Efficient FRW Transitions via Stochastic Finite Differences for Handling Non-Stratified Dielectrics

Abstract

The accuracy of floating-random-walk (FRW)-based capacitance extraction stands only when the recursive FRW transitions are sampled unbiasedly according to surrounding dielectrics. Advanced technology profiles, featuring complicated nonstratified dielectrics, challenge the accuracy of existing FRW transition schemes that approximate dielectrics with stratified or eight-octant patterns. In this work, we propose an algorithm named MicroWalk, enabling accurate FRW transitions for arbitrary dielectrics while keeping high efficiency. It is provably unbiased and equivalent to using transition probabilities solved by finite difference method (FDM), but at orders of magnitude lower cost ( $802\times $ faster). An enhanced 3-D capacitance solver is developed with a hybrid strategy for complicated dielectrics, combining MicroWalk with the special treatment for the first transition cube and the analytical algorithm for stratified cubes. Experiments on real-world structures show that our solver achieves a significant accuracy advantage over existing FRW solvers, while preserving high efficiency.