JP2007182009A - Manufacturing method for nozzle base plate, liquid droplet ejection head and liquid droplet ejector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing method for a nozzle base plate, which can form a desired shape of a nozzle, and a manufacturing method for a liquid droplet ejection head utilizing the nozzle base plate. <P>SOLUTION: This manufacturing method comprises: a step of opening a nozzle supply port 31A-1 from one surface side of a silicon substrate, and of forming a recess which serves as nozzles 31 (first and second nozzles 31A and 31B); and a step of opening a nozzle ejection port 31B-1 by performing anisotropic dry etching from a surface on the other side of a surface with the formed recess serving as the nozzle 31, so as to make a hole in the recess. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a nozzle substrate on which nozzles are formed by microfabrication, a droplet discharge head that discharges droplets of ink or the like, and a method for manufacturing a droplet discharge device.

  For example, micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) that process silicon or the like to form microelements and the like have made rapid progress. Examples of microfabricated elements formed by microfabrication technology include, for example, a droplet discharge head (inkjet head), a micropump, and an optical variable filter used in a recording (printing) apparatus such as a droplet discharge type printer. There are electrostatic actuators such as motors, pressure sensors and the like.

  Here, a droplet discharge head will be described as an example of a microfabricated element. A droplet discharge type recording (printing) apparatus is used for printing in various fields regardless of whether it is for home use or industrial use. The droplet discharge method is, for example, a method in which a droplet discharge head having a plurality of nozzles is moved relative to an object (paper, etc.), and a droplet is discharged to a predetermined position of the object for printing or the like. It is. This system is a microarray of biomolecules such as color filters for producing display devices using liquid crystals, display panels (OLEDs) using electroluminescent devices such as organic compounds, DNA, proteins, etc. Etc. are also used in the manufacture of

  As a method of ejecting droplets from a nozzle by a droplet ejection head, for example, there is a method in which a liquid is heated and droplets are ejected by the pressure of generated air (bubbles). Also, a discharge chamber for storing liquid is provided in a part of the flow path, and at least one wall of the discharge chamber (here, referred to as a bottom wall, hereinafter referred to as a diaphragm) is bent. There is a method in which (in operation) the pressure in the discharge chamber is increased by shape change, and droplets are discharged from the communicating nozzle. In addition, the diaphragm is a movable electrode, a voltage is applied between the electrode (fixed electrode) facing the diaphragm at a distance, and the generated electrostatic force (electrostatic attractive force is often used. In some cases, the diaphragm is displaced by the generated electrostatic attraction force and discharged by the pressure (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2000-52551 A

  Here, consider a nozzle substrate having nozzles for ejecting liquid as droplets. The nozzle substrate is manufactured by performing processing on the substrate mainly by anisotropic etching. As anisotropic etching, there are dry etching (dry etching) and wet etching (wet etching). In general, a process is often employed in which dry etching is performed from one surface side to form a nozzle shape, and wet etching is performed from the other surface until etching is performed through the nozzle. Here, in order to improve discharge performance, the shape of the nozzle is often formed in two or more steps that are close to a tapered shape.

  At this time, in order not to etch the portion other than the portion where wet etching is performed (particularly the nozzle portion formed by dry etching), the portion other than the portion where wet etching is performed is an etching resistant protective film (for example, a silicon oxide film). Protect.

  However, it is very difficult to uniformly form an anti-etching protective film with a desired thickness inside a nozzle formed by dry etching perpendicularly to the substrate, for example, an edge portion. Therefore, for example, if the film formation on the discharge-side opening is not uniform, the opening may be affected when the film is penetrated by wet etching. For example, crystal orientation is used in anisotropic wet etching, but the periphery of the opening may not be formed in a plane due to the influence of the surface orientation. Thereby, the discharge performance of the liquid droplets discharged from the nozzles may be lowered (for example, the discharge direction does not go straight (becomes slanted)). Also, if the discharge performance is too low, the nozzle substrate cannot be used, which may lead to a decrease in yield.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to obtain a nozzle substrate manufacturing method capable of forming a desired nozzle shape in order to solve such a problem. Another object of the present invention is to obtain a method for manufacturing a droplet discharge head or the like based on the nozzle substrate.

