Particle Swarm Optimization for Design of Slotted MEMS Resonators With Low Thermoelastic Dissipation

The geometry of a slotted MEMS resonator was optimized using a binary particle swarm optimization technique to reduce energy dissipation from thermoelastic dissipation (TED). The optimization technique combines fundamental physics with bio-inspired algorithms to navigate the complicated design space that arises from multiphysical problems. Fully-coupled thermomechanical simulations were used for optimization of Q(TED), and a weakly-coupled approach was used for design analysis. Through this approach, a TED-limited Q of 56 000 was simulated, showing a 40% improvement over previous designs that were generated from the conventional intuitive design approach. The discovery of non-intuitive designs with these techniques also leads to new insight about the behavior of TED. The design algorithm used in this paper can be readily adapted to a variety of MEMS design problems. [2013-0074]