Mixed-Hybrid Finite Element Methods for Coupled Problems in Silicon Dioxide Technology

Abstract

In this work we deal with the numerical simulation of thermal oxidation in silicon device technology. This application is a complex coupled phenomen, involving the solution of a diffusion-reaction problem and of a fluid-structure interaction problem. Suitable iterative procedures are devised for handling nonlinearities and strong coupling between the sub-problems to be solved. In particular, we propose a unified dual-mixed hybrid formulation that allows for the simultaneous solution of the compressible/incompressible Navier equations in both solid and fluid domains. The accuracy and the flexibility of the proposed approach are demonstrated on benchmark test problems.