JP4697159B2 - Electrostatic actuator, droplet discharge head and method for manufacturing the same, droplet discharge apparatus and device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrostatic actuator, a droplet discharge head, a manufacturing method thereof, a droplet discharge apparatus, and a device, and more particularly, an electrostatic actuator having high generation pressure and insulation reliability, a droplet discharge head to which the electrostatic actuator is applied, and the device The present invention relates to a manufacturing method, a droplet discharge apparatus to which the droplet discharge head is applied, and a device to which the electrostatic actuator is applied.

  The ink jet recording apparatus has many advantages such as high-speed printing, extremely low noise during recording, high degree of freedom of ink, and use of inexpensive plain paper. In recent years, so-called ink-on-demand ink jet recording apparatuses, which eject ink droplets only when recording is necessary, have become mainstream among ink jet recording apparatuses. This ink-on-demand ink jet recording apparatus has an advantage that it does not require collection of ink droplets unnecessary for recording.

  As an ink-on-demand type ink jet recording apparatus, there is a so-called electrostatic driving type ink jet recording apparatus using electrostatic force as a driving means as a method of ejecting ink droplets. In addition, there are so-called piezoelectric drive type ink jet recording apparatuses that use piezoelectric elements (piezo elements) as driving means, and so-called bubble jet (registered trademark) type ink jet recording apparatuses that use heating elements and the like.

  In the electrostatic drive type ink jet recording apparatus, the diaphragm and the individual electrode facing the diaphragm are charged to attract and bend the diaphragm toward the individual electrode. A mechanism that drives two objects by charging two objects in such a small device is generally called an electrostatic actuator. In an apparatus using an electrostatic actuator such as an ink jet recording apparatus, an insulating film for preventing dielectric breakdown or short-circuiting is generally formed between two charged objects (a diaphragm and individual electrodes).

  In the conventional electrostatic actuator and the manufacturing method thereof, the individual electrodes for driving the diaphragm are formed in a step shape, and the insulating film for preventing dielectric breakdown and short-circuiting is formed on the individual electrodes. Further, silicon oxide or silicon nitride is used as the material of the insulating film (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Further, in the conventional method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, silicon oxynitride is used in addition to silicon oxide or silicon nitride as the material of the gate insulating film of the field effect transistor, and this is formed by plasma CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition). (For example, refer to Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3).
JP 2000-318155 A (2nd page, FIG. 2) JP 2004-153037 A (2nd page) JP 2003-142579 A (second page)

  In the conventional electrostatic actuator and the manufacturing method thereof (see, for example, Patent Document 1), silicon oxide or silicon nitride is used as the material of the insulating film. For example, when silicon oxide is used as the material of the insulating film, the same voltage is used. The value of the generated pressure and the insulation resistance when applied is approximately constant, although there are variations depending on the manufacturing method, and no further improvement in the generated pressure and insulation resistance can be expected.

  In addition, in a conventional method for manufacturing a semiconductor device (see, for example, Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3), silicon oxynitride is used as a material for a gate oxide film. However, if this is applied to an insulating film of an electrostatic actuator as it is, However, there is a problem that it is difficult to achieve both an increase in generated pressure and an increase in insulation resistance.

  Therefore, the present invention relates to an electrostatic actuator having an insulating film that has a high generated pressure when the same voltage is applied and has excellent insulation resistance, a droplet discharge head to which the electrostatic actuator is applied, a manufacturing method thereof, It is an object of the present invention to provide a droplet ejection apparatus having a high printing performance or the like to which a droplet ejection head is applied and a device having a high driving performance to which the electrostatic actuator is applied.

In addition, when the diaphragm is doped with impurities such as boron for the purpose of ensuring the thickness accuracy when the diaphragm is formed, the breakdown voltage of the insulating film decreases and the insulating film is destroyed due to diffusion of impurities such as boron into the insulating film. Drive durability may be lost. Further, the electrostatic attraction pressure is not stable due to the influence of the residual charge on the surface of the insulating film, and there is a fear that stable driving of the actuator cannot be ensured. In addition, when the insulating film is simply thickened, the electrostatic attraction force decreases, so that the actuator is likely to be large, and when the substrate on which the diaphragm is formed is anodic bonded to the substrate on which the counter electrode is formed, There was also a problem that joint strength was reduced and joint failure occurred.
The present invention responds to the above-described problems, and ensures a long-term dielectric strength between the diaphragm and the counter electrode and realizes a low actuator driving voltage to achieve a small size and driving durability. We propose an excellent electrostatic actuator. In addition, the present invention proposes an electrostatic actuator capable of reducing the influence of residual electrification between the diaphragm and the counter electrode and capable of stable driving. The present invention further proposes a droplet discharge head including the electrostatic actuator, a droplet discharge apparatus, a device to which the electrostatic actuator is applied, and a method for manufacturing the droplet discharge head.

An electrostatic actuator according to the present invention is for increasing a generated pressure of a diaphragm , a counter electrode facing the diaphragm with a gap therebetween, and the diaphragm formed on the counter electrode side surface of the diaphragm. An electrostatic actuator comprising an insulating film, wherein the insulating film includes a cap layer that suppresses diffusion of impurities contained in the diaphragm into the insulating film, and a strong relative dielectric constant that is at least higher than that of silicon oxide. A ferroelectric film made of a dielectric material and a surface layer for suppressing the surface charge density of the insulating film are laminated.
As the insulation film for increasing the pressure generated by the diaphragm, the required dielectric strength is achieved by stacking a ferroelectric film made of a ferroelectric material having a relative dielectric constant higher than that of silicon oxide and a silicon oxide film. It is possible to increase the generated pressure when the same voltage is applied as compared with the insulating film made of only silicon oxide. In addition, due to the spontaneous polarization of the ferroelectric film, a large deflection is generated when a voltage is applied, making it easier to electrostatically attract the diaphragm toward the counter electrode, and a large displacement of the diaphragm can be obtained at a lower voltage. It becomes. Furthermore, when a reverse voltage is applied due to spontaneous polarization, the vibration plate is deflected in a direction opposite to the electrostatic suction direction, and the ink in the ink pressure chamber is pressurized to increase the amplitude of the vibration plate or to suppress vibration. The diaphragm can be controlled more easily. In addition, when a silicon oxide film and an insulating film having a ferroelectric film laminated thereon are used, the silicon oxide film functions as a passivation layer (chemically inactive layer) or a stress relaxation layer, and the ferroelectric material A wide range of materials can be used as the membrane.

In the electrostatic actuator according to the present invention, the ferroelectric film is made of any one of PZT, PZTN, PLZT, PLT, PTN, SBT, SBTN, and BTO.
As the ferroelectric material having a high relative dielectric constant, those shown above are suitable, and the relative dielectric constant is higher than that of a high dielectric constant material called a so-called High-k material.

In the electrostatic actuator according to the present invention, the silicon oxide film is formed on the counter electrode side with respect to the ferroelectric film.
For example, a two-layer insulating film can be easily formed by forming a silicon oxide film on the ferroelectric film by CVD or the like.

