EP0498292B1 - Einstückig ausgebildete Bubblejet Druckvorrichtung - Google Patents

Einstückig ausgebildete Bubblejet Druckvorrichtung Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0498292B1
EP0498292B1 EP92101475A EP92101475A EP0498292B1 EP 0498292 B1 EP0498292 B1 EP 0498292B1 EP 92101475 A EP92101475 A EP 92101475A EP 92101475 A EP92101475 A EP 92101475A EP 0498292 B1 EP0498292 B1 EP 0498292B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
nozzle
heater
ink
chip
zbj
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP92101475A
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English (en)
French (fr)
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EP0498292A2 (de
EP0498292A3 (en
Inventor
Kia Silverbrook
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Canon Information Systems Research Australia Pty Ltd
Canon Inc
Original Assignee
Canon Information Systems Research Australia Pty Ltd
Canon Inc
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Publication of EP0498292A2 publication Critical patent/EP0498292A2/de
Publication of EP0498292A3 publication Critical patent/EP0498292A3/en
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Publication of EP0498292B1 publication Critical patent/EP0498292B1/de
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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
    • B41J2/14016—Structure of bubble jet print heads
    • B41J2/14032—Structure of the pressure chamber
    • B41J2/1404—Geometrical characteristics
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
    • B41J2/14016—Structure of bubble jet print heads
    • B41J2/14032—Structure of the pressure chamber
    • B41J2/14056—Plural heating elements per ink chamber
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
    • B41J2/14016—Structure of bubble jet print heads
    • B41J2/14088—Structure of heating means
    • B41J2/14112—Resistive element
    • B41J2/14137—Resistor surrounding the nozzle opening
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
    • B41J2/14016—Structure of bubble jet print heads
    • B41J2/14145—Structure of the manifold
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
    • B41J2/1601—Production of bubble jet print heads
    • B41J2/1603—Production of bubble jet print heads of the front shooter type
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
    • B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
    • B41J2/1623—Manufacturing processes bonding and adhesion
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
    • B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
    • B41J2/1626—Manufacturing processes etching
    • B41J2/1628—Manufacturing processes etching dry etching
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
    • B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
    • B41J2/1626—Manufacturing processes etching
    • B41J2/1629—Manufacturing processes etching wet etching
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
    • B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
    • B41J2/1631—Manufacturing processes photolithography
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
    • B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
    • B41J2/1632—Manufacturing processes machining
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
    • B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
    • B41J2/1635—Manufacturing processes dividing the wafer into individual chips
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
    • B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
    • B41J2/164—Manufacturing processes thin film formation
    • B41J2/1642—Manufacturing processes thin film formation thin film formation by CVD [chemical vapor deposition]
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
    • B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
    • B41J2/164—Manufacturing processes thin film formation
    • B41J2/1643—Manufacturing processes thin film formation thin film formation by plating
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
    • B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
    • B41J2/164—Manufacturing processes thin film formation
    • B41J2/1645—Manufacturing processes thin film formation thin film formation by spincoating
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
    • B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
    • B41J2/17563—Ink filters
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
    • B41J2002/1437—Back shooter
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2202/00—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet or thermal heads
    • B41J2202/01—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet heads
    • B41J2202/11—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet heads characterised by specific geometrical characteristics
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2202/00—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet or thermal heads
    • B41J2202/01—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet heads
    • B41J2202/13—Heads having an integrated circuit

Definitions

  • the present invention relates a method of fabricating a bubblejet print device using semiconductor fabrication techniques, according to claim 1.
  • Bubblejet print heads are known in the art and have recently become available commercially as portable, relatively low-cost printers generally used with personal computers. Examples of such devices are those made by HEWLETT-PACKARD as well as the CANON BJ10 printer.
  • Figs. 1 and 2 show schematic perspective views of prior art bubblejet print heads representative of those used by CANON and HEWLETT-PACKARD, respectively.
  • the prior art bubblejet (BJ) head 1 is formed by a BJ semiconductor chip device 2 abutting a laser etched cap 3.
  • the cap 3 acts as a guide for the inward flow of ink (indicated in the drawing by arrows) into the head 1 via an inlet 4, and the outward ejection of the ink from the head 1 via a plurality of nozzles 5.
  • the nozzles 5 are formed as the open ends of channels in the cap 3.
  • On the BJ chip 2 are arranged one or more (generally 64) heater elements (not shown) which are energized so as to cause ink to be ejected from each of the nozzles 5 by a bubble of vapourised ink formed within the corresponding channel.
  • the BJ chip 2 also includes a semiconductor diode matrix (not illustrated) which acts to supply energy to the heater elements arranged adjacent the channels.
  • HEWLETT-PACKARD thermal ink jet head 10 as seen in Fig. 2, a two part configuration is also used, however ink enters the cap 12 through an inlet 13 arranged in the side of the cap 12 which supplies an array of nozzles 14 arranged perpendicular to the inlet 13. Ink exits through the face of the cap 12. A flat heater 15 is arranged immediately beneath each nozzle 14 so as to cause ejection of ink from the inlet channel 13 into the nozzles.
  • JP-A-60-8076 discloses a bubble jet print device comprising heating resistors and electrical connections to the heating resistors, both being formed on a substrate. Nozzles are formed through the substrate, wherein one end of each nozzle is disposed adjacent to the respective heating resistor, and the other end of each nozzle forms an outlet for ejecting ink.
  • the substrate is directly connected to an ink box and the nozzles are erected when not in use, so that no ink is left in the nozzles and no blocking of the nozzles occurs.
  • the EP-A-0 339 926 discloses a drop-on-demand ink drop jet printhead comprising layers of like print modules of which adjacent layers are equally laterally offset.
  • the modules are formed each with a row of parallel equally spaced ink drop ejectors in form of piezo-electrical transducers arranged in one or more groups.
  • the ejector groups in each layer are laterally spaced by the same amount and corresponding segments of the groups in different layers are together capable of depositing drops of ink in a particular segment of the print line at a density equal to the product of the drop density capability of each group and the number of groups having segments corresponding to the associated print line segment.
  • the EP-A-0 352 726 discloses a liquid-jet recording head comprising a substrate on which a plurality of energy-generating elements is disposed, and a cover plate covering the substrate.
  • the substrate and the cover plate together define a liquid chamber as well as liquid paths each communicating the liquid chamber with a corresponding ejecting outlet.
  • the liquid paths are provided in correspondence with the energy-generating elements.
  • the object of the present invention is to provide a bubblejet print device which is capable of printing images of high image density in high quality.
  • the method of fabricating a bubblejet print device comprises the steps of providing a substrate member having a heater means, electrodes electrically connected to the heater means, and an overcoat for protecting the heater means, forming a first hole into the substrate member adjacent to the heater means from one side on which the overcoat is provided, forming a second hole into the substrate member from the other side, the second hole being communicated with the first hole, thereby forming a passageway through the substrate member.
  • a Z-Axis bubble jet chip (ZBJ chip) is used to describe a chip lying in the x y plane in which ink flows both into and out of the chip in the z direction.
  • a Z-axis bubblejet (ZBJ) chip 40 which includes an ink inlet arranged on one (underside as illustrated) plane surface of the chip 40, and a plurality of nozzles 41 which provide for outlets of ink on the opposite side. It is readily apparent from a direct comparison of Figs. 1 and 2 with Fig. 3 that the ZBJ chip 40 has a single, monolithic, integrally formed structure as opposed to the two part structure of the prior art.
