WO1997034769A1 - Tete a jet d'encre et son procede de fabrication - Google Patents

Tete a jet d'encre et son procede de fabrication Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1997034769A1
WO1997034769A1 PCT/JP1997/000830 JP9700830W WO9734769A1 WO 1997034769 A1 WO1997034769 A1 WO 1997034769A1 JP 9700830 W JP9700830 W JP 9700830W WO 9734769 A1 WO9734769 A1 WO 9734769A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
ink
substrate
groove
silicon single
single crystal
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/JP1997/000830
Other languages
English (en)
Japanese (ja)
Inventor
Masahiro Fujii
Tarou Takekoshi
Tomohiro Makigaki
Hiroshi Koeda
Original Assignee
Seiko Epson Corporation
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Seiko Epson Corporation filed Critical Seiko Epson Corporation
Publication of WO1997034769A1 publication Critical patent/WO1997034769A1/fr

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
    • B41J2/1621—Manufacturing processes
    • B41J2/1626—Manufacturing processes etching
    • B41J2/1629—Manufacturing processes etching wet etching
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
    • B41J2/14201—Structure of print heads with piezoelectric elements
    • B41J2/14233—Structure of print heads with piezoelectric elements of film type, deformed by bending and disposed on a diaphragm
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
    • B41J2/1607—Production of print heads with piezoelectric elements
    • B41J2/161—Production of print heads with piezoelectric elements of film type, deformed by bending and disposed on a diaphragm
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
    • B41J2002/14387—Front shooter
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
    • B41J2002/14411—Groove in the nozzle plate

