Patent ID: 7549719

Claim:
A method for forming a printed pattern from a pattern layout using a printing system, the method comprising: extracting a first design layer from the pattern layout; performing a first print operation to print the first design layer on a substrate, wherein performing the first print operation includes making a plurality of printing passes across the substrate in a first print direction; extracting a second design layer from the pattern layout; performing a first alignment operation to achieve a desired orientation and positioning between the print head and the first design layer; and performing a second print operation after the first alignment operation to print the second design layer on the substrate, wherein performing the second print operation includes making a plurality of printing passes across the substrate in a second print direction that is non-parallel to the first print direction, wherein the print head includes at least one ejector, wherein performing the first print operation comprises printing a plurality of alignment marks on the substrate at a plurality of expected locations, wherein the IC printing system further comprises a camera rigidly connected to the print head, the camera having an imaging sensor comprising an alignment target, and wherein performing the first alignment operation comprises: adjusting a rotational orientation between the substrate and the print head until a plurality of positional offsets between each of the plurality of alignment marks and a corresponding one of the plurality of expected locations are equal within a specified tolerance; measuring an actual location for each of the plurality of alignment marks; averaging the actual locations for each of the plurality of alignment marks to determine an alignment reference point location; calculating an actual origin location for the first design layer by applying a predetermined offset to the alignment reference point location; calculating a translation vector from an offset between the actual origin location and a predetermined corresponding design origin location for the first design layer; and utilizing the translation vector to align the second one of the plurality of design layers with the substrate.