Palo Alto Research Center Inc.

Xerox Corporation

Jeng Ping Lu

Eugene Michael Chow

David Kalman Biegelsen

Christopher L Chua

Robert Anthony Street

Raj B Apte

Eric Peeters

Meng H Lean

David Kirtland Fork

Ping Mei

Linda T Romano

Decai Sun

Saigopal Nelaturi

Ion Matei

William S Wong

Armin R Volkel

Michael L Chabinyc

Patrick Yasuo Maeda

Thomas Hantschel

Huangpin Ben Hsieh

Chu-Heng Liu

David P Bour

Warren Bruce Jackson

Noble Marshall Johnson

Bing R Hsieh

Francesco Lemmi

Koenraad F Van Schuylenbergh

James B Boyce

Sourobh Raychaudhuri

Lara S Crawford

Donald Leonard Smith

Jackson H Ho

Alberto Salleo

Serena Han Ying Wong

Michel A Rosa

Armin Rainer Völkel

Julie A Bert

Scott J Limb

David G Duff

Stephen David White

Christian G Van De Walle

Anne Plochowietz

Jurgen Hans Daniel

Timothy D Stowe

Johan De Kleer

Gregory Lewis Whiting

Ana Claudia Arias

Rene A Lujan

Thomas Wunderer

John E Northrup

Dirk De Bruyker

Brent Shawhan Krusor

Scott Eugene Solberg

Gregory B Anderson

Shu Chang

Bryan Thomas Preas

Sanjiv Sambandan

Qian Wang

Clifford F Knollenberg

Bradley Rupp

Jeffrey T Rahn

Jürgen H Daniel

Sergey Butylkov

Chinnwen Shih

Chinwen Shih

Anand Ramakrishnan

Rachel King-Ha Lau

Dirk Debruyker

Harry J Mcintyre

Donald L Smith

Koenraad F Schuylenbergh

A machine vision system and method use lensless near-contact imaging with coherent illumination, or incoherent illumination, and high pixel count large format sensors (e.g., equivalent to at least 20 to 65 mega-pixels) to produce diffraction patterns of the micro-objects or the gray scale images of the micro-objects over a large overall field-of-view of the machine vision system. The machine vision system provides feedback to a microassembler system to position, orient, and assemble microscale devices like micro-LEDs over large working areas. The effective resolution of the machine vision system can be further improved through the use of gray scale and super-resolution image processing techniques.

Lensless near-contact imaging system for micro assembly

A 3D printer includes an ejector device including a substrate and a plurality of ejector conduits on the substrate. Each ejector conduit includes: a first end positioned to accept a print material and a second end including an ejector nozzle. The ejector nozzle includes a first electrode and a second electrode, and a passageway for allowing the print material to flow from the first end to the second end. A current pulse generating system is in electrical connection with the first electrode and the second electrode of the plurality of ejector conduits. A magnetic field source is proximate the second end of the plurality of ejector conduits so as to generate a flux region disposed within the ejector nozzle of the plurality of ejector conduits during operation of the 3D printer.

Printer jetting mechanism and printer employing the printer jetting mechanism

A method of making an ejector device. The method includes providing a substrate and forming one or more ejector conduits on the substrate. The one or more ejector conduits comprise: a first end configured to accept a print material; a second end comprising an ejector nozzle, the ejector nozzle comprising a first electrode pair that includes a first electrode and a second electrode, at least one surface of the first electrode being exposed in the ejector nozzle and at least one surface of the second electrode being exposed in the ejector nozzle; and at least one passageway for allowing the print material to flow from the first end to the second end. A method of printing a three-dimensional object and a method for jetting print material from a printer jetting mechanism are also disclosed.

Method of jetting print material using ejector devices and methods of making the ejector devices

A 3D printer includes an ejector device for mixing and ejecting print material. The ejector device includes a substrate and a plurality of ejector conduits on the substrate. The ejector conduits are arranged in an array. Each ejector conduit includes a first passageway fluidly connecting a first end of the ejector conduit to a conduit junction. The first end is configured to accept a first print material. Each ejector conduit also includes a second passageway fluidly connecting a second end of the ejector conduit to the conduit junction. The second end is configured to accept a second print material. Each ejector conduit also includes a third passageway fluidly connecting a third end of the ejector conduit to the conduit junction. The third end includes an ejector nozzle. The ejector nozzle includes a first electrode and a second electrode.

Ejector device, 3D printer employing the ejector device and method of 3D printing

System and method that allow utilize machine learning algorithms to move a micro-object to a desired position are described. A sensor such as a high speed camera or capacitive sensing, tracks the locations of the objects. A dynamic potential energy landscape for manipulating objects is generated by controlling each of the electrodes in an array of electrodes. One or more computing devices are used to: estimate an initial position of a micro-object using the sensor; generate a continuous representation of a dynamic model for movement of the micro-object due to electrode potentials generated by at least some of the electrodes and use automatic differentiation and Gauss quadrature rules on the dynamic model to derive optimum potentials to be generated by the electrodes to move the micro-object to the desired position; and map the calculated optimized electrode potentials to the array to activate the electrodes.

System and method for machine-learning enabled micro-assembly control with the aid of a digital computer

Control loop latency can be accounted for in predicting positions of micro-objects being moved by using a hybrid model that includes both at least one physics-based model and machine-learning models. The models are combined using gradient boosting, with a model created during at least one of the stages being fitted based on residuals calculated during a previous stage based on comparison to training data. The loss function for each stage is selected based on the model being created. The hybrid model is evaluated with data extrapolated and interpolated from the training data to prevent overfitting and ensure the hybrid model has sufficient predictive ability. By including both physics-based and machine-learning models, the hybrid model can account for both deterministic and stochastic components involved in the movement of the micro-objects, thus increasing the accuracy and throughput of the micro-assembly.

