JP2005176433A - Actuator device, fluid injecting head, and fluid injection equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an actuator device, which improves the durability and the reliability by preventing the peeling of a diaphragm, a liquid injecting head, and a liquid injection system. <P>SOLUTION: This actuator device is provided with the above diaphragm and a piezoelectric element consisting of a lower electrode, a piezoelectric material layer and an upper electrode on the diaphragm. The diaphragm includes at least an insulator film consisting of a zirconium dioxide (ZrO<SB>2</SB>), and for the crystal of the insulator film, a face (-111) is preferentially oriented. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vibration plate, an actuator device, a liquid jet head, and a liquid jet device including a piezoelectric element including a lower electrode, a piezoelectric layer, and an upper electrode formed on the vibration plate.

  An actuator device including a piezoelectric element that is displaced by applying a voltage is mounted on, for example, a liquid ejecting head that ejects liquid droplets. As such a liquid ejecting head, for example, pressure generation that communicates with a nozzle opening is performed. There is known an ink jet recording head in which a part of a chamber is constituted by a diaphragm, and the diaphragm is deformed by a piezoelectric element to pressurize ink in a pressure generating chamber and eject ink droplets from a nozzle opening. Two types of ink jet recording heads have been put into practical use: those equipped with a piezoelectric actuator device in a longitudinal vibration mode that extends and contracts in the axial direction of the piezoelectric element, and those equipped with a piezoelectric actuator device in a flexural vibration mode. Yes.

  The former can change the volume of the pressure generation chamber by bringing the end face of the piezoelectric element into contact with the vibration plate, and it is possible to manufacture a head suitable for high-density printing, while the piezoelectric element is arranged in an array of nozzle openings. There is a problem that the manufacturing process is complicated because a difficult process of matching the pitch into a comb-like shape and an operation of positioning and fixing the cut piezoelectric element in the pressure generating chamber are necessary. On the other hand, the latter can flexibly vibrate, although a piezoelectric element can be built on the diaphragm by a relatively simple process of sticking a green sheet of piezoelectric material according to the shape of the pressure generation chamber and firing it. There is a problem that a certain amount of area is required for the use of, and high-density arrangement is difficult. In addition, in order to eliminate the inconvenience of the latter, a uniform piezoelectric material layer is formed by a film forming technique over the entire surface of the diaphragm, and this piezoelectric material layer is cut into a shape corresponding to the pressure generating chamber by a lithography method. Some have piezoelectric elements formed so as to be independent for each pressure generating chamber.

  For example, lead zirconate titanate (PZT) is used as the material of the piezoelectric material layer constituting such a piezoelectric element. In this case, when the piezoelectric material layer is fired, the lead component of the piezoelectric material layer is provided on the surface of the flow path forming substrate made of silicon (Si) and diffuses into the silicon oxide film constituting the vibration plate. The diffusion of the lead component causes the melting point of silicon oxide to drop, and there is a problem that it is melted by the heat at the time of firing the piezoelectric material layer. In order to solve such a problem, for example, a zirconium oxide film constituting a vibration plate is provided on a silicon oxide film, and a piezoelectric material layer is provided on the zirconium oxide film, so that the piezoelectric material layer is changed to the silicon oxide film. That prevent the diffusion of lead components. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  However, the zirconium oxide film has a problem that adhesion with the silicon oxide film is low, and peeling of the diaphragm occurs. That is, the zirconium oxide film is formed, for example, by thermally oxidizing the zirconium film after forming the zirconium film by sputtering. The zirconium film thus formed has a polycrystalline structure, but the crystal often has a dumpling shape, and even when a columnar crystal is included, the ratio is low. There is a problem that adhesion is low and peeling of the zirconium oxide film occurs. Such a problem exists not only in an actuator device mounted on a liquid ejecting head such as an ink jet recording head but also in an actuator device mounted on another device.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-204849 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 5)

  In view of such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide an actuator device, a liquid ejecting head, and a liquid ejecting device that are improved in durability and reliability by preventing peeling of the diaphragm.

