|Publication number||US8061806 B2|
|Application number||US 12/478,717|
|Publication date||Nov 22, 2011|
|Filing date||Jun 4, 2009|
|Priority date||Apr 12, 2002|
|Also published as||US7219429, US7556347, US7575298, US20040104956, US20050109731, US20070188555, US20090237457|
|Publication number||12478717, 478717, US 8061806 B2, US 8061806B2, US-B2-8061806, US8061806 B2, US8061806B2|
|Original Assignee||Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (35), Classifications (29), Legal Events (6)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
The present application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/737,749 filed on Apr. 20, 2007, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/026,032 filed on Jan. 3, 2005, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,219,429, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/728,784 filed on Dec. 8, 2003, which is a Continuation In Part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/307,330 filed on Dec. 2, 2002 now issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,666,544, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/120,439 filed on Apr. 12, 2002, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,536,874 all of which are herein incorporated by reference.
The following applications are incorporated by reference:
This invention relates to the fabrication of fluid ejection chips. More particularly, this invention relates to fabrication techniques of fluid ejection chips that minimize the spacing between adjacent nozzles.
As set out in the above referenced applications/patents, the Applicant has spent a substantial amount of time and effort in developing printheads that incorporate micro electromechanical system (MEMS)—based components to achieve the ejection of ink necessary for printing.
As a result of the Applicant's research and development, the Applicant has been able to develop printheads having one or more printhead chips that together incorporate up to 84 000 nozzle arrangements. The Applicant has also developed suitable processor technology that is capable of controlling operation of such printheads. In particular, the processor technology and the printheads are capable of cooperating to generate resolutions of 1600 dpi and higher in some cases. Examples of suitable processor technology are provided in the above referenced patent applications/patents.
The Applicant has overcome substantial difficulties in achieving the necessary ink flow and ink drop separation within the ink jet printheads.
It is generally beneficial to increase the nozzle densities on a printhead to enhance the print resolution. MEMS fabrication of the nozzles on silicon wafer allows very high nozzle density. However, the wafer is typically about 200 microns thick with the nozzle guards, ink chambers, ejection actuators and so on occupying a layer about 20 microns thick on one side. Ink supply passages must be formed through the wafer to the nozzles.
It is not practical to form the ink supply passages from the nozzle side of the wafer through to the supply side. The fabrication of other nozzle structures would require the entire supply passage to be filled with resist while the other structures were lithographically form on top. The resist subsequently needs to be stripped out of the passage. To strip a 200-micron deep passage of resist would be difficult and time consuming.
Forming the ink supply passages from the supply side of the wafer through to the nozzle side presents its own difficulties. Firstly, the precise alignment of the masking on the supply side with the ink chambers of each nozzle on the other side is difficult. At present, the best equipment available for aligning the mask have ±2 microns accuracy. Secondly, a deep etch will often deviate from a straight path because the ions in the etchant are influenced by any charged particles in the wafer. Thirdly, the plasma etchant will often track sideways along an interface between silicon wafer and dielectric material.
Misalignment of the supply passage can lead to the plasma etch contacting and damaging other components of the nozzle, for example, the drive circuitry for the ejection actuator. Furthermore, the above causes of misalignment can compound into large inaccuracies which imposes limits on the size of the nozzle structure and the spacing between nozzles. This, of course, reduces the density of nozzles and lowers the resolution.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a useful alternative to known printheads and the techniques for fabricating them. In particular the invention aims to provide a method of making printhead chips that accommodate the standard manufacturing tolerances involved while minimizing the spacing between adjacent nozzles.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an inkjet printhead comprising:
Etching a hole into the wafer from the droplet ejection side means the ink supply passage can stop short of the interface between the dielectric and the wafer. The plasma does not get the opportunity to track along the interface and damage the drive semiconductors. As the hole etched from the ejection side is relatively shallow, the removal of the resist is not overly difficult. This permits a more compact overall design and higher nozzle packing density.
