PROBLEM-ORIENTED MODELING OF MICROTRANSDUCERS - STATE-OF-THE-ART AND FUTURE CHALLENGES

The development and production of well-performing and inexpensive micr osensors, actuators or complete microsystems are largely determined by intricate trade-off considerations. Optimum performance requires a ju dicious design based on a detailed understanding of the physical pheno mena which govern the operation of single system components as well as their cooperation. To this purpose, modeling and numerical simulation are regarded as increasingly useful or even as indispensable. Problem -oriented modeling does not only reduce the number of costly and time- consuming experimental trial-and-error steps, but it also lends unique insight into the interior of a miniaturized device showing the distri butions of various physical quantities which are not readily accessibl e to experiments. Future work has mostly to concentrate on a user-frie ndly modular 'CAD tool box' based on the concepts of 'tailored modelin g'. This implies not only modem flexible software techniques and highl y efficient computational methods, but in particular new methodologies for fast and reliable model validation and the availability of a proc ess-oriented material-property data base.