The Use of COMSOL Multiphysics® for Studying the Fracture Pressure of Rectangular Micro-Channels Embedded in Thin Silicon Substrates
The thermal management of silicon detectors and related electronics through micro-structured silicon cooling plates is gaining considerable attention for high precision particle trackers. Micro-fluidic circuits are etched in a silicon wafer, which is then bonded to a second wafer to obtain a cooling circuit. Because mono-crystalline silicon is structurally close in characteristics to brittle materials, the J-integral approach and the concept of fracture toughness can be used to better understand the reliability of these devices. Samples have been fabricated with one micro-channel connected to a hydraulic inlet with different channel widths and silicon thicknesses to experimentally measure the fracture pressure. Three COMSOL Multiphysics® models have been created based on the samples and their results nicely match the experimental data.
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