The term ‘width’ when used in the context of defining the supply passage or the hole etched from the droplet ejection side, does not imply any particular geometry for these features. They may have a substantially circular cross section, in which case the width is the diameter. The passage and hole may have a substantially square cross section wherein the width might conveniently be the length of a side. However, it will be appreciated that the width may be any appropriate transverse dimension of the passage and the hole.
According to a second aspect, the present invention provides a method of ejecting drops of an ejectable liquid from an inkjet printhead, the printhead comprising a plurality of nozzles, a plurality of liquid passages leading to each nozzle respectively, droplet ejection actuators and associated drive circuitry corresponding to each nozzle respectively, the nozzles, ejection actuators, associated drive circuitry and liquid passage being formed from an etched silicon wafer using lithographic fabrication techniques, such that the wafer has a droplet ejection side and a liquid supply side, and, each of the liquid passages is formed by etching a hole partially through the wafer from the droplet ejection side, subsequently filling the hole with resist then etching a passage from the liquid supply side of the wafer to the resist before stripping the resist from the hole, the method of ejecting drops comprising the steps of:
providing the ejectable liquid to each of the nozzles using the associated liquid passage; and
actuating the droplet ejection actuator to eject droplets of the ejectable liquid from the nozzle.
According to a third aspect, the present invention provides a method of fabricating inkjet printheads, the printhead comprising a plurality of nozzles, a plurality of liquid passages leading to each nozzle respectively for providing ejectable liquid to the associated the nozzle, droplet ejection actuators and associated drive circuitry corresponding to each nozzle respectively, the method comprising the steps of:
forming the nozzles, ejection actuators, associated drive circuitry and liquid passage from an etched silicon wafer using lithographic fabrication techniques, so that the wafer has a droplet ejection side and a liquid supply side; and,
According to a fourth aspect, the present invention provides a printer system incorporating an inkjet printhead comprising:
Preferably, the width of the hole is greater than 8 microns but less than 24 microns. In a particularly preferred form, the width of the supply passage is greater than 10 microns. However, it is also preferable that the width of the supply passage is less than 28 microns.
Preferably, the droplet ejection actuators are thermal bend actuators. In other preferred forms, the droplet ejection actuators are gas bubble generating heater elements.
In a related aspect, the present invention provides a fluid ejection chip for a fluid ejection device, the fluid ejection chip comprising
The fluid ejection chip may be the product of an integrated circuit fabrication technique. Thus, the substrate may incorporate CMOS drive circuitry, each actuator being connected to the CMOS drive circuitry.
Each nozzle chamber defining structure may include a static fluid-ejecting structure and the active fluid-ejecting structure, with the active fluid-ejecting structure defining a roof with a fluid ejection port defined in the roof, so that the static and active fluid-ejecting structures define the nozzle chamber and the displacement of the active fluid-ejecting structure results in the ejection of fluid from the fluid ejection port.
A number of actuators may be positioned in a substantially rotationally symmetric manner about each active fluid-ejecting structure.
Each nozzle arrangement may include a pair of substantially identical actuators, one actuator positioned on each of a pair of opposed sides of the active fluid-ejecting structure.
Each active fluid-ejecting structure may include sidewalls that depend from the roof. The sidewalls may be dimensioned to bound the corresponding static fluid-ejecting structure.
Each static fluid-ejecting structure may define a fluid displacement formation that is spaced from the substrate and faces the roof of the active fluid-ejecting structure. Each fluid displacement formation may define a fluid displacement area that is dimensioned to facilitate ejection of fluid from the fluid ejection port, when the active fluid-ejecting structure is displaced towards the substrate.
The substrate may define a plurality of fluid inlet channels, one fluid inlet channel opening into each respective nozzle chamber at a fluid inlet opening.
The fluid inlet channel of each nozzle arrangement may open into the nozzle chamber in substantial alignment with the fluid ejection port. Each static fluid-ejecting structure may be positioned about a respective fluid inlet opening.
