Modeling of the mechanical behavior of materials in "high-tech" systems: Attributes and review

We examine some attributes of modeling of the mechanical behavior of materi als and structures in microelectronics and photonics (mainly fiber optics) engineering. The merits and shortcomings of experimental and theoretical mo deling are addressed, as well as the interaction between different modeling approaches. The concepts discussed are illustrated by a brief review of th e published work in the field. The review is based primarily on the author' s research conducted during his work at Bell Laboratories and reflects, to a gr-eat extent, the state-of-the-art in modeling of the mechanical behavio r of "high-tech" materials and structures.