An Error Estimator for Design Sensitivities of Microwave Device Parameters

A new error estimator for design sensitivities is proposed for finite-element analysis of microwave devices. A function of scattering parameters, C, varies with parameter g. By the adjoint method, the sensitivity dC/dg can be found. A new estimate of the error in dC/dg is based on derivatives of C with respect to position for internal nodes in the mesh (not on any parameterized boundaries or interfaces). It is shown that these estimates of the error are close to the actual errors for a variety of test cases. The estimator is tested using a p-adaptive finite-element method.