  • the chip 40 is formed using semiconductor fabrication techniques. Furthermore, ink is ejected from the nozzles 41 in the same direction in which ink is supplied to the chip 40.
  • a cross-section of a first embodiment of a stationary (i.e. non-moving) ZBJ printhead 50 is shown which is configured for the production of full length A4 continuous tone colour images at an image density of 1600 dpi or 400 pixels per inch.
  • the head 50 is provided with a ZBJ chip 70 having four nozzle arrays, one for each of cyan 71, magenta 72, yellow 73 and black 74.
  • the nozzle arrays 71-74 are formed from nozzle vias 77 with four nozzles per pixel giving a total of 51,200 nozzles per chip 70.
  • FIG. 4 shows the basic nozzle cross-section which is formed in a silicon substrate 76 over which a layer 78 of thermal Si0 2 is formed.
  • a heater element 79 is provided about the nozzle 77, which is capped by an overcoat layer 80 of chemical vapour deposited (CVD) glass.
  • CVD chemical vapour deposited
  • Each of the nozzles 77 communicates with a common ink supply channel 75 for that particular colour of ink.
  • the ZBJ chip 70 is positionable upon a channel extrusion 60 which has ink channels 61 communicating with the channels 75 so as to provide for a continuous flow of ink to the chip 70.
  • a membrane filter 54 is provided between the extrusion 60 and the chip 70.
  • Two power bus bars 51 and 52 are provided which electrically connect to the chip 70.
  • the bus bars 51 and 52 also act as heat sinks for the dissipation of heat from the chip 70.
  • Fig. 5 shows a second embodiment of a ZBJ head 200 similar in configuration to that shown in Fig. 4.
  • the head 200 has a ZBJ chip 100 including nozzle arrays 102, 103, 104 and 105 for each of cyan, magenta, yellow and black, respectively.
  • the chip 100 has ink channels 101 which communicate with ink reservoirs 211, 212, 213 and 214, respectively for the above colours, in a channel extrusion 210.
  • the channel extrusion 210 has an alternate geometry of higher volumetric capacity than that shown in Fig. 4 for the same size of the chip 100. Also illustrated are tab connections 203 and 204 which connect the power bus bars 201 and 202 to the chip 100. A membrane filter 205 is also provided as before.
  • the head 200 is required to be about 220 mm long, by 15 mm across, by 9 mm deep. Using the foregoing as a standard arrangement, many configurations of ZBJ heads are possible. The actual size and the number of nozzles per chip depend solely on the required performance of the printer application.
  • Table 1 lists seven applications of ZBJ printheads and the various requirements for each application considered necessary.
  • Application one is considered suitable for low cost full colour printers, portable computers, low cost colour copiers and electronic still photography.
  • Application two is considered suitable for personal printers, and personal computers, whilst application three is useful in electronic still photography, video printers and workstation printers.
  • the fourth application finds use in colour copiers, full colour printers, colour desktop publishing and colour facsimile.
  • the fifth application is for a monochrome device which sees application in digital black and white copiers, high resolution printers, portable computers, and plain paper facsimiles.
  • Applications six and seven show respectively high speed and medium speed A3 continuous tone applications useful in colour copiers and colour desktop publishing.
  • the high speed version of application six finds use in small run commercial printing and the medium speed version in colour facsimile.
  • the ZBJ chip 100 has four nozzle arrays 102-105, each comprising four rows of nozzle vias 110 (Figs. 6-9).
  • the nozzle vias 110 are formed by etching through a substrate 130 of the chip 100.
  • the substrate 130 is generally about 500 microns deep and, depending on the required application, can be 220 mm long by 4 mm wide.
  • Figs. 6 to 9 illustrate the etching of the nozzle vias 110 through the substrate 130. So that the ZBJ chip 100 can eject a drop of 3 pl, it is necessary for the diameter of each nozzle 110 to be approximately 20 microns.
  • a four stage process is used commencing with a 500 micron deep substrate 300 having an overlying glass (SiO 2 ) layer 142 enclosing a heater 120 within as seen in Fig. 5.
  • the step as seen in Fig. 6 is a plasma etch of a 20 micron straight-walled round hole, through the glass overcoat 142 and at least 10 microns into the substrate 130. This forms the nozzle tip 111.
  • the next step as seen in Fig. 7 requires the etching of a large channel (approximately 100 microns wide by 300 microns deep) in the rear of the chip 100. This forms nozzle channels 114 that supply ink flow to the nozzles 110.
  • the next step, as seen in Fig. 8, is to print nozzle barrel patterns at the bottom of the channels 114 formed in Fig. 7.
  • the nozzle barrels 113 are approximately 40 microns in diameter and are plasma etched to within 10 microns of the front of the chip 100. As the isotropic plasma etch is relatively non-selective, this method cannot be used to etch the entire cavity without also etching through, and destroying the heater 120.
  • an isotropic etch is used on the wall exposed silicon to a depth of 10 microns from the front of the chip 100.
  • This step acts to widen the nozzles 110 and undercut the Si02 layer 142 containing the heater 120.
  • This step forms the nozzle cavity 112.
  • the step also ensures that the tip 111 joins the barrel 113 without risking plasma etched damage to the heater 120.
  • the front to back surface etching should be aligned to better than 10 microns and the etch depth control should also be better than 10 microns.
  • the complete nozzle via 110 is formed including its tip 111, cavity 112, barrel 113 and channel 114.
  • the formation of the nozzle tip 11, the nozzle cavity 112 which acts as a thermal chamber, the nozzle barrel 113 and the nozzle channel 114 creates a passageway for the flow of ink through the substrate 100 for ejection.
  • the thermal chamber 115 which surrounds the nozzle tip 111 is arranged as a cylinder, with the heater 120 deposited in the walls of the cylinder.
  • This arrangement has several disadvantages, including:
  • the thermal chamber 115 is arranged as a cone. This is to allow the heater 120 to be etched to increase its resistance. This arrangement has the following difficulties:
  • Fig. 12 shows a quasi-hemispherical chamber in which the heater 120 is formed on a frusto-conical section which faces into a substantially hemispherical chamber.
  • Figs. 13 to 18 show six preferred nozzle structures which permit monolithic construction, a small drop size of 3 picolitres thus permitting 1600 dpi printing, a fault tolerant heater design, a nozzle spacing anywhere on the surface of the substrate, and the use in multi-colour print devices.
  • Fig. 13 illustrates a substantially hemispherical thermal chamber 115 which is formed by applying an undercutting isotropic plasma etch of silicon before reactive ion etching (RIE) of the nozzle barrel 113.
  • RIE reactive ion etching
  • This configuration is characterised by a reverse action in which the formation of the bubble 116 is in the direction opposite to the ejection of the ink drop 108.
  • the thermal shunt 140 conducts heat away from the nozzle area into the substrate 130 to reduce the time taken for the thermal chamber 115 to cool sufficiently prior to the ejection of the next ink drop 108.
  • This configuration has advantages of planar construction of the heater 120 whereby accurate control of the heater shape and size can be achieved. Also, the thermal coupling between the heater 120 and the ink is significant, because the heater 120 is isolated from the ink by the thermal SiO2 layer 132 which is more thermally conductive than CVD glass. Also, this layer can be manufactured thinner than a corresponding layer of CVD glass, as it is not prone to pinholes. Depending on the slope of the barrel 113 as it enters the thermal chamber 115, and the contact angle of the ink with a passivation layer, this nozzle geometry will permit automatic filling by capillary action.
