn_dfise

****************************************************************************
***                       Sentaurus Data Explorer                        ***
***                          Version S-2021.06                           ***
***                      (2.7041644, x86_64, Linux)                      ***
***                                                                      ***
***                Copyright (c) 1994-2021 Synopsys, Inc.                ***
***                                                                      ***
***  This software and the associated documentation are confidential     ***
***  and proprietary to Synopsys, Inc.  Your use or disclosure of this   ***
***  software is subject to the terms and conditions of a written        ***
***  license agreement between you, or your company, and Synopsys, Inc.  ***
****************************************************************************
Warning: License feature tdx_all is about to expire in 22 days
Warning: License feature tdx_all is about to expire in 22 days
Start converting tdr to DF-ISE, reading file /files1/home/cjessima/tcad/tmp/npn_trad.tdr
Conversion TDR mixed element type to DF-ISE finished

$ ls /files1/home/cjessima/tcad/tmp/npn_trad*
/files1/home/cjessima/tcad/tmp/npn_trad.tdr

asimanca · August 1, 2022, 9:28am

Hi Callan. Are you sure the files are not there? In the last command you’re looking for files with the name npn_trad*, but you named the DF-ISE as npn_dfise. I followed the same steps you used and I do get the files. I’m using Version R-2020.09-SP1.

cjessima · August 1, 2022, 8:58pm

Yes, sorry, I made a mistake while trying to keep my ls output concise, but I had previously seen that the files are indeed not there. I also tried and saw the same thing with R-2020.09-SP1 on CMC Cloud.

However, while doing so, I happened to notice the DF-ISE files in my SFTP browser; they had been created in the working directory, rather than at the path I had specified (which is odd, because the tdr-change-cs step did not do this). When you followed the steps I used, were you able to create these files at an absolute path? Do you know if there is any way to do so?

asimanca · August 9, 2022, 9:36am

Last time I tried I did everything inside the working directory, so this time I did it outside (although the original file is still in the working directory) and it worked fine. Here I attach the terminal output:

[simancas@fhl-ripper02 ~]$ tdx --tdr-change-cs --traditional /scratch/simancas/tmp/tutorial/n1_msh.tdr n1_trad.tdr

****************************************************************************
***                       Sentaurus Data Explorer                        ***
***                        Version R-2020.09-SP1                         ***
***                      (3.6710495, x86_64, Linux)                      ***
***                                                                      ***
***                Copyright (c) 1994-2020 Synopsys, Inc.                ***
***                                                                      ***
***  This software and the associated documentation are confidential     ***
***  and proprietary to Synopsys, Inc.  Your use or disclosure of this   ***
***  software is subject to the terms and conditions of a written        ***
***  license agreement between you, or your company, and Synopsys, Inc.  ***
****************************************************************************
Converting /scratch/simancas/tmp/tutorial/n1_msh.tdr to traditional (DFISE) coordinate system...
Conversion completed.
[simancas@fhl-ripper02 ~]$ ls
n1_trad.tdr
[simancas@fhl-ripper02 ~]$ tdx --tdr2dfise n1_trad.tdr n1_dfise

****************************************************************************
***                       Sentaurus Data Explorer                        ***
***                        Version R-2020.09-SP1                         ***
***                      (3.6710495, x86_64, Linux)                      ***
***                                                                      ***
***                Copyright (c) 1994-2020 Synopsys, Inc.                ***
***                                                                      ***
***  This software and the associated documentation are confidential     ***
***  and proprietary to Synopsys, Inc.  Your use or disclosure of this   ***
***  software is subject to the terms and conditions of a written        ***
***  license agreement between you, or your company, and Synopsys, Inc.  ***
****************************************************************************
Start converting tdr to DF-ISE, reading file n1_trad.tdr
Conversion TDR mixed element type to DF-ISE finished
[simancas@fhl-ripper02 ~]$ ls
n1_dfise.dat  n1_dfise.grd  n1_trad.tdr

I don’t really understand why you can’t convert the files in a specific path, sorry. Hope my output can help you somehow