The nozzle substrate manufacturing method according to the present invention includes a step of opening a nozzle supply port from one surface side of a silicon substrate, forming a recess serving as a nozzle, and a surface opposite to the surface where the recess serving as a nozzle is formed. And a step of performing etching by anisotropic dry etching from the surface to form a hole in the recess and forming a discharge port of the nozzle.
According to the present invention, when the nozzle substrate is manufactured, the etching finally performed to open the discharge port through the nozzle is performed by anisotropic dry etching. For example, it can be formed flat without forming irregularities due to crystal planes, a nozzle substrate with high discharge performance can be manufactured, and the yield can also be increased.

In addition, the method for manufacturing a nozzle substrate according to the present invention includes anisotropic wet etching after performing anisotropic wet etching from the surface opposite to the surface on which the concave portion serving as the nozzle is formed to a desired thickness. Thus, the discharge port is formed as an opening.
According to the present invention, since anisotropic wet etching is performed before anisotropic dry etching, a plurality of wafers can be processed at one time, and the time can be shortened. , Can increase productivity.

Moreover, the manufacturing method of the nozzle substrate which concerns on this invention sets desired thickness to 10 micrometers or more.
According to the present invention, by setting the desired thickness to 10 μm or more, for example, even if variation in the progress state due to anisotropic wet etching occurs, the holes that become discharge holes at the wet etching stage are formed. A nozzle substrate with high discharge performance can be manufactured without opening.

Moreover, the nozzle substrate manufacturing method according to the present invention forms a tapered or stepped nozzle such that the discharge port has a smaller diameter than the supply port.
According to the present invention, since the nozzle is formed so as to have a tapered shape or a stepped shape, a nozzle substrate having high ejection performance can be manufactured, for example, the ejected liquid droplets can be straightened more reliably. be able to.

In addition, the method for manufacturing a droplet discharge head according to the present invention includes a nozzle substrate manufactured by the above method, a channel for supplying liquid to the nozzles of the nozzle substrate, and a liquid added to a part of the channel. And a step of bonding a substrate provided with a pressing means for pressing.
According to the present invention, since the droplet discharge head is manufactured using the nozzle substrate manufactured by the above manufacturing method, it is possible to manufacture a droplet discharge head with high discharge performance. In addition, the yield can be increased.

In addition, a method for manufacturing a droplet discharge device according to the present invention is a method for manufacturing a droplet discharge device by applying the method for manufacturing a droplet discharge head described above.
According to the present invention, since the droplet discharge device is manufactured using the droplet discharge head manufactured by the above manufacturing method, a device having high discharge performance can be manufactured. In addition, the yield can be increased.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a droplet discharge head according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a face eject type liquid droplet ejection head as a representative of an electrostatic actuator. (For the sake of clarity, the components are shown in the following drawings including FIG. May be different from the actual relationship, and the upper side of the figure is the upper side and the lower side is the lower side). In FIG. 1, the electrode substrate 10 has a thickness of about 1 mm. In FIG. 1, the electrode substrate 10 is bonded to the lower surface of the cavity substrate 20 so as to face the diaphragm 22. In the present embodiment, a borosilicate heat-resistant hard glass is used as a material for the substrate constituting the electrode substrate 10. The electrode substrate 10 is provided with, for example, a groove portion 11 having a depth of about 0.25 μm in accordance with each discharge chamber 21 formed in the cavity substrate 20, and an individual electrode 12 </ b> A facing each discharge chamber 22 on the inner side (particularly the bottom portion). The lead portion 12B and the terminal portion 12C (hereinafter referred to as the electrode portion 12 when they are not particularly distinguished) are provided. In the present embodiment, ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) doped with indium with tin oxide as an impurity is used as the material of the electrode portion 12, and the bottom surface of the groove portion 11 is, for example, 0.1 μm by sputtering or the like. A film is formed with a thickness. The liquid supply port 13 serves as an intake port for supplying liquid such as ink from an external tank (not shown) to the droplet discharge head.

  The cavity substrate 20 is made of, for example, a silicon single crystal substrate whose surface has a (110) plane orientation (including this substrate, hereinafter, simply referred to as a silicon substrate). The cavity substrate 20 is formed with a recess serving as the discharge chamber 21 (the bottom wall serves as the vibration plate 22 serving as the driven portion) and a recess serving as the reservoir 23 for storing the liquid ejected in common to each nozzle. Yes. For example, an anisotropic wet etching method (hereinafter referred to as wet etching) is used to form the recess. The reservoir 23 temporarily stores the liquid supplied via the liquid supply port 13 and supplies the liquid to each discharge chamber 22. The common electrode terminal 24 provided on the cavity substrate 1 is for supplying the cavity substrate 20 with a charge opposite to the charge supplied to the electrode portion 12. In addition, an insulating film 25 is formed on the lower surface of the diaphragm 22 in order to insulate the individual electrode 12 </ b> A from the diaphragm 22.