  • Fig. 14 is similar to the configuration of Fig. 13 except that in this geometry, the direction of flow of ink 106 through the chip 100 is reversed, giving a reversed nozzle arrangement in which bubble formation is in the same direction as ink drop ejection.
  • ink 106 enters the nozzle passageway through an aperture 484 and a meniscus 107 is formed at the nozzle tip 486 boundary between the barrel 487 and the channel 489. Formation of bubbles 116 acts to expel an ink drop 108 through the channel 489 and onto a medium such as paper 220.
  • the configuration of the reverse nozzle arrangement differs in one significant way from the earlier configurations described.
  • the earlier configurations e.g. Fig. 13
  • a thermal shunt 140 which acts to shunt heat away from the heater 120 and into the substrate 130.
  • immediately adjacent the heaters 120 is an underlying reservoir of ink 106.
  • a thermal diffuser 491 is used to increase the area of heat transport from the heater 120 through the overcoat 142 and into the ink 106 reservoir.
  • heat conductive path is much shorter than that of Fig. 13, greater heat dissipation can be achieved.
  • heat dissipation can be further enhanced by re-circulating the ink 106 through a heat exchanger using a supply pump (not illustrated).
  • This configuration has the advantages of planar construction, good thermal coupling and heat dissipation. Also, bubble direction is in the direction of ink ejection which reduces kinetic losses.
  • a disadvantage of this configuration is that the nozzle is not self priming, and must be initially primed using positive pressure. Once primed, the shrinking bubble will draw ink into the thermal chamber 488 after the drop 108 has been fired. Also, the cantilevered section supporting the heaters 120 must be sufficiently thick to withstand the shock from collapsing bubbles 116.
  • a nozzle arrangement which includes a trench implanted heater 493.
  • the nozzle cavity 112 is formed as a straight cylinder communicating with the nozzle barrel 113 and the optionally etched nozzle channel 114.
  • An annular trench 492 is etched into the silicon, and a layer of SiO2 is grown adjacent and about the nozzle cavity 112.
  • the annular heater 493 is plated on the trench 492 which acts to form vapourised bubbles 116 which expand across the cavity 112 transverse the direction of drop ejection. Advantages of this configuration include good thermal coupling and self-priming.
  • Disadvantages include poor heat dissipation because liquid cooling by forced ink flow is not effective as the bulk of the ink is isolated from the bubble generating surface by 600 microns of substrate 130. Also, it is difficult to obtain adequate nozzle length as this must be generated by very thick layers of CVD glass forming the overcoat 142. Additionally, bubble formation being transverse permits non-optimal motion coupling. Also, thermal conduction into the substrate 130 is high causing heat to be wasted therethrough. Finally, the length of the heater 493 is constrained by the circumference of the nozzle, or half the circumference if fault tolerance is employed, and so it is difficult to obtain a high resistance heater 493.
  • Fig. 16 illustrates the annular trench configuration of Fig. 15 shown in the reversed arrangement.
  • the annular trench 492 extends towards the nozzle tip 486 as does the diffused heater 493 therein.
  • a thermal diffuser 491 is also provided in the previous manner.
  • the nozzle length can be easily varied. Advantages of this configuration reside in thermal coupling, ease of heat dissipation, self priming and ease of manufacture. Disadvantages include the bubble direction being transverse to the direction of ink drop ejection, and difficulty in controlling the length of the heater 493. Also, thermal conduction to the silicon substrate 130 is high which causes heat to be wasted.
  • Fig. 17 shows a further configuration utilising an elbow heater.
  • a cylindrical nozzle passageway is formed between the nozzle tip 111 and the barrel 113.
  • Thermally grown SiO2 is provided as a layer 494 which extends into the barrel 113.
  • An elbow oriented heater 495 is then plated onto the layer 494, and an electrical contact is made on the top surface of the heater 495.
  • Overcoat layer 142 of CVD SiO 2 is then provided over the contact and heater, and extends into the nozzle barrel 113. Advantages of this configuration are self priming and thermal insulation of the heater 495 from the substrate 130.
  • Disadvantages include poor heat dissipation, difficulties in controlling the nozzle length by varying the thickness of the overcoat 142, transverse bubble direction, poor thermal coupling due to the heater 495 being isolated from the ink 106 by a layer of amorphous CVD glass, difficulties in controlling heater length, and manufacturing complexity.
  • Fig. 18 illustrates the reverse arrangement of the elbow connected heater 495 which is manufactured in a similar manner.
  • Advantages include heat dissipation through the ink reservoir, self priming and the heater 495 being thermally insulated from the substrate 130.
  • Disadvantages include transverse bubble direction, poor thermal coupling through the amorphous CVD glass between the heater 495 and the ink 106, and constraints to the heater length.
  • Fig. 19 illustrates a nozzle arrangement similar to that of Fig. 14, however the relative sizes of the nozzle aperture 484 and the nozzle tip 486 have been varied to improve capillary action for the filling of the nozzle and the formation of the meniscus 107.
  • One disadvantage of the configuration of Fig. 14 is that the nozzle aperture 484 and the nozzle tip 486 have equal diameters. The diameter of the nozzle tip 486 varies depending on a number of design criteria such as the desired drop size.
  • the ink 106 In order to prime the nozzle and provided the meniscus 107 as illustrated, the ink 106 must flow through the aperture 484 but then stop at the tip 486. Generally, if both are of the same size, the ink will either form a meniscus at the aperture 484, or drip through the tip 486 depending on the priming pressure. Neither of these conditions are desired. What is specifically desired is that the aperture 484 be of sufficient diameter to allow for priming of the nozzle, and that the tip 486 be of a different, smaller diameter to provide for the formation of the meniscus 107. The nozzle is then primed using a pressure greater than the "bubble pressure" of the aperture 484, but less than the "bubble presure" of the nozzle 486.
  • the configuration of Fig. 19 which illustrates a suitable arrangement in which the diameter of the aperture 484 is approximately 50% larger than that of the tip 486. This configuration also provides for accurate control of the drop size whilst maintaining high refilling rates of the nozzle.
  • the operation of the ZBJ chip 100 differs from that of prior art bubblejet heads in the use of an alternate drop ejection mechanism which is illustrated in Figs. 20 to 27.
  • a single nozzle 110 of the ZBJ print head 100 is shown in its quiescent state where the heater 120 is off.
  • Ink 106 within the nozzle 110 forms a meniscus 107.
  • the heater 120 is turned on thus heating the surrounding substrate 130 and the thermal layer 132 which in turn heats the ink 106 within the nozzle 110. Some of the ink 106 evaporates to form small bubbles 116.
  • the heater 120 is turned off which acts to contract the bubble 116 and draw ink 106 from the drop 108 that is formed.
  • the drop 108 separates from the ink 106 within the nozzle 110 and the contracting bubble 116 draws an ink meniscus 107 backwards into the nozzle 110.
  • the ink 106 oscillates, and eventually returns to the quiescent state.
  • the oscillating damping time is one factor which determines the maximum dot repetition rate.
  • Fig. 29 illustrates the super heating of ink in which a thin layer of superheated ink 109 forms adjacent the passivation layer 144 within the nozzle cavity 112.
  • the waste heat is removed by three separate paths. Firstly, heat is removed through the ink which acts to raise its temperature slightly. However, the thermal conductivity of ink is low, so the amount of heat removed by this path is also low.
  • the walls of the nozzle 110 are made of silicon from the substrate 130, and have high thermal conductivity, heat dissipation through the walls is fast. However, not all of the bubble 116 will be in contact with the side walls of the nozzle 110.