Each actuator may be in the form of a thermal bend actuator. Each thermal bend actuator may be anchored to the substrate at one end and movable with respect to the substrate at an opposed end. Further, each thermal bend actuator may have an actuator arm that bends when differential thermal expansion is set up in the actuator arm. Each thermal bend actuator may be connected to the CMOS drive circuitry to bend towards the substrate when the thermal bend actuator receives a driving signal from the CMOS drive circuitry.
Each nozzle arrangement may include at least two coupling structures. One coupling structure being positioned intermediate each actuator and the respective active fluid-ejecting structure. Each coupling structure may be configured to accommodate both arcuate movement of said opposed end of each thermal bend actuator and said substantially rectilinear movement of the active fluid-ejecting structure.
Each active fluid-ejecting structure and each static fluid-ejecting structure may be shaped so that, when fluid is received in the nozzle chamber, the fluid-ejecting structures and the fluid define a fluidic seal to inhibit fluid from leaking out of the nozzle chamber between the fluid-ejecting structures.
The invention extends to a fluid ejection device that includes at least one fluid ejection chip as described above.
The invention is now described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description is not intended to limit the broad scope of the above summary or the broad scope of the appended claims. Still further, for purposes of convenience, the following description is directed to a printhead chip. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is applicable to a wider range of devices, which Applicant has referred to generically as a “fluid ejection chip”.
In the drawings,
The present invention is applicable to printheads formed on and through silicon wafers by lithographic etching and deposition techniques, regardless of whether bubble forming heater elements or thermal bend actuators are used.
Bubble Forming Heater Element Actuated Printheads
The unit cell 1 is shown with part of the walls 6 and nozzle plate 2 cut-away, which reveals the interior of the chamber 7. The heater 14 is not shown cut away, so that both halves of the heater element 10 can be seen.
In operation ink 11 passes through the ink inlet passage 314 (see
It is generally beneficial to increase the nozzle densities on a printhead to enhance the print resolution. MEMS fabrication of the nozzles on silicon wafer allows very high nozzle density. However, the wafer is typically about 200 microns thick with the nozzle guards, ink chambers, ejection actuators and so on occupying a layer about 20 microns thick on one side. These dimensions are indicated generally by A and B on
Forming the ink supply passages from the supply side of the wafer through to the nozzle side presents its own difficulties. These problems are schematically illustrated in
Another problem is schematically shown in
The above causes of misalignment can compound into large inaccuracies that imposes limits on the size of the nozzle structure and the spacing between nozzles. This, of course, reduces the density of nozzles and lowers the resolution.
Referring to 5, 6 and 7, the present invention addresses this by etching the inlet 31 through the interconnect 23 and into the wafer 21 so that the ink supply passage 32 can stop short of the interface between the dielectric 23 and the wafer 21. As best shown in
The nozzle arrangement 10 is one of a plurality of such nozzle arrangements formed on a silicon wafer substrate 12 to define the printhead chip of the invention. As set out in the background of this specification, a single printhead can contain up to 84 000 such nozzle arrangements. For the purposes of clarity and ease of description, only one nozzle arrangement is described. It is to be appreciated that a person of ordinary skill in the field can readily obtain the printhead chip by simply replicating the nozzle arrangement 10 on the wafer substrate 12.
The printhead chip is the product of an integrated circuit fabrication technique. In particular, each nozzle arrangement 10 is the product of a MEMS—based fabrication technique. As is known, such a fabrication technique involves the deposition of functional layers and sacrificial layers of integrated circuit materials. The functional layers are etched to define various moving components and the sacrificial layers are etched away to release the components. As is known, such fabrication techniques generally involve the replication of a large number of similar components on a single wafer that is subsequently diced to separate the various components from each other. This reinforces the submission that a person of ordinary skill in the field can readily obtain the printhead chip of this invention by replicating the nozzle arrangement 10.
An electrical drive circuitry layer 14 is positioned on the silicon wafer substrate 12. The electrical drive circuitry layer 14 includes CMOS drive circuitry. The particular configuration of the CMOS drive circuitry is not important to this description and has therefore not been shown in any detail in the drawings. Suffice to say that it is connected to a suitable microprocessor and provides electrical current to the nozzle arrangement 10 upon receipt of an enabling signal from said suitable microprocessor. An example of a suitable microprocessor is described in the above referenced patents/patent applications. It follows that this level of detail will not be set out in this specification.