  In the present embodiment, for example, a silicon substrate having a thickness of about 200 μm is used as the nozzle substrate 30, and the nozzle substrate 30 is bonded to the cavity substrate 20 on the surface opposite to the electrode substrate 10 (upper surface in the case of FIG. 1). The nozzle substrate 30 of the present embodiment is assumed to have a plurality of nozzles 31 formed in two stages that communicate with the discharge chamber 21. A small opening (approximately 20 μm) on the liquid discharge side (referred to as nozzle discharge port 31A-1) opened to be circular on the outer surface (upper surface in the case of FIG. 1) of the nozzle substrate 30. ) Is a first nozzle 31A. In addition, an opening (nozzle supply) having a larger diameter (approximately 50 μm) on the liquid supply side, opened to be circular on the inner surface (the surface facing the cavity substrate 20, the lower surface in FIG. 1). A cylindrical nozzle having a mouth 31B-1 is referred to as a second nozzle 31B. Here, it is assumed that the centers of the circles formed by the first nozzle 31A and the second nozzle 31B are the same (concentric circles). In addition, a narrow groove serving as an orifice 32 is provided on the inner surface, and the discharge chamber 21 and the reservoir 23 are communicated with each other to serve as a communication groove for supplying the liquid stored in the reservoir 23 to the discharge chamber 21. The diaphragm 33 is provided to buffer the force propagating to the liquid accumulated in the reservoir 23 by pressurizing the diaphragm 22. In FIG. 1, the nozzle substrate 30 is the upper surface and the electrode substrate 20 is the lower surface. However, in actual use, the nozzle substrate 30 is usually the lower surface than the electrode substrate 20.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the droplet discharge head. The terminal portion 12 </ b> C is exposed to the outside at the electrode outlet 26. The oscillation circuit 41 is electrically connected to the terminal portion 12C and the common electrode terminal 24 directly or via a wire 42 such as a wire or FPC (Flexible Print Circuit), and the individual electrode 12A, the cavity substrate 20 (the diaphragm 22). ) Is a circuit for controlling supply and stop of electric charge (electric power). The oscillation circuit 41 oscillates at, for example, 24 kHz, and supplies charges by applying pulse voltages of, for example, 0 V and 30 V to the individual electrode 12A. The oscillation circuit 41 oscillates and drives the individual electrodes 12A selectively to charge them positively and to charge the diaphragm 22 relatively negatively. At this time, the diaphragm 22 is attracted to the individual electrode 12A by the electrostatic force and bent. This increases the volume of the discharge chamber 21. When the charge supply is stopped, the diaphragm 22 returns to its original state, but at that time, the volume of the discharge chamber 21 also returns to its original state, and droplets are discharged by the pressure. For example, printing is performed by the droplets landing on an ejection target. In order to prevent the space (gap) between the individual electrode 12A and the diaphragm 22 from communicating with the outside air by exposing the terminal portion 12C to the outside, the sealing material 27 is used to seal and block the outside air. Yes.

  In the present embodiment, the nozzle substrate 30 is manufactured as designed without changing the nozzle shape by wet etching, so that the nozzle substrate 30 having high ejection performance and a droplet ejection head having the nozzle substrate 30 are obtained. is there. Therefore, conventionally, after the shape of the nozzle 31 is formed on a certain surface by anisotropic dry etching (hereinafter referred to as dry etching), the nozzle discharge port 31A-1 is formed by performing wet etching from the opposite surface. In the stage before penetrating the nozzle 31 that has been formed to penetrate, etching is performed by switching from wet etching to dry etching, for example, and finally the opening and penetration are performed by dry etching. Thus, the discharge performance is enhanced by keeping the periphery of the opening portion on the discharge side of the nozzle 31 flat.

  3 and 4 are diagrams illustrating a method for manufacturing the nozzle substrate 30 according to the first embodiment. Next, based on FIG.3 and FIG.4, the procedure of the manufacturing method of the nozzle substrate 30 in this invention is demonstrated. Actually, a plurality of nozzle substrates 30 of droplet discharge heads are simultaneously formed from a silicon wafer, but only a part of them is shown in FIGS.

