TAILORED MODELING - A WAY TO THE VIRTUAL MICROTRANSDUCER FAB

It is widely recognized that, in the development and production of mic rotransducers, computer simulations constitute a cost-effective and ti me-saving alternative to the traditional experimental method of 'strai ghtforward trial and error'. Application-oriented modeling not only pr ovides us with a detailed understanding of fabrication processes and o perational principles, but it also assists the designer in making deci sions with a view to finding optimized microstructures under technolog ical and economic constraints. The long-term goal is the automated opt imization of microsystems according to customer-supplied specification s in a computer-based 'virtual factory' prior to the real fabrication. Even though this vision may be far ahead in the future, several attem pts are being made to constitute a 'CAD tool box' for top-down and clo sed-loop simulation of microsystems. However, up to now little attenti on has been paid to specific aspects of microtransducer modeling, such as the consistent formulation of transducer effects, the consistent t reatment of coupled fields and coupled domains, physically based model s for mixed-mode simulation, and methodologies for fast and reliable m odel validation. Using the concepts of 'tailored modeling', these prob lems can be tackled on the basis of established thermodynamic methods. The implementation in a modular object-oriented CAD environment inclu ding a process-oriented material-property database may provide the pro per platform for realizing the 'virtual microtransducer fab' in future .