An ink passivation layer 16 is positioned on the drive circuitry layer 14. The ink passivation layer 16 can be of any suitable material, such as silicon nitride.
The nozzle arrangement 10 includes an ink inlet channel 18 that is one of a plurality of such ink inlet channels defined in the substrate 12.
The nozzle arrangement 10 includes an active ink ejection structure 20. The active ink ejection structure 20 has a roof 22 and sidewalls 24 that depend from the roof 22. An ink ejection port 26 is defined in the roof 22.
The active ink ejection structure 20 is connected to, and between, a pair of thermal bend actuators 28 with coupling structures 30 that are described in further detail below. The roof 22 is generally rectangular in plan and, more particularly, can be square in plan. This is simply to facilitate connection of the actuators 28 to the roof 22 and is not critical. For example, in the event that three actuators are provided, the roof 22 could be generally triangular in plan. There may thus be other shapes that are suitable.
The active ink ejection structure 20 is connected between the thermal bend actuators 28 so that a free edge 32 of the sidewalls 24 is spaced from the ink passivation layer 16. It will be appreciated that the sidewalls 24 bound a region between the roof 22 and the substrate 12.
The roof 22 is generally planar, but defines a nozzle rim 76 that bounds the ink ejection port 26. The roof 22 also defines a recess 78 positioned about the nozzle rim 76 which serves to inhibit ink spread in case of ink wetting beyond the nozzle rim 76.
The nozzle arrangement 10 includes a static ink ejection structure 34 that extends from the substrate 12 towards the roof 22 and into the region bounded by the sidewalls 24. The static ink ejection structure 34 and the active ink ejection structure 20 together define a nozzle chamber 42 in fluid communication with an opening 38 of the ink inlet channel 18. The static ink ejection structure 34 has a wall portion 36 that bounds an opening 38 of the ink inlet channel 18. An ink displacement formation 40 is positioned on the wall portion 36 and defines an ink displacement area that is sufficiently large so as to facilitate ejection of ink from the ink ejection port 26 when the active ink displacement structure 20 is displaced towards the substrate 12. The opening 38 is substantially aligned with the ink ejection port 26.
The thermal bend actuators 28 are substantially identical. It follows that, provided a similar driving signal is supplied to each thermal bend actuator 28, the thermal bend actuators 28 each produce substantially the same force on the active ink ejection structure 20.
The arm 44 has a pair of outer passive portions 46 and a pair of inner active portions 48. The outer passive portions 46 have passive anchors 50 that are each made fast with the ink passivation layer 16 by a retaining structure 52 of successive layers of titanium and silicon dioxide or equivalent material.
The inner active portions 48 have active anchors 54 that are each made fast with the drive circuitry layer 14 and are electrically connected to the drive circuitry layer 14. This is also achieved with a retaining structure 56 of successive layers of titanium and silicon dioxide or equivalent material.
The arm 44 has a working end that is defined by a bridge portion 58 that interconnects the portions 46, 48. It follows that, with the active anchors 54 connected to suitable electrical contacts in the drive circuitry layer 14, the inner active portions 48 define an electrical circuit. Further, the portions 46, 48 have a suitable electrical resistance so that the inner active portions 48 are heated when a current from the CMOS drive circuitry passes through the inner active portions 48. It will be appreciated that substantially no current will pass through the outer passive portions 46 resulting in the passive portions heating to a significantly lesser extent than the inner active portions 48. Thus, the inner active portions 48 expand to a greater extent than the outer passive portions 46.
As can be seen in
Each inner active portion 48 has a transverse profile that is effectively an inverse of the outer passive portions 46. Thus, outer sections 66 of the inner active portions 48 are generally coplanar with the outer sections 60 of the passive portions 46 and are positioned intermediate central sections 68 of the inner active portions 48 and the substrate 12. It follows that the inner active portions 48 define a volume that is positioned further from the substrate 12 than the outer passive portions 46. It will therefore be appreciated that the greater expansion of the inner active portions 48 results in the arm 44 bending towards the substrate 12. This movement of the arms 44 is transferred to the active ink ejection structure 20 to displace the active ink ejection structure 20 towards the substrate 12.