A first aspect of the present invention that solves the above problem is an actuator device comprising a diaphragm and a piezoelectric element comprising a lower electrode, a piezoelectric layer and an upper electrode on the diaphragm, wherein the diaphragm is The actuator device includes at least an insulator film made of zirconium oxide (ZrO ₂ ), and crystals of the insulator film are preferentially oriented in the (−111) plane.
In the first aspect, the quality of the insulator film is improved and the diaphragm is prevented from peeling off. Further, the quality of the insulator film is improved, so that the quality of each layer such as a piezoelectric layer formed on the insulator film is stabilized.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the actuator device is characterized in that the crystal of the insulator film is columnar.
In the second aspect, the crystal of the insulator film becomes a continuous column shape from the lower surface to the upper surface, thereby improving the adhesion with the lower layer and the upper layer.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the actuator device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the insulator film has a monoclinic crystal.
In the third aspect, the crystal of the insulator film is well oriented in the (−111) plane.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the thickness of the insulator film is 200 nm or more, and the crystal grain size is 20 nm to 100 nm. It is in.
In the fourth aspect, the adhesion between the insulator film and its upper and lower layers is more reliably improved.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the actuator device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the stress of the insulator film is in a range of −150 to −300 [MPa]. .
In the fifth aspect, it is possible to reliably prevent the insulator film from peeling off. Further, a decrease in the displacement of the diaphragm due to the driving of the piezoelectric element is prevented.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the diaphragm includes an elastic film made of silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ), and the insulator film is provided on the elastic film. The actuator device is characterized by the above.
In the sixth aspect, the adhesion is improved even when the lower layer of the insulator film is an elastic film made of silicon oxide.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flow comprising any one of the first to sixth actuator devices and a pressure generation chamber that is provided on one surface side and communicates with a nozzle opening that discharges droplets. A liquid ejecting head comprising a path forming substrate.
In the seventh aspect, it is possible to realize a liquid jet head with improved durability and reliability.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, a liquid ejecting apparatus includes the liquid ejecting head according to the seventh aspect.
In the eighth aspect, a liquid ejecting apparatus with improved durability and reliability can be realized.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an ink jet recording head including an actuator device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view of FIG. As shown in the figure, the flow path forming substrate 10 is composed of a silicon single crystal substrate having a plane orientation (110) in the present embodiment, and one surface thereof is previously formed by thermal oxidation and is composed of silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ). An elastic film 50 having a thickness of 1 to 2 μm is formed. A plurality of pressure generating chambers 12 are arranged in parallel in the width direction of the flow path forming substrate 10. In addition, a communication portion 13 is formed in a region outside the longitudinal direction of the pressure generation chamber 12 of the flow path forming substrate 10, and the communication portion 13 and each pressure generation chamber 12 are provided for each pressure generation chamber 12. Communication is made via a supply path 14. The communication part 13 constitutes a part of a reservoir that communicates with a reservoir part of a protective substrate, which will be described later, and serves as a common ink chamber for the pressure generating chambers 12. The ink supply path 14 is formed with a narrower width than the pressure generation chamber 12, and maintains a constant flow path resistance of ink flowing into the pressure generation chamber 12 from the communication portion 13.

Further, a nozzle plate 20 having a nozzle opening 21 communicating with the vicinity of the end portion of each pressure generating chamber 12 on the side opposite to the ink supply path 14 on the opening surface side of the flow path forming substrate 10 will be described later. It is fixed by an adhesive, a heat welding film or the like through the mask film 51. The nozzle plate 20 has a thickness of, for example, 0.01 to 1 mm, a linear expansion coefficient of 300 ° C. or less, for example, 2.5 to 4.5 [× 10 ⁻⁶ / ° C.], glass ceramics, silicon It consists of a single crystal substrate or non-rust steel.

