COMSOL Day: Micro- and Nanotechnology

Multiphysics modeling is widely used in micro- and nanotechnology, where interactions between electrical, mechanical, thermal, fluidic, optical, and chemical effects often determine device performance. Simulation supports the analysis and design of systems involving microfluidics, MEMS, photonics, semiconductors, and other microscale and nanoscale technologies.

This introductory session will provide an overview of how multiphysics simulation is used for the analysis, design, and optimization of micro- and nanosystems. Application examples from several areas of physics will be presented, together with examples of optimization, uncertainty quantification, surrogate modeling, and simulation apps. The session will also provide an overview of the topics that will be covered during this COMSOL Day.

COMSOL Multiphysics^® is widely used for modeling and simulation of microfluidic systems in applications such as healthcare and biotechnology, consumer electronics, and environmental monitoring.

The software supports analysis of microfluidic devices involving coupled physical effects, including fluid–structure interaction, electromechanics, electrothermal effects, piezoelectricity, electrokinetics, chemical reactions, and multiphase flow.

This session will provide an overview of microfluidics modeling in COMSOL Multiphysics^®, with application examples including micromixers, BioMEMS, inkjet devices, and gas sensors and will also demonstrate how multiphysics simulation supports device analysis, development, and optimization.

Guido Spinola Durante, CSEM SA

In this keynote talk, Guido Spinola Durante will present a multiphysics simulation model developed to improve the thermal performance of a MEMS gas chromatograph (GC) preconcentrator for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) transported in helium carrier gas.

The model is used to predict the electrical power and voltage required for heating, thermal time constants, and temperature distribution within the Tenax®-filled preconcentrator cavity. Accurate and rapid thermal control is essential to achieve efficient VOC desorption and to generate a short, intense release pulse into the carrier gas, thereby improving detection sensitivity and quantification accuracy of the contaminants.

In addition to the simulation effort, benchmark measurements on the preconcentrator have proven the functionality of both the device and the integrated microheater. This ESA-funded activity has supported the development of the complete MEMS GC concept at CSEM SA.

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) integrate mechanical and electrical components at the microscale. The COMSOL Multiphysics^® software supports modeling of the coupled physical effects often found in MEMS devices, including electrostatics, structural mechanics, piezoelectricity, electrothermal effects, fluid–structure interaction, hygroscopic swelling, squeeze-film damping, and magnetostriction.

This session will provide an overview of MEMS modeling in COMSOL Multiphysics^®, with application examples including accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors, oscillators, and resonators.

Modeling and simulation is widely used in photonics and optics to analyze light propagation, scattering, resonance phenomena, and wave interaction with materials. The COMSOL Multiphysics^® software supports coupled optical analyses involving electro-optical, thermo-optical, stress-optical, and plasmonic effects in devices and systems used in communications, sensing, medical technology, and quantum applications.

In this session, we will provide an overview of optical modeling in COMSOL Multiphysics^®, with examples including nanoparticle scattering, photonic integrated circuits, surface plasmon polaritons, periodic metamaterial structures, metalenses, and microoptics.

Cosmin Roman, ETH Zürich, Micro- and Nanosystems Group

Transducers are quintessential multiphysics devices: Their function couples mechanics, electromagnetics, thermal, and even biological domains. The use of modeling and simulation is highly effective for analyzing and optimizing them.

In this keynote talk, Cosmin Roman will survey two decades of work in the Micro- and Nanosystems group at ETH Zürich, where COMSOL Multiphysics^® has served as both the microscope and the scalpel, with every model validated against experiment. Four projects trace a path from silicon to silicone:

• Carbon nanotube-based NEMS strain gauges
• Nano-opto-electro-mechanical switches operated at CMOS-level voltages
• Capacitive tactile sensor arrays on flex
• Passive acoustic-metamaterial sensors with milli-Kelvin resolution

The aim is to show MEMS, nano-optics, and semiconductor practitioners what becomes possible when multiphysics simulation is anchored in — and works in tandem with — experiment.

Modeling and simulation is used throughout semiconductor manufacturing, from front-end process development to advanced packaging. The COMSOL Multiphysics^® software and its add-on modules support analysis of fabrication processes such as etching, doping, deposition, ion implantation, plasma processing, thermal annealing, and electrochemical processing.

The multiphysics framework enables coupled analysis of transport phenomena, chemical reactions, electromagnetic fields, heat transfer, and mechanical stresses, supporting realistic process modeling and packaging studies involving thermal management, nonlinear structural behavior, and electromigration.

Join this session for an overview of semiconductor process and packaging simulation in COMSOL Multiphysics^®, with examples from fabrication, thermal design, and reliability analysis.

Modeling and simulation is widely used in semiconductor and optoelectronic device development, enabling detailed analysis of charge transport, electromagnetic fields, heat transfer, and optical effects.

The Semiconductor Module add-on product extends COMSOL Multiphysics^® with functionality for modeling devices such as metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs), fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs), memristors, solar cells, photodiodes, LEDs, and quantum dots. The module supports drift–diffusion analysis together with coupled thermal, optical, and electromagnetic effects, enabling self-consistent multiphysics modeling of semiconductor devices.

In this session, we will provide an overview of semiconductor modeling in COMSOL Multiphysics^® and highlight applications ranging from classical semiconductor devices to circuit quantum electrodynamics (circuit QED) systems for quantum technologies.