This bending of the arms 44 and subsequent displacement of the active ink ejection structure 20 towards the substrate 12 is indicated in
On the macroscopic scale, it would be counter-intuitive to use heat expansion and contraction of material to achieve movement of a functional component. However, the Applicant has found that, on a microscopic scale, the movement resulting from heat expansion is fast enough to permit a functional component to perform work. This is particularly so when suitable materials, such as TiAlN are selected for the functional component.
One coupling structure 30 is mounted on each bridge portion 58. As set out above, the coupling structures 30 are positioned between respective thermal actuators 28 and the roof 22. It will be appreciated that the bridge portion 58 of each thermal actuator 28 traces an arcuate path when the arm 44 is bent and straightened in the manner described above. Thus, the bridge portions 58 of the oppositely oriented actuators 28 tend to move away from each other when actuated, while the active ink ejection structure 20 maintains a rectilinear path. It follows that the coupling structures 30 should accommodate movement in two axes, in order to function effectively.
Details of one of the coupling structures 30 are shown in
The coupling structure 30 includes a connecting member 74 that is positioned on the bridge portion 58 of the thermal actuator 28. The connecting member 74 has a generally planar surface 80 that is substantially coplanar with the roof 22 when the nozzle arrangement 10 is in a quiescent condition.
A pair of spaced proximal tongues 82 is positioned on the connecting member 74 to extend towards the roof 22. Likewise, a pair of spaced distal tongues 84 is positioned on the roof 22 to extend towards the connecting member 74 so that the tongues 82, 84 overlap in a common plane parallel to the substrate 12. The tongues 82 are interposed between the tongues 84.
A rod 86 extends from each of the tongues 82 towards the substrate 12. Likewise, a rod 88 extends from each of the tongues 84 towards the substrate 12. The rods 86, 88 are substantially identical. The connecting structure 30 includes a connecting plate 90. The plate 90 is interposed between the tongues 82, 84 and the substrate 12. The plate 90 interconnects ends 92 of the rods 86, 88. Thus, the tongues 82, 84 are connected to each other with the rods 86, 88 and the connecting plate 90.
During fabrication of the nozzle arrangement 10, layers of material that are deposited and subsequently etched include layers of TiAlN, titanium and silicon dioxide. Thus, the thermal actuators 28, the connecting plates 90 and the static ink ejection structure 34 are of TiAlN. Further, both the retaining structures 52, 56, and the connecting members 74 are composite, having a layer 94 of titanium and a layer 96 of silicon dioxide positioned on the layer 74. The layer 74 is shaped to nest with the bridge portion 58 of the thermal actuator 28. The rods 86, 88 and the sidewalls 24 are of titanium. The tongues 82, 84 and the roof 22 are of silicon dioxide.
When the CMOS drive circuitry sets up a suitable current in the thermal bend actuator 28, the connecting member 74 is driven in an arcuate path as indicated with an arrow 98 in
The rods 86, 88 and the connecting plate 90 are dimensioned so that the rods 86, 88 and the connecting plate 90 can distort to accommodate relative displacement of the roof 22 and the connecting member 74 when the roof 22 is displaced towards the substrate 12 during the ejection of ink from the ink ejection port 26. The titanium of the rods 86, 88 has a Young's Modulus that is sufficient to allow the rods 86, 88 to return to a straightened condition when the roof 22 is displaced away from the ink ejection port 26. The TiAlN of the connecting plate 90 also has a Young's Modulus that is sufficient to allow the connecting plate 90 to return to a starting condition when the roof 22 is displaced away from the ink ejection port 26. The manner in which the rods 86, 88 and the connecting plate 90 are distorted is indicated in
For the sake of convenience, the substrate 19 is assumed to be horizontal so that ink drop ejection is in a vertical direction.
