JPH0460833B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a liquid jet recording device that performs recording by forming flying droplets, and in particular, a liquid jet recording device that performs recording by forming flying droplets by applying a thermal effect to a liquid. It relates to a recording device. Liquid injection recording devices are strongly desired as non-impact recording in modern business offices and other office processing departments where silence is required, and they are also highly desirable in that they are capable of high-density and high-speed recording. In addition, in that maintenance is relatively easy or maintenance-free,
Development and improvement are planned. Among such liquid jet recording devices, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1983-
The liquid jet recording device disclosed in No. 59936 is capable of high-density and high-speed recording due to its structural characteristics, and it is extremely easy to design and manufacture a so-called full-line recording head, so there is a desire for its realization. has been done. However, in such a liquid jet recording device,
When trying to realize high-density, full-line recording, there are problems with the structural design of the recording head, recording accuracy, and the manufacturing, productivity, and mass production of the recording head, which are directly linked to recording reliability and durability. There are still issues to be resolved regarding gender. That is, in order to achieve high density and high speed, the liquid jet recording device described above requires a highly integrated structure for its recording head section, so problems related to integration, clogging, and the structure of the recording head may occur. Points to be solved in terms of design, production, and mass production, such as the structural arrangement and manufacturing yield of each element and signal processing means, or the wiring for electrically connecting them. There is. For example, a large number of electrothermal conversion elements are arranged according to the image density as a means of generating heat to be applied to the liquid to form flying droplets, and each of these many electrothermal conversion elements is independently activated. Drive signal separation element arrays for driving as desired, such as transistor arrays or diode arrays with signal amplification means, are integrated to achieve high efficiency with high density, high precision, and uniform characteristics. Well-produced liquid jet recording devices can maximize the characteristics of the liquid jet recording device described above.
Currently, each element array is fabricated as an individual chip for the sake of yield and ease of manufacture, and the chips of each element are placed on a common substrate and each element array is fabricated by bonding or other means. Electrical connections between the corresponding elements and lead electrodes for communication with other electrical means are attached, and then a discharge orifice for ejecting liquid to form flying droplets and a heat communicating with the orifice are installed. Since the recording head is manufactured by adhesively bonding the head component to form a space filled with liquid such as an action chamber, it is not possible to avoid significant complexity and low mass production efficiency. do not have. Furthermore, as recording heads become denser, more integrated, and longer, the above-mentioned problems need to be solved even more. Furthermore, it is necessary to consider and improve the reliability and reproducibility of the manufacturing process in order to obtain the desired characteristics as designed. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and
The object of the present invention is to provide a liquid jet recording device that has remarkable advantages in manufacturing reliability, stable productivity, and reproducibility of characteristics, and can stably perform high-density and high-speed recording. The liquid jet recording device of the present invention includes an element attachment member provided with a plurality of heat generating resistors and a functional element provided in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of heat generating resistors, and a common element attachment member that holds a liquid for liquid supply. It has a liquid chamber forming member for forming a liquid chamber, and a plurality of liquid flow paths and discharge parts corresponding to the plurality of heat generating resistors, and the plurality of heat generating resistors are arranged on the surface side of the element attachment member. The functional element is provided on the formed insulating layer, the functional element is provided inside the element attachment member other than the lower part of the liquid chamber, and the electrode connecting the heating resistor and the functional element is a thin film electrode. do. The liquid jet recording device of the present invention configured as described above can easily perform high-density, high-speed recording with reliability and stability, and can significantly increase the yield and reduce the number of manufacturing steps. In addition, it has a structure suitable for mass products, and its properties, especially the heat dissipation effect of the electric/thermal conversion element, are significantly improved. and significantly improve the lifespan of transistors. The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic partial assembly diagram for explaining the configuration of a preferred embodiment of the liquid jet recording apparatus of the present invention. The liquid jet recording device shown in FIG. 1 includes an electrical/thermal transducer arrangement section 102 that is constructed by arranging a plurality of electrical/thermal transducers in an array, and functional elements provided corresponding to the electrical/thermal transducers. A predetermined number of grooves with a predetermined shape and size are provided in order to form a common liquid chamber and flow path for liquid supply. It basically consists of a groove cover member 104. The groove cover member 104 has electrical/thermal conversion elements 105 regularly arranged at predetermined intervals and with predetermined dimensions.
The grooves 106 cover each of the grooves 106 respectively.
06 are provided in the groove cover member 104 at the same pitch as the arrangement pitch of the electric/thermal conversion elements 105, and each groove 106
is connected to a common liquid chamber groove 107 provided at the rear of the groove cover member 104 in a relationship perpendicular to the direction in which each groove 106 is provided, and the groove cover member 104 is connected to the common liquid chamber groove 107 provided at the rear of the groove cover member 104 in a relationship perpendicular to the direction in which each groove 106 is provided. are joined so that each groove 106 and each corresponding electric/thermal conversion element 105 face each other, and a plurality of flow channels each having a heat action chamber part are formed, and these flow channels are filled with liquid. A common liquid chamber is formed for supplying liquid to each channel. A supply pipe 108 is provided behind the common liquid chamber groove 107 for supplying liquid to the common liquid chamber from a liquid storage tank (not shown) provided outside. The electric/thermal conversion element 105 transfers generated heat between a common electrode 109 common to each element and an electrode 111 connected to the collector part of a transistor 110 as a functional element constituting the drive circuit part 103. It has a heat generating resistor 112 provided to act on the liquid. Electricity/thermal conversion element array section 102
Although not shown, an electrically insulating protective layer is provided over the entire surface of the electrode to prevent contact between the liquid and the heating resistor 112 and to prevent electrical leakage between the common electrode 109 and the collector electrode 111. The drive circuit section 103 includes the collector electrode 111.
