Coventorware Help Tutorial

MEMS Lab TA
 Coventorware Simulation Flow

Analyzer
Designer
Inputs
Inputs
3D Model
Material Data
Meshing information
Process Data
Analysis Definition
Layout
Output
Output
Results of Simulation
3D Model
• Create a new folder in a
directory. (The file name
should not have any
spaces)
• In this tutorial, a folder
named MEMS_Lab is
created. This will be our
work directory.
• Create two subfolders
Shared and Temp. These
will be used as the
Scratch directory and the
Shared directory
respectively.
• Go to Start->All Programs-
>CoventorMP1-
>Coventorware10.2
• The CoventorMP1.2
window opens.
• A project browser
window is displayed.
• Click on Open.
 • The selected project
User settings opens.
• To change the directory
click on the user settings
option.
• The user settings
window opens.
• Change the user settings
by clicking on browse
and select the desired
directory.
Browse
• The path of the work
directory should be
replaced by the path of
the new folder that you
have created (Here
‘MEMS_Lab’).
•In this tutorial the work directory will have the path D:\MEMS_Lab.
•The scratch directory is set to D:\MEMS_Lab\Temp .
•The shared directory is set to D:\MEMS_Lab\Shared .
•Click Ok. The change in the work directory will take place once you restart
Coventorware. Click on Ok. Close the Coventorware Window.
 • The user settings are
changed only when we want
to change the work
Click to directory.
create a new
project • Go to Start->All Programs-
>CoventorMP1-
>Coventorware10.2.
• The project browser window
opens.
• Click on to create a new
project. (The name should
not have any space).
• Here PZR_Accelerometer will
be the project name.
• Select the project’
PZR_Accelerometer,->Open.
 Solid Model Builder
• To create a new model click on
the Solid Model Builder icon.
• The Solid Model Builder window
Solid Model Builder opens. Enter the Model
Name.(Here Model_1).
• The Materials field specifies a
Access to materials database file that stores all the
editor
Access to process
material properties that are used
editor by the solvers during
Access to layout
editor
computation phase.
• The process editor contains the
process sequence that is needed
to build a device.
• The Layout editor is a 2D drawing
and editing tool of Coventorware.
• Once the materials, process and
layout of the device are specified,
the Build option can be selected
to build the device.
 Materials Editor
• Use Open specified material
database file icon to the
right of the Materials field
Open specified
material database file to open the Materials Editor
icon
dialog.
• The material database
stores characteristics of the
materials used in the
Materials Editor Dialog fabrication process.
• The Materials Editor allows
you to add, delete, and
modify material properties
listed in material database
file specified in the Solid
Model Builder dialog.
 Process Editor • The Process Editor includes
the Process Library, the
Process Description, and the
Step Parameters panes.
• The Process Library includes
numerous process steps from
which you can select user-
defined process steps, generic
modeling steps, and foundry-
developed processes.
• The Process Description has
the sequence of process steps
required to create the solid
model.

• The settings and parameters used for the Process step are indicated in each row.
• When a process step is selected, the Step Parameters window becomes active; from this
window you can change step parameters. Here we can define the material used or the mask
used.
Layout Editor
• The Layout Editor has a
function beyond that of a
basic drawing tool.
• While the Layout Editor can
create nearly any type of
polygon, arc, or shape, its
main purpose is to build
mask sets for foundry
processing and to design 2-
D templates used to make
3-D solid models.
• The Layout Editor’s drawing
layers provide the
information that allows the
Process Editor to etch some
of this material selectively.
Building and Viewing a 3-D Model
• From the Console, click on the Build
Solid Model icon.
• Enter a name in the Model/Mesh
field.
• Select the desired process (proc) and
MPD files. It is not necessary to use
the same process file as that used
when the layout was created, but if
the mask names in the process file
do not match the layer names in the
layout, the model will not build
correctly.
• Select the desired layout file and
designate a Top Cell; this is the cell
that will be built.
• Click on Build.
• The Preprocessor opens
automatically after a successful
build. If the build is not successful,
an error message will appear, and
the reason for failure will appear in
the log.
 Preprocessor

Canvas

Geometry Browser
Naming Entities

• The next step in the design process is to

add the desired layers to the Mesh folder
and assign unique names and electrical
characteristics.
• The unique names can be used to add the
solver boundary conditions.
• The names are added before meshing the
model.
• We can also modify the properties of the
layer (such as conductor or dielectric) by
right click on the layer and
 Mesher Settings
Mesher Settings window

• Right Click on the Region and Select Mesher Settings.

• The Mesher Settings window opens where we can
specify the mesh type and the element size.
 Mesh Types
Tetrahedrons Extruded bricks
Mapped bricks

Manhattan (or near-Manhattan) bricks Surface

Meshing Guidelines for Solvers
 Model Analyzer-Overview
• A analyser provides a fundamental assessment of the device
and tells you about the device functioning within the desired
operational parameters.
Analysis type Description
MemElectro Electrostatic solver and electro, e.g capacitive
devices
MemMech Mechanical, thermomechanical, electrothermal,
electrothermomechanical, and piezoelectric solver.
CoSolve EM Coupled electromechanical solver

MEmPZR Computes resistance field, equilibrium

potential, and current density fields of resistors
under mechanical stress.

Damping MM Multiple 3-D numerical solvers for damping effects

Inertia MM Computes the mass inertias of the movable parts of

the device.
MemElectro Analysis
 MemMech Analysis
 SurfaceBCs: surface boundary conditions, e.g fixing and loading.
 Volume BCs: Temperature, stress gradient or acceleration.
 LinkageBCs: Couple or link different meshes.
 ContactBCs: Used to set contact conditions between one or more parts.
 Visualiser

Analysis
View 3D Plots

Meshed Model
Analysis
3D Results
 Mesh Convergence Study
Steps for Mesh Convergence Study • We judge the
first model with element size = x
second model with element size = x/2
accuracy of an
third model with element size = x/4 analysis can by the
comparison of
results on meshes
of increasing
degrees of freedom
(number of
elements or nodes,
or density).
• This process is
known as a mesh
convergence study.
Mesh Convergence Study
• We conduct a mesh study to
verify that you have used a
sufficiently refined mesh to
accurately model your device.
• The numerical solution
provided by your model will
tend toward a unique value as
you increase the mesh density.
• The mesh is said to be
converged when further mesh
refinement produces a
negligible change in the
solution.
• We should optimize your mesh
so that you can obtain
acceptable results in an
acceptable amount of time.
• The point of interest chosen
here is the first modal
frequency.