  • Fig. 30 illustrates the heat flow from the cooling bubble 116 as described above.
  • Fig. 31 also shows waste heat removal paths 125 in which heat will flow through the substrate 130 as the main thermal conduit away from the heater 120. Some of this heat will flow back into the ink 106 and eventually be ejected with subsequent drops 108. The remainder of the heat will flow through the substrate 130 and into the aluminium heat sink (51,52), seen in Fig. 4.
  • Fig. 32 illustrates the macroscopic heat dissipation for the ZBJ head 200 with 51,200 nozzles printing four colours. If the heater action does not raise the average temperature of the entire head assembly 200 more than about 10°C to 20°C above that of the incoming ink 106, it is not necessary to provide an external cooling mechanism. In this manner, the ZBJ head 200 can be effectively cooled by a steady flow of ink 106 from ink reservoirs 215, 216, 217 and 218 as illustrated. The quantity of ink flow is in direct proportion to the heat generated, as ink 106 is expelled every time the heaters are turned on.
  • nozzle efficiency thermal and the substantially smaller kinetic output compared with electrical input
  • more heat will be generated than can be expelled with the drops without raising the ink temperature excessively.
  • other heat sinking methods such as forced air cooling or liquid cooling using the ink
  • the operating temperature of the ZBJ heater elements 120 is above 300°C. It is important that the active elements (drive transistors and logic) of the ZBJ chip 100 do not experience this temperature extreme. This can be achieved by locating the drive transistors and logic as far from the heater elements 120 as possible. These active elements can be located at the edges of the chip 100, leaving only the heaters 120 and the aluminium connecting lines in the high temperature region.
  • the ZBJ chip 100 is susceptible to blockage by particulate contamination of the ink 106. Any particle of a size between 20 microns and 60 microns will permanently lodge in the nozzle cavity 112, as it cannot be ejected with the ink drop 108.
  • a filter such as the membrane filter 205, is included in the ink path to remove all particles larger than 10 microns. This can be a 10 micron bonded fibreglass absolute filter and preferably has a relatively large area to allow sufficient ink flow.
  • the continuous tone ZBJ chip 100 with four nozzles 110 per pixel has a degree of tolerance of blocked nozzles 110.
  • a blocked nozzle 110 will result in a 25% reduction of colour intensity for that pixel rather than a complete absence of colour.
  • cap and substrate are made of differing materials.
  • One solution to this problem is to make the cap out of the same material as the substrate, usually silicon. Even if this is done, differences in temperature between the silicon substrate and the silicon cap (caused by waste heat from the heaters) can be sufficient to cause mis-registration.
  • the ZBJ chip 100 does not suffer from these problems, as the heaters 120, nozzles 110 and ink paths 101 are all fabricated using a single silicon substrate 130. Nozzle to heater registration is determined by the accuracy of the photolithography with which the ZBJ chip 100 is manufactured. Due to the relatively large feature sizes of this configuration, there is little difficulty in ensuring that the nozzles are correctly aligned as the ZBJ chip 100 is a monolithic chip capable of being manufactured using a 2 micron semiconductor processes.
  • 16 drops per pixel are used to create an image density of 400 pixels per inch. This gives 16 levels of grey tone per pixel.
  • the tonal subtleties required to produce continuous tone images can be produced by standard digital dot or line screening methods or by error diffusion of the least significant 4 bits of an 8 bit colour intensity value. This results in a perceived colour resolution of 256 levels per colour, while maintaining a spacial resolution of 400 pixels per inch.
  • the head assembly 200 must deal with several specific requirements: ink supply; ink filtration; power supply; power dissipation; signal connection; and mechanical support.
  • the ZBJ head 200 with 51,200 nozzles, each of which can eject a 3 pl ink drop every 200 microseconds, can use a maximum of 1.28 ml of ink per second. This occurs when the head 200 is printing a solid four-colour black. As there are four colours, the maximum flow is 0.23 ml per colour per second. If the ink speed is to be limited to around 20 mm per second, then the ink channels 211-214 must have a cross- sectional area of 16 mm 2 each.
  • any particles carried in the ink that are less than 60 microns in diameter will be carried into the nozzle channel 114. Any of these particles which are greater than 20 microns in diameter cannot be ejected from the nozzle 110. Even if pre-filtered ink is supplied to the user, there is a possibility of particle contamination when the ink is re- filled. Therefore, the ink must be effectively filtered to eliminate any particles between 20 and 60 microns.
  • the peak current consumption of the full width colour ZBJ head 200 is about several amperes. This must be supplied to the entire length of the chip 100 with insignificant voltage drop. Also, the ZBJ head has more than 35 signal connections, the exact number depending upon the chosen circuit design, and accordingly insignificant voltage drop is also required.
  • the ink channel extrusion 210 has three functions: to provide the ink paths and keep the four colours separate; to provide mechanical support for the ZBJ chip 110; and to assist in dissipating the waste heat to the ink 106.
  • the ink channel extrusion 210 be extruded from aluminium, and anodised to provide electrical insulation from the busbars 201 and 202. Manufacturing accuracy of the extrusion 210 need only be maintained to approximately ⁇ 50 microns, as the extrusion 210 is not in contact with the nozzles 110. The edges of the channel extrusion 210 should be sealed against the ZBJ chip 100 to prevent air from entering the head assembly 200. This can be achieved with the same epoxy as that used to glue the assembly 200.
  • One way of supplying the necessary power to the chip 110 is by power connections which run the full length of the chip 110. These can be connected using tape automated bonding (TAB) to the busbars 201 and 202 which form part of the head assembly 200.
  • TAB tape automated bonding
  • the signal connections to the ZBJ chip 100 can be formed using the same TAB tapes as are used to supply power to the ZBJ chip 100.
  • the busbars 201,202 can be configured as heat sink elements surrounding the extrusion 210.
  • the A4 full width continuous tone ZBJ head 200 has a high current consumption of several amperes when operating. The distribution of this current to and across the chip 100 is not possible using standard integrated circuit construction. However, the geometry of the ZBJ chip 100 leads to a simple solution. The entire edge of the chip 100 can be used to supply power, with connections being made to a wide aluminium trace along both of the long edges of the chip 100. Power can be supplied by the busbars 201 and 202 along both sides of the chip 100 connected to the chip by tape automated bonding (TAB), compressible solder bumps, spring leaf connection to gold plated traces, a large number of wire bonds, or other connection technology.
  • TAB tape automated bonding
  • the full length full colour head can have a power dissipation of up to 500 watts when all nozzles are printing, depending on the nozzle efficiency.
  • the ZBJ head 200 is essentially a single piece construction and the head cost will consist almost entirely of the ZBJ chip 100 itself.
  • the ZBJ chip 100 cost is determined by processing cost per wafer, number of heads per wafer, and yield. Assuming that the processing costs per wafer is about $800, and the number of heads per wafer is 25, the pre-yield cost per head is $32.
  • the mature-process yield must be about 30%.
  • the chip area for the full colour full length ZBJ heads 200 is of the order of 8.8 cm 2 .
  • the fault tolerance redundancy of the ZBJ head is preferably provided to improve the yield. This can allow a large number of defects to exist on the chip without affecting the operation of any of the nozzles. Furthermore, it is not necessary to incorporate 100% redundancy, but it is necessary to reduce the non-redundant region of the ZBJ head to a size consistent with an adequate yield. Even with fault tolerance, there are several factors which can act to reduce yields below reasonable levels. Some of these factors are:
  • fault tolerance is included in the ZBJ chip 100 so as to improve yield as well as to improve head life.
