Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Methods – Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-21
2003-07-22
Ball, Michael W. (Department: 1733)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Methods
Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
C156S272800, C156S379800, C156S539000, C414S749100, C414S941000, C269S056000, C356S401000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06596115
ABSTRACT:
A method of this type for carrying out working steps on miniaturised modules in at least one work station is known from the German patent 196 37 822, wherein the modules are held by a module carrier which is provided with a holding device.
However, a method of this type merely envisaged a single work station so that further processing of a module was not possible.
Consequently, the object of the invention is to provide a method which enables a plurality of working steps to be carried out on a module.
In accordance with the invention, this object is achieved in the case of a method of the type described hereinabove in that, for the purposes of carrying out the working steps, the module is moved by the same module carrier to a plurality of work stations and is precisely positioned for carrying out one of the working steps by means of a relative movement between the module carrier and the currently relevant one of the plurality of work stations, and in that the positioning of the module relative to the module carrier is maintained for carrying out the working steps.
The advantage of the solution in accordance with the invention can be seen primarily in that the number of possible working steps is multiplied by the number of work stations provided, and in that it is nevertheless possible to carry out the respective working steps with greater precision, despite having a plurality of work stations, by virtue of the precise positioning of the module carrier relative to the respective work station, and in that this precision is further improved for the relevant working step by virtue of the fact that the positioning of the module relative to the module carrier is maintained and hence any imprecision that could be caused thereby is excluded.
In principle, the positioning of the module relative to the module carrier could also be maintained if the module carrier were to deposit the module in the relevant work station for the associated processing thereof, although in this case it would be necessary to fix the module in the work station in a precise manner in order to enable the module carrier to subsequently pick up the module with the same level of precision. On the other hand, apart from the fact that such precise fixing in the respective work station signifies a considerable degree of effort, the subsequent picking up of the module by the module carrier will nevertheless be associated with a loss of precision.
For this reason, a particularly advantageous solution envisages that the module should continue to be held by the holding device in the module carrier whilst carrying out a sequence of working steps. By virtue of this solution, there will thus be no loss of precision whatsoever since the module will continue to be held by the holding device just as before, and hence the individual working steps in the individual work stations involve no loss of precision whatsoever in terms of orienting the module relative to the module carrier.
Such a process of carrying out the working steps in the case where the module is held by the module carrier can be carried out in an especially expedient manner if the sequence of working steps is effected in a mechanically non-contact making manner so that no great demands will be made in regard to the fixing of the module relative to the module carrier and hence this will be effected without the application of large forces which could, in turn, lead to a displacement of the module relative to the module carrier and consequently negatively affect the degree of precision.
It would be possible to use various means for effecting such a mechanically non-contact making process. For example, it would be conceivable to carry out such a mechanically non-contact making process by means of elementary particles, neutral particles or ions.
However, the working steps can be carried out in a particularly simple manner if they are carried out by means of electromagnetic radiation since such radiation can easily be produced and employed for the individual working steps and, for example, it can be focused.
Within the framework of a working step in accordance with the invention, one could conceive of the most varied of functions, whereby every function which, for example, could be used for producing a miniaturised module, would fall thereunder.
For example, one could envisage that a process of fine positioning the module be carried out as one of the working steps so that the subsequent processing thereof will be carried out with the greatest possible degree of precision.
It has proved to be particularly advantageous hereby, if an exact position of the module relative to the module carrier is determined during the fine positioning working step and if this is then made available for the subsequent working steps. For example, it is thereby possible, when subsequently positioning the module carrier relative to the then relevant work station, to inevitably achieve the same level of precision in regard to the position of the module relative to the work station due to the precisely known position of the module relative to the module carrier.
Such a process of determining the position of the module relative to the module carrier could be carried out in a manner similar to a calibration process for example, that is to say, the deviation of the position of the module from an ideal position relative to the module carrier is determined, whence the positioning required for the subsequent working steps can be corrected.
This process creates the possibility of tolerating a certain error of positioning when gripping or picking up the module by means of the holding device, whereafter however, a determination is made by the fine positioning process and this is then taken into account in all of the following processing steps so that the actual process of picking up the module by the holding device can be simplified and a not too high level of precision has to be maintained thereby.
In regard to the positioning of the module relative to the currently relevant work station, it has proved to be particularly expedient if a controlled relative positioning between the module carrier and the work station is carried out in each work station, this being effected by positioning elements disposed thereat so that a very high degree of precision can always be maintained in the course of a working step which has to be carried out subsequently.
In regard to the type of working steps provided in a work station, no detailed comments in respect thereof have as yet been made. Thus, one advantageous embodiment envisages that exclusively non-contact making working steps should be carried out in one of the work stations so that the module can continue to be held by the holding device throughout the sequence of working steps carried out in this work station for example.
It is particularly advantageous however, if exclusively non-contact making working steps are carried out in a plurality of the work stations.
Non-contact making working steps of this type may also be of the most varied kinds, for example, it would be conceivable to provide a vaporising process using conventional heating of the material that is to be vaporised as the working step. However, it is advantageous in this case too, if the non-contact making working step is carried out by means of electromagnetic radiation. However, the working steps are capable of being carried out particularly homogeneously if they are carried out using electromagnetic radiation having a spatially uniform energy density distribution since similar physical interactions then take place in the whole processing region, and a reducing projection of complex structures on a mask located in the path of the beam is also possible.
It is particularly advantageous if the non-contact making working step is carried out by means of laser radiation.
A particularly uniform, extensive removal or deposition process can then be carried out in the working steps if the beam profile is rectangular or square since square or rectangular beam profiles can be composed very easily and can be pr
Haran John T.
Lipsitz Barry R.
McAllister Douglas M.
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