Method for aligning patterns on a substrate

1. A method for aligning a second pattern to a first pattern based on a first alignment structure having a location identified by measurements of an electrical characteristic, comprising:

providing a first substrate having the first pattern including the first alignment structure, wherein the first alignment structure has a different magnitude of the electrical characteristic than the first substrate;

providing an electrical probe;

using a controller to control the relative position of the electrical probe with respect to the first substrate to measure the electrical characteristic corresponding to each of a plurality of positions at or near the first alignment structure;

using a controller to compare the measured electrical characteristic as a function of position of the probe to identify the location of the first alignment structure by identifying a difference between the measured electrical characteristic at a pair of the plurality of positions exceeding a predetermined threshold;

providing a second substrate having the second pattern including a second alignment structure formed thereon;

using a controller to identify the location of the second alignment structure; and

aligning the second substrate to the first substrate using the identified locations of the first and second alignment structures.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second substrates each include a plurality of first and second reference features respectively, and wherein aligning the second substrate to the first substrate further includes:

selecting or providing a first reference feature formed on the first substrate at a first distance and direction from the identified location of the first alignment structure;

selecting or providing a second reference feature at second distance and direction from the identified location of the second alignment feature; and

using the first and second reference features to align the second substrate to the first substrate.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first reference feature includes a first hole in the first substrate, and the second reference feature includes a second hole in the second substrate.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein using the first and second reference features to align the second substrate to the first substrate includes inserting a pin through both the first hole in the first substrate and the second hole in the second substrate.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first alignment structure is substantially transparent.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the second alignment structure is non-transparent, the method further including optically identifying the location of the non-transparent second alignment structure.

7. The method of claim 1 , further including:

forming a plurality of first substantially transparent patterns on the first substrate, each of the plurality of first substantially transparent patterns including at least one first alignment structure having associated therewith a magnitude of the electrical characteristic that is different from a magnitude of the electrical characteristic of the first substrate;

using the controller to control the probe to measure the electrical characteristic at a plurality of locations to identify locations of each of the first alignment structures associated with each of the plurality of first substantially transparent patterns; and

dividing the first substrate into a plurality of substrate pieces using the identified locations of each of the first alignment structures such that each of the plurality of substrate pieces includes one of the plurality of first substantially transparent patterns.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrical characteristic is resistance.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrical characteristic is capacitance.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the location of the first alignment structure includes identifying at least one position along a first edge of the first alignment structure.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein identifying the location of the first alignment structure includes identifying at least one position along a second edge of the first alignment structure.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first edge is disposed on a first side of a first member of the alignment structure, and wherein the second edge is disposed on a second side of the first member of the alignment structure.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first edge is disposed on a first member of the alignment structure, and wherein the second edge is disposed on a second member of the alignment structure.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein using the electrical probe to measure the electrical characteristic corresponding to each of the plurality of positions at or near the first alignment structure further includes moving the electrical probe.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein moving the electrical probe further includes:

providing a probe unit including a first contact element, a second contact element, and a third contact element that are electrically insulated from each other and arrayed in nonlinear fashion;

moving the probe unit in a first direction until the electrical characteristic measured between the first contact element and the second contact element differs by a first amount exceeding the predetermined threshold to identify a first edge of the first alignment structure; and

moving the probe unit in a second direction nonparallel to the first direction until the electrical characteristic measured between the first contact element and the third contact element differs by a second amount exceeding the predetermined threshold to identify a second edge of the first alignment structure.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein using the electrical probe to measure the electrical characteristic corresponding to each of the plurality of positions at or near the first alignment structure further includes moving the first substrate.