Multiscale Computational Analysis of Nanoelectromechanical Systems (NEMS)

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The research objective of this award is to develop a unified methodology for multiscale coupled electromechanical analysis of nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). The proposed approach consists of multiscale analyses for both mechanical and electrostatic domains of NEMS. In this approach, NEM structures are decomposed into substructures through a top-down hierarchical substructure decomposition. Atomistic descriptions are employed to compute the mechanical normal modes and electronic wave functions in the substructures where nano effects, such as surface effects, quantum effects and electron-phonon interactions, are significant. The atomistic descriptions are then incorporated into mechanical and electrostatic continuum theories through a multilevel component mode synthesis (MCMS) technique to generate a reduced-order system for self-consistent coupled electromechanical analysis. This methodology will be employed to perform computational analysis, design and optimization of nanoelectromechanical devices. Computational tools will be developed and provided to the public.If successful, the results of this research will provide a novel methodology for accurate and efficient multiscale multiphysics analysis of NEM structures to achieve better understanding and prediction of the behavior of NEMS. Computational tools developed in this research will facilitate the design and optimization of future NEMS products. Online computational tools and web courses will also be offered to enable remote online simulation and learning. Graduate and undergraduate students will benefit through the multidisciplinary research and gain exposure to a variety of engineering and scientific areas such as mechanics, electronics, solid state physics, numerical analysis and computer science. The collaboration of students to achieve the research goals will provide them experience in interacting within a project team of various skills and will positively impact their future careers.