Patent ID: 7642645

Claim:
A self-aligning system for aligning substrates that each include microstructures, comprising: a first substrate that includes: a first surface, first microstructures disposed on the first surface, and one or more first alignment structures; and a second substrate that includes: a second surface, second microstructures disposed on the second surface, and a second alignment structure, the one or more first alignment structures substantially surrounding the first microstructures in plan view, each of the one or more first alignment structures extending away from the first surface, each of the one or more first alignment structures having side walls that are substantially perpendicular to a plane of the first surface, and each of the one or more first alignment structures having a distal end opposite to the first substrate, the one or more distal ends defining a single plane substantially parallel to the plane of the first surface, the second alignment structure including: a single planar surface substantially parallel to a plane of the second surface and having an opening substantially corresponding to the second microstructures in plan view, a single side wall substantially surrounding the planar surface and extending away from the planar surface to a side of the planar surface opposite from the second substrate, and one or more apertures in the planar surface each corresponding to one of the first alignment structures, the one or more apertures being positioned to simultaneously receive the first alignment structures when the first and second substrates are properly aligned, the side wall surrounding all of the one or more apertures and tangentially coinciding with an edge of each of the one or more apertures, wherein, when the first alignment structures are fully received in the apertures, the first and second microstructures are in contact with each other, the first and second microstructures otherwise not being in contact with each other, and the first and second microstructures can only be brought into contact by a movement substantially perpendicular to the planes of the first and second surfaces.