As can be seen in
In particular, the rods 86 bend and the connecting plate 90 rotates partially as shown in
At this point, it is to be understood that the tongues 82, 84, the rods 86, 88 and the connecting plate 90 are all fast with each other so that relative movement of these components is not achieved by any relative sliding movement between these components.
It follows that bending of the rods 86, 88 sets up three bend nodes in each of the rods 86, 88, since pivotal movement of the rods 86, 88 relative to the tongues 82, 84 is inhibited. This enhances an operative resilience of the rods 86, 88 and therefore also facilitates separation of the ink drop 70 when the roof 22 is displaced away from the substrate 12.
The nozzle arrangement 110 includes four symmetrically arranged thermal bend actuators 28. Each thermal bend actuator 28 is connected to a respective side 112 of the roof 22. The thermal bend actuators 28 are substantially identical to ensure that the roof 22 is displaced in a rectilinear manner.
The static ink ejection structure 34 has an inner wall 116 and an outer wall 118 that together define the wall portion 36. An inwardly directed ledge 114 is positioned on the inner wall 116 and extends into the nozzle chamber 42.
A sealing formation 120 is positioned on the outer wall 118 to extend outwardly from the wall portion 38. It follows that the sealing formation 120 and the ledge 114 define the ink displacement formation 40.
The sealing formation 120 includes a re-entrant portion 122 that opens towards the substrate 12. A lip 124 is positioned on the re-entrant portion 122 to extend horizontally from the re-entrant portion 122. The sealing formation 120 and the sidewalls 24 are configured so that, when the nozzle arrangement 10 is in a quiescent condition, the lip 124 and a free edge 126 of the sidewalls 24 are in horizontal alignment with each other. A distance between the lip 124 and the free edge 126 is such that a meniscus is defined between the sealing formation 120 and the free edge 126 when the nozzle chamber 42 is filled with the ink 72. When the nozzle arrangement 10 is in an operative condition, the free edge 126 is interposed between the lip 124 and the substrate 12 and the meniscus stretches to accommodate this movement. It follows that when the chamber 42 is filled with the ink 72, a fluidic seal is defined between the sealing formation 120 and the free edge 126 of the sidewalls 24.
The Applicant believes that this related aspect of the invention provides a means whereby substantially rectilinear movement of an ink-ejecting component can be achieved. The Applicant has found that this form of movement enhances efficiency of operation of the nozzle arrangement 10. Further, the rectilinear movement of the active ink ejection structure 20 results in clean drop formation and separation, a characteristic that is the primary goal of ink jet printhead manufacturers.
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|U.S. Classification||347/40, 347/62|
|International Classification||B41J2/15, B41J2/14, B41J2/16|
|Cooperative Classification||Y10T29/4913, B41J2/1412, B41J2/1628, B41J2/1639, Y10T29/49126, Y10T29/49401, Y10T29/42, B41J2/1635, B41J2/14145, Y10T29/49128, B41J2/1601, B41J2/14427, B41J2/1631, B41J2002/14435, B41J2/1648|
|European Classification||B41J2/14B6, B41J2/14B5R1, B41J2/14S, B41J2/16B, B41J2/16M6, B41J2/16M7S, B41J2/16S, B41J2/16M4, B41J2/16M3D|
|Jun 4, 2009||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: SILVERBROOK RESEARCH PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:SILVERBROOK, KIA;REEL/FRAME:022784/0960
Effective date: 20090507
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Owner name: ZAMTEC LIMITED, IRELAND
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:SILVERBROOK RESEARCH PTY. LIMITED AND CLAMATE PTY LIMITED;REEL/FRAME:028522/0610
Effective date: 20120503
|Jun 25, 2014||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: MEMJET TECHNOLOGY LIMITED, IRELAND
Free format text: CHANGE OF NAME;ASSIGNOR:ZAMTEC LIMITED;REEL/FRAME:033244/0276
Effective date: 20140609
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|Nov 22, 2015||LAPS||Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees|
|Jan 12, 2016||FP||Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee|
Effective date: 20151122