Techniques for arrayed printing of a permanent layer with improved speed and accuracy

A method of fabricating a layer on each substrate of a set of substrates, each of the layers to form part of a respective product, the method comprising, for each of the substrates:

• receiving the substrate;
• disposing the substrate on a flotation table;
• using a printer to deposit droplets of liquid from nozzles of a print head within a predetermined deposition area of the substrate;
• and
• processing the liquid once deposited within the predetermined deposition area to dry or cure the liquid to form the layer;
• wherein the method further comprises
• detecting misalignment of each substrate, individually, the misalignment being relative to an intended orientation of the substrate during a scan of the substrate relative to the print head,
• generating for each substrate printer control data to govern use of the printer to deposit the droplets, the printer control data comprising a nozzle firing instruction for at least one of the nozzles of the print head selected in dependence on the detected misalignment of the substrate, the printer control data representing a selection of one or more nozzles including the at least one of the nozzles, based on an expected droplet volume from each of the selected nozzles determined from empirical measurement of at least one droplet produced by each selected nozzle during a calibration operation, to produce an expected aggregate volume of the liquid from the nozzle selection that is within both the predetermined volume tolerance range and the predetermined deposition area of the substrate, notwithstanding the misalignment of the substrate, and
• printing onto each substrate according to the corresponding printer control data, notwithstanding the misalignment of the substrate.

A method of fabricating a layer on a substrate, the layer to form part of a product, the method comprising:

• receiving the substrate;
• disposing the substrate on a flotation table;
• using a printer to deposit droplets of liquid from nozzles of a print head within a predetermined deposition area of the substrate;
• and
• processing the liquid once deposited within the predetermined deposition area to dry or cure the liquid to form the layer;
• wherein the method further comprises
• optically imaging one or more fiducials on a substrate and, using a processor-based image processing system, detecting misalignment of the substrate, the misalignment relative to an intended orientation of the substrate during a scan of the substrate relative to the print head,
• generating, using at least one processor, printer control data to govern use of the printer to deposit the droplets, the printer control data comprising a nozzle firing instruction for at least one of the nozzles of the print head selected in dependence on the detected misalignment, the printer control data representing a selection of one or more nozzles including the at least one of the nozzles, based on an expected droplet volume from each of the selected nozzles determined from empirical measurement of at least one droplet produced by each selected nozzle during a calibration operation, to produce an expected aggregate volume of the liquid from the nozzle selection that is within both the predetermined volume tolerance range and the predetermined deposition area, notwithstanding the misalignment, and
• printing according to the printer control data, notwithstanding the misalignment;
• and wherein the product is device having an array of electro-optical elements, wherein the predetermined deposition area comprises a well associated with an individual electro-optical element of the electro-optical device, and wherein generating and printing is performed for each of the electro-optical elements in the array.