In the electrostatic actuator according to the present invention, the ferroelectric film is formed closer to the counter electrode than the silicon oxide film.
Since the ferroelectric film is formed closer to the counter electrode than the silicon oxide film, the silicon oxide film functions as a passivation layer (chemically inactive layer) and a stress relaxation layer, and a wide range of materials as a ferroelectric film Can be used.

The electrostatic actuator according to the present invention includes an electrode substrate that is bonded to a cavity substrate on which a vibration plate is formed and a counter electrode is formed, and only a silicon oxide film is provided at a portion where the cavity substrate and the electrode substrate are bonded. Is formed.
Since only the silicon oxide film is formed at the part where the cavity substrate and electrode substrate are bonded, for example, when the cavity substrate is silicon and the electrode substrate is made of borosilicate glass, anodic bonding is possible and sufficient bonding strength is achieved. Is obtained. It is also possible to prevent current from leaking from the joint portion between the cavity substrate and the electrode substrate.

In the electrostatic actuator according to the present invention, the diaphragm is made of silicon or silicon doped with impurities.
For example, if the substrate on which the diaphragm is formed (the cavity substrate described above) is formed from silicon and the diaphragm is formed from silicon doped with boron, processing by etching becomes easy.

An electrostatic actuator according to the present invention is provided on a facing surface of a diaphragm, a counter electrode facing the diaphragm with a gap applied thereto, and a voltage applied between the diaphragm and the counter electrode of the diaphragm. An insulating film formed, the insulating film including a cap layer that suppresses diffusion of impurities contained in the diaphragm into the insulating film, and a ferroelectric material having a relative dielectric constant higher than that of silicon oxide. A dielectric film is laminated.
According to this, diffusion of impurities such as boron into the insulating film is prevented or reduced by the cap layer, and the withstand voltage of the insulating film is ensured for a long time. In addition, the ferroelectric film reduces the equivalent oxide thickness of the entire insulating film to ensure a withstand voltage and increase the electrostatic pressure. Accordingly, an appropriate withstand voltage is ensured between the diaphragm and the counter electrode, and the actuator drive voltage is reduced, so that an electrostatic actuator having a small size and excellent driving durability can be obtained.
The insulating film is formed by further laminating a surface layer for suppressing the surface charge density of the insulating film.
According to this, the effect of residual electrification on the surface of the insulating film constituting the surface of the diaphragm can be reduced, and the electrostatic actuator can be driven stably.
The cap layer is preferably made of silicon oxide or silicon nitride. The substrate on which the diaphragm is formed is usually a silicon substrate, and silicon oxide can be easily formed. Further, silicon nitride has an excellent barrier property against boron.
The surface layer may be formed by forming a silicon oxide film or silicon nitride, or may be formed by coating a silane-based or fluorine-based coating agent.

In the electrostatic actuator according to the present invention, an insulating film such as silicon oxide is formed on the surface of the counter electrode.
By further forming an insulating film such as silicon oxide on the counter electrode, the withstand voltage can be further improved.

  A liquid droplet ejection head according to the present invention includes the electrostatic actuator according to any one of the above, wherein a cavity substrate on which the vibration plate is formed and an electrode substrate on which the counter electrode is formed are joined, and the vibration plate Constitutes the bottom surface of a droplet discharge chamber for storing discharged droplets. Thereby, a droplet discharge head having a high droplet discharge pressure at a low voltage can be obtained.

  A droplet discharge apparatus according to the present invention is one to which the above-described droplet discharge head is applied. Thereby, a droplet discharge device with high driving performance can be obtained.

  A device according to the present invention is one to which any of the electrostatic actuators described above is applied. Thereby, a device with high driving performance can be obtained.

The method for manufacturing a droplet discharge head according to the present invention includes a diaphragm, a counter electrode facing the diaphragm with a gap, and a generated pressure of the diaphragm formed on the counter electrode side surface of the diaphragm. And a cap layer that suppresses diffusion of impurities contained in the diaphragm into the insulating film on a surface of the substrate on which the diaphragm is formed. forming and forming an insulation Enmaku ing of a ferroelectric material is higher relative dielectric constant than silicon oxide on the surface of the cap layer, defined by etching the insulating film made of the ferroelectric material Forming a ferroelectric film on the diaphragm, and forming a surface layer for suppressing a surface charge density of the insulating film on the surface of the ferroelectric film. .
A cap layer and a ferroelectric film are formed on the surface of the substrate on which the vibration plate is formed, and a surface layer that suppresses the surface charge density of the insulating film is formed thereon, so that when the same voltage is applied, the vibration plate It is possible to obtain a droplet discharge head that generates high pressure and has high insulation resistance.

The method for manufacturing a droplet discharge head according to the present invention includes a cap layer for suppressing diffusion of impurities contained in the diaphragm and an oxidation for increasing a generated pressure of the diaphragm on a surface of a cavity substrate on which the diaphragm is formed. Corresponding to an insulating film forming step of forming an insulating film by laminating a ferroelectric film made of a ferroelectric material having a relative dielectric constant higher than that of silicon, the cavity substrate on which the insulating film is formed, and the vibration plate A substrate bonding step of bonding the electrode substrate on which the counter electrode is formed with the formation region of the diaphragm facing the counter electrode, and etching the cavity substrate bonded to the electrode substrate to form the diaphragm And a cavity substrate etching step for forming a droplet discharge chamber including the step of bonding a nozzle substrate to the opening surface of the cavity substrate.
In addition, a cap layer that suppresses diffusion of impurities contained in the vibration plate on the surface of the cavity substrate on which the vibration plate is formed and a ferroelectric having a higher relative dielectric constant than silicon oxide for increasing the pressure generated by the vibration plate An insulating film forming step for forming an insulating film by laminating a ferroelectric film made of a material; and a cavity for forming a droplet discharge chamber including the diaphragm by etching the cavity substrate on which the insulating film is formed. A substrate for bonding a substrate etching step, the cavity substrate on which the droplet discharge chamber is formed, and an electrode substrate on which a counter electrode corresponding to the diaphragm is formed with the diaphragm and the counter electrode facing each other. A bonding step and a step of bonding the nozzle substrate to the opening surface of the cavity substrate.
By these methods, a small-sized electrostatic actuator with excellent driving durability is manufactured, which has a long-term dielectric strength between the diaphragm and the counter electrode and realizes low actuator driving voltage. it can.
Further, in the insulating film forming step, a surface layer for suppressing the surface charge density of the insulating film is formed on the outer surface of the ferroelectric film.
By this method, it is possible to reduce the influence of residual electrification on the surface of the insulating film constituting the surface of the diaphragm, and it is possible to manufacture an electrostatic actuator that enables stable driving.