  • the provision of fault tolerance is considered essential so as to achieve low manufacturing costs of the ZBJ chips 100.
  • the fault tolerance concept described herein is specifically applied to the ZBJ chip 100, the same concept can be used for other types of BJ heads if a configuration with two heaters per nozzle is created.
  • fault tolerance is that chip complexity is doubled. However, due to the topography of the nozzles 110, there is only a slight (about 10%) increase in chip area. The yield decrease this causes is dwarfed by the yield increase provided by fault tolerance.
  • each heater 120 is provided with two heater elements on opposite sides of the nozzle 110 and preferably having identical geometries.
  • the heater elements are termed a main heater and a redundant heater. Accordingly, the ink drop fired from the nozzle tip 111 by either heater is essentially the same.
  • Control of the redundant heater for fault tolerance is provided by sensing the voltage at the drive transistor to the main heater drive.
  • This node makes a high-to-low transition every time the nozzle 110 is fired. Three faults are detected by the behaviour of this node:
  • the ZBJ chip 100 is very long and thin, and has many holes etched through it, the mechanical strength of the chip 100 is insufficient to allow high yield dicing in the conventional manner.
  • FIG. 33 A simple solution using a diced back etch is illustrated in Fig. 33 where channels 147 are etched in the back surface of the wafer 149, most of the way through the wafer 149.
  • the wafer 149 is then scored 145 on the front surface.
  • the channels 147 can be etched using the same processes that are used to etch the ink channels 101 and nozzle vias 110.
  • the spacing of vias 146 along the dice line 145 can be adjusted to give the optimum trade-off between strength for handling and ease of dicing.
  • tags 148 (Fig. 34) can be left along the edges of the wafers 149. These tags 148 must be diced off before the ZBJ chips 100 are separated.
  • the wafer length for 220 mm heads must be 230 mm.
  • the wafers 149 can also be supported by these tags 148 during the various chemical processing steps to prevent processing "shadows" from affecting the regions of the ZBJ chip 100.
  • the full width colour ZBJ chip 110 has dimensions of approximately 220 mm ⁇ 4 mm, yet requires very fine line widths, such as 3 microns for the one nozzle per pixel design, and 2 microns for the four nozzle per pixel design. To maintain focus and resolution when imaging the resist patterns is difficult, but is within the limits of current technology.
  • Either full wafer projection printing or an optical stepper can be used. In both cases, the projection equipment requires modification to the stage to allow for 220 mm travel in the long axis.
  • a scanning projection printer is modified to match the mask transport mechanism to permit very long masks. Defects caused by particles on the mask are projected at a 1:1 ratio and are in focus, so cleaner conditions are required to achieve the same defect level.
  • a 1:1 projection printer also requires a mask of an image area of 220 mm ⁇ 104 mm. This requires modification to the mask fabrication process. The manufacturing of 2 micron resolution masks of this size is viable for high volume production, but the masks are very expensive in small volumes. For these reasons, a stepper configuration should also be considered.
  • 5:1 reduction stepper reduces some of the problems associated with a scanning projection printer, particularly those associated with the production of very large masks, and the particle contamination of the mask.
  • some new problems are introduced. Firstly, a different imaging area of 10 mm ⁇ 8 mm is used. Then the full size wafer can be imaged in 22 ⁇ 13 steps. This provides a total of 286 steps which generally takes about 250 seconds to print. As there are approximately 10 imaging steps required for the manufacture of the ZBJ chip 100, total exposure time per wafer can be about 2,500 seconds which substantially reduces the production rate of such devices. Also, the use of the wafer stepper introduces the following two problems which effect the ZBJ chip design:
  • the first of these problems can be countered by using a repeating design, and ensuring that alignment at the perimeters of that repeating block is not critical.
  • the repeating block does not have to be rectangular, but can avoid critical features such as nozzles.
  • the left hand and right hand edges of the mask pattern can be quite irregular, provided they match each other.
  • each signal line must terminate at the bonding pads 207,223 (Fig. 35), which are typically arranged at the side edges of the chip 100. This normally requires that the side edges of the chip 100 be imaged with a different pattern than that of the centre of the ZBJ chip 100. This can be achieved by blading the mask to obscure the bonding pads and associated circuitry on all but the first exposure of the chip.
  • Fig. 35 shows a basic floor plan or chip layout of a stepper mask for a full width continuous tone colour ZBJ chip 100, including complete redundancy for full fault tolerance.
  • the magnified portion of the drawing illustrates an irregular mask boundary 258.
  • the ZBJ chips 100 can be processed in a manner very similar to standard semiconductor processing. There are however, some extra processing steps required. These are: accurate wafer thickness control, deposition of a HfB 2 heater element; etching of the nozzle tip; back etching of the ink channels; and back etching of the nozzle barrels.
  • NMOS process with two level metal is assumed as this is the basis of the four nozzle per pixel design.
  • CMOS or bipolar processes can also be used.
  • Wafer preparation for scanning BJ heads is similar to that for standard semiconductor devices, except that the back surface must also be accurately ground and polished, and wafer thickness maintained at better than 5 microns. This is because both sides of the wafer are photolithographically processed, and etch depth from the reverse side is critical.
  • Full width fixed ZBJ chips require different wafer preparation than do those used in scanning heads, as the ZBJ chip must be at least 210 mm long in order to be able to print an A4 page, and at least 297 mm long for a A3 pages. This is much wider than the typical silicon crystalline cylinder. Wafers can be sliced longitudinally from the cylinder to accommodate the long chips required.
  • the resultant wafer When the wafer has been ground and polished the resultant wafer should generally be about 600 microns thick.
  • the resultant wafer is a rectangular shape approximately 230 mm ⁇ 104 mm ⁇ 600 microns thick. On this wafer, approximately 25 full colour heads can be processed. Such a wafer will appear similar to that of Fig. 34.
  • a 230 mm long 6 inch cylinder can be used to produce up to 2,600 full width, full colour heads before yield losses.
  • wafer flatness requirements are no more severe than those of the transistor fabrication processes.
  • the wafer can be gettered using back-side phosphorous diffusion, but back-side damage can result.
  • Wafer processing of the ZBJ chip 100 uses a combination of special processes required for heater deposition and nozzle formations, and standard processes used for drive electronics fabrication. As the size of the ZBJ chip 100 is largely determined by the nozzles 110 and not by the drive transistors, there is little size advantage in using a very fine process.
  • the process disclosed here is based on a 2 micron self-aligned polysilicon gate NMOS process, but other processes such as CMOS or bipolar can be used.
  • the process size disclosed here is the largest size compatible with the interconnect density required to the nozzles 113 of the high density four colour ZBJ head. This also requires two levels of metal. Two levels of metal can be required for simpler heads, as high current tracks run across the chip, and very long clock tracks run along the chip.
  • the wafer processing steps required for the formation of the ZBJ nozzles 110 are intermingled with the steps required for the drive transistors.
  • the process used for the drive transistors can be standard as known to those skilled in the art, there is no requirement to specify such steps in this specification.
  • Figs. 36 to 45 show the cross section for a single nozzle.
  • Figs. 36 to 45 also illustrate the corresponding and simultaneous construction of transistors arranged outboard of the nozzle arrays.
  • a 0.5 micron layer 132 of thermal SiO 2 is grown on the P-type doped substrate 130. This is patterned with the driver circuit requirements as well as with the thermal shunt vias 400.