A collector region, a base region, and an emitter region are formed below each of the base electrode 113 and the emitter electrode 114, respectively. These regions are structurally provided within the surface of semiconductor substrate 115. Each base electrode 113 is formed continuously with a base common electrode 116 attached at the rear. Reference numeral 117 is an electrode for applying a high voltage to the collector region in order to electrically isolate each transistor 110, and is common to each transistor. FIG. 1b schematically shows a cross-sectional structure when the device shown in FIG. 1 is cut along the flow path. The element attachment member 101 has a structure in which a transistor 110 as a functional element is structurally provided inside its surface, and an electric/thermal conversion element 105 is provided on the surface of an epitaxial layer 119 formed on a semiconductor substrate 118. It is provided in a laminated structure. The electrical/thermal conversion element 105 includes an electrically insulating protective layer 131 provided on the surface of the epitaxial layer 119.
The heating resistor section 112 includes a heating resistor section 112 on top, a common electrode 109, and an electrode 111 for connecting to the collector region of the transistor 110. It is composed of a protective layer 121. On the upper part of the heat generating resistor section 112, the heat generating resistor section 1
A heat action chamber 122 is formed in which the liquid undergoes rapid state changes including the generation of bubbles and contraction of its volume under the action of heat generated by the heat chamber 122 . The heat action chamber 122 communicates with a discharge orifice 123 through which liquid is ejected to form flying droplets based on the above state change, and a common liquid chamber 124 provided at the rear. Liquid chamber 12
4 is attached with a supply pipe 108 for supplying liquid from the outside to the common liquid chamber 124. Behind each of the electric/thermal conversion elements 105, a corresponding transistor 110 is connected to the epitaxial layer 1.
It is structurally provided inside 19. The transistor 110 has a normal transistor structure, and a buried layer 128-1 for reducing the resistance of the collector region 125 is provided at the bottom. An ohmic region 128-2 is provided between the electrode 111 and the collector region 125 for forming an ohmic contact. Each electrode 111, 113, 114, 117 is taken out from the collector region 125, base region 126, and emitter region 127 in an electrically isolated manner. Between the emitter electrode 114, the base electrode 113, and the isolation electrode 117, electrically insulating layers 129-1, 129-
2 is interposed. A diffusion region 130 is provided between the electric/thermal conversion element 105 and the transistor 110 in order to provide thermal isolation so that the heat generated by the electric/thermal conversion element 105 does not adversely affect the transistor 110. be. By providing this diffusion region 130, the life of the transistor 110 is significantly extended. As shown in the figure, the heating resistor 120 is
The element attachment member 101 is formed in the heat action chamber 122 area located on the thin film insulating layer 131 formed on the upper part of the element attachment member 101, and the transistor 110 is located in the area other than the lower area of the liquid chamber where the liquid is held.
From the heating resistor 120 formed inside and based on heat generated due to liquid injection to the transistor 110
Heat conduction to the liquid chamber can be effectively suppressed by the position of the liquid chamber. This suppressing effect is caused by the presence of the liquid chamber between the two. Additionally, depending on the position of this liquid chamber, the partial temperature rise caused by the small amount of heat generated by the transistor itself is dispersed to the entire element attachment member, resulting in a uniform temperature distribution and further stabilizing the operation of the transistor. . As shown, the diffusion region 130 is formed inside the element attachment member 101 in the lower region of the liquid chamber, and the diffusion region 130 thermally connects the heating resistor 120 and the transistor 110. Isolated. Next, a method for forming the element attachment member 101 will be explained with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 schematically shows an example of a process diagram for producing the element attachment member shown in FIG. 1. First, a P-type semiconductor substrate 201 is prepared, and a buried layer 202 is formed on the substrate 201 to reduce collector resistance.
is formed, and then an epitaxial layer 2 is formed thereon.
03 (Step (b)) The buried layer 202 is formed by diffusing antimony (Sb), arsenic (As), etc. through a window formed using lithography technology in the oxide film formed on the substrate 201. In some cases, it is formed in a pattern. After forming the buried layer 202, the above oxide film is completely removed. Thereafter, an n-type epitaxial layer 203 is grown on the substrate 201. This layer 203 has a thickness of 10 μm.
It is desirable that the thickness of the front and rear layers be the same. An oxide film 2 is formed on the upper surface of the epitaxial layer 119.
After forming a window 205 in this oxide film using lithography technology, a p-type impurity is diffused through this window 205 to form a diffusion region 206 for isolation. The portion surrounded by the diffusion regions 206-1 and 206-2 is the collector region 20 of the bipolar transistor.