Embodiment 1. FIG.
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a droplet discharge head according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the drive circuit 21 is schematically shown. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the electrostatic actuator according to the present invention is applied to a droplet discharge head. This droplet discharge head is of an electrostatic drive type and of a face eject type. Note that the present invention is not limited to the structure and shape shown in the following drawings, and has a four-layer structure in which four substrates each having a discharge chamber and a reservoir portion provided on separate substrates are laminated, The present invention can be similarly applied to an edge discharge type liquid droplet discharge head that discharges liquid droplets from a nozzle hole provided at the end of the nozzle.

  The droplet discharge head 1 according to the first embodiment is mainly configured by bonding a cavity substrate 2, an electrode substrate 3, and a nozzle substrate 4. The nozzle substrate 4 is made of silicon, for example, a cylindrical first nozzle hole 6 and a cylindrical second nozzle hole that communicates with the first nozzle hole 6 and has a larger diameter than the first nozzle hole 6. Nozzle 8 having 7 is formed. The first nozzle hole 6 is formed so as to open on the droplet discharge surface 10 (the surface opposite to the bonding surface 11 with the cavity substrate 2), and the second nozzle hole 7 is bonded with the cavity substrate 2. It is formed so as to open on the surface 11.

The cavity substrate 2 is made of, for example, single crystal silicon, and has a plurality of recesses serving as discharge chambers 13 whose bottom wall is the diaphragm 12. It is assumed that the plurality of discharge chambers 13 are formed in parallel from the front side to the back side in FIG. In addition, the cavity substrate 2 has a recess serving as a reservoir 14 for supplying a droplet of ink or the like to each discharge chamber 13 and a recess serving as a narrow groove-like orifice 15 that communicates the reservoir 14 with each discharge chamber 13. Is formed. In the droplet discharge head 1 shown in FIG. 1, the reservoir 14 is formed from a single recess, and one orifice 15 is formed for each discharge chamber 13. The orifice 15 may be formed on the bonding surface 11 of the nozzle substrate 4.
Furthermore, an insulating film 16 is formed on the surface of the cavity substrate 2 on the side where the electrode substrate 3 is bonded. This insulating film 16 is for preventing dielectric breakdown and short-circuiting when the droplet discharge head 1 is driven. The insulating film 16 is composed of a ferroelectric film 16a and a silicon oxide film 16b (see FIG. 2). The insulating film 16 will be described in detail later. In addition, a droplet-resistant protective film 19 is formed on the surface of the cavity substrate 2 on the side where the nozzle substrate 4 is bonded. The droplet-resistant protective film 19 is for preventing the cavity substrate 2 from being etched by droplets inside the discharge chamber 13 and the reservoir 14.

An electrode substrate 3 made of borosilicate glass, for example, is bonded to the cavity substrate 2 side of the cavity substrate 2. On the electrode substrate 3, a plurality of counter electrodes (individual electrodes) 17 that are opposed to the vibration plate 12 through the gap 20 are formed. The counter electrode 17 is formed, for example, by sputtering ITO (Indium Tin Oxide). A liquid supply hole 18 that communicates with the reservoir 14 is formed in the electrode substrate 3. The liquid supply hole 18 is connected to a hole provided in the bottom wall of the reservoir 14, and is provided to supply droplets such as ink to the reservoir 14 from the outside.
When the cavity substrate 2 is made of single crystal silicon and the electrode substrate 3 is made of borosilicate glass, the cavity substrate 2 and the electrode substrate 3 can be joined by anodic bonding.

Here, the operation of the droplet discharge head 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. A drive circuit 21 is connected to the cavity substrate 2 and each counter electrode 17. When a pulse voltage is applied between the cavity substrate 2 and the electrode 17 by the drive circuit 21, the diaphragm 12 bends toward the counter electrode 17, and droplets of ink or the like accumulated in the reservoir 14 are discharged into the discharge chamber 13. Flow into. In the first embodiment, when the diaphragm 12 is bent, the counter electrode 17 and the diaphragm 12 (insulating film 16) come into contact with each other. When the voltage applied between the cavity substrate 2 and the electrode 17 disappears, the diaphragm 12 returns to the original position, the pressure inside the discharge chamber 13 increases, and droplets such as ink from the nozzle 8 are discharged. Discharged.
As can be seen from the above, in the case of the droplet discharge head 1, the diaphragm 12 provided with the insulating film 16 and the counter electrode 17 constitute an electrostatic actuator that is driven by the drive circuit 21.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the AA cross section of FIG. In FIG. 2, only one discharge chamber 13 is shown, but it is assumed that a plurality of discharge chambers 13 and the like are actually formed in the horizontal direction in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the insulating film 16 of the droplet discharge head 1 according to the first embodiment has a two-layer structure of a ferroelectric film 16a and a silicon oxide film 16b as a high dielectric constant film. The high dielectric constant film is made of a ferroelectric material having a relative dielectric constant higher than that of silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ), and is made of a material such as a piezoelectric material (PZT) or barium-titanium oxide (BaTiO ₃ ). Ferroelectrics have a much higher ratio than silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ) or high dielectrics called silicon nitride (Si ₃ N ₄ ), hafnium-aluminum oxide (HfAlO _x ), diamond, zirconium oxide (ZrO ₂ ), etc. The first embodiment has a laminated structure in which a ferroelectric film 16a formed of a ferroelectric material as a high dielectric constant film and a silicon oxide film 16b having a high withstand voltage and high bonding strength are combined in the first embodiment. The insulating film 16 is configured.

Dielectrics can be roughly classified into paraelectrics and ferroelectrics. Here, “paraelectric” refers to a dielectric that polarizes when an external force such as an external electric field acts, and “ferroelectric” refers to a dielectric that spontaneously polarizes without an external electric field. . The “high dielectric” called the High-k material is not a ferroelectric, and has a higher dielectric constant than silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ).
As the ferroelectric, for example, PZT: Pb (Zr, Ti) O ₃ , PZTN: Pb (Zr, Ti) Nb ₂ O ₈ , PLZT: (Pb, La) (Zr, Ti) O ₃ , PLT: PbLaTiO _{3 X} , PTN: PbTiNbO _x , SBT: SrBi ₂ Ta ₂ O ₉ , SBTN: SrBi ₂ (Ta, Nb) ₂ O ₉ , BTO: Bi ₄ Ti ₃ O _{12 and the} like. These ferroelectrics have an extremely high relative dielectric constant of about 1000, while the relative dielectric constant is about 3.9 for silicon oxide and 5 to 50 for high dielectrics.

  Table 1 shows the relative dielectric constant and TZDB (instantaneous breakdown strength) depending on the type of insulating film.

