TCAD for MEMS
R. Paganini*, R. Ruehl*, J. Funk and H. Baltes Physical Electronics Laboratory, ETH Zurich, Switzerland +Integrated Systems Laboratory, ETH Zurich, Switzerland *ISE AG, Switzerland Introduction. We present key components of a technology CAD (TCAD) tool for inte¬ grated micro electro mechanical system (iMEMS) simulation. The TCAD capabilities augment the SOLIDIS device simulator [1], Key components are: Meshing interface to process simulation; Application-oriented solid modeler; Algorithms for iMEMS sensor and actuator device simulation using finite and boundary element compuational engines; Interface for mixed-signal system level simulation using SPICE. Meshing. We present an approach to boundary-to-mesh generation based on a Monte
Coupled 3D thermo-electro-mechanical simulations of microactuators
We report 3D simulations of microactuators based on the solution of consistently coupled thermo-electro-mechanical equations. The necessary solution algorithms are implemented into the MEMS simulation environment SOLIDIS and allow efficient optimization studies of geometrically complex MEMS devices. Key issues are the solution of coupled equation systems using zone partitioning, adaptive mesh refinement, mesh updating using geometrical algorithms and field smoothing for the extraction of accurate electrostatic forces.
Thermomechanical modeling of an actuated micromirror
We have investigated numerically a micromirror actuated by the thermal bimorph effect. By performing coupled thermomechanical simulations with our MEMS modeling environment SOLIDIS, we have optimized the mirror structure with respect to maximum deflection for a given heating power. Numerical modeling gives insight into the response of the mirror, and reveals possible technological obstacles to device fabrication and operation.