A recently completed SUPA START project between Pyreos and the particle physics groups in the School of Physics and Astronomy of Glasgow University has seen the study of the thermal and mechanical properties of a PZT sensor to improve the manufacturing process to increase yield and product performance.
Thermal and Mechanical Simulations of PZT Sensor
Pyreos and Glasgow University
A recently completed SUPA START project between Pyreos and the particle physics groups in the School of Physics and Astronomy of Glasgow University has seen the study of the thermal and mechanical properties of a PZT sensor to improve the manufacturing process to increase yield and product performance.
Pyreos is headquartered in the Scottish Microelectronics Centre in Edinburgh. It was founded in 2007 to take advantage of the growing opportunities in advanced infrared sensor array technology. Pyreos has combined IP developed within Siemens with additional semiconductor process developments and packaging techniques to enable a new range of infrared sensor array components.
The particle physics group at the University of Glasgow has a strong detector development team. They have successfully designed and built silicon particle tracker systems for leading particle physics experiments. Most recently they completed work for the silicon tracker of the ATLAS experiment and the silicon vertex locator of the LHCb experiment both based at the CERN large hadron collider. As part of this work detailed thermal and mechanical models of composite detector and electronic structures were developed.
Pyreos had an issue with product performance and yield of a particular sensor design that required better understanding to increase commercial margins without degrading the product. The company considered detailed modelling of the device the best way forward. The Glasgow university group performed modelling of the device in question from both a thermal and a mechanical point of view. The existing device structure was first modelled. The model results were compared with data from the existing device and found to be in reasonable agreement. Key elements of the device were parameterized in the model, which allowed a large systematic test programme to be followed.
As a result of the test programme, the modelling suggested a device design that would increase yield without adversely affecting device performance as desired by Pyreos.
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