  • a thin gate oxide is thermally grown on the substrate 130. This will also affect the electrical connections of the thermal shunt 140 to the substrate 130, but will have an insignificant effect on thermal conduction.
  • Polysilicon is deposited to form the gates 403 and interconnects of the transistors. The drain and source of the transistors are N-type doped using the polysilicon gate 403 as a mask. This will also dope the thermal shunt connection 403 to the substrate 130.
  • a 0.05 micron layer of HfB 2 is deposited to form the heater 120.
  • a 0.5 micron layer of aluminium is deposited over the substrate 130 to form the first level of metal 134.
  • a resist is patterned with the sum of the heater and the first level metal 134, and wet etched with a phosphoric acid-nitrate etchant.
  • the HfB 2 layer is reactive ion etched using the aluminium as a mask.
  • the etch is performed with a halogenic gas such as CCl 4 (carbon tetrachloride), as described in US Patent No. 4,889,587.
  • the wafer is then at the stage illustrated in Fig. 37.
  • the mask shows the ground common track 405 and the V+ common track 405.
  • a resist is then patterned with a pattern which exposes the heater element 120, and wet etched with a phosphoric acid-nitric etchant.
  • the wafer then corresponds to that illustrated in Fig. 38, also showing a heater connection electrode 407, and HfB 2 408 under aluminium.
  • Fig. 39 illustrates the provision of the interlevel oxide 136.
  • This is a layer of CVD SiO 2 or PECVD SiO 2 , approximately 1 micron thick. The thickness of this layer can be determined by the thermal lag required between the heater 120 and the thermal shunt 140.
  • Fig. 39 shows the cross-section of the wafer after this step in which 410 is a thermal shunt via, 411 represents the nozzle cavity, 412 a via for connection to the transistor and 413 the heater connection vias.
  • the second level metal 138 is formed as a layer of 0.5 micron aluminium which forms both the thermal shunt 140 and the second level of interconnects 144 to the heaters 120, heater connection 416 and connection 415 for the drive circuitry.
  • Two levels of metal are unlikely to be necessary for ZBJ heads with one nozzle per pixel, but are likely to be required for high speed colour heads with four nozzles per pixel.
  • the thickness and material of this layer can be changed to suit the thermal requirements of the heater chamber depending on the specific application.
  • a CVD glass overcoat 142 is applied, approximately 4 microns thick.
  • a low temperature CVD process such as PECVD, can be used. This layer is very thick and provides mechanical strength for the nozzle tip 417, as well as environmental protection.
  • a 17 micron diameter hole is RIE etched through the 4 micron glass overcoat with an SiO 2 etching species. This forms the top of the nozzle tip 417 and completes the configuration illustrated in Fig. 41.
  • the hole (417) formed by a RIE of SiO 2 is extended at least 30 microns into the silicon by further RIE, using a silicon etching gas.
  • the SiO 2 overcoat is used as the RIE mask.
  • RIE is relatively unselective, a substantial amount of the SiO 2 overcoat will be sacrificed.
  • the etch rate is 5:1 (Si:SiO 2 )
  • the CVD glass overcoat is deposited to a depth of 10 microns so that 4 microns remains after etching the silicon.
  • This hole (417) can be etched as deeply as possible to minimise accuracy requirements in the depth of back etching of the nozzle barrel (113). Reactive ion etching is used to obtain near vertical side walls, to ensure that the ink flows to the end of the nozzle by surface tension.
  • the wafer is back-etched to a thickness of approximately 200 microns.
  • the actual thickness is not critical, but the variation in thickness is, however.
  • the wafer must be etched such that the thickness variation is less than ⁇ 2 microns over the wafer. If this is not achieved, it is difficult to subsequently ensure that the process of back etching the nozzles does not over-etch and destroy the heaters.
  • the next step for a four colour head is to RIE etch ink channels 101 in the reverse side of the surface of the chip 100 in the manner illustrated in Figs. 6 to 9.
  • These channels 101 (Fig. 5) are approximately 600 microns wide ⁇ 100 microns deep.
  • These channels 101 are not essential to the operation of the ZBJ chip 100, but have two advantages. Namely, the channels 101 reduce the ink flow rate through the filter from approximately 8 mm per second to 2 mm per second. This flow rate reduction can alternatively be achieved by locating the filter differently in the ZBJ head 200. Also, the channels reduce the depth that the nozzles 110 need to be etched from 190 microns to 90 microns. As the nozzle barrels 113 are 40 microns in diameter, this has a major effect on the ratio of length to diameter of the barrels 113.
  • the ink channel back-etching process can also be used to thin the wafer along the dice lines in the manner earlier described with reference to Fig. 33.
  • the etch depth of the next step, nozzle barrel back- etching 419, is critical to ensure that the nozzle barrel 113 properly joins with the nozzle tip 417 (111) to form the thermal chamber.
  • a solution to this problem is to incorporate end point detection using optical spectroscopy.
  • a chemical etch stop signal can be created by filling the nozzle tips 417 previously etched from the front surface of the substrate with a detectable chemical signature, and monitoring the exhaust gases with an emission spectroscope.
  • the nozzle barrels 113 are formed with an anisotropic reactive ion etch of silicon. Holes 40 microns in diameter (later widened to 60 microns with an isotropic plasma etch), are etched 70 microns into the silicon from the reverse side of the wafer. These holes are at the bottom of the previously etched ink channels, which are 100 microns deep. As the wafer is thinned to 200 microns, these holes etch to within 30 microns of the front surface of the silicon.
  • etch can be stopped, even if some of the nozzles have not joined up to the tips. This is because the next step (10 micron isotropic etching of all exposed silicon) joins up any that are within about 12 microns.
  • Fig. 42 shows the ZBJ chip at the end of this step.
  • Etch depth uniformity over the entire wafer surface is critical. The tolerance depends largely on the depth of each etch achievable with the 18 micron hole etched from the front of the chip. Given that the front etched hole is etched 30 ⁇ 2 microns, wafer thickness is 200 ⁇ 2 microns, ink channel back etch depth is 100 ⁇ 4 microns, overall isotropic etch of silicon is 10 ⁇ 1 microns, maximum joining distance is 12 microns, and the minimum between the nozzle barrel and the heater is 10 microns, cumulative tolerances mean that the nozzle barrel etch must be 70 ⁇ 4 microns. All of these tolerances can be loosened if the front etch can be deeper than 30 microns. The accuracy of alignment of the back-etching process to the front surface processes need only be to within ⁇ 10 microns, as alignment of the barrel and tip is not critical.
  • Fig. 43 The cumulative effect of these tolerances is illustrated in Fig. 43.
  • the cross-hatched area 424 seen in Fig. 43 shows the region of uncertainty in the final nozzle geometry, and the single-hatched area 423 shows the safety margin for the nozzle barrel to nozzle tip join using these tolerances. This safety margin is required because the reactive ion etches will not leave perfectly flat bottomed holes.
  • the uncertainty of the wafer thickness (200 ⁇ 2 microns) and the channel etch (100 ⁇ 4 microns) are combined into one thickness figure of 100 ⁇ 6 microns as the channels are too large to be shown in this figure.
  • the resist must be very thick to be maintained for 70 microns of RIE; the etch is deep and narrow, giving problems with removal of spent etchant; shadowing of the projection pattern by the walls of the ink channels must be avoided; and adequate resist coverage of the stepped surface must be achieved. This is not critical as etching of the ink channel walls can be tolerated.
  • the entire ZBJ wafer is then subjected to a 10 ⁇ 1 micron isotropic plasma etch of all exposed silicon.
