Building a ‘Design-to-Analysis’ Interface for Summit™-Based Microsystem Development

Abstract

As the design for microsystems becomes increasingly more complex, the ability to predict and visualize thin-film structures during the design phase becomes correspondingly important. Virtual prototyping is definitely needed. However, accurately predicting the dimensions of the final product will require that the true effects of the surface micromachining processes be modeled. At Sandia, we are developing an integrated software package that links microsystem design with visualization and performance analysis. This integrated package consists of physical models that can generate the correct shape of micro-features. This paper describes our initial effort, which is twofold: (1) to build a generalized 3-D CAD package that interfaces between the microsystem design tools and analysis tools, and (2) to develop a modeling capability that predicts the general shape of fundamental micro-features from the fabrication process. A demonstration to illustrate how the ‘design-to-analysis’ infrastructure is being integrated will also be presented.