  First, when etching is performed on a silicon substrate 51 having a thickness of about 200 μm, a silicon oxide film 52 serving as a film (resist) for protecting the silicon substrate 51 is formed, for example, about 1.2 μm (FIG. 3A). ). The film forming method is not particularly limited, but here, for example, a method by thermal oxidation in which the silicon substrate 51 is exposed to an oxygen and water vapor atmosphere at a high temperature (about 1075 ° C.) is used. Here, as the silicon substrate 51, a silicon substrate having a (100) plane orientation is used.

  Then, in order to perform patterning by selectively etching the silicon oxide film 52, a photolithography method is used to apply a photosensitive agent to be a resist film, and a portion of the resist film to be the first nozzle 31A is formed by exposure and development. Remove. Then, for example, a silicon oxide film in a portion to be the first nozzle 31A is immersed in a hydrofluoric acid aqueous solution, a buffered hydrofluoric acid aqueous solution (BHF: for example, a liquid in which a hydrofluoric acid aqueous solution and an ammonium fluoride aqueous solution are mixed at 1: 6) or the like. 52 is removed by etching to expose the silicon (FIG. 3B).

Further, the silicon oxide film 52 in the portion that becomes the second nozzle 31B (nozzle supply port 31B-1) and the portion that becomes the orifice 32 is removed by half etching. The removal method is the same as in the case of the portion that becomes the first nozzle 31A, but the silicon oxide film 52 is left slightly in the portion that becomes the second nozzle 31B and the portion that becomes the orifice 32, so that silicon is not exposed. (FIG. 3C). Next, dry etching is performed to form a recess (hole) having a diameter of about 20 μm and a depth of about 50 μm, for example, in the first nozzle 31A (FIG. 3D). The type of dry etching or the like is not particularly limited. For example, dry etching by ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) discharge may be performed. In this case, the etching is alternately repeated in the depth direction with SF ₆ (sulfur hexafluoride) while protecting the side wall surface with, for example, fluorine-based C ₄ F ₈ (Kutafluorocyclobutane) as a gas used for etching. Then, dry etching is performed. Then, the silicon oxide film 52 in the portion that becomes the second nozzle 31B and the portion that becomes the orifice 32 left by the half etching is removed by a photolithography method or the like (FIG. 3E).

  Then, dry etching is performed to form a recess (hole) having a diameter of about 50 μm and a depth of 50 μm with respect to the second nozzle 31B. About the part of the 1st nozzle 31A, a recessed part is further formed to a part deep 50 micrometers. Further, the orifice 32 is simultaneously formed by dry etching (FIG. 3F). Again, the type of dry etching is not particularly limited. When the dry etching is completed, the silicon oxide film 52 formed as a protective film is removed (FIG. 3G). The removal of the silicon oxide film 52 is performed, for example, by wet etching the entire surface with the hydrofluoric acid aqueous solution described above. Then, a silicon oxide film 53 is formed on the entire surface as a protective film for further wet etching (FIG. 3H). There is no particular limitation on the method for forming the film, but here, a thermal oxidation method capable of forming a film regardless of unevenness is used. After the formation of the silicon oxide film 53, and using a photolithography method, the silicon oxide film 53 is removed by wet etching to remove the portion that will become the recess 34 and the portion that will become the diaphragm 33 for penetrating the nozzle 31. Is exposed (FIG. 3I).

  Next, the silicon substrate is immersed in an etching solution, and the portion that becomes the concave portion 34 and the portion that becomes the diaphragm 33 are wet-etched (FIG. 3J). For the wet etching of silicon, for example, a potassium hydroxide (KOH) aqueous solution having a concentration of 32 w% is used. Here, normally, the nozzle 31 is formed through by this wet etching, but in this embodiment, it is left without being formed through. The remaining thickness is not particularly limited, but in this embodiment, time management is performed so that a thickness of about 10 μm remains in consideration of variations in the progress of etching.

