3D Simulation-Based Acoustic Wave Resonator Analysis and Validation Using Novel Finite Element Method Software

Sensors (Basel). 2021 Apr 12;21(8):2715. doi: 10.3390/s21082715.

Abstract

This work illustrates the analysis of Film Bulk Acoustic Resonators (FBAR) using 3D Finite Element (FEM) simulations with the software OnScale in order to predict and improve resonator performance and quality before manufacturing. This kind of analysis minimizes manufacturing cycles by reducing design time with 3D simulations running on High-Performance Computing (HPC) cloud services. It also enables the identification of manufacturing effects on device performance. The simulation results are compared and validated with a manufactured FBAR device, previously reported, to further highlight the usefulness and advantages of the 3D simulations-based design process. In the 3D simulation results, some analysis challenges, like boundary condition definitions, mesh tuning, loss source tracing, and device quality estimations, were studied. Hence, it is possible to highlight that modern FEM solvers, like OnScale enable unprecedented FBAR analysis and design optimization.

Keywords: 3D simulation; acoustic wave resonator; cloud computing; design techniques; finite element method; onscale; simulation validation.