7 (Step (c)) Step (d) shows the formation of the base region 208 by a diffusion method. The area other than the part where the base region 208 is to be formed is covered with an oxide film, and a p-type impurity such as boron (B) is diffused at a high concentration to make it p ⁺ , thereby forming the base region 208. In step (e), in order to provide an emitter region 209 and an ohmic region 210 for obtaining ohmic contact between the aluminum electrode and the collector region 207, an n ⁺ region is formed by diffusing n-type impurities at a high concentration. is shown. In this case, emitter region 209 and ohmic contact region 210 are formed as n ⁺ semiconductor regions by high concentration diffusion of n-type impurities at the same time. In steps (f) and (g), a case is shown in which a heating resistor region constituting an electric/thermal conversion element is formed. After step (e) is completed, an electrically insulating protective layer 211 is provided to protect the transistor section. Next, a heating resistor layer 213 is formed on the protective layer 211 using lithography technology. At this time, protective layer 2
A window 212 for the electrode is also provided by dissolving a part of the electrode. The protective layer 211 can be formed by sputtering method or
A layer of SiO ₂ , Si ₃ N ₄ or the like formed by a CVD method or the like, or an oxide film formed by an oxidation process on the surface of the transistor is preferably used. Protective layer 211 below heating resistor layer 213
In this example, it can also serve as a heat storage layer for controlling the diffusion of generated heat. Next, as a final step, electrode materials such as aluminum are laminated using a vacuum deposition method, etc., and patterned using photolithography technology to complete electrode wiring (this step is omitted in Figure 2). 1st
An element attachment member having a structure as shown in the figure is manufactured. To form the heating resistor layer 213, a vacuum deposition method such as a vapor deposition method or a sputtering method, a CVD method, or the like is employed. The materials constituting the heating resistor layer 213 include:
Metal alloys such as NiCr, carbides such as TiC, ZrB ₂ ,
Borides such as HfB ₂ , nitrides such as BN, silicides such as SiB ₄ , phosphides such as GaP and InP, GaAs,
Suitable examples include arsenides such as GaPxAs (I-x). FIG. 3 schematically shows the structure of the main part (element attachment member) of another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 shows some of the steps of the manufacturing method. SOS is applied to a Si layer 302 epitaxially grown on an alumina (Al ₂ O ₃ ) substrate 301 using conventional technology.
A type PNP lateral transistor section 303 is formed [step (a)]. A portion of the Si layer other than the transistor portion 303 is etched and removed, and the remaining Si layer is further oxidized to form a SiO ₂ protective film 304 [step (b)]. On top of that, a heating resistor layer 305
are laminated, patterning and opening of the protective film on the lateral transistor portion 303 are performed at the same time, and then a metal electrode portion such as Al is laminated to form each electrode 307 to 310 by lithography technology. The protective film 306 below the heating resistor layer 305 is
As in the case of the previous embodiment, it also functions as a heat storage layer. In the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a similar effect was obtained even when an SOS type NPN lateral transistor structure was used. In addition, when we prototyped a liquid ejecting device with the structure shown in Figure 1 and actually performed recording according to the conditions shown in Table 1, even in long-term high-speed recording of 410,000 A4 sheets, it showed the same excellent results as in the initial stage. We were able to obtain high quality images. 【table】

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1a is a schematic assembly diagram showing the configuration of a preferred embodiment of the liquid jet recording apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 1b is a schematic cross-sectional view of the configuration, and FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the main portion of another embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a manufacturing process drawing. 101... Element attachment member, 102... Element array section, 103... Drive circuit section, 104... Groove cover member, 105... Electric/thermal conversion element, 106...
Groove, 107... Common liquid chamber groove, 108... Supply pipe,
109... common electrode, 110... transistor,
111...Collector electrode, 112...Heating resistor section, 113...Base electrode, 114...Emitter electrode, 115...Substrate, 116...Base common electrode, 117...Electrode, 118...P-type semiconductor substrate, 119...Epitaxial layer, 120...Heating resistor, 121...Protective layer, 122...Heat action chamber, 123...Orifice, 124...Common liquid chamber, 125...Collector region, 126...Base Area, 127...Emitsuta area, 128-2...
Ohmic contact area, 129...electrical insulating layer,
130... Diffusion region, 131... Protective layer.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An insulating layer provided on a surface, a plurality of heat generating resistors provided on the insulating layer, a functional element provided in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of heat generating resistors, and an element attachment member comprising a thin film electrode for electrically connecting the resistor and the functional element; and a plurality of element attachment members each corresponding to the plurality of heating resistors provided on the surface of the element attachment member. a liquid flow path and a common liquid chamber into which the liquid to be supplied to the liquid flow path is introduced, wherein the heating resistor is on the front side of the common liquid chamber and the functional element is on the rear side of the common liquid chamber. A liquid jet recording device characterized in that each of the liquid jet recording devices are arranged in the same manner as shown in FIG. 2. The liquid jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the element attachment member comprises a semiconductor substrate and an epitaxial layer on the semiconductor substrate. 3. The liquid jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the functional element is a transistor.