JP2012192713A - Method of manufacturing ink discharge head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of manufacturing ink discharge head hardly causing a manufacturing step dependent variation in opening size of an ink supply port, and not requiring dry etching in removal of an etching stop layer.SOLUTION: A recessed part 11a extending from one surface of a substrate 11 down to a midst part of the substrate 11 is formed. An embedding material 13 which is insoluble in an etching liquid of the substrate 11 is embedded in the recessed part 11a. An ink chamber including a heater 12 and the recessed part 11a is formed on one surface of the substrate 11. The substrate 11 is etched from its other surface toward the recessed part 11a to form the ink supply port B. The embedding material 13 is removed by using a solvent which can solve the embedding material 13 and does not etch the substrate 11.

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an ink discharge head used in an ink jet printer or the like.

  A heat source driving type ink discharge head used in an inkjet printer or the like generates bubbles in ink using a heat source and discharges ink droplets by the expansion force of the bubbles. An example of a manufacturing method of such a heat source driving type ink discharge head is disclosed in Patent Document 1. Hereinafter, a manufacturing method of the ink discharge head 5 which is a conventional ink discharge head will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, silicon nitride films 52 are formed on both surfaces of the silicon substrate 51 by LPCVD (Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition). A part of the front-side silicon nitride film 52 is selectively removed by reactive ion etching using CF 4 gas, so that a silicon nitride film 52 with a part opened is formed (FIG. 8A). Next, silicon present in the opening of the silicon nitride film 52 is denatured into the porous silicon layer 53 using a hydrofluoric acid solution. Thereafter, the silicon nitride film 52 is removed (FIG. 8B). Then, a passivation layer 54 is formed by depositing silicon nitride on the porous silicon layer 53 by LPCVD. On the back side of the silicon substrate 51, a mask layer 55 is formed by a silicon nitride layer partially removed (FIG. 8C). A pyramidal groove surrounded by a plane composed of a (111) crystal plane of silicon is formed in the silicon substrate 51 by crystal axis anisotropic etching using an aqueous potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution (FIG. 8D). ). By further etching from this state, the porous silicon layer 53 functioning as an embedding material is removed by isotropic etching using an aqueous KOH solution, and a membrane is formed by the passivation layer 54 (FIG. 8 ( E)). At this time, the passivation layer 54 functions as an etching stop layer. Thereafter, reactive ion etching using CF4 gas is performed on the passivation layer 54 existing in the opening of the silicon substrate 51 from the back surface of the substrate, thereby forming the ink supply port E (FIG. 8 ( F)). Thereafter, an ink chamber having a discharge hole and including a heater as an energy generating element is formed on the silicon substrate 51. Since the recess is formed by removing the porous silicon layer 53, the opening size of the ink supply port E can be accurately adjusted regardless of individual differences of the silicon substrate.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-181032

  However, in the manufacturing method disclosed in Patent Document 1, the porous silicon layer 53 that functions as an embedding material is removed by isotropic etching using a KOH aqueous solution. The aqueous KOH solution also has an etching property with respect to the silicon substrate 51. Therefore, when the porous silicon layer 53 is removed, the etching also proceeds on the silicon substrate 51, so that the opening size of the recess may be larger than a desired size. In addition, since the passivation layer 54 is formed on the concave portion, in order to form the ink supply port E, a step of performing reactive ion etching using CF 4 gas on the passivation layer 54 is necessary. It becomes. Dry etching such as reactive ion etching generally has a slower etching rate than wet etching or the like. Therefore, in the manufacturing method disclosed in Patent Document 1, it takes time to remove the passivation layer 54.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and to provide a method for manufacturing an ink discharge head in which the opening size of an ink supply port is not easily changed depending on the manufacturing process and does not require dry etching to remove the etching stop layer. To do.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, one aspect of the present invention provides a silicon substrate having an energy generating element for providing ink with energy for discharging ink. A recess forming step for forming a recess extending to the middle portion, a step of embedding in the recess a filling material insoluble in a first solvent used when etching the substrate, the energy generating element and the recess And an ink chamber forming step for forming an ink chamber for containing the ink on the one surface, and an ink supply port for etching the substrate from the other surface of the substrate toward the recess and penetrating the substrate An etching step for forming the burying material, and a second solvent that is soluble in the burying material and has no etching property with respect to the substrate. Embedding material removal step for removing only material, a manufacturing method of the ink jet head, characterized in that it comprises a.