  • This has two purposes. Firstly, this forms the thermal chamber 115 by undercutting 425 the thermal silicon dioxide 132 in the region of the heater 120. This is also to ensure that the nozzle barrels 113 join with the nozzle tips 111 resulting from a widening 426 of the barrels 113. As the wafer is etched from both sides, any non-joining barrels 113 and tips 111 that are within 18 microns (twice (10 - 1) microns) should join up. Non-joining barrels and tips within approximately 12 microns will behave essentially similarly to joined barrels and tips. This reduces the accuracy requirements of the barrel back-etch 419.
  • the etch must be highly selective towards silicon, and have a negligible etch rate with thermal silicon dioxide, otherwise the heater insulation layer 132 will be destroyed. This results in the configuration illustrated in Fig. 44.
  • the 4 micron glass overcoat 142 must now be etched to expose the bonding pads. This is not performed before the nozzle tip silicon etch because poor selectivity can cause the 30 micron RIE silicon etch to etch through the aluminium layer 139.
  • the ZBJ chip 100 can then be passivated with a 0.5 micron layer 144 of tantalum or other suitable material. It can be difficult to achieve a highly conformal coating, but irregularities in the passivation thickness will not substantially affect the performance of the ZBJ chip 100.
  • the ZBJ chip 100 has no electrical output, and therefore true functional testing can only be achieved by loading the device with ink into printing and printing patterns which exercise each individual nozzle 110. This cannot be performed at multi-probe time.
  • An effective method of functional testing the chips 100 at multi-probe time is to test the power consumption in the V+ to ground path as each heater 120 is turned on in sequence. Each time a heater 120 is fired, a current pulse should occur. As this is a separate circuit with negligible quiescent current, these pulses are readily detected.
  • the entire pattern of operational heaters and redundant circuits can be determined in approximately 1 second with inexpensive equipment. Therefore, the entire wafer can be multi-probed in under one minute.
  • the pattern of functional and non-functional heaters can be read into a computer and be used for compiling process statistics and detecting local quality control problems.
  • Scribing is along the top surface of the etched dice channels 147 (see Fig. 33).
  • the end tabs 148 for handling must be diced off before the ZBJ chips 100 can be separated.
  • the chips 100 can be glued in place in the head assemblies 200 and connected using tape automated bonding, with one tape along each edge of the chip. Alternatively, standard wire bonding can be used, as long as enough wires are bonded to meet the high current requirements of the chip 100.
  • Fig. 45 illustrates the cross-section of the completed device.
  • Fig. 47 is a plan view of typical components used in a ZBJ chip of the structure shown in Fig. 14.
  • Figs. 48 to 78 are vertical cross-sections through the centre line of Fig. 47 at various manufacturing stages.
  • Fig. 48 The manufacturing process commences with a standard silicon wafer of P-type doping with a resistivity of approximately 25 ohm cm.
  • Fig. 49 A layer of silicon nitride 501 approximately 0.15 microns thick is grown on the wafer 500. This is a standard NMOS process .
  • Fig. 50 A first mask 501 is used to pattern the silicon nitride 501 to prepare for boron implantation.
  • Fig. 51 The wafer 500 is implanted with a field 503 of boron to eliminate the formation of spurious transistors.
  • Fig. 52 A thermal oxide layer 504 approximately 0.8 microns thick is grown on the boron implanted field 503.
  • Fig. 53 The remaining silicon nitride 501 is removed.
  • Fig. 54 This is a standard NMOS process which implants arsenic to form regions 505 for deletion mode transistors. This step involves the spin deposition of a resist, exposure of the resist to the second mask, development of the resist, arsenic implantation, and resist removal.
  • Fig. 55 A 0.1 micron gate oxide 506 is thermally grown. This is part of a standard NMOS process and increases the field oxide thickness to 0.9 microns.
  • Fig. 56 A 1 micron layer of polysilicon 507 is deposited over the entire wafer 500 using chemical vapour deposition.
  • Fig. 57 The polysilicon 507 is patterned using a third mask 508.
  • the wafer 500 is spin coated with resist.
  • the resist is exposed using the third mask and is developed.
  • the polysilicon 507 is then etched using an anisotropic ion enhanced etching to reduce undercutting.
  • Fig. 58 The gate oxide 506 is etched where exposed by the polysilicon etch of the third mask. This results in etch diffusion windows 509 being formed and will also thin the field oxide 504 leaving a thickness of 0.8 microns.
  • Fig. 59 N+ diffusion regions 510 approximately 1 micron deep are formed in the diffusion windows 509.
  • Fig. 60 A 1 micron layer of glass 511 is deposited using chemical vapour deposition.
  • Fig. 61 The CVD glass 511 is etched where contacts are required to the polysilicon 507, the diffusions 510 and in the heater region. Contact regions 512 are formed. This process differs from the standard NMOS process in that the depth of etch is controlled so that there is an appropriate amount of thermal SiO 2 504 remaining under the heaters.
  • Fig. 62 A 0.05 micron layer 513 of HfB 2 is deposited over the wafer 500. This is not a standard NMOS process.
  • Fig. 63 A HfB 2 layer 513 is etched using ion enhanced etching with CCl 4 as the etchant. This exposes the heaters 514. This step requires spin coating of resist, exposure to a fifth level mask, development of resist, ion enhanced etching, and resist stripping.
  • Fig. 64 A 1 micron first metal level 515 of aluminium is evaporated over the wafer 500.
  • Fig. 65 The first metal level 515 is etched using a sixth level mask. This step requires spin coating of resist, exposure to the sixth mask, development of resist, plasma etching, and resist stripping. The etch must be strongly selective over HfB 2 , as the HfB 2 layer is only 0.05 microns and will be exposed when the metal 515 is etched.
  • Fig. 66 A 1 micron layer 516 of glass is deposited using chemical vapour deposition.
  • Pattern contacts for the seventh level mask are made using a standard contact etch for 2 micron NMOS with double level metal. This step requires spin coating of resist, exposure to the seventh mask, development of resist, ion enhanced etching, and resist stripping.
  • Fig. 68 A 1 micron second level metal layer 517 of aluminium is evaporated over the wafer 500.
  • This metal layer 517 provides the second level of contacts. This is required because a high wiring density is required to the heaters 514, which must be metal for low resistance.
  • This layer also provides the thermal diffuser or thermal shunt as described in the earlier embodiments.
  • Fig. 69 The second level metal 517 is etched using an eighth mask. This step requires spin coating of resist, exposure to the eighth mask, development of the resist, plasma etching, and resist stripping. This is a normal NMOS step.
  • the isolated metal disk above the heaters 514 is the thermal diffuser used to distribute waste heat to avoid hot-spots.
  • Fig. 70 A thick layer 518 of glass is deposited over the wafer 500.
  • the layer 518 must be thick enough to provide adequate mechanical strength to resist the shock of imploding bubbles. Also, enough glass must be deposited to diffuse the heat over a wide enough area so that the ink does not boil when in contact with it. 4 micron thickness is considered adequate, but can be easily varied if desired.
  • Fig. 71 This step requires etching using a ninth level mask of a cylindrical barrel 519 into the overcoat 518, through the thermal oxide layer 504 down to the implanted field 503. Both CVD glass and thermal quartz are etched. This step requires spin coating of resist, exposure to a ninth level mask, development of resist, and anisotropic ion enhanced etching, and resist stripping.
  • the thermal chamber 520 is formed by an isotropic plasma etch of silicon, highly selective over SiO 2 . This is essential, as otherwise the protective layer of SiO 2 separating the heater 514 from the passivation will be etched.