In the droplet discharge head 1 shown in FIG. 2, the ferroelectric film 16a is formed only on a portion (vibrating plate 12) facing the counter electrode 17, and the silicon oxide film 16b is formed on the ferroelectric film 16a and The other surface of the cavity substrate 2 is formed on the entire surface (bonding surface with the electrode substrate 3). As a result, the silicon oxide film 16b is formed closer to the counter electrode 17 than the ferroelectric film 16a, and only the silicon oxide film 16b is formed at the portion where the cavity substrate 2 and the electrode substrate 3 are joined.
As will be described later, in the first embodiment, the cavity substrate 2 and the electrode substrate 3 are bonded by anodic bonding, but silicon oxide is a material suitable for anodic bonding. The silicon oxide film 16b at the junction is preferably thin. In the droplet discharge head 1 according to the first embodiment, since the bonding portion between the cavity substrate 2 and the electrode substrate 3 is formed only by the silicon oxide film 16b, anodic bonding with sufficient bonding strength is possible. In addition, the silicon oxide film 16b has a function of ensuring a sufficient withstand voltage in the electrostatic actuator and preventing leakage of current from the counter electrode 17 to the cavity substrate 2.

また、振動板１２の駆動時における平均圧力Ｐ_eは、振動板１２が駆動していない時の振動板１２から対向電極１７までの距離（ギャップ２０の高さ）をｄとして、以下の式で表される。

なお、強誘電体膜１６ａと酸化シリコン膜１６ｂの２層からなる絶縁膜１６の駆動時における平均圧力Ｐ_eは、強誘電体膜１６ａの厚さをｔ₁、酸化シリコン膜１６ｂの厚さをｔ₂、強誘電体膜１６ａの比誘電率をε₁、酸化シリコン膜１６ｂの比誘電率をε₂として、以下の式で表される。

Here, the insulating film 16 composed of the ferroelectric film 16a and the silicon oxide film 16b shown in FIG. 2 will be described.
The electrostatic pressure (generated pressure) P that attracts the diaphragm 12 during driving is E, electrostatic energy is E, the distance from the diaphragm 12 to the counter electrode 17 (including during driving) is x, and the area of the diaphragm 12 is When S, the applied voltage is V, the thickness of the insulating film 16 is t, the dielectric constant in vacuum is ε ₀ , and the relative dielectric constant of the insulating film 16 is ε _r , the following expression is obtained.

Further, average pressure P _e at the time of driving the diaphragm 12, the distance from the diaphragm 12 when the diaphragm 12 is not driven to the opposite electrode 17 (height of the gap 20) as d, the following formula expressed.

The average pressure P _e at the time of driving of the insulating film 16 consisting of two layers of the ferroelectric film 16a and the silicon oxide film 16b is, the ferroelectric film t ₁ the thickness of 16a, the thickness of the silicon oxide film 16b t ₂ , where the relative dielectric constant of the ferroelectric film 16a is ε ₁ and the relative dielectric constant of the silicon oxide film 16b is ε ₂ , it is expressed by the following equation.

From the above equation (2), as the dielectric constant is large as a whole of the insulating film 16, the average pressure P _e is can be seen that high. For this reason, as shown in Table 1, if a ferroelectric having an extremely high relative dielectric constant is applied as the insulating film, the generated pressure in the electrostatic actuator can be further increased.
Further, when a ferroelectric is applied to the droplet discharge head 1, it is possible to obtain the power necessary for discharging the droplet even if the area of the diaphragm 12 is reduced. Therefore, by reducing the width of the diaphragm 12 in the droplet discharge head 1 and decreasing the pitch of the discharge chambers 13, that is, the pitch of the nozzles 8, the resolution of the nozzles 8 is increased and higher-definition printing is performed at high speed. The droplet discharge head 1 that can be performed in this manner can be obtained. Further, by shortening the length of the diaphragm 12, the responsiveness in the flow path of the droplets can be improved and the drive frequency can be increased, and higher-speed printing can be performed.
Further, for example, if the relative dielectric constant of the insulating film 16 is doubled as a whole, almost the same generated pressure can be obtained even if the thickness of the insulating film 16 is doubled. Therefore, TDDB (Time Dependent Breakdown) in the electrostatic actuator is obtained. It can be seen that the dielectric breakdown strength such as TZDB (Time Zero Dielectric Breakdown) can be almost doubled.

FIG. 3 shows an equivalent circuit of the electrostatic actuator when insulating films are stacked. When the ferroelectric film 16a and the silicon oxide film 16b are stacked as in the first embodiment, it can be considered as a circuit in which two capacitors are connected in series. When each capacitance is C1 and C2 and the voltage is V, the voltages V1 and V2 applied to each capacitor are V1 = V × C2 (C1 + C2)
V2 = V × C1 (C1 + C2)
It can be expressed. Therefore, the film thickness of the insulating film is determined so that the applied voltage applied to each capacitor does not exceed the withstand voltage of the insulating film.

4 and 5 show graphs calculated for the applied voltage and equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) when the thickness of the insulating film is changed. 4 shows the relationship between the thickness of the ferroelectric and the applied voltage, and FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the thickness of SiO ₂ and the applied voltage. The relative permittivity of the ferroelectric is 1000, and the withstand voltage is 0.1 MV / The calculation is based on cm, the thickness of SiO ₂ is 25 nm, and the applied voltage is 25V.
Here, EOT is the equivalent oxide thickness, and the smaller the EOT, the higher the performance of the electrostatic actuator. Further, if the thickness of the ferroelectric material is 300 nm or more, the applied voltage is lower than the withstand voltage in both FIG. 4 and FIG.
In the first embodiment, the ferroelectric film 16a has a thickness of 330 nm, and the silicon oxide film 16b has a thickness of 30 nm. The distance of the gap 20 is 100 nm.

In the first embodiment, as described above, the ferroelectric film 16a having a very high dielectric constant and the silicon oxide film 16b are laminated on the surface of the diaphragm 12 on the counter electrode 17 side as the insulating film of the electrostatic actuator. Therefore, the generated pressure when the same voltage is applied can be made higher than that of an insulating film made of only silicon oxide.
In addition, since the silicon oxide film 16b is used, the withstand voltage can be improved and sufficient bonding strength can be ensured. In addition, current leakage from the junction can be prevented.

6 and 7 are cross-sectional views showing manufacturing steps of the droplet discharge head according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 6 and 7 show the steps for manufacturing the droplet discharge head 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and show the AA cross section of the droplet discharge head 1 in FIG. In addition, the manufacturing method of the cavity substrate 2 and the electrode substrate 3 is not limited to what is shown by FIG.6 and FIG.7. First, for example, after both surfaces of a silicon substrate 2a having a thickness of 525 μm are mirror-polished, an ECR (Electron Cyclotron Resonance) sputtering, a plasma CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition), an AD method (Aerosol Deposition method), or the like is used. One insulating film 16c is formed with a thickness of 330 nm, for example (FIG. 6A). Here, when the AD method is used, a low-stress insulating film can be formed at a relatively low temperature or normal temperature, and when ECR sputtering is used, a dense insulating film can be formed.
Instead of PZT, the other ferroelectrics shown above may be formed. In addition, before forming the first insulating film 16c, it is desirable to clean the film formation surface with an aqueous ammonia solution or the like. Further, before forming the first insulating film 16c, boron may be diffused on the film formation surface side of the silicon substrate 2a to form a boron doped layer. This boron doped layer functions as an etching stop layer during wet etching in the subsequent step of FIG.