On the other hand, the elastic film 50 is formed on the side opposite to the opening surface of the flow path forming substrate 10 as described above, and zirconium oxide (ZrO ₂ ), for example, this embodiment is formed on the elastic film 50. In the embodiment, an insulator film 55 made of monoclinic zirconium oxide is formed. The insulator film 55 has crystals preferentially oriented to (−111), and in this embodiment, the crystals are formed in a columnar shape. Thereby, the adhesiveness with the elastic film 50 of the insulator film | membrane 55 can be improved, and generation | occurrence | production of peeling etc. of a diaphragm can be prevented. Further, the quality of each layer formed on the insulator film 55 can be stabilized. Therefore, an ink jet recording head having improved durability and reliability can be realized.

  Note that the preferential orientation refers to a state in which the orientation direction of the crystal is not disordered and a specific crystal plane is oriented in a substantially constant direction. For example, in the present embodiment, the (−111) plane of the zirconium oxide crystal faces the surface side of the insulator film 55. In addition, a film in which crystals are columnar means a state in which substantially cylindrical crystals are aggregated over a plane direction in a state where the central axis substantially coincides with the thickness direction to form a film.

  Such an insulator film 55 is preferably formed with a thickness of at least 200 nm. For example, in this embodiment, the insulator film 55 is formed with a thickness of about 400 nm. As will be described in detail later, the insulator film 55 plays a role of preventing the diffusion of the lead component into the elastic film 50 when the piezoelectric layer is formed. If the insulator film 55 is formed with a thickness of 200 nm or more, it is possible to reliably prevent the lead component from diffusing into the elastic film 50.

  In addition, it is preferable to adjust the crystal grain size of zirconium oxide as appropriate in accordance with the thickness of the insulator film 55, but it is preferably, for example, about 20 nm to 100 nm. Thereby, the adhesiveness of the insulator film 55 with the elastic film 50 is further improved. Furthermore, the stress of the insulator film 55 is preferably in the range of −150 to −300 [MPa], that is, the stress in the tensile direction is in the range of 150 to 300 [MPa]. With this level of stress, cracks and the like are not generated in the insulator film 55, and the yield is greatly improved.

On such an insulator film 55, a lower electrode film 60 having a thickness of, for example, about 0.2 μm, a piezoelectric layer 70 having a thickness of, for example, about 1.0 μm, and a thickness of, for example, An upper electrode film 80 having a thickness of about 0.05 μm is laminated by a process to be described later to constitute the piezoelectric element 300. Here, the piezoelectric element 300 refers to a portion including the lower electrode film 60, the piezoelectric layer 70, and the upper electrode film 80. In general, one electrode of the piezoelectric element 300 is used as a common electrode, and the other electrode and the piezoelectric layer 70 are patterned for each pressure generating chamber 12. In addition, here, a portion that is configured by any one of the patterned electrodes and the piezoelectric layer 70 and in which piezoelectric distortion is generated by applying a voltage to both electrodes is referred to as a piezoelectric active portion. In this embodiment, the lower electrode film 60 is a common electrode of the piezoelectric element 300, and the upper electrode film 80 is an individual electrode of the piezoelectric element 300. However, there is no problem even if this is reversed for the convenience of the drive circuit and wiring. In either case, a piezoelectric active part is formed for each pressure generating chamber. Further, here, the piezoelectric element 300 and the vibration plate that is displaced by driving the piezoelectric element 300 are collectively referred to as a piezoelectric actuator. In the present embodiment, the elastic film, the insulator film, and the lower electrode film act as a diaphragm, but of course, only the elastic film and the insulator film may act as a diaphragm.
The upper electrode film 80 of each piezoelectric element 300 is connected to a lead electrode 90 made of, for example, gold (Au) or the like, and a voltage is selectively applied to each piezoelectric element 300 via the lead electrode 90. Is applied.