  • the previously etched barrel 519 acts as the mask for this step. In this case, an isotropic etch of 17 microns is used. Care must be taken not to fully etch the thermal SiO 2 layer 504.
  • Nozzle channels 521 are etched from the reverse side of the wafer 500 by an anisotropic ion enhanced etching.
  • the channels 521 are about 60 microns in diameter, and about 500 microns deep.
  • the depth of the channels 521 is such that the distance between the top of the channel and the bottom of the thermal chamber 520 is the required nozzle length.
  • the etching place through a layer of resist 522.
  • Fig. 74 The nozzle via is etched from the front side of the wafer 500 using a highly anisotropic ion enhanced etching. This etch is from the bottom of the the thermal chamber 520 to the top of the back etched nozzle channels 521, and is about 20 microns in length, and 20 microns in diameter.
  • the nozzle barrels 523 are formed therefrom.
  • Fig. 75 A 0.5 micron passivation layer 524 of tantalum is conformably coated over the entire wafer 500.
  • Fig. 76 In this step, windows are opened for the bonding pads 525. This requires a resist coating, exposure to a twelfth level mask, resist development, etching of the tantalum passivation layer 524, ion enhance etching of the overcoat 518, and resist stripping. As 2 microns of aluminium is available in the pad regions, it is easy to avoid etching through the pads formed by the second level metal 517.
  • Fig. 77 After probing of the wafer 500, the ZBJ chip is mounted into a frame or support extrusion as earlier described and glued into place. Wires 526 are bonded to the pads formed by the second level metal 525 at the ends of the chip. Power rails are bonded along the two long edges of the chip. Connections are then potted in epoxy resin.
  • Fig. 78 This shows a forward ejection type ZBJ nozzle filled with ink 527. In this case, the droplet is ejected downwards when the nozzle fires.
  • This type of head requires priming of ink using positive pressure, as it will not be filled by capillary action.
  • a similar head construction can be used for reverse firing nozzles by filling the head heat chip from the other side.
  • the ZBJ printhead 200 incorporating the ZBJ chip 100 is useful in a variety of printing applications either printing across the page in the traditional manner, as a scanning print head, or as a stationary full width print head.

Claims (11)

  1. Verfahren zum Herstellen einer Bubblejet-Druckvorrichtung (100) unter Verwendung von Halbleiterfabrikationstechniken mit den folgenden Schritten:
    Vorsehen eines Substratelementes (130), das eine Heizeinrichtung (120), Elektroden (407, 408), die elektrisch an die Heizeinrichtung (120) angeschlossen sind, und einem Überzug (142) zum Schützen der Heizeinrichtung (120) aufweist,
    Ausbilden eines ersten Loches (111, 417) im Substratelement (130) benachbart zur Heizeinrichtung (120) von einer Seite, auf der der Überzug (142) vorgesehen ist,
    Ausbilden eines zweiten Loches (113, 419) im Substratelement (130) von der anderen Seite, wobei das zweite Loch (113, 419) mit dem ersten Loch (111, 417) in Verbindung gebracht wird, um auf diese Weise einen Kanal (110) durch das Substratelement (130) zu bilden.
  2. Verfahren nach Anspruch 1, das des weiteren den Schritt der Ausbildung eines Wärmevernichtungskanales (400, 410) umfaßt.
  3. Verfahren nach Anspruch 1, bei dem eine Vielzahl von Kanälen (110) zweidimensional im Substratelement (130) ausgebildet wird.
  4. Verfahren nach Anspruch 1, bei dem eine Vielzahl von Heizeinrichtungen (120) auf dem Substratelement (130) und eine Vielzahl von Kanälen (110) entsprechend der Vielzahl der Heizeinrichtungen (120) ausgebildet wird.
  5. Verfahren nach Anspruch 3 oder 4, das des weiteren den Schritt der Ausbildung eines Tintenkanales (101), der mit der Vielzahl der Kanäle (110) in Verbindung steht, umfaßt.
  6. Verfahren nach Anspruch 1, das des weiteren den Schritt der Ausbildung einer Antriebsschaltung auf dem Substratelement (130) und einem Oberflächenabschnitt desselben umfaßt.
  7. Verfahren nach Anspruch 6, bei dem die Antriebsschaltung einen Transistor (164, 193) umfaßt.
  8. Verfahren nach Anspruch 6, bei dem jeder Schritt in bezug auf das Vorsehen des Substratelementes (130) mit der Heizeinrichtung (120) und den Elektroden (407, 408), die elektrisch an die Heizeinrichtung (120) angeschlossen sind, und in bezug auf das Ausbilden der Antriebsschaltung eine Vielzahl von Unterschritten umfaßt, von denen mindestens ein Teil den vorstehend genannten beiden Schritten gemeinsam ist.
  9. Verfahren nach Anspruch 1, bei dem das Substratelement (130) aus einem Siliziumsubstrat besteht.
  10. Verfahren nach Anspruch 1, das des weiteren den Schritt der Entfernung von mindestens einem Teil von demjenigen Abschnitt des Substratelementes (130), auf dem die Heizeinrichtung (120) ausgebildet ist, umfaßt.
  11. Verfahren nach Anspruch 1, bei dem das Substratelement (130) entlang beabsichtigter Zerteilungs- oder Kerblinien (147) geätzt wird, um die Zerteilung des Substratelementes (130) in einzelne Druckvorrichtungen zu erleichtern.
EP92101475A 1991-01-30 1992-01-29 Einstückig ausgebildete Bubblejet Druckvorrichtung Expired - Lifetime EP0498292B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (36)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AUPK437491 1991-01-30
AU4374/91 1991-01-30
AUPK473791 1991-02-22
AUPK474191 1991-02-22
AUPK473891 1991-02-22
AU4732/91 1991-02-22
AU4736/91 1991-02-22
AU4740/91 1991-02-22
AU4735/91 1991-02-22
AU4733/91 1991-02-22
AUPK473491 1991-02-22
AUPK473591 1991-02-22
AUPK473391 1991-02-22
AU4746/91 1991-02-22
AUPK474291 1991-02-22
AU4739/91 1991-02-22
AU4737/91 1991-02-22
AU4738/91 1991-02-22
AUPK473291 1991-02-22
AUPK474391 1991-02-22
AUPK474091 1991-02-22
AU4744/91 1991-02-22
AUPK473191 1991-02-22
AU4743/91 1991-02-22
AU4745/91 1991-02-22
AUPK474491 1991-02-22
AUPK474591 1991-02-22
AUPK473691 1991-02-22
AU4742/91 1991-02-22
AU4731/91 1991-02-22
AU4741/91 1991-02-22
AU4734/91 1991-02-22
AUPK474691 1991-02-22
AUPK473991 1991-02-22
AU89998/91 1991-12-23
AU89998/91A AU657931B2 (en) 1991-01-30 1991-12-23 An integrally formed bubblejet print device

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EP0498292A2 EP0498292A2 (de) 1992-08-12
EP0498292A3 EP0498292A3 (en) 1993-02-24
EP0498292B1 true EP0498292B1 (de) 1996-11-27

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AT (1) ATE145589T1 (de)
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DE69215397D1 (de) 1997-01-09
EP0498292A2 (de) 1992-08-12
ATE145589T1 (de) 1996-12-15
DE69215397T2 (de) 1997-06-05
AU657931B2 (en) 1995-03-30
EP0498292A3 (en) 1993-02-24
AU8999891A (en) 1992-08-06

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