Next, the resist 30 is patterned on the surface of the first insulating film 16c by photolithography (exposure, development, etc.) (FIG. 6B). In FIG. 6B, patterning is performed so that only a portion of the first insulating film 16c (later ferroelectric film 16a) facing the counter electrode 17 remains (see FIG. 2).
Then, for example, the first insulating film 16c is partitioned by wet etching with a buffered hydrofluoric acid aqueous solution to form a ferroelectric film 16a (FIG. 6C). Note that the ferroelectric film 16a may be formed by RIE (Reactive Ion Etching) using CHF ₃ instead of wet etching using a buffered hydrofluoric acid solution.
Then, the resist 30 is removed by oxygen plasma, for example, and pure water cleaning or the like is performed (FIG. 3D).
Thereafter, a silicon oxide film 16b having a thickness of 30 nm is formed on the entire surface of the silicon substrate 2a where the first insulating film 16c is formed, for example, by TEOS (Tetra Ethyl Ortho Silicate) plasma CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) ( FIG. 6 (e)).

Then, the silicon substrate 2a shown in FIG. 6 (e) and the electrode substrate 3 on which the counter electrode 17 and the like are formed are heated to, for example, 360 ° C., and the anode is connected to the silicon substrate 2a and the cathode is connected to the electrode substrate 3. A voltage is applied to perform anodic bonding (FIG. 7 (f)). The electrode substrate 3 shown in FIG. 7F is formed by etching a substrate made of borosilicate glass with a hydrofluoric acid solution or the like using a gold / chromium etching mask, for example, and then forming a recess in the recess. Thus, the counter electrode 17 made of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) can be formed.
After anodic bonding of the silicon substrate 2a and the electrode substrate 3, the entire silicon substrate 2a is thinned to a thickness of, for example, 140 μm by, for example, mechanical grinding (FIG. 7G). Here, it is desirable to perform light etching with an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution or the like to remove the work-affected layer after mechanical grinding. Instead of mechanical grinding, the silicon substrate 2a may be thinned by wet etching using a potassium hydroxide aqueous solution.

Then, a silicon oxide film having a thickness of, for example, 1.5 μm is formed on the entire upper surface of the silicon substrate 2a (the surface opposite to the surface to which the electrode substrate 3 is bonded) by TEOS plasma CVD. Then, a resist for forming a recess to be the discharge chamber 13, a recess to be the reservoir 14, and a recess to be the orifice 15 is patterned on the silicon oxide film, and the silicon oxide film in this portion is removed by etching.
Thereafter, the silicon substrate 2a is subjected to anisotropic wet etching with an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution or the like, thereby forming a recess 13a to be the discharge chamber 13, a recess (not shown) to be the reservoir 14, and a recess (not shown) to be the orifice 15. After forming, the silicon oxide film is removed (FIG. 7H). In the wet etching step of FIG. 7 (h), for example, a 35% by weight potassium hydroxide aqueous solution can be used first, and then a 3% by weight potassium hydroxide aqueous solution can be used. Thereby, surface roughness of the diaphragm 12 can be suppressed.
After the step of FIG. 7 (h), a droplet-resistant protective film 19 made of silicon oxide or the like is formed on the surface of the silicon substrate 2a where the recess 13a or the like serving as the discharge chamber 13 is formed, for example, with a thickness of 0. Although it is formed with a thickness of 1 μm, it is omitted in FIG.

Next, the nozzle substrate 4 on which the nozzles 8 are formed by ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) discharge or the like is bonded to the silicon substrate 2a (cavity substrate 2) with an adhesive or the like (FIG. 7 (i)).
Finally, for example, the bonded substrate to which the cavity substrate 2, the electrode substrate 3, and the nozzle substrate 4 are bonded is separated by dicing (cutting), and the droplet discharge head 1 is completed.

In the first embodiment, when the ferroelectric film 16a made of a ferroelectric material having a relative dielectric constant higher than that of silicon oxide is provided on the insulating film 16, the same voltage is applied as compared with the insulating film only of silicon oxide. The generated pressure can be increased.
In addition, by forming the ferroelectric film 16a having a high relative dielectric constant and the silicon oxide film 16b having a high withstand voltage on the insulating film 16, the generated pressure when the same voltage is applied is increased and the withstand voltage is improved. Is possible.
Furthermore, since the portion to be bonded when the cavity substrate 2 made of silicon and the electrode glass substrate 3 made of borosilicate glass are anodic bonded is formed of only silicon oxide, sufficient bonding strength can be obtained. It is also possible to prevent current from leaking from the junction.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a droplet discharge head according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. 8 shows a portion corresponding to the AA cross section of FIG. 1, as in FIG. The droplet discharge head 1 according to the second embodiment is the same as the droplet discharge head 1 according to the first embodiment except that the ferroelectric film 16a is formed on the counter electrode 17 side with respect to the silicon oxide film 16b. The same constituent elements will be described with the same reference numerals.
In the droplet discharge head 1 according to the second embodiment, the ferroelectric film 16a is formed on the counter electrode 17 side with respect to the silicon oxide film 16b, and the ferroelectric film 16a is partitioned at a position facing the counter electrode 17. Is formed. The silicon oxide film 16b is formed on the entire surface of the cavity substrate 2 on the side to be bonded to the electrode substrate 3.

In order to manufacture the droplet discharge head 1 according to the second embodiment, for example, in the step of FIG. 6A of the first embodiment, instead of the first insulating film 16c, silicon oxide is formed by thermal oxidation or plasma CVD. The film 16b is formed on the entire surface of the silicon substrate 2a. Thereafter, a ferroelectric film is entirely formed on the entire surface of the silicon oxide film 16b, the resist is patterned by photolithography, and the portions other than the diaphragm 12 are etched away by RIE dry etching using CHF _3. A dielectric film 16a is formed. Thereby, the silicon oxide film 16b and the ferroelectric film 16a as shown in FIG. 8 can be formed.

In the second embodiment, since the ferroelectric film 16a is formed closer to the counter electrode 17 than the silicon oxide film 16b, the silicon oxide film 16b functions as a passivation layer (chemically inert layer) or a stress relaxation layer. A wide range of materials can be used as the ferroelectric film 16a.
Other effects are the same as those of the droplet discharge head 1 according to the first embodiment.

Embodiment 3. FIG.
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the droplet discharge head 1 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 8 shows a portion corresponding to the AA cross section of FIG. 1, as in FIG. The configuration of the droplet discharge head 1 according to the third embodiment is the same as that of the droplet discharge head 1 of the first embodiment except that a silicon oxide film is formed as an insulating film on the counter electrode 17. Elements will be described with the same reference numerals.
In the droplet discharge head 1 according to the third embodiment, a silicon oxide film 16d is formed as an insulating film on the counter electrode 17 by TEOS plasma CVD, and the configuration of the insulating film on the vibration plate 12 side is the same as that of the first embodiment. Therefore, the withstand voltage can be further improved.
Other effects are the same as those of the droplet discharge head 1 according to the first and second embodiments.
In order to manufacture the droplet discharge head 1 according to the third embodiment, for example, before the step of FIG. 7F of the first embodiment, that is, before the silicon substrate 2a is bonded to the electrode substrate 3, A silicon oxide film 16d is formed on the counter electrode 17 of the electrode substrate 3 by TEOS plasma CVD, and then a resist is patterned by photolithography, and CHF ₃ is used for the silicon oxide film at portions other than the surface of the counter electrode 17 It is removed by RIE dry etching.

