SOLUTION AND METHODOLOGY FOR DETECTING SURFACE DAMAGE ON CAPACITIVE SENSOR INTEGRATED CIRCUIT

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique for detecting minute surface damage or other irregularities on the surface of a capacitive sensor integrated circuit. SOLUTION: A preliminary image of capacitance readings for a sensor array is acquired, a sensor surface is coated with an electrolyte solution and then an additional image is acquired while the sensor surface is coated and/or after the electrolyte solution is removed. The electrolyte solution accelerates manifestation of pixel degradation and failure caused by the surface damage or irregularities. Defective regions are identified by change of gray scale pixels in the preliminary image while the electrolyte coating is on the sensing surface and then again after the electrolyte coating is removed.