First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor Prof. Dr. Siegfried Selberherr for providing me with a supportive working environment, where I was able to pursue my ideas and attend numerous international conferences and courses, where I was able to collaborate and exchange ideas with renowned leading experts.
Additional thanks go to our project leader Dr. Josef Weinbub for the opportunity to be part of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for High Performance TCAD at the Institute for Microelectronics, TU Wien. Thanks for many valuable discussions, excellent research ideas, and elaborated suggestions.
I would also like to thank Dr. Andreas Hössinger, product manager for process simulations at Silvaco Europe Ltd., for constant support, availability, and motivation by providing unique research challenges and discussions.
I am very grateful to my colleagues Paul Manstetten, Giorgios Diamantopoulos, Lukas Gnam, and others for their support and numerous excellent discussions, which constructively pushed research further. In addition, I am thankful to our research group for making me feel like a part of a big collective and making it a pleasure to work every day.
To my girlfriend, I am grateful for showing me that the research is not the only thing to fall in love with. To my parents Ivanka Režonja Šimonka and Jožef Šimonka, who have sacrificed a lot in their lives in order to provide me with a life where I feel that every goal is within my reach, I am and forever remain grateful.