6.2.2 Constructing a Grid

The final objective is obtaining a grid suitable for finite-element simulators. For layered structures a robust gridding method can be achieved using a reliable two-dimensional meshing tool. To do so, in the stacking process all faces of one layer are merged into a single two-dimensional geometry, that is gridded with well proofed tools to generate a triangular mesh.

The resulting triangles are then extruded to prismatic elements (with the height of the layer), and finally, a three-dimensional grid is obtained by splitting each prismatic element into three tetrahedral cells. The result from the tool laygrid [68] based on this algorithm applied to the $I\mu E$-logo layout is shown in Figure 6.8 (note that the very coarse grid is intentional). This program uses a modified version of Bank's mesher trigen [69] or (at user's choice) Shewchuk's triangle [70].

Figure 6.8: Grid of the $I\mu E$-logo example.