Pressure sensor design and simulation using the CAEMENS-D

A workstation-based simulation module for micromachined silicon diaphragm structures and its application to capacitive pressure transducers are reported. The module offers a menu-driven user interface, access to a growing database of material parameters and performance data, and an interface to commercial finite-element software. It provides the user with three-dimensional stress, deflection, resistance, and capacitance information and allows three-dimensional visualization of complex diaphragm structures. Finite-element simulations of boron-diffused, thin-diaphragm capacitive pressure transducers, produced using the dissolved-wafer process, allow effects such as diaphragm stress, dielectric-based stress compensation, corrugations and bosses to be explored. Detailed comparisons between the simulations and experimental data generally agree to within a few percent.<>