  Further, a protective substrate 30 having a piezoelectric element holding portion 31 capable of securing a space that does not hinder the movement of the region facing the piezoelectric element 300 is bonded to the surface of the flow path forming substrate 10 on the piezoelectric element 300 side. It is joined via the agent 35. Since the piezoelectric element 300 is formed in the piezoelectric element holding part 31, it is protected in a state hardly affected by the external environment. Further, the protective substrate 30 is provided with a reservoir portion 32 in a region corresponding to the communication portion 13 of the flow path forming substrate 10. In this embodiment, the reservoir portion 32 is provided along the direction in which the pressure generating chambers 12 are arranged so as to penetrate the protective substrate 30 in the thickness direction, and as described above, the communication portion of the flow path forming substrate 10. The reservoir 100 is connected to the pressure generation chamber 12 and serves as a common ink chamber for the pressure generation chambers 12.

In addition, a through hole 33 that penetrates the protective substrate 30 in the thickness direction is provided in a region between the piezoelectric element holding portion 31 and the reservoir portion 32 of the protective substrate 30. A part of the lead electrode 90 and the leading end of the lead electrode 90 are exposed, and one end of a connection wiring extending from the drive IC is connected to the lower electrode film 60 and the lead electrode 90, although not shown.
In addition, examples of the material of the protective substrate 30 include glass, ceramic material, metal, resin, and the like, but it is more preferable that the material is substantially the same as the thermal expansion coefficient of the flow path forming substrate 10. In this embodiment, the silicon single crystal substrate made of the same material as the flow path forming substrate 10 is used.

  A compliance substrate 40 including a sealing film 41 and a fixing plate 42 is bonded onto the protective substrate 30. The sealing film 41 is made of a material having low rigidity and flexibility (for example, a polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) film having a thickness of 6 μm), and one surface of the reservoir portion 32 is sealed by the sealing film 41. Yes. The fixing plate 42 is made of a hard material such as metal (for example, stainless steel (SUS) having a thickness of 30 μm). Since the region of the fixing plate 42 facing the reservoir 100 is an opening 43 that is completely removed in the thickness direction, one surface of the reservoir 100 is sealed only with a flexible sealing film 41. Has been.

  In such an ink jet recording head of this embodiment, ink is taken in from an external ink supply means (not shown), filled with ink from the reservoir 100 to the nozzle opening 21, and then in accordance with a recording signal from a drive IC (not shown). Then, a voltage is applied between each of the lower electrode film 60 and the upper electrode film 80 corresponding to the pressure generation chamber 12 to bend and deform the elastic film 50, the insulator film 55, the lower electrode film 60, and the piezoelectric layer 70. As a result, the pressure in each pressure generating chamber 12 increases and ink droplets are ejected from the nozzle openings 21.

  Here, a method of manufacturing such an ink jet recording head will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 are cross-sectional views of the pressure generating chamber 12 in the longitudinal direction. First, as shown in FIG. 3A, a flow path forming substrate wafer 110, which is a silicon wafer, is thermally oxidized in a diffusion furnace at about 1100 ° C., and a silicon dioxide film 52 constituting an elastic film 50 is formed on the surface thereof. To do. In the present embodiment, a silicon wafer having a relatively thick film thickness of about 625 μm and a high rigidity is used as the flow path forming substrate 10.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, an insulator film 55 made of zirconium oxide is formed on the elastic film 50 (silicon dioxide film 52). Specifically, first, a zirconium layer is formed on the elastic film 50 by sputtering, for example, DC sputtering in this embodiment. At this time, the zirconium layer is preferably formed so that the (002) plane orientation degree of the surface is 80% or more, particularly 90% or more. The “degree of orientation” refers to the ratio of diffraction intensity generated when a zirconium layer is measured by the X-ray diffraction wide angle method. Specifically, when the zirconium layer is measured by the X-ray diffraction wide angle method, peaks of diffraction intensity corresponding to the (100) plane, the (002) plane, and the (101) plane are generated. The “(002) plane orientation degree” means the ratio of the peak intensity corresponding to the (002) plane to the sum of the peak intensity corresponding to each plane.