In the third embodiment, the configuration of the droplet discharge head 1 combined with the first embodiment is shown. However, the same effect can be obtained even when combined with the second embodiment. Further, instead of the silicon oxide film 16d formed on the counter electrode 17, a high dielectric constant film such as Al ₂ O ₃ can be used.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
Next, another embodiment of the insulating film 16 will be described. FIG. 10 is an enlarged schematic view showing the electrostatic actuator portion of the droplet discharge head 1 of FIG. 1, that is, the vibration plate 12, the insulating film 16, the counter electrode 17, and the drive circuit 21. As shown in FIG. As can be seen from FIG. 10, the insulating film 16 has a cap made of silicon nitride (SiN) or the like that can suppress diffusion of impurities into the insulating film 16, in particular, boron diffusion, in order from the surface of the diaphragm 12 made of silicon (Si). A layer 16A, a ferroelectric film 16B made of PZT or the like having a relative dielectric constant higher than that of silicon oxide, and a surface layer 16C made of silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ) for suppressing the surface charge density of the insulating film 16 are laminated. Yes. By laminating the cap layer 16A and the ferroelectric film 16B, a dielectric breakdown voltage can be ensured for a long time between the diaphragm 12 and the counter electrode 17, and the actuator drive voltage is lowered, so that the size is small. In addition, an electrostatic actuator with excellent driving durability can be realized. Furthermore, the surface layer 16C reduces the influence of residual electrification on the surface of the insulating film 16 constituting the surface of the diaphragm 12, and an electrostatic actuator capable of stable driving can be realized.

The cap layer 16A is preferably made of silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ) or silicon nitride (SiN). Note that silicon nitride is superior from the viewpoint of barrier properties against boron.
The ferroelectric film 16B is formed of a material having a relative dielectric constant higher than the relative dielectric constant (4.4) of silicon oxide conventionally employed as an insulating film. These include the aforementioned PZT, PZTN, PLZT, PLT, PTN, SBT, SBTN, BTO and the like. In place of this ferroelectric film, the above-described high dielectric constant film generally called a High-k material may be used. By using a ferroelectric film or a high dielectric constant film, the equivalent oxide thickness of the entire insulating film is reduced to ensure the withstand voltage and increase the electrostatic pressure.
The surface layer 16C can be formed by depositing silicon oxide or silicon nitride. In addition, the hydroxyl group density on the surface of the surface layer 16C is suppressed, and the adsorption of the surface layer 16C and the counter electrode 17 is prevented. Further, in order to make the hydroxyl group on the surface of the surface layer 16C inactive, further prevent water molecules from being adsorbed, and suppress the surface charge density, the electrode substrate 3 and the cavity substrate 2 are anodically bonded, A silane-based or fluorine-based coating agent may be coated on the surface. These coatings are preferably monomolecular layers.

  The insulating film 16 functions to prevent the actuator from being destroyed by discharge when the diaphragm 12 and the counter electrode 17 are adsorbed, and to suppress fluctuations in the generated pressure due to residual charges.

  11 and 12 are process diagrams showing an example of a manufacturing process of a droplet discharge head according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. In addition, the manufacturing method of the cavity substrate 2 and the electrode substrate 3 is not limited to what was shown by FIG.11 and FIG.12.

(A) First, for example, after both surfaces of a silicon substrate 2a having a thickness of 525 μm are mirror-polished, a cap layer 16A is formed on the surface of the substrate 2a. The cap layer 16A is formed by silicon oxide film formation by TESO plasma CVD or the like, or silicon nitride film formation by plasma CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) or ECR (Electron Cyclotron Resonance) sputtering.
Note that before the cap layer 16A is formed, boron may be diffused on the film forming surface side of the silicon substrate 2a to form a boron doped layer to be the diaphragm 12. This boron-doped layer also functions as an etching stop layer during wet etching in a later step (FIG. 12 (h)).
When a silicon oxide film is used as the cap layer 16A, it can be easily formed with relatively low stress. On the other hand, when a silicon nitride film is used as the cap layer 16A, the stress can be reduced by annealing at about 400 ° C. to 1000 ° C., and the cap layer 16A having an excellent barrier property against boron can be formed.
(B) Subsequently, a ferroelectric film 16B is formed on the surface of the cap layer 16A. The ferroelectric film 16B is formed by depositing the above-described piezoelectric material (PZT) or barium-titanium oxide (BaTiO ₃ ) by ECR sputtering or AD method.
(C) Further, the surface layer 16C is formed on the surface of the ferroelectric film 16B, but this is not necessarily an essential step. The surface layer 16C is formed by forming a dense silicon oxide film by TEOS plasma CVD, and performing surface treatment on the silicon oxide to inactivate the surface, thereby forming a surface layer 16C that can suppress the accumulation of residual charges. be able to. Alternatively, the surface layer 16C can be formed by forming a silicon nitride film by plasma CVD or ECR sputtering. Since silicon nitride has a low hydroxyl group density on the film surface, residual charges are difficult to accumulate.

  As a combination of the thicknesses of the respective layers of the insulating film 16 formed as described above, for example, the cap layer 16A can be about 100 nm, the ferroelectric film 16B can be about 800 nm, and the surface layer 16C can be about 10 nm. However, these values are appropriately determined in consideration of improvement of the withstand voltage required for the insulating film 16 and the electrostatic pressure (generated pressure).

(D) The cavity substrate 2 on which the insulating film 16 is formed as described above is bonded to the electrode substrate 3 on which the counter electrode 17 corresponding to the vibration plate 12 formed on the cavity substrate 2 is formed. Here, the electrode substrate 3 is heated to, for example, 360 ° C., an anode is connected to the silicon substrate 2a, and a cathode is connected to the electrode substrate 3, and an anodic bonding is performed by applying a voltage of about 800V.
The electrode substrate 3 is formed by etching a substrate made of borosilicate glass with a hydrofluoric acid solution or the like using a gold / chromium etching mask, for example, to form a recess, and then forming a counter electrode made of ITO by sputtering or the like in the recess. It can be manufactured by forming 17.

(E) Subsequently, the entire silicon substrate 2a bonded to the electrode substrate 3 is thinned to a thickness of about 140 μm by, for example, mechanical grinding. After mechanical grinding, it is desirable to perform light etching with an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution or the like in order to remove the work-affected layer. Instead of mechanical grinding, the silicon substrate 2a may be thinned by wet etching using a potassium hydroxide aqueous solution.