  According to this, the embedding material is embedded in the recess formed in one surface of the substrate. This embedding material is insoluble in the first solvent used when etching the substrate. Therefore, when etching is performed from the other surface of the substrate, the embedding material serves as an etching stop layer to stop the etching, so that the recess is not affected by the etching. Further, the removal of the embedding material is performed with a second solvent that does not have etching properties with respect to the silicon substrate. For this reason, the recess is not etched even when the filling material is removed. Accordingly, the size of the concave portion serving as the opening of the ink supply port is unlikely to vary depending on the manufacturing process. Therefore, the opening size of the ink supply port can be determined with high accuracy. Further, since the removal of the filling material is performed by the second solvent (= wet etching), dry etching is not necessary for removing the etching stop layer, which leads to a reduction in manufacturing time.

  Further, in the ink chamber forming step, a sacrificial layer is formed on the channel wall forming step of forming a channel wall surrounding the energy generating element on the one surface, and on a region partitioned by the channel wall. A sacrificial layer forming step for forming, and a nozzle layer forming step for forming a nozzle layer having nozzle holes for discharging ink so as to cover the flow path wall and the sacrificial layer, wherein the sacrificial layer is soluble in a third solvent. A sacrificial layer removing step of removing the sacrificial layer using the method may be further provided.

  According to this, even when the sacrificial layer necessary for forming the ink chamber is removed, the size of the recess does not vary. Therefore, the opening size of the ink supply port can be determined with higher accuracy.

  Furthermore, the embedding material and the sacrificial layer may be made of a material that is soluble in the same type of solvent, and the second solvent and the third solvent may be the same type of solvent.

  According to this, the filling material and the sacrificial layer are removed by the same kind of solvent. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of steps for manufacturing the ejection head.

  Furthermore, the embedding material and the sacrificial layer are made of the same type of material, the flow path wall forming step is executed before the embedding step, and the embedding step and the sacrificial layer forming step are the same step. May be executed as

  According to this, the embedding material and the sacrificial layer are made of the same material, and the embedding step and the sacrificial layer forming step are performed in the same step. Accordingly, it is possible to further reduce the number of steps for manufacturing the ejection head.

  Furthermore, the sacrificial layer may be made of a material different from the embedding material, which is not compatible with the nozzle layer and is soluble in alkali.

  According to this, the sacrificial layer does not exhibit compatibility with the nozzle layer. Therefore, when the nozzle layer is formed on the sacrificial layer, the contact portion of the nozzle layer is not roughened. Accordingly, the surface of the nozzle layer on the ink chamber side can be formed with high accuracy, and the height of the ink chamber can be determined with high accuracy.

  Further, after the sacrificial layer forming step, further comprising a flattening step of flattening the surface of the sacrificial layer and the flow path wall so that the sacrificial layer and the flow path wall are located on the same plane, The nozzle layer forming step may be performed after the planarization step.

  According to this, the sacrificial layer and the flow path wall are flattened to a position on the same plane, and the nozzle layer is formed thereon. Accordingly, the surface of the nozzle layer on the ink chamber side can be formed with high accuracy, and the height of the ink chamber can be determined with high accuracy.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method of manufacturing an ink ejection head in which the opening size of the ink supply port is not easily changed depending on the manufacturing process and does not require dry etching for removing the etching stop layer.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an outline of the ink discharge head 1 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the ink ejection head 1 according to the first embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the manufacturing method of the ink discharge head 1 based on 1st Embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows the structure of the ink discharge head 2 based on 2nd Embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the manufacturing method of the ink discharge head 2 based on 2nd Embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the manufacturing method of the ink discharge head 2 based on 2nd Embodiment (continuation of FIG. 5). Explanatory drawing of the manufacturing method of the ink discharge head 3 based on 3rd Embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the manufacturing method of the ink discharge head 5 based on a prior art example.

<First Embodiment>
A first embodiment according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the configuration of the ink discharge head 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

