The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 03, 2013
Filed:
Aug. 10, 2010
Lin Zhou, Eagan, MN (US);
Huiwen Liu, Eden Prairie, MN (US);
Dale Egbert, Deephaven, MN (US);
Peter Gunderson, Ellsworth, WI (US);
John Ibele, Minneapolis, MN (US);
Lin Zhou, Eagan, MN (US);
Huiwen Liu, Eden Prairie, MN (US);
Dale Egbert, Deephaven, MN (US);
Peter Gunderson, Ellsworth, WI (US);
John Ibele, Minneapolis, MN (US);
Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and associated apparatus for topographically characterizing a workpiece. The workpiece is scanned with a scanning probe along a first directional grid, thereby scanning a reference surface and an area of interest subportion of the reference surface, at a variable pixel density including a first pixel density outside the area of interest and a second pixel density inside the area of interest to derive a first digital file characterizing topography of the workpiece. The workpiece is further scanned along the reference surface and the area of interest with the scanning probe along a second directional grid that is substantially orthogonal to the first directional grid and at a constant pixel density to derive a second digital file characterizing topography of the workpiece. A processor executes computer-readable instructions stored in memory that generate a topographical profile of the workpiece in relation to the first and second digital files.