Further, dry etching is performed on the portion that becomes the recess 34 and the portion that becomes the diaphragm 33 (FIG. 3K). As a result, a hole is opened in a part of the concave portion formed as the first nozzle 31 </ b> A, thereby forming the nozzle 31 so as to penetrate (only the silicon oxide film 53 remains). Further, a diaphragm 33 is formed. When dry etching is completed, the silicon oxide film 53 formed as a protective film is removed (FIG. 3L). As a result, the nozzle discharge port 31A-1 is finally opened, and the nozzle 31 penetrates. Further, a silicon oxide film 54 for protecting ink and insulating is formed on the entire surface (FIG. 3 (m)). Here, the film is formed by the above-described thermal oxidation method. For example, TEOS (here, Tetraethyl orthosilicate Tetraethoxysilane) is also referred to as plasma CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition: TEOS-pCVD). ) Method may be used to form a silicon oxide film. Further, another material such as Al ₂ O ₃ (aluminum oxide (alumina)) may be used as the insulating film.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of the droplet discharge head. Based on FIG. 5, a manufacturing process of a droplet discharge head including manufacturing of another substrate will be described. In practice, a plurality of droplet discharge head members are simultaneously formed from a silicon wafer, but only a part thereof is shown in FIG.

  A groove 11 having a depth of 0.2 μm is formed in accordance with the shape pattern of the electrode portion 12 on one surface of a glass substrate of about 1 mm to be the electrode substrate 10. Then, using a method such as sputtering, ITO having a thickness of 0.1 μm is formed on the inner side (particularly the bottom wall) of the groove 11 to form the electrode 12. Further, the liquid supply port 13 is formed by a sandblasting method or a cutting process. Thereby, the glass substrate 10 is produced (FIG. 5A).

For the substrate to be the cavity substrate 20, first, for example, one surface of the silicon substrate 61 having a low oxygen concentration with a (110) plane orientation is mirror-polished to a thickness of 220 μm. Next, the surface on which the boron-doped layer 62 is formed on the silicon substrate 61 is set on a quartz boat so as to face a solid diffusion source mainly composed of B ₂ O ₃ . Further, a quartz boat is set in a vertical furnace, and the inside of the furnace is made into a nitrogen atmosphere. For example, the temperature is raised to 1050 ° C. and held for 7 hours to diffuse boron into the silicon substrate 61 to form a boron doped layer 62. . At this time, a boron compound is formed on the surface of the boron dope layer 62 (not shown), but etching with a hydrofluoric acid aqueous solution is possible by oxidizing for 1 hour 30 minutes in an oxygen and water vapor atmosphere at 600 ° C. It is chemically changed to B ₂ O ₃ + SiO ₂ and removed by wet etching with a hydrofluoric acid aqueous solution. Further, an insulating film 25 is formed on the surface on which the boron doped layer 62 is formed by plasma CVD (FIG. 5B). The insulating film 25 is formed by plasma CVD, for example, at a processing temperature of 360 ° C., a high frequency output of 250 W, a pressure of 66.7 Pa (0.5 Torr), a gas flow rate of TEOS flow rate 100 cm ³ / min (100 sccm), A 0.1 μm film is formed under the condition of an oxygen flow rate of 1000 cm ³ / min (1000 sccm).

  Next, after heating the silicon substrate 61 and the electrode substrate 10 to 360 ° C., a negative electrode is connected to the electrode substrate 10 and a positive electrode is connected to the silicon substrate 71, and an anodic bonding is performed by applying a voltage of 800V. Then, in the bonded substrate after anodic bonding, the surface of the silicon substrate 61 is ground until the thickness of the silicon substrate 61 becomes about 60 μm. Thereafter, in order to remove the work-affected layer, the silicon substrate 61 is wet-etched by about 10 μm with a potassium hydroxide solution having a concentration of 32 w%, for example. As a result, the thickness of the silicon substrate 61 is reduced to about 50 μm (FIG. 5C).

For example, a silicon oxide film 63 serving as an etching mask is formed on the wet etched surface by a plasma CVD method using TEOS. The deposition conditions of the silicon oxide film 63 include, for example, a processing temperature of 360 ° C., a high frequency output of 700 W, a pressure of 33.3 Pa (0.25 Torr), and a gas flow rate of TEOS flow rate 100 cm ³ / min (100 sccm). ), And a film thickness of 1.5 μm is formed under the condition of oxygen flow rate of 1000 cm ³ / min (1000 sccm). Film formation using TEOS can be performed at a relatively low temperature, and heating of the substrate can be suppressed as much as possible. Further, using the photolithography method, the portions that become the discharge chamber 21, the reservoir 23, and the electrode outlet 26 in the silicon oxide film 63 are removed by etching (FIG. 5D). Here, for example, silicon is exposed in portions that become the discharge chamber 21 and the electrode outlet 26, and the silicon oxide film 63 is left in the reservoir 23 by half etching. This is because the portion that becomes the reservoir 23 is made rigid by leaving silicon.

