Thermal Inverse design for resistive micro-heaters

Abstract

This paper proposes an inverse design scheme for resistive heaters. By adjusting the spatial distribution of a binary electrical resistivity map, the scheme enables objective-driven optimization of heaters to achieve pre-defined steady-state temperature profiles. The approach can be fully automated and is computationally efficient since it does not entail extensive iterative simulations of the entire heater structure. The design scheme offers a powerful solution for resistive heater device engineering in applications spanning electronics, photonics, and microelectromechanical systems.