  In order to obtain a zirconium layer having a (002) plane orientation degree of 80% or more in this way, it is preferable that the output when the zirconium layer is formed by DC sputtering is 500 [W] or less. Further, the sputtering pressure is preferably 0.5 [Pa] or less. Thus, by appropriately selecting the film formation conditions and forming the zirconium layer by the DC sputtering method, it is possible to reliably form the zirconium layer having a (002) plane orientation degree of 80% or more on the surface.

Thus, by thermally oxidizing the zirconium layer having a (002) plane orientation degree of 80% or more, the insulator film 55 made of zirconium oxide preferentially oriented on the (−111) plane can be formed. Specifically, for example, in the diffusion furnace heated to 850 to 1000 [° C.], for example, at a speed (load speed) of 300 [mm / min] or more, preferably 500 [mm / min] or more. The formation substrate wafer 110 is inserted to thermally oxidize the zirconium layer.
Thereby, the insulator film 55 made of zirconium oxide preferentially oriented in the (−111) plane is formed. Further, the zirconium oxide crystal constituting the insulator film 55 formed in this way becomes a continuous columnar crystal from the lower surface to the upper surface.

  Here, the X-ray diffraction measurement result of the zirconium layer formed on the predetermined substrate under the sputtering conditions shown in Table 1 below is shown in FIG. Further, FIG. 7 shows the X-ray diffraction result of the zirconium oxide layer formed by thermally oxidizing the zirconium layer under the thermal oxidation conditions shown in Table 1 below. Further, FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional SEM image of this zirconium oxide layer.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in this zirconium layer, the peak corresponding to the (002) plane of diffraction intensity is extremely large, whereas the peaks corresponding to the (100) plane and (101) plane are extremely small and substantially zero. It was a degree close to. That is, it was confirmed that the diffraction intensity peak substantially occurred only at a position corresponding to the (002) plane, and the degree of orientation of the (002) plane of this zirconium layer was extremely high. In addition, the (002) plane orientation degree was specifically about 99.7%. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, in the zirconium oxide layer formed by thermally oxidizing this zirconium layer, the peak of diffraction intensity occurs only at a position substantially corresponding to (−111). It was confirmed that the crystals of the zirconium layer were preferentially oriented in the (−111) plane.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 8, in the zirconium oxide layer in which the crystals are preferentially oriented in the (−111) plane, no dumpling crystals are seen, and it can be confirmed that almost all the crystals are columnar.
As is apparent from these results, a zirconium layer having a relatively high degree of (002) plane orientation is thermally oxidized to form a zirconium oxide layer (insulator film 55) preferentially oriented in the (−111) plane with columnar crystals. Can be formed.

  Further, by adjusting the degree of orientation of the (002) plane of the zirconium layer, a zirconium oxide layer (insulator film 55) preferentially oriented in the (−111) plane can be formed, and the zirconium oxide layer (insulator film) The crystal grain size of 55) can also be controlled. FIG. 9 is an SEM image of the surface of a zirconium oxide layer formed by thermally oxidizing a zirconium layer having a (002) plane orientation of 99.7%, and FIG. 10 has a (002) plane orientation of 90%. It is a SEM image of the surface of the zirconium oxide layer formed by thermally oxidizing a zirconium layer. As can be seen from the SEM image shown in FIG. 9, when a zirconium layer having a (002) plane orientation degree of 99.7% is thermally oxidized to form a zirconium oxide layer, the average crystal grain size of zirconium oxide is about 100 nm. Met. On the other hand, in the case of a zirconium oxide layer formed by thermally oxidizing a zirconium layer having a (002) plane orientation degree of about 90%, the average crystal grain size is about 50 nm as can be seen from the SEM image shown in FIG. The (002) plane orientation degree was smaller than that obtained when the zirconium layer having 99.7% was thermally oxidized.

