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External Plots

1. Overview

External quantities represent electrical values measured at the device contacts or within the surrounding circuit, rather than inside the semiconductor device. These quantities include terminal voltages, currents, charges, and other circuit‑level metrics produced during a device or circuit simulation. External quantities capture how the device interacts with the outside world. They form the basis of terminal‑level analysis such as I–V curves, transfer characteristics, switching performance, and transient response.

External quantities can be visualised using two plot types:

  • External Plot, for non‑transient data such as steady‑state I–V curves.
  • Transient Plot, for time‑dependent results such as voltage or current vs. time transient simulations.
note

Transient plots are only available for transient type result (.res) files.

2. Quantities Available for Visualisation

Below is a complete list of the external quantities that can be plotted within Aquarius.

NameDescriptionUnits
VoltageElectrostatic potential at the evaluated point.V
Electron CurrentElectron current magnitude at the evaluated location.A
Hole CurrentHole current magnitude at the evaluated location.A
Total CurrentCombined electron and hole current.A
Poisson ResidualResidual of the Poisson equation.-