Reden B.V.
About the company
Reden (Research Development the Netherlands) is an engineering and software development company which supports its clients in achieving a breakthrough in their product development. We excel in simulation-driven product development and the development of design functions (f.e. cost function) for quantitative support in design choices. Based on our simulation models we offer product developers better understanding of the relation between product design and performance. We make, in other words, performance predictable. Knowledge Rules Models lead us, in addition to understanding the functioning of the product, to new knowledge rules or design functions (a knowledge rule says something about the relationship between design parameters and performance). In organizations a multiplicity of knowledge rules exist (ranging from tables, formulas, facts of experience, etc.). For engineers it is necessary to secure the knowledge in a usable form. Reden has developed a virtual engineer for that called RevesDSE. Team: Mechanical Engineers (MSc, PhD) in various disciplines (Thermal, Mechanical, Acoustics, Flow).
Project contribution
Within the lithography machines, several areas are under strict thermal control, such as wafer and mirrors. To protect the, often same, areas for contamination a gas flow is introduced. These gas flows, beside protecting the areas, also transport or generate heat. Since the new machines are at vacuum, these protective flows cannot be (fully) modelled as continuum and normal Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulations are not sufficient for the needed accuracy of the thermal control. Other simulation packages, such as Discrete Simulation Monte Carlo are capable of modelling the rarefied gas physics, but cannot be used on large simulation domains due to the computational time this method requires. Within the IT2 project, Reden has started to develop a hybrid CFD – DSMC method, in which locally DSMC can be used and for the global flow CFD can be used. Improvement of the model, by coupling to 1D network models, improve the thermal aspects, understanding of slip shear heating, etcetera are still needed to improve the method and create the ability to have accurate thermal predictions in the more and more thermally strict conditioned lithography machines.