[Configuration of Ink Ejection Head 1]
As shown in FIG. 1, the ink ejection head 1 has a plurality of ejection holes A aligned in one direction. Each of the ejection holes A communicates with an individually provided ink chamber CH (see FIG. 2). In the ink chamber CH, heaters 12 (see FIG. 2) functioning as energy generating elements for ejecting ink are provided. Ink is supplied to the ink chamber CH through the ink supply port B connected from the lower surface of the ink discharge head 1 to the ink chamber CH. A part of the ink supplied to the ink chamber CH becomes bubbles due to the heating of the heater 12. The ink in the ink chamber CH pushed out by the bubbles is ejected from the ejection hole A.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the ink discharge head 1 cut in a direction orthogonal to the alignment direction of the plurality of discharge holes A (that is, a cross section along line aa in FIG. 1). The layer structure of the ink discharge head 1 is mainly composed of the substrate 11 and the ink chamber wall 15. An ink supply port B is opened in the substrate 11. The ink supply port B is partitioned by a concave portion 11a formed on one surface (for example, an upper surface) side of the substrate 11 and a hole portion 11b formed on the other surface (for example, a lower surface) side of the substrate 11. . In this embodiment, the recess 11a has a trapezoidal cross-sectional shape. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may have any cross-sectional shape. A heater 12 is formed on the upper surface of the substrate 11 and inside the ink chamber CH. The ink chamber wall portion 15 is composed of a flow path wall portion 15b standing upward from the substrate 11 and a nozzle layer portion 15a extending in the lateral direction from the upper end of the flow path wall portion. The channel wall portion 15b surrounds the heater 12 and the ink supply port B. Note that the flow path wall 15b may be in either a state in which the heater 12 and the ink supply port B are surrounded over the entire circumference, or a state in which a part or one side is open. A discharge hole A is formed at a position facing the heater 12 of the nozzle layer portion 15a.

[Method for Manufacturing Ink Discharge Head 1]
Hereinafter, the manufacturing process of the ink ejection head 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, first, a heater 12 is formed on a silicon substrate 11. The heater 12 is formed, for example, by depositing a resistance heating element such as TaN or TaAl at a position where the heater 12 is formed by a reactive sputtering method so as to have a thickness of about 200 to 1000 mm.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, a recess 11 a is formed on the upper surface of the substrate 11. For example, when a silicon oxide thin film layer is formed on the surface of the substrate 11, the recess 11a is formed by etching or the like. Specifically, first, a photoresist having an opening at a position corresponding to the recess 11a is formed by a photolithography process. Then, using this photoresist as a mask, silicon oxide is removed from the upper surface side of the substrate 11 by etching using a hydrofluoric acid solution. That is, the portion of the thin film layer made of silicon oxide removed by etching corresponds to the recess 11a. Alternatively, the recess 11a may be formed by mechanical cutting or the like.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, the embedding material 13 is embedded in the recess 11a. The filling material 13 is a material insoluble in a first solvent (for example, a KOH aqueous solution or a tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) aqueous solution) used when the substrate 11 is etched. Specific examples of the embedding material 13 include a protective wax that is insoluble in an alkali such as a KOH aqueous solution or a TMAH aqueous solution and is soluble in an organic solvent such as xylene, propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate (PGMEA), or cyclohexane. Is available. The embedding material 13 is applied by spin coating or the like after the formation of the recess 11a. After application of the embedding material 13, the embedding material is left only in the recess 11 a by a list-off method of removing the photoresist as a mask when forming the recess 11 a and the embedding material on the photoresist. Alternatively, after the formation of the recess 11a, the photoresist may be removed, and the recess 11a may be filled with an embedding material using an inkjet method.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3D, a sacrificial layer 14 is formed on the upper surface of the substrate 11 by placing and drying a photosensitive positive resist so as to cover the heater 12 and the recess 11a. The The sacrificial layer 14 is formed corresponding to a region that becomes the ink chamber CH when the ink discharge head 1 is completed. In this embodiment, PMER of Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd. and AZ of AZ Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. are used as the photosensitive positive resist. Unlike the embedding material 13, the photosensitive positive resist is soluble in an alkaline solution, but the ink chamber wall 15 described later is insoluble in a soluble organic solvent.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3E, the ink chamber wall 15 is formed so as to cover the sacrificial layer 14. A region formed on the sacrificial layer 14 of the ink chamber wall portion 15 becomes the nozzle layer portion 15a. A region of the ink chamber wall 15 that protrudes from the sacrificial layer 14 to the left and right and is located beside the sacrificial layer 14 is a flow path wall 15b. In this embodiment, for example, an ultraviolet curable resin such as an ultraviolet curable imide, an ultraviolet curable silicone resin, or an ultraviolet curable epoxy is applied by a spin coating method or the like so as to cover the sacrificial layer 14. Specifically, for example, Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd. photo-curing epoxy resin SU-8. The solvent of this resin is an organic solvent such as cyclohexane. However, since the sacrificial layer 14 is not soluble in the organic solvent, even if it is applied on the sacrificial layer 54, cross-mixing in which the materials are dissolved does not occur. The ejection holes A are formed by, for example, photolithography. Specifically, a photomask is placed at a position corresponding to the discharge hole A on the ultraviolet curable resin applied on the sacrificial layer 14. Thereafter, ultraviolet rays are irradiated to cure the ultraviolet curable resin at positions other than the discharge holes A. Then, the ink discharge head 1 is immersed in a developer (for example, xylene or the like). The cured portion of the ultraviolet curable resin and the sacrificial layer 14 are insoluble in the developer. Therefore, only the ultraviolet curable resin at the position corresponding to the discharge hole A that is not exposed to the ultraviolet rays by the photomask is dissolved. Thereby, the discharge hole A is formed.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3F, the substrate 11 is etched from the lower surface of the substrate 11 toward the recess 11a. Specifically, first, a mask layer having an opening is formed on the lower surface of the substrate 11. In the case where a silicon oxide film is formed on the lower surface of the substrate 11 in advance, the silicon oxide film is removed by etching using a hydrofluoric acid solution using a photoresist formed by a photolithography process as a mask. Thereafter, the photoresist is dissolved. Thereby, a mask layer is formed of silicon oxide. The opening size of the mask layer is such that the area of the upper surface of the hole 11b is larger than the area of the lower surface of the recess 11a when the hole 11b formed by anisotropic etching of the substrate 11 reaches the lower surface of the recess 11a. It is set to be smaller. After the formation of the mask layer, wet etching is performed from the lower surface of the substrate 11 using a TMAH solution. Etching proceeds from the lower surface of the substrate 11 toward the upper surface, but since the embedded material 13 is insoluble in alkali, the embedded material 13 functions as an etching stop layer, and the etching stops at the lower surface of the recess 11a. Thereby, the hole part 11b is formed. An ink supply port B penetrating the substrate 11 is formed by the recess 11a and the hole 11b. Note that when a silicon oxide film is not formed on the lower surface of the substrate 11, an etching mask made of a silicon nitride film may be formed on the lower surface of the substrate 11 by LPCVD.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3G, the embedding material 13 is removed. The removal of the embedding material 13 is performed by immersing the substrate 11 in a second solvent that is soluble in the embedding material 13 and has no etching property with respect to the substrate 11. As the second solvent, for example, an organic solvent such as xylene is used. Here, also when the ink hole A is formed, the ink discharge head 1 is immersed in an organic solvent (see FIG. 3E). However, in the formation stage of the ink hole A, the organic solvent does not reach the filling material 13 by the sacrificial layer 14 and the substrate 11. Now, since the hole 11b is formed, the organic solvent reaches the embedding material 13, and the embedding material 13 is removed.

