Structured design of integrated MEMS

MEMS design methodologies in wide use today do not support hierarchical representations suitable for verification-based iterative design. Adoption of a structured design methodology which borrows hierarchy from the electronics design paradigm enables rapid design verification of complex electronic and micromechanical trade-offs inherent in integrated MEMS. A hierarchical MEMS circuit representation is analogous to and compatible with transistor-level circuits for electronics. Design of a capacitive lateral accelerometer illustrates the structured design flow from a system description, to circuit representation, layout and fabrication. Tools for layout synthesis, layout extraction, and verification specifically tailored for MEMS are an integral part of the design flow. The accelerometer is fabricated in a low-cost CMOS micromachining process that is especially suited to rapid prototyping of integrated MEMS.