  That is, the crystal grain size of zirconium oxide changes depending on the (002) plane orientation degree of the zirconium layer before thermal oxidation. The higher the (002) plane orientation degree of the zirconium layer, the larger the average crystal grain size of zirconium oxide. Become. Therefore, by adjusting the degree of orientation of the (002) plane of the zirconium layer, the average crystal grain size of zirconium oxide constituting the insulator film 55 can be controlled. For example, the average crystal grain size can be reliably controlled in the range of about 20 nm to 100 nm. be able to.

  After forming the insulator film 55, as shown in FIG. 3C, for example, after forming the lower electrode film 60 by laminating platinum and iridium on the insulator film 55, The lower electrode film 60 is patterned into a predetermined shape. Next, as shown in FIG. 3D, for example, a piezoelectric layer 70 made of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and an upper electrode film 80 made of iridium, for example, are formed on the entire surface of the wafer 110 for flow path forming substrate. To form. Here, in the present embodiment, a so-called sol-gel is obtained in which a so-called sol in which a metal organic material is dissolved and dispersed in a catalyst is applied, dried, gelled, and further fired at a high temperature to obtain a piezoelectric layer 70 made of a metal oxide. The piezoelectric layer 70 made of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) is formed by the method. When the piezoelectric layer 70 is formed in this manner, the lead component of the piezoelectric layer 70 may diffuse into the elastic film 50 during firing, but an insulator film made of zirconium oxide is disposed below the piezoelectric layer 70. 55 is provided, the lead component of the piezoelectric layer 70 does not diffuse into the elastic film 50.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4A, the piezoelectric layer 300 and the upper electrode film 80 are patterned in a region facing each pressure generating chamber 12 to form the piezoelectric element 300. Next, the lead electrode 90 is formed. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4B, a metal layer 91 made of, for example, gold (Au) or the like is formed over the entire surface of the flow path forming substrate wafer 110. Thereafter, for example, the lead electrode 90 is formed by patterning the metal layer 91 for each piezoelectric element 300 through a mask pattern (not shown) made of a resist or the like.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, a protective substrate wafer 130 that is a silicon wafer and serves as a plurality of protective substrates 30 is bonded to the piezoelectric element 300 side of the flow path forming substrate wafer 110. Since the protective substrate wafer 130 has a thickness of, for example, about 400 μm, the rigidity of the flow path forming substrate wafer 110 is remarkably improved by bonding the protective substrate wafer 130.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4D, after the flow path forming substrate wafer 110 is polished to a certain thickness, the flow path forming substrate wafer 110 is further etched by wet etching with fluorinated nitric acid. Make it thick. For example, in this embodiment, the flow path forming substrate wafer 110 is etched so as to have a thickness of about 70 μm. Next, as shown in FIG. 5A, a mask film 51 made of, for example, silicon nitride (SiN) is newly formed on the flow path forming substrate wafer 110 and patterned into a predetermined shape. Then, the flow path forming substrate wafer 110 is anisotropically etched through the mask film 51, so that the pressure generating chamber 12 and the communication portion are connected to the flow path forming substrate wafer 110 as shown in FIG. 13 and the ink supply path 14 are formed.

  After that, unnecessary portions of the outer peripheral edge portions of the flow path forming substrate wafer 110 and the protective substrate wafer 130 are removed by cutting, for example, by dicing. The nozzle plate 20 having the nozzle openings 21 formed on the surface of the flow path forming substrate wafer 110 opposite to the protective substrate wafer 130 is bonded, and the compliance substrate 40 is bonded to the protective substrate wafer 130. By dividing the flow path forming substrate wafer 110 and the like into the flow path forming substrate 10 and the like of one chip size as shown in FIG. 1, the ink jet recording head of this embodiment is obtained.

(Other embodiments)
As mentioned above, although each embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above. Further, the ink jet recording head of the above-described embodiment constitutes a part of a recording head unit including an ink flow path communicating with an ink cartridge or the like, and is mounted on the ink jet recording apparatus. FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing an example of the ink jet recording apparatus.