  Finally, as shown in FIG. 3H, the sacrificial layer 14 is removed. The sacrificial layer 14 is removed by immersing the substrate 11 in an insoluble sacrificial layer solution (such as PGMEA). Thus, the manufacture of the ink ejection head 1 is completed.

Second Embodiment
The configuration of the ink ejection head 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The appearance of the ink discharge head 2 is the same as that of the ink discharge head 1 shown in FIG. The ink discharge head 2 is different from the ink discharge head 1 in its cross-sectional structure.

[Configuration of Ink Ejection Head 2]
As shown in FIG. 4, the layer structure of the ink ejection head 2 is mainly composed of a substrate 21, a flow path wall 23, and a nozzle layer 26. A heater 22 is formed on the upper surface of the substrate 21 and inside the ink chamber CH. Note that the shape of the substrate 21 is the same as that of the substrate 11 shown in FIG. The flow path wall 23 is erected upward from the substrate 21. The nozzle layer 26 extends in the lateral direction from the upper end of the flow path wall 23. A discharge hole C is formed at a position of the nozzle layer 26 facing the heater 22. The ink discharge head 2 is different from the discharge head 1 in the above-described embodiment in that the flow path wall 23 and the nozzle layer 26 are different layers.

[Method for Manufacturing Ink Discharge Head 2]
Hereinafter, the manufacturing process of the ink ejection head 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

  First, as shown in FIG. 5A, a heater 22 is formed on a silicon substrate 21. Since this step is the same as the step shown in FIG. 3A, description thereof is omitted.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5B, a recess 21 a is formed on the upper surface of the substrate 21. The recess 11a is formed by the same method as the recess 11a shown in FIG.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5C, the flow path wall 23 is formed on the upper surface of the substrate 21 so as to surround the heater 22 and the recess 21 a on the substrate 21. In the present embodiment, the flow path wall 23 is formed of a completely cured epoxy resin. Note that the flow path wall 23 may be in either a state in which the heater 22 and the recess 21a are surrounded over the entire circumference, or a state in which a part or one side is open. Further, the film thickness of the flow path wall 23 may be adjusted to be, for example, about 10-30 μm.

