A modular environment for the design of micromachined silicon devices

This paper reports on a modular environment for the design of micromachined silicon devices which is based on a 3D simulation module for silicon anisotropic etching. The simulation data are processed into an adequate volume representation that meets the geometrical requirements of finite element modelling tools. The design environment uses an object-oriented geometric modelling interface serving as the basis of a product model which centrally stores the data of the whole design process. The paper concludes with an example that illustrates the design process.