Tunable MEMS Capacitor
Application ID: 123
The electrostatically tunable parallel plate capacitor in this example is a typical component in various MEMS devices for radio frequencies that range between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. You can modify the distance between the two plates, as the applied voltage changes, through a spring attached to one of the plates. A postprocessing step then computes the capacitance.
The example uses the Electrostatics, Boundary Elements interface, which is based on the boundary element method (BEM), for this simulation. This interface negates the need for defining a finite modeling domain and boundary as well as meshing the thin volume of the capacitor.
This model example illustrates applications of this type that would nominally be built using the following products:
however, additional products may be required to completely define and model it. Furthermore, this example may also be defined and modeled using components from the following product combinations:
- COMSOL Multiphysics® and
- either the AC/DC Module, or MEMS Module
The combination of COMSOL® products required to model your application depends on several factors and may include boundary conditions, material properties, physics interfaces, and part libraries. Particular functionality may be common to several products. To determine the right combination of products for your modeling needs, review the Specification Chart and make use of a free evaluation license. The COMSOL Sales and Support teams are available for answering any questions you may have regarding this.