The maturity of MEMS CAD tools in recent years is
finally enabling improved qualification of existing
manufacturing practices of MEMS based components.
However, the MEMS product development process is still quite
inefficient due both design and process related factors
including: a lack of reliable material properties, the difficulty in
qualifying new process improvements and insufficient design
rules for existing processes (i.e. the general lack of “standard
processes”) and perhaps most significantly the adoption of
design tools that meet the requirements of the concurrent
engineering strategy desired. The development of a robust
MEMS Design for Manufacturability (DFM) strategy must link
the design and process groups [1], by (i) establishing systematic
design principles and (ii) providing a common CAD framework
for evaluation of product designs and process flow. A
methodology for MEMS DFM is presented that focuses on
rapid process and design qualification through systematic
parametric modeling & testing, from initial development of
specifications to volume manufacturing. The net result of such
an approach is highly qualified designs with accurately
predicted behavior, for scalable, repeatable, cost-effective
volume production.
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