System and method for machine-learning-based position estimation for use in micro-assembly control with the aid of a digital computer

The system and method described allow for real-time control over positioning of a micro-object. A movement of at least one micro-object suspended in a medium can be induced by a generation of one or more forces by electrodes proximate to the micro-object. Prior to inducing the movement, a simulation is used to develop a model describing a parameter of an interaction between each of the electrodes and the micro-object. A function describing the forces generated by an electrode and an extent of the movement induced due to the forces is generated using the model. The function is used to design closed loop policy control scheme for moving the micro-object towards a desired position. The position of the micro-object is tracked and taken into account when generating voltage patterns in the scheme.

System and method for voltage-based real-time micro-object position control with the aid of a digital computer

A method of manufacturing an intermediate transfer surface includes depositing an array of etch stops on a conductive surface, etching the conductive surface to form mesas of the conductive surface separated by gaps, and coating the mesas with a dielectric coating. A method of performing microassembly includes forming an assembly of particles on an assembly plane, providing an intermediate transfer surface having an array of electrodes, applying a bias to the intermediate transfer surface to form an electrostatic field between the assembly plane and the intermediate transfer surface, and moving the intermediate transfer surface towards the assembly surface until the electrostatic field strength is strong enough to cause transfer of the assembly to the intermediate transfer surface.

Multipass transfer surface for dynamic assembly

The system and method described allow for real-time control over positioning of a micro-object. A movement of at least one micro-object suspended in a medium can be induced by a generation of one or more forces by electrodes proximate to the micro-object. Prior to inducing the movement, a simulation is used to develop a model describing a parameter of an interaction between each of the electrodes and the micro-object. A function describing the forces generated by an electrode and an extent of the movement induced due to the forces is generated using the model. The function is used to design closed loop policy control scheme for moving the micro-object towards a desired position. The position of the micro-object is tracked and taken into account when generating control signals in the scheme.

System and method for capacitance-based real-time micro-object position control with the aid of a digital computer

The system and method described below allow for real-time control over positioning of a micro-object. A movement of at least one micro-object suspended in a medium can be induced by a generation of one or more forces by electrodes proximate to the micro-object. Prior to inducing the movement, a simulation is used to develop a model describing a parameter of an interaction between each of the electrodes and the micro-object. A function describing the forces generated by an electrode and an extent of the movement induced due to the forces is generated using the model. The function is used to design closed loop policy control scheme for moving the micro-object towards a desired position. The position of the micro-object is tracked and taken into account when generating control signals in the scheme.

System and method for scalable real-time micro-object position control with the aid of a digital computer

An intermediate transfer surface includes a substrate, a two-dimensional array of electrodes, a dielectric spacer layer on the two-dimensional array of electrodes, and a voltage controller electrically connected to the array of electrodes. A method of manufacturing an intermediate transfer surface, depositing an array of etch stops on a conductive surface, etching the conductive surface to form mesas of the conductive surface separated by gaps, and coating the mesas with a dielectric coating. A microassembly system includes an assembly surface having a first two dimensional array of potential wells on a first surface, a first voltage source electrically connected to the first array of potential wells, an intermediate transfer surface having a second two dimensional array of potential wells on a second surface arranged to face the first surface, and a second voltage source electrically connected to the second array of potential wells.

An electrode array including a substrate. The electrode array includes a first plurality of electrodes disposed above a first zone of the substrate, wherein the first plurality of electrodes has a first range of spacing. The electrode array further includes a second plurality of electrodes disposed above a second zone of the substrate, wherein the second plurality of electrodes has a second range of spacing that is less than the first range of spacing.

Plurality of electrodes on a substrate having different range of spacing

A method of manufacturing and using micro assembler systems are described. A method of manufacturing includes disposing a first plurality of electrodes above a first zone of the substrate, wherein the first plurality of electrodes has a first range of spacing. The method further includes disposing a second plurality of electrodes above a second zone of the substrate, wherein the second plurality of electrodes has a second range of spacing that is less than the first range of spacing. A method of using micro assembler systems includes disposing a mobile particle at least partially submersed in an assembly medium above a substrate, a first plurality of electrodes and a second plurality of electrodes. The method further includes conducting a field through individual electrodes of the first plurality of electrodes and the second plurality of electrodes to generate electrophoretic forces or dielectrophoretic forces on the mobile particle.

Hierarchical micro assembler system

A self-destructing device includes a stressed substrate with a heater thermally coupled to the stressed substrate. The device includes a power source and trigger circuitry comprising a sensor and a switch. The sensor generates a trigger signal when exposed to a trigger stimulus. The switch couples the power source to the heater in response to the trigger signal When energized by the power source, the heater generates heat sufficient to initiate self-destruction of the stressed substrate.

Sensor and heater for stimulus-initiated fracture of a substrate

A backplane test system is provided that uses a pressed or deposited resistive film and infra-red (IR) imaging to visualize and quantify the current drive of pixels. In one form, the system is used for measuring organic light-emitting-diode (OLED) backplanes or other current-actuated-display (CAD) backplanes.

Current-actuated-display backplane tester and method

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Jeng Ping Lu