  Next, the bonded substrate is immersed in a 35 wt% potassium hydroxide aqueous solution, and wet etching is performed until the thickness of the portion that becomes the discharge chamber 21 becomes about 10 μm. Further, the bonded substrate is immersed in a 3 wt% potassium hydroxide aqueous solution, and etching is continued until it is determined that the etching stop is sufficiently effective in the boron doped layer 62. Thus, by performing wet etching using the two types of potassium hydroxide aqueous solutions having different concentrations, the surface roughness of the diaphragm 22 to be formed is suppressed, and the thickness accuracy is 0.80 ± 0.05 μm or less. can do. As a result, the discharge performance of the droplet discharge head can be stabilized (FIG. 5E). When the wet etching is finished, the bonded substrate is immersed in a hydrofluoric acid aqueous solution, for example, and the silicon oxide film 63 on the surface of the silicon substrate 61 is removed (FIG. 5F).

  The silicon (boron doped layer 72) in the portion that becomes the electrode outlet 26 of the silicon substrate 71 is removed and opened. The removal method is not particularly limited. For example, it can be broken by a pin or the like. Moreover, it can also open by performing dry etching. Thereafter, sealing is performed by pouring, for example, epoxy resin or depositing silicon oxide along the opening of the gap formed between the cavity substrate 20 and each recess 11 at the end of the electrode outlet 26. The stop material 27 is formed and sealed, and the gap is blocked from the outside air (FIG. 5G). Here, although not particularly illustrated, for example, a silicon oxide film for protecting the liquid may be formed on the upper surface of the cavity substrate 20 by plasma CVD using TEOS, for example.

  When the sealing is completed, for example, a mask having an opening at a portion to be the common electrode terminal 24 is attached to the surface of the bonding substrate on the silicon substrate 71 side. Then, for example, sputtering is performed using platinum (Pt) as a target to form the common electrode terminal 24. Then, the above-described nozzle substrate 30 produced in a separate process is bonded and bonded from the cavity substrate 20 side of the bonding substrate, for example, with an epoxy adhesive (FIG. 5H). Then, dicing is performed along the dicing line, and cutting into individual droplet discharge heads is completed.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, with respect to the nozzle substrate 30, the etching finally performed to penetrate the nozzle 31 and open the nozzle discharge port 1 </ b> A- 1 is performed by dry etching. The periphery of the opening portion of the nozzle 31 can be formed flat without unevenness. Therefore, the discharge performance can be improved and the yield can be increased. In addition, since wet etching is also used before dry etching to etch the portion that becomes the concave portion 54 and the portion that becomes the diaphragm 33, a plurality of wafers can be processed at once, and the time is shortened. Can increase productivity. Thereby, the quality of the droplet discharge head manufactured using this nozzle substrate 30 can be improved.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the above-described embodiment, when etching is performed on the portion to be the concave portion 54 and the portion to be the diaphragm 33, the process is performed using both wet etching and dry etching. The present invention is not limited to this, and all may be performed in a dry etching process. In this case, since it is not affected by the crystal plane orientation due to wet etching, for example, the degree of freedom in designing the diaphragm 33 formed simultaneously can be increased, and for example, the area of the diaphragm 33 can be increased.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
The droplet discharge head in the above-described embodiment is configured by laminating three substrates of the electrode substrate 10, the cavity substrate 20, and the nozzle substrate 30, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in order to increase the volume of the reservoir 23, the present invention can also be applied to a droplet discharge head having a configuration in which a recess serving as the reservoir 23 is formed on an independent substrate and four substrates are stacked.

  In the above-described embodiment, the liquid droplet discharge head that pressurizes the liquid by displacing the vibration plate 22 by the electrostatic force generated between the vibration plate 22 and the individual electrode 12 and discharges the liquid droplets from the nozzle 31 has been described. . The present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can also be applied to a droplet discharge head using another pressurization method such as generating gas or using a piezoelectric element.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
FIG. 6 is an external view of a droplet discharge apparatus using the droplet discharge head manufactured in the above embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of main constituent means of the droplet discharge device. 6 and 7 is intended for printing by a droplet discharge method (inkjet method). Further, it is a so-called serial type device. In FIG. 12, a drum 101 that supports a printing paper 100 that is a substrate to be printed and a droplet discharge head 102 that discharges ink to the printing paper 100 and performs recording are mainly configured. Although not shown, there is an ink supply means for supplying ink to the droplet discharge head 102. The print paper 110 is held by being pressed against the drum 101 by a paper press roller 103 provided parallel to the axial direction of the drum 101. A feed screw 104 is provided parallel to the axial direction of the drum 101, and the droplet discharge head 102 is held. As the feed screw 104 rotates, the droplet discharge head 102 moves in the axial direction of the drum 101.

