Methods, apparatus and computer program products for controlling a volume of liquid in semiconductor processing based on reflected optical radiation
AssigneeCree, Inc.
InventorsPeter Andrews, Gerald H. Negley
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of controlling dispensing of a liquid can include detecting a predetermined shape of a surface of a liquid in a container by reflecting optical radiation from the surface to control a volume of the liquid dispensed into the container. Related apparatus and computer program products are also disclosed.
Claims31
A method of controlling dispensing of a liquid comprising:
- dispensing a liquid into a container;
- detecting optical radiation reflected from a surface of the liquid, comprising:
- impinging optical radiation onto the surface of the liquid as the liquid is dispensed to provide reflected optical radiation from the surface;
- and
- detecting presence of predetermined indicia of the reflected optical radiation;
- and
- controlling the volume of the liquid dispensed into the container based on the reflected radiation.
A method of controlling dispensing of a liquid for semiconductor processing comprising:
- impinging optical radiation onto a surface of a liquid encapsulant as the liquid encapsulant is dispensed into a reflector cavity to create reflected optical radiation from the surface;
- ceasing the dispensing of the liquid encapsulant if predetermined fill indicia of the reflected optical radiation associated with a predetermined shape is detected to provide the volume associated with the predetermined shape of the surface in the reflector cavity;
- and
- inserting a lens into the surface of the liquid encapsulant upon detecting the predetermined fill indicia, wherein the predetermined shape of the surface deforms in response to insertion of the lens so that the lens is suspended in the liquid encapsulant above the reflector cavity.
A method of providing control for dispensing of a liquid in semiconductor processing comprising:
- providing a liquid encapsulant into a reflector cavity so that a lens inserted into the surface of the liquid encapsulant is suspended therein above the reflector cavity;
- placing an optical radiation source so that optical radiation can be impinged on the surface of the liquid encapsulant to provide reflected optical radiation from the surface;
- and
- placing an optical radiation sensor so that predetermined indicia of the reflected optical radiation is detected when the surface conforms to the predetermined shape.
An apparatus for controlling dispensing of a liquid encapsulant comprising:
- a liquid encapsulant dispenser configured to dispense a volume of the liquid encapsulant into a reflector cavity so as to provide a surface of the liquid encapsulant having a predetermined shape;
- an optical radiation source configured to impinge optical radiation onto the surface of the liquid encapsulant in the reflector cavity to provide reflected optical radiation;
- and
- an optical radiation sensor configured to detect the predetermined shape of the surface of the liquid encapsulant based on the reflected optical radiation provided from the surface of the liquid, wherein the volume of liquid dispensed by the liquid encapsulant dispenser is controlled based on the detected predetermined shape of the surface of the liquid encapsulant, and wherein the optical radiation sensor is further configured to detect a first predetermined indicia of the reflected optical radiation or an absence of a second predetermined indicia when the surface conforms to the predetermined shape.
A computer program product for controlling the dispensing of a liquid into a container comprising a computer readable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program product comprising:
- computer readable program code configured to detect optical radiation reflected from a surface of the liquid, comprising:
- computer readable program code configured to impinge the optical radiation onto the surface of the liquid as the liquid is dispensed to provide reflected optical radiation from the surface;
- and
- computer readable program code configured to detect presence of predetermined indicia of the reflected optical radiation;
- and
- computer readable program code configured to control a volume of the liquid dispensed into the container based on the reflected radiation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.