Software documentation

General remarks

nextnano++ is a console application that is run with an input file as the command line parameter. The input file specifies the device that shall be simulated.

NextnanoWizard (not supported any longer, use nextnanomat instead)

NextnanoWizard is a convenient graphical user interface for nextnano++. It needs a previously created template input file to be run with. This template is a generalized input file, which reduces the large variety of possible device structures to a well defined set of parameters. NextnanoWizard can organize these parameter sets like a conventional spreadsheet program, creates the appropriate input files and starts nextnano++. By this, systematic sweeps over certain parameter spaces and book-keeping of previous results are much easier to operate.

nextnanomat

nextnanomat is a convenient graphical user interface for nextnano++.
It can be downloaded from here: http://www.nextnano.de/tools/nextnanomat.php
Essentially, nextnanomat has the features of NextnanoWizard. In addition, it can visualize 1D, 2D and 3D simulations results.

Input file

The input file specifies all properties of the device, such as geometry, material composition, grid, contacts,... Furthermore, it sets all parameters that are needed to define the program flow of nextnano++. The keywords that can be used for this purpose are defined in the syntax of the input file.

Output

nextnano++ exports its results to a directory and in a certain format that have to be specified in the section output of the input file.

Examples

The nextnano++ installation provides some example templates that can be run with NextnanoWizard, to get familiar with the program.

Database

All material properties that are needed for simulation are specified as material parameters in database files, which are provided with the nextnano++ installation. The database covers a large amount of zincblende (all III-V and diamond-type like Si, Ge, ...), wurtzite (GaN, AlN, InN, ...) materials, and their alloys.