Computer-aided trade-off study of an integrated infrared sensor

We optimise the design and operation of a thermoelectric infrared radiation sensor, using the microsensor simulator SESES. Incoming radiation is in the range of 3W/m/sup 2/, resulting in temperature differences of a few mK. Free convective and radiative cooling are important effects adding to bulk conduction. Our numerical system provides four essential operations required to perform the optimisation: parametrisable device geometry, a graded computational mesh through automatic mesh adaptation, an accurate mesh refinement indicator and a fast linear equation solver.<
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