Hardware improvements and methods for the analysis of a spinning reflective substrates

• Main Authors: Hooge, Joshua, Carcasi, Michael
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 11.04.2023
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE; ELECTRIC SOLID STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; ELECTRICITY; INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIRCHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES; MEASURING; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS; MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEARDIMENSIONS; PHYSICS; PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION; SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; TESTING

Embodiments of systems and methods for monitoring one or more characteristics of a substrate are disclosed. Various embodiments of utilizing optical sensors (in one embodiment a camera) to provide data regarding characteristics of a fluid dispensed upon the substrate are described. A variety of hardware improvements and methods are provided to improve the collection and analysis of the sensor data. More specifically, a wide variety of hardware related techniques may be utilized, either in combination or singularly, to improve the collection of data using the optical sensor. These hardware techniques may include improvements to the light source, improvements to the optical sensors, the relationship of the physical orientation of the light source to the optical sensor, the selection of certain pixels of the image for analysis, and the relationship of the optical sensor frame rate with the rotational speed of the substrate.