  Next, as illustrated in FIG. 5D, the embedding material 24 is applied to the upper surface of the substrate 21 so as to cover the flow path wall 23, the heater 22, and the recess 21 a. In the present embodiment, unlike the embedding material 13 in FIG. 3C, the embedding material 24 is not completely embedded in the recess 21a. The embedding material 24 is made of the same material as the embedding material 13 shown in FIG. Therefore, the embedding material 24 is also insoluble in the first solvent that etches the substrate 21 such as a TMAH aqueous solution. Therefore, as long as the lower surface of the recess 21a is covered, the embedding material 24 functions as an etch stop layer when the substrate 21 is etched. That is, the term “embedded” includes not only a completely embedded state but also a partially embedded state to the extent that the lower surface is covered.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5E, a sacrificial layer 25 is formed in a region partitioned by the flow path wall 23 and including the heater 22 and the recess 21a. The sacrificial layer 25 is also formed in a region that covers the upper surface of the flow path wall 23. That is, the sacrificial layer 25 is formed so as to cover the entire surface of the filling material 24. The sacrificial layer 25 is formed by, for example, injecting a semi-cured resin into the space formed by the flow path wall 23 and drying it. In this embodiment, a polyimide material and photo nice of Toray Industries, Inc. are used in a semi-cured state as the semi-cured resin. Photo Nice is soluble in an alkaline solution, but insoluble in an organic solvent. A novolac resin may be used as the sacrificial layer 25. As a specific example, EP4080G, EP4050G, etc. manufactured by Asahi Organic Materials Co., Ltd. are dissolved in an organic solvent such as PGMEA. The novolak resin has extremely low solubility in xylene and toluene, but dissolves in an alkaline aqueous solution and acetone.

  The upper surface of the formed sacrificial layer 25 is uneven as shown in FIG. Specifically, the semi-cured resin formed on the flow path wall 23 is more convex than the portion surrounded by the flow path wall 23. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5F, the sacrificial layer 25 is removed from the upper surface so that the upper surface of the sacrificial layer 25 becomes flat. Here, if the sacrificial layer 25 and the filling material 24 remain on the flow path wall 23, there is a possibility that the adjacent ink chambers communicate with each other. Therefore, it is desirable that the sacrificial layer 25 be flattened until the sacrificial layer 25 and the flow path wall 23 are positioned on the same plane, in other words, until the upper surface of the flow path wall 23 is exposed. At this time, the upper surface of the flow path wall 23 may be slightly removed. Note that the sacrificial layer 25 is planarized by, for example, machining such as polishing, grinding, or cutting. Alternatively, after the rough planarization by machining, fine planarization such as dissolving the sacrificial layer 25 from the upper surface by immersing the ink head 2 in the sacrificial layer dissolving solution may be performed.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5G, the nozzle layer 26 is formed so as to cover the flow path wall 23 and the sacrificial layer 25. The nozzle layer 26 is provided with a nozzle hole C for ejecting ink at a position facing the heater 22. The nozzle layer 26 is formed by the same material and the same formation method as those of the ink chamber wall 15 shown in FIG. Since the sacrificial layer 25 is flattened, the nozzle layer 26 can be formed with high accuracy, and the volume of the ink chamber CH described later can be determined with high accuracy.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5H, the substrate 21 is etched from the lower surface of the substrate 21 toward the recess 21a. This step is similar to the step shown in FIG. Etching progressed from the lower surface to the upper surface of the substrate 21 stops at the lower surface of the recess 21a by the filling material 24, and the hole 21b is formed. An ink supply port D penetrating the substrate 21 is formed by the recess 21a and the hole 21b.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6A, the embedding material 24 is removed. The removal of the embedding material 24 is performed by a method similar to the step shown in FIG.

  Finally, as shown in FIG. 6B, the sacrificial layer 25 is removed. The removal of the sacrificial layer 25 is performed by the same method as the step shown in FIG. As described above, the ink discharge head 2 is formed.

<Third Embodiment>
A method of manufacturing the ink ejection head 3 according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The ink discharge head 3 has the same configuration as that of the ink discharge head 1 shown in FIG. 2, but differs in the manufacturing method.