(F) Then, a silicon oxide film 22 having a thickness of, for example, 1.5 μm is formed on the entire upper surface of the silicon substrate 2a (the surface opposite to the surface to which the electrode substrate 3 is bonded) by TEOS plasma CVD.
(G) Then, a resist for forming a recess to be the discharge chamber 13, a recess to be the reservoir 14, and a recess to be the orifice 15 is patterned on the silicon oxide film 22, and the silicon oxide film in this portion is etched. Remove.
(H) Thereafter, the silicon substrate 2a is subjected to anisotropic wet etching with a potassium hydroxide aqueous solution or the like, thereby forming a recess 13a to be the discharge chamber 13, a recess (not shown) to be the reservoir 14, and a recess to be the orifice 15 (see FIG. (Not shown), the silicon oxide film is removed. In this wet etching step, it is preferable to perform two-stage etching using, for example, a 35% by weight potassium hydroxide aqueous solution first and then a 3% by weight potassium hydroxide aqueous solution. This is because surface roughness of the diaphragm 12 can be suppressed.
Thereafter, a droplet-resistant protective film (reference numeral 19 in FIG. 1) made of silicon oxide or the like is formed on the surface of the silicon substrate 2a where the recess 13a or the like that becomes the discharge chamber 13 is formed, for example, with a thickness of 0.1. Although the thickness is 1 μm, the illustration is omitted here.

(I) Next, the nozzle substrate 4 on which the nozzles 8 are formed by ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) discharge or the like is bonded to the opening surface side of the silicon substrate 2a (cavity substrate 2) with an adhesive or the like.
Finally, for example, the bonded substrate to which the cavity substrate 2, the electrode substrate 3, and the nozzle substrate 4 are bonded is separated by dicing (cutting), and the droplet discharge head 1 is completed.

  In the above method, the insulating film forming step of forming the insulating film 16 on the surface of the silicon substrate 2a on which the diaphragm 12 is formed, the silicon substrate 2a on which the insulating film 16 is formed, and the counter electrode corresponding to the diaphragm 12 A substrate bonding step of bonding the electrode substrate 3 on which the electrode plate 3 is formed with the formation region of the diaphragm 12 facing the counter electrode 17; and etching the silicon substrate 2a bonded to the electrode substrate 3 to form the diaphragm 12 The step of forming the cavity substrate 2 for forming the discharge chamber 13 and the reservoir 14 and the like, and the step of bonding the nozzle substrate 4 to the opening surface of the cavity substrate 2 are sequentially performed. In this method, the silicon substrate 2a bonded to the electrode substrate 3 is etched to form the discharge chamber 13 including the diaphragm 12, the reservoir 14, and the like, so that the silicon substrate 2a that is easily broken can be handled relatively easily. There is an advantage. In addition, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to form a partition by patterning a ferroelectric material with a resist, and manufacturing can be performed more easily. An insulating film forming step for forming an insulating film 16 on the surface of the silicon substrate 2a on which the vibration plate 12 is formed, a discharge chamber 13 including the vibration plate 12 by etching the silicon substrate 2a on which the insulating film 16 is formed, The process of forming the cavity substrate 2 for forming the reservoir 14 and the like, the cavity substrate 2 on which the discharge chamber 13 and the like are formed, and the electrode substrate 3 on which the counter electrode 17 corresponding to the diaphragm 12 is formed The droplet discharge head 1 may be manufactured by sequentially executing a substrate bonding step in which the counter electrodes 17 are bonded to each other and a step of bonding the nozzle substrate 4 to the opening surface of the cavity substrate 2.

  By these methods, an electrostatic actuator having a small size and excellent driving durability, in which a dielectric breakdown voltage is ensured for a long time between the diaphragm 12 and the counter electrode 17 and the actuator driving voltage is reduced. Can be manufactured. In addition, it is possible to reduce the influence of residual electrification on the surface of the insulating film 16 constituting the surface of the diaphragm 12, and it is possible to manufacture an electrostatic actuator that enables stable driving.

Embodiment 5. FIG.
FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing an example of a droplet discharge device in which the droplet discharge head according to the embodiment described so far is applied to a droplet discharge unit. The droplet discharge device 100 shown in FIG. 13 is an inkjet printer that discharges ink as droplets.
In this inkjet printer, the pressure generated in the diaphragm 12 is high due to the action of the droplet discharge head 1 applied thereto, and the droplet discharge device 100 has high discharge performance without dot missing or the like. It also has excellent durability and discharge stability. Furthermore, it is small and has excellent driving durability. In addition, since the influence of residual charges on the electrostatic actuator portion is reduced, high-accuracy printing by stable driving is possible.
In addition to the inkjet printer shown in FIG. 13, the droplet discharge head 1 shown in the present embodiment can be used for variously changing the droplets to produce a color filter for a liquid crystal display, to form a light emitting portion of an organic EL display device, It can also be applied to the discharge of biological liquids.

  In each embodiment, a droplet discharge head is shown as an example to which the electrostatic actuator according to the present invention is applied. However, the electrostatic actuator shown in the embodiment of the present invention can be applied to other devices. it can. Specifically, the present invention can be applied to MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) devices such as a tunable filter, a mirror device, and a micropump, and these can be applied to a projector, a scanner of a laser printer, and the like.

Embodiment 6. FIG.
As described above, the electrostatic actuator according to the present invention is not limited to application to a droplet discharge head, and can be applied to various devices. Here is an example.
FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing an example of a device according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention to which the electrostatic actuator according to the present invention is applied. The electrostatic actuator application device shown in FIG. The wavelength tunable filter 200 has a movable reflecting surface 223, and is movable in a direction perpendicular to the movable reflecting surface 223 so that light having a predetermined wavelength is transmitted and light having a wavelength other than the predetermined wavelength is reflected. A movable part 220 integrally formed with a connecting part 221b and a support part 221c, and a spacer 221e for supporting the body 221a after being displaceable, a movable body 221a and an electrostatic gap are provided with an EG, and the movable body 221a The movable reflection surface 223 is provided with an optical gap OG and a fixed reflection surface 218 that further reflects the light reflected by the movable reflection surface 223. A drive electrode part 210 joined to the movable part 220 on the side opposite to the side where the spacer 221e is formed so that the fixed reflecting surface 18 faces, and the movable part 220 And a package portion 230 bonded to the spacers 221e portion. Here, the movable body 221a corresponds to the diaphragm 12 in FIG. 1, and the drive electrode 212 corresponds to the counter electrode 17 in FIG. 1, which constitutes an electrostatic actuator. Accordingly, by forming an insulating film corresponding to the insulating film 16 of each embodiment on the surface of the movable body 221a on the drive electrode 212 side, the withstand voltage and electrostatic pressure of the electrostatic actuator can be improved. Thereby, the wavelength tunable filter 200 can be made compact and excellent in driving durability. In addition, the influence of the residual charge of the electrostatic actuator is reduced, and high-precision optical filtering by stable driving becomes possible.

