Part to Art: A Comprehensive Geometric Modeling Paradigm for the Design of Micro-Electromechanical Systems

该基金支持的研究重点是开发用于设计微机电系统（MEMS）的综合几何建模范例。新的MEMS几何建模方案将解决不寻常的纵横比问题；多层;非均质材料组成；以及光刻、保形和其他沉积、各向同性和各向异性蚀刻所带来的几何复杂性。首先将解决艺术到零件的问题，即使用光刻面具的艺术品和工艺信息建立准确的物理模型。精确的物理模型真实地代表了微加工器件，有助于进行计算行为模拟。零件到艺术品的问题，即从给定过程的3d模型生成掩模，将在接下来解决。在这项工作中开发的几何建模框架将采用本构元素表示和合适的图像处理算法来自然地模拟沉积和蚀刻过程。将利用侵蚀和膨胀的集合理论基础来解决艺术到部分和部分到艺术的问题。通过适当选择本构元素和结构元素，将模拟几种类型的晶体取向、蚀刻和沉积。验证已创建的三维模型的设计规则，以及帮助MEMS设计师为选定过程创建对象的生成规则也将在新的几何建模框架中开发。微加工测试结构将用于验证在这项工作中开发的算法。从掩模中创建精确模型的过程将是新兴的微机电系统计算机辅助设计工具的一个显着补充，并将对微机电系统行业产生有利影响。零件到艺术的问题，如果成功解决，将显著改变MEMS器件的设计方式。然后，MEMS设计人员将不再需要从制造信息（掩模）开始，而是可以专注于使用行为模拟直接创建实体模型。生成规则将加快MEMS设计过程，并将导致更好的可视化，而无需知道微加工过程的微小细节。

The research supported by this grant focuses on the development of a comprehensive geometric modeling paradigm for designing Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS). The new geometric modeling scheme for MEMS will address the issues of unusual aspect ratios; multiple layers; heterogenous material composition; and geometric intricacies brought about by photolithography, conformal and other depositions, and isotropic and anisotropic etches. The art-to-part problem, that is, building accurate physical models using the artwork of photolithography masks and the process information, will be addressed first. Accurate physical models that truly represent the microfabricated devices are useful in performing the computational behavioral simulations. The part-to-art problem, i.e., generating the masks from the 3-D model for a given process, will be addressed next. The geometric modeling framework to be developed in this work will employ a constitutive element representation and suitable image processing algorithms to naturally mimic the deposition and etching processes. The set-theoretic basis of erosion and dilation will be used to solve the art-to-part and the part-to-art problems. By a proper selection of constitutive elements and structuring elements, several types of crystal orientations, etches and deposits will be simulated. The design rules for validating an already created 3-dimensional model, and generative rules to aid the MEMS designer to create an object for a chosen process will also be developed in the new geometric modeling framework. Microfabricated test structures will be utilized to validate the algorithms developed in this work. The process of creating an accurate model from the masks will be a notable addition to the emerging computer-aided design tools for MEMS and will favorably impact the MEMS industry. The part-to-art problem, if successfully solved, will significantly change the way MEMS devices are designed. Then, MEMS designers will no longer need to start from manufacturing information (masks), but instead can focus on directly creating the solid model using behavioral simulations. The generative rules will expedite the MEMS design process and will lead to better visualization without having to know the minute details of microfabrication processes.