A Novel Modelling Methodology for MEMS with IC Applied to a DLP Mirror Array

This paper presents an entirely new methodology for designing MEMS devices and simulating them together with integrated electronics within a standard EDA environment. At least two aspects of this new methodology are unique. First, the MEMS designer can construct the behavioral model in a 3-D view. This direct creation of a MEMS device in a 3-D view represents better the 3-D nature of MEMS devices and is expected to be more natural for MEMS engineers who are used to working in a 3-D CAD environment. The resulting 3-D view differs from a typical feature-based 3-D CAD modeling tool in that there is an underlying complex behavioral model associated with each MEMS component. Second, the behavioral model of the complete MEMS device that is shared with the standard EDA environment can be fully parameterized with respect to manufacturing- and design dependent variables. Using the example of Texas Instruments’s Digital Light Projection [DLP] mirror device, we demonstrate how the new design flow can be applied to a complete mirror array, simulating multiple electro-mechanical mirror devices together with their control electronics, based on SRAM memory cell underneath each mirror.