  Thus, the electrostatic actuator according to the present invention can be used as an actuator for various devices, particularly a micromachine. For example, the pump unit of the micro pump, the switch drive unit of the optical switch, the mirror drive unit of the mirror device that controls the direction of the light by tilting these mirrors, and further lasers The electrostatic actuator according to the present invention can be applied to a drive unit of a laser operation mirror of a printer.

  The electrostatic actuator, the droplet discharge head and the manufacturing method thereof, the droplet discharge apparatus, and the device according to the present invention are not limited to the embodiments of the present invention, and are changed within the scope of the idea of the present invention. be able to.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a droplet discharge head according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The expanded sectional view which showed the AA cross section of FIG. The equivalent circuit diagram of the electrostatic actuator which has an insulating film. The figure showing the relationship between the thickness of a ferroelectric substance, and the applied voltage of a ferroelectric substance. The figure showing the relationship between the thickness of a ferroelectric substance, and an applied voltage. Sectional drawing which shows the manufacturing process of the droplet discharge head which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. Sectional drawing which showed the process of the manufacturing process of FIG. Sectional drawing which showed the droplet discharge head which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. Sectional drawing which showed the droplet discharge head which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. The expansion schematic diagram of the electrostatic actuator part which concerns on Embodiment 4 of this invention. FIG. 10 is a process diagram illustrating an example of a manufacturing process of a droplet discharge head according to a fourth embodiment. FIG. 12 is a process diagram illustrating the continuation of the manufacturing process of FIG. 11. The perspective view which shows an example of the droplet discharge apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 5 of this invention to which the droplet discharge head concerning this invention is applied. The perspective view which shows an example of the device which concerns on Embodiment 6 of this invention to which the electrostatic actuator which concerns on this invention is applied.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Droplet discharge head, 2 Cavity substrate, 3 Electrode substrate, 4 Nozzle substrate, 6 1st nozzle hole, 7 2nd nozzle hole, 8 Nozzle, 10 Droplet discharge surface, 11 Joining surface, 12 Vibration plate, 13 Discharge chamber, 14 reservoir, 15 orifice, 16 insulating film, 16a ferroelectric film, 16b silicon oxide film, 16d silicon oxide film, 16A cap layer, 16B ferroelectric film, 16C surface layer, 17 counter electrode, 18 liquid supply Hole, 19 droplet-resistant protective film, 20 gap, 21 drive circuit, 100 droplet discharge device, 200 wavelength tunable filter.

Claims (17)

An electrostatic actuator comprising: a diaphragm; a counter electrode facing the diaphragm with a gap; and an insulating film for increasing a generated pressure of the diaphragm formed on a surface of the diaphragm on the counter electrode side Because
The insulating film includes a cap layer that suppresses diffusion of impurities contained in the diaphragm into the insulating film, a ferroelectric film made of a ferroelectric material having a relative dielectric constant higher than that of at least silicon oxide , and the insulating film An electrostatic actuator characterized by being laminated with a surface layer that suppresses the surface charge density .   2. The electrostatic actuator according to claim 1, wherein the ferroelectric film is made of any one of PZT, PZTN, PLZT, PLT, PTN, SBT, SBTN, and BTO. The electrostatic actuator according to claim 1 , wherein the insulating film includes a silicon oxide film . 4. The electrostatic actuator according to claim 3 , wherein the silicon oxide film is formed closer to the counter electrode than the ferroelectric film.   3. The electrostatic actuator according to claim 1, wherein the ferroelectric film is formed closer to the counter electrode than the silicon oxide film. An electrode substrate is formed which is bonded to a cavity substrate on which the vibration plate is formed and the counter electrode is formed, and only the silicon oxide film is formed at a portion where the cavity substrate and the electrode substrate are bonded. The electrostatic actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 5 . The diaphragm, the electrostatic actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it consists of silicon silicon or impurity-doped. The cap layer, the electrostatic actuator according to claim 1, wherein the silicon oxide or silicon nitride. The surface layer, the electrostatic actuator according to claim 1, wherein the silicon oxide or silicon nitride. The electrostatic actuator according to claim 9 , wherein the surface layer is made of a silane-based or fluorine-based coating agent. Comprising an electrostatic actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 10, the cavity substrate on which the diaphragm is formed, the a counter electrode substrate on which electrodes are formed is bonded, said diaphragm to discharge liquid droplets A droplet discharge head comprising a bottom surface of a droplet discharge chamber for storing. 12. A droplet discharge apparatus to which the droplet discharge head according to claim 11 is applied. Device, characterized in that the electrostatic actuator according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is applied. An electrostatic actuator comprising: a diaphragm; a counter electrode facing the diaphragm with a gap; and an insulating film for increasing a generated pressure of the diaphragm formed on a surface of the diaphragm on the counter electrode side A manufacturing method of
Forming a suppressing cap layer from diffusing into the insulating film of an impurity contained in the diaphragm to the surface of the substrate where the diaphragm is formed,
Forming a insulation Enmaku ing of a ferroelectric material is higher relative dielectric constant than silicon oxide on the surface of the cap layer,
Partitioning the insulating film made of the ferroelectric material by etching to form a ferroelectric film on the diaphragm; and
Forming a surface layer for suppressing the surface charge density of the insulating film on the surface of the ferroelectric film;
A method of manufacturing a droplet discharge head, comprising: On the surface of the cavity substrate on which the diaphragm is formed, a cap layer that suppresses diffusion of impurities contained in the diaphragm and a ferroelectric material having a higher relative dielectric constant than silicon oxide for increasing the pressure generated by the diaphragm An insulating film forming step of forming an insulating film by laminating a ferroelectric film to be formed;
A substrate bonding step for bonding the cavity substrate on which the insulating film is formed and an electrode substrate on which a counter electrode corresponding to the diaphragm is formed, with the formation region of the diaphragm facing the counter electrode;
A cavity substrate etching step for forming a droplet discharge chamber including the diaphragm by etching the cavity substrate bonded to the electrode substrate;
Bonding a nozzle substrate to the opening surface of the cavity substrate;
A method for manufacturing a droplet discharge head, comprising: On the surface of the cavity substrate on which the diaphragm is formed, a cap layer that suppresses diffusion of impurities contained in the diaphragm and a ferroelectric material having a higher relative dielectric constant than silicon oxide for increasing the pressure generated by the diaphragm An insulating film forming step of forming an insulating film by laminating a ferroelectric film to be formed;
A cavity substrate etching step of forming a droplet discharge chamber including the diaphragm by etching the cavity substrate on which the insulating film is formed;
A substrate bonding step of bonding the cavity substrate in which the droplet discharge chamber is formed and an electrode substrate on which a counter electrode corresponding to the vibration plate is formed with the vibration plate and the counter electrode facing each other;
Bonding a nozzle substrate to the opening surface of the cavity substrate;
A method for manufacturing a droplet discharge head, comprising: In the insulating film forming step, the manufacturing method of the ferroelectric liquid droplet ejection head according to claim 15 or 16, wherein said forming a suppressing surface layer of the surface charge density of the insulating film on the outer surface of the membrane .

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