  Since the steps shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B are the same as the steps shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, description thereof is omitted.

  In the step shown in FIG. 7C, the sacrificial layer 33 is applied to the upper surface of the substrate 31 so as to cover the heater 32 and the recess 31a. At this time, the sacrificial layer 33 also enters the recess 31a and covers the lower surface of the recess 31a. Here, the sacrificial layer 33 is made of a material insoluble in a first solvent (for example, a KOH aqueous solution) used when the substrate 31 is etched. That is, in this embodiment, the sacrificial layer 33 also serves as the embedding material in the above-described embodiment.

  Next, in the same process as FIG. 3E, the ink chamber wall 34 is formed as shown in FIG. 7D.

  Next, in the same process as FIG. 3F, as shown in FIG. 7E, the substrate 31 is etched from the lower surface. Since the sacrificial layer 33 is insoluble in the first solvent, the etching that proceeds from the lower surface of the substrate 31 toward the upper surface stops at the lower surface of the recess 31a. Thereby, the hole 31b is formed. An ink supply port F penetrating the substrate 31 is formed by the recess 31a and the hole 31b.

  Finally, as shown in FIG. 7F, the sacrificial layer 33 is removed. The removal of the sacrificial layer 33 is performed using a solvent that can dissolve the embedding material, as shown in FIGS. 3G and 6A.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described so far, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. An example is described below.

  In the above-described embodiment, the nozzle layer is formed by applying and drying a resin dissolved in a solvent. However, it is possible to form a nozzle layer by placing a film-like photocurable resin or a film-like resin having nozzle holes formed thereon.

  In the above-described embodiment, when the filling material and the sacrificial layer are made of different types of materials, they are removed by different types of solvents. However, even if the embedding material and the sacrificial layer are different types of materials, both can be removed in the same step as long as they are soluble in the same solvent.

  Although the present invention has been described above in connection with the most practical and preferred embodiments at the present time, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed herein. The invention can be changed as appropriate without departing from the gist or concept of the invention that can be read from the claims and the entire specification, and a method for manufacturing an ink discharge head with such a change is also included in the technical scope. Must be understood.

1, 2, 3, 5 Ink discharge heads 11, 21, 31, 51 Substrate 11a, 21a, 31a Recess 11b, 21b, 31b Hole 12, 22, 32 Heater 13, 24 Embedding material 14, 25, 33 Sacrificial layer 15 , 34 Ink chamber wall 23 Channel wall 26 Nozzle layer

Claims (6)

A recess forming step for forming a recess extending from the one surface of the silicon substrate provided with an energy generating element on one surface to give energy for discharging ink to the middle portion of the substrate;
An embedding step of embedding an embedding material insoluble in a first solvent used when etching the substrate into the recess;
An ink chamber forming step of forming, on the one surface, an ink chamber that contains the energy generating element and the concave portion and stores the ink;
An etching step of etching the substrate from the other surface of the substrate toward the recess and forming an ink supply port penetrating the substrate;
A burying material removal step of removing the burying material using a second solvent that is soluble in the burying material and has no etching property to the substrate;
An ink discharge head manufacturing method comprising: The ink chamber forming step includes
A flow path wall forming step of forming a flow path wall surrounding the energy generating element on the one surface;
A sacrificial layer forming step of forming a sacrificial layer for the region partitioned by the flow path wall;
Forming a nozzle layer having a nozzle hole for discharging ink so as to cover the flow path wall and the sacrificial layer, and
A sacrificial layer removing step of removing the sacrificial layer using a soluble third solvent;
The method for manufacturing an ink ejection head according to claim 1. The embedding material and the sacrificial layer are made of a material that is soluble in the same type of solvent,
The second solvent and the third solvent are the same type of solvent,
A method for manufacturing the ink ejection head according to claim 2. The embedding material and the sacrificial layer are made of the same kind of material,
The flow path wall forming step is performed before the embedding step,
The method of manufacturing an ink ejection head according to claim 3, wherein the embedding step and the sacrificial layer forming step are performed as the same step. The sacrificial layer is made of a material different from the filling material and not compatible with the nozzle layer.
A method for manufacturing the ink ejection head according to claim 2. After the sacrificial layer forming step, further comprising a flattening step of flattening the surface of the sacrificial layer and the flow path wall so that the sacrificial layer and the flow path wall are located on the same plane,
The nozzle layer forming step is performed after the planarization step.
A method for manufacturing an ink ejection head according to claim 2.

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