  As shown in FIG. 11, in the recording head units 1A and 1B having the ink jet recording head, cartridges 2A and 2B constituting ink supply means are detachably provided, and a carriage 3 on which the recording head units 1A and 1B are mounted. Is provided on a carriage shaft 5 attached to the apparatus body 4 so as to be movable in the axial direction. The recording head units 1A and 1B, for example, are configured to eject a black ink composition and a color ink composition, respectively. The driving force of the driving motor 6 is transmitted to the carriage 3 via a plurality of gears and timing belt 7 (not shown), so that the carriage 3 on which the recording head units 1A and 1B are mounted is moved along the carriage shaft 5. The On the other hand, the apparatus body 4 is provided with a platen 8 along the carriage shaft 5, and a recording sheet S, which is a recording medium such as paper fed by a paper feed roller (not shown), is conveyed on the platen 8. It is like that.

  In the above-described embodiments, the present invention has been described by exemplifying an ink jet recording head as an example of the liquid ejecting head. However, the basic configuration of the liquid ejecting head is not limited to the above-described configuration. The present invention covers a wide range of liquid ejecting heads, and can naturally be applied to those ejecting liquids other than ink. Other liquid ejecting heads include, for example, various recording heads used in image recording apparatuses such as printers, color material ejecting heads used in the manufacture of color filters such as liquid crystal displays, organic EL displays, and FEDs (surface emitting displays). Examples thereof include an electrode material ejection head used for electrode formation, a bioorganic matter ejection head used for biochip production, and the like. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied not only to an actuator device mounted on a liquid jet head (inkjet recording head) but also to an actuator device mounted on any device.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the recording head according to the first embodiment. 2A and 2B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view of the recording head according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a manufacturing process of the recording head according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a manufacturing process of the recording head according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a manufacturing process of the recording head according to the first embodiment. The figure which shows the X-ray-diffraction measurement result of the zirconium layer which concerns on this invention. The figure which shows the X-ray-diffraction measurement result of the zirconium oxide layer concerning this invention. The SEM image which shows the cross section of the zirconium oxide layer concerning this invention. The SEM image which shows the surface of the zirconium oxide layer concerning this invention. The SEM image which shows the surface of the zirconium oxide layer concerning this invention. 1 is a schematic diagram of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Flow path formation board | substrate, 12 Pressure generation chamber, 20 Nozzle plate, 21 Nozzle opening, 30 Protection board, 31 Piezoelectric element holding | maintenance part, 32 Reservoir part, 40 Compliance board | substrate, 50 Elastic film, 55 Insulator film, 60 Lower electrode film , 70 piezoelectric film, 80 upper electrode film, 100 reservoir, 110 flow path forming substrate wafer, 130 protective substrate wafer, 300 piezoelectric element

Claims (8)

An actuator device comprising a diaphragm and a piezoelectric element comprising a lower electrode, a piezoelectric layer and an upper electrode on the diaphragm,
The actuator device, wherein the diaphragm includes at least an insulator film made of zirconium oxide (ZrO ₂ ), and crystals of the insulator film are preferentially oriented in a (−111) plane. 2. The actuator device according to claim 1, wherein the crystal of the insulator film is columnar. 3. The actuator device according to claim 1, wherein the insulator film has a monoclinic crystal. 4. The actuator device according to claim 1, wherein the insulator film has a thickness of 200 nm or more and a crystal grain size of 20 nm to 100 nm. 5. The actuator device according to claim 1, wherein a stress of the insulator film is in a range of −150 to −300 [MPa]. 6. The actuator device according to claim 1, wherein the vibration plate includes an elastic film made of silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ), and the insulator film is provided on the elastic film. The actuator device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, and the flow path forming substrate including the pressure generating chamber that is provided on one surface side and communicates with a nozzle opening that discharges droplets. A liquid ejecting head characterized by the above. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising the liquid ejecting head according to claim 7.

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