  On the other hand, the drum 101 is rotationally driven by a motor 106 via a belt 105 or the like. Further, the print control unit 107 drives the feed screw 104 and the motor 106 based on the print data and the control signal, and although not shown here, drives the oscillation drive circuit to vibrate the diaphragm 22, Printing is performed on the print paper 110 while controlling.

  Here, the liquid is ejected onto the print paper 110 as ink, but the liquid ejected from the droplet ejection head is not limited to ink. For example, in an application to be discharged onto a substrate to be a color filter, a liquid containing a pigment for a color filter, an application to be discharged to a display substrate such as an OLED, an application to be wired on a substrate, a liquid containing a compound to be a light emitting element In this case, for example, a liquid containing a conductive metal may be discharged from a droplet discharge head provided in each device. In addition, when the droplet discharge head is used as a dispenser and is used for discharging onto a substrate that is a microarray of biomolecules, DNA (Deoxyribo Nucleic Acids: deoxyribonucleic acid), other nucleic acids (for example, Ribo Nucleic Acid: ribonucleic acid, Peptide (Nucleic Acids: peptide nucleic acids, etc.) A liquid containing a probe such as a protein may be discharged. In addition, it can also be used for discharging dyes such as cloth.

2 is an exploded view of a droplet discharge head according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is sectional drawing of a droplet discharge head. FIG. 6 is a process diagram (part 1) illustrating the production of the nozzle substrate according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a process diagram (part 2) illustrating the production of the nozzle substrate according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the manufacturing process of a droplet discharge head. It is an external view of a droplet discharge device using a droplet discharge head. It is a figure showing an example of the main structural means of a droplet discharge apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

10 electrode substrate, 11 groove portion, 12 electrode portion, 12A individual electrode, 12B lead portion, 12C terminal portion, 13 liquid supply port, 20 cavity substrate, 21 discharge chamber, 22 diaphragm, 23 reservoir, 24 common electrode terminal, 25 insulation Membrane, 26 Electrode outlet, 27 Sealing material, 30 Nozzle substrate, 31 Nozzle, 31A First nozzle, 31A-1 Nozzle outlet, 31B Second nozzle, 31B-1 Nozzle supply port, 32 Orifice, 33 Diaphragm, 34 Recess, 41 Oscillation circuit, 42 wiring, 61 silicon substrate, 62 boron doped layer, 63 silicon oxide film, 100 printer, 101 drum, 102 droplet discharge head, 103 paper pressure roller, 104 feed screw, 105 belt, 106 motor, 107 Print control means, 110 print paper.

Claims (6)

Opening the nozzle supply port from one side of the silicon substrate and forming a recess to be a nozzle;
A nozzle having a step of performing etching by anisotropic dry etching from a surface opposite to a surface on which the concave portion serving as the nozzle is formed to form a hole in the concave portion and forming a discharge port of the nozzle. A method for manufacturing a substrate.   An anisotropic wet etching is performed until a desired thickness is obtained from a surface opposite to the surface on which the concave portion serving as the nozzle is formed, and then the discharge port is formed by anisotropic dry etching. The method for manufacturing a nozzle substrate according to claim 1.   3. The method for manufacturing a nozzle substrate according to claim 2, wherein the desired thickness is set to 10 [mu] m or more.   The method of manufacturing a nozzle substrate according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle having a taper shape or a step shape is formed such that the discharge port has a smaller diameter than the supply port. A nozzle substrate manufactured by the method according to claim 1;
A liquid comprising: a step of bonding a flow path for supplying a liquid to the nozzle of the nozzle substrate and a substrate provided with a pressurizing means for pressurizing the liquid to a part of the flow path. A method for manufacturing a droplet discharge head. A method for manufacturing a droplet discharge device, wherein the droplet discharge device is manufactured by applying the method for manufacturing a droplet discharge head according to claim 5.

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