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an ink jet head for an ink jet printer, and more particularly to an ink jet head in which a groove such as an ink cavity is accurately etched on a semiconductor substrate and a method for manufacturing the same.
  • the ink jet head of an ink jet printer has a structure in which a plurality of ink nozzles for discharging ink droplets to the outside and an ink supply path communicating with these ink nozzles are formed on a semiconductor substrate.
  • ink jet heads so that high-definition characters can be printed.
  • various inkjet head manufacturing methods have been developed.
  • the ink jet head disclosed in this publication has a configuration including a plurality of ink nozzles, ink cavities communicating with the respective ink nozzles, and a common ink reservoir for supplying ink to the ink cavities. ing. Ink supplied from the external ink supply to the ink reservoir of the ink jet head is supplied from the ink reservoir via each orifice. Supplied to the ink cavity.
  • the bottom surface of each ink cavity functions as a diaphragm, and the ink nozzles communicate with the ink nozzles using the ink volume fluctuations that fluctuate by vibrating the diaphragms by electrostatic force. Drops cannot be ejected to the outside.
  • a portion constituting the ink supply path such as each ink nozzle, ink cavity, and orifice is formed with high precision.
  • the nozzle, orifice and diaphragm are formed with high precision. If the shape of the orifice varies, the fluid resistance value of each orifice portion varies, so that the ink supply amount to each ink cavity varies, and as a result, the ink ejection amount of each ink nozzle varies.
  • the fluid resistance created by an orifice depends on its cross-sectional area and length.
  • the fluid resistance of the orifice is proportional to the length.
  • the length of the orifice is 150 to 3 in consideration of the amount of ink supplied, the damping characteristics of the diaphragm, and the amount of ink returning from the ink cavity to the ink reservoir during ink ejection. Set to 0 micron. If the length of this orifice fluctuates, for example, by 10%, the amount of ink supply also fluctuates by 10%. Here, if the ink weight fluctuates by 5%, the print quality will be adversely affected. Therefore, it is desirable that the variation in the orifice length be suppressed to less than 5%, that is, less than 20 microns.
  • the ink cavity and the orifice are simultaneously etched using a semiconductor substrate having the (100) crystal plane orientation
  • the (111) crystal plane appears due to anisotropic etching in the width direction of the orifice.
  • the sectional shape of the orifice can be formed with high accuracy.
  • the etching speed is high (1 1 2). It is difficult to accurately set the length of the orifice.
  • the grooves for ink cavities and the bottom surface of the cavities are defined by etching the surface of the same silicon single crystal substrate.
  • a plate By forming a groove for an orifice and a groove for an ink reservoir, and overlaying the silicon single crystal substrate having each groove with a silicon single crystal substrate having a flat surface, ink cavities, An inkjet head having an orifice and an ink reservoir is configured.
  • anisotropic etching is performed on each of two silicon substrates. forming a plurality of grooves having different sizes by subjecting, thereafter, however c method to superimpose these silicon substrate is disclosed, these silicon substrate has both (1 0 0) crystal plane on the surface It is a silicon substrate. Then, after forming a groove by performing anisotropic etching on the lower silicon substrate of the two silicon substrates, forming a through-hole by polishing from the rear surface side, a nozzle is formed on the upper surface side.
  • the formed silicon substrates are laminated, and a flatter third silicon substrate is bonded to the lower surface side to form an ink jet head.
  • the substrate in order to form a groove in the intermediate silicon substrate, the substrate must be processed in addition to the step of performing anisotropic etching. This requires a polishing step, which not only complicates the process, but also lowers the accuracy of the depth of the formed groove as compared with the one formed only by etching. That is, the method for manufacturing a thermal ink jet head disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-183008 is directly used in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-183008.
  • an object of the present invention is to manufacture a portion of an ink cavity, an orifice, and the like on a silicon single crystal substrate with higher accuracy than in a conventional method in manufacturing an ink jet head. To make it possible.
  • the present invention provides a plurality of ink nozzles, an ink cavity communicating with each of the ink nozzles, a common ink reservoir for supplying ink to each of the ink cavities, and an ink reservoir for each of the ink cavities.
  • an ink jet head provided with an orifice communicating with a base and a diaphragm defining the bottom surface of each of the above-mentioned ink cavities,
  • the first and second silicon single crystal substrates having the ink cavities, the orifices, and the ink reservoir formed by being bonded to each other.
  • the first silicon single crystal substrate has an ink communicating with the ink nozzle, the orifice, or the ink reservoir formed by performing wet-crystal anisotropic etching on the surface of the substrate on the bonding side. It has a groove to form an intake.
  • the shape of these grooves is (1 1 1) crystal plane Is defined by the wall surface formed by
  • the second silicon single crystal substrate has a groove for forming the ink cavity and the ink reservoir formed by performing wet-crystal anisotropic etching on the surface of the substrate on the bonding side. There is a groove for
  • relatively small-sized ink nozzles and grooves for forming orifices are formed in the first silicon single crystal substrate, and relatively large-sized ink cavities and ink reservoirs are formed.
  • a forming groove is formed in the second silicon single crystal substrate. Therefore, compared to a case where all the grooves for forming the ink supply passages are etched only on one substrate, it is easier to control the etching conditions for forming the grooves of each dimension. It becomes easy to accurately etch the groove.
  • the first silicon single crystal substrate is used as the first silicon single crystal substrate.
  • the crystal plane orientation of the substrate surface of (100) plane or (110) plane is used.
  • the crystal plane orientation is (100)
  • the crystal plane orientation is (100)
  • the second silicon single crystal substrate is formed on the surface of the substrate on the bonding side.
  • the grooves for ink cavities can be formed with high density and high precision.
  • a groove for forming the orifice is formed in a partition wall between the groove for forming each of the ink cavities and the groove for forming the ink reservoir in the second silicon single crystal substrate.
  • the wall portions located at both ends in the longitudinal direction can be defined by the (111) crystal plane.
  • the length of the orifice is defined by the (111) crystal plane. Therefore, the length dimension of the formed orifice can be made with high accuracy.
  • the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an ink jet head having the above-described configuration, and is characterized in that the ink head is manufactured as follows. That is, first, a first silicon single crystal substrate having a (100) or (110) crystal plane orientation on the substrate surface is prepared, and a wet crystal is formed on the substrate surface of the first silicon single crystal substrate. Anisotropic etching is performed to form at least the groove for forming the orifice. Next, a second silicon single crystal substrate having a crystal plane orientation of (110) or (100) crystal plane on the substrate surface is prepared, and a wet crystal anisotropic is provided on the substrate surface of the second silicon single crystal substrate. The grooves for forming the ink cavities and the grooves for forming the ink reservoir are formed by performing a reactive etching. After that, the first and the second
  • both side walls in the width direction of the groove for forming the orifice in the first silicon single crystal substrate are (1 1 1) crystal planes
  • Etching of the groove for forming the orifice is performed, and the groove for forming the ink cavities in the second silicon single crystal substrate is separated from the groove for forming the ink reservoir.
  • the groove for the ink cavity and the groove for the ink reservoir be etched so that the wall surfaces at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the orifice in the partition wall are (111) crystal planes.
  • the cross-sectional area and length of the orifice can be accurately defined using the (111) crystal plane.
  • a high concentration of polon or the like is dropped on the back surface of the substrate surface. was it Nozomu Mashiku of forming an etch stop layer, thereby further bRIEF dESCRIPTION oF c drawings the thickness of the diaphragm can be formed with high accuracy
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an ink jet head to which the present invention is applied.
  • FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the ink jet head of FIG.
  • FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a modified example of the ink jet head of FIG.
  • FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing another modified example of the ink jet head of FIG.
  • FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the ink jet head of FIG.
  • FIG. 6 is a view showing an ink jet head to which the present invention is applied
  • (A) is a schematic cross-sectional view
  • (B) is a partial plan view of the first silicon single crystal substrate
  • FIG. 4 is a partial plan view of the second silicon single crystal substrate.
  • FIG. 7 shows an etching process for the second silicon single crystal substrate of FIG. FIG. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an ink jet head driven by a piezoelectric element manufactured by applying the present invention
  • FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view.
  • the ink jet head 1 of this example is composed of a first silicon single crystal substrate 2 and a second silicon single crystal substrate 3 bonded to each other.
  • the substrates 2 and 3 form a plurality of ink nozzles 4, an ink cavity 5 communicating with each ink nozzle 4, and a common ink reservoir 6 for supplying ink to each ink cavity 5.
  • the orifices 7 communicate between the ink cavities 5 and the ink reservoirs 6, respectively.
  • the bottom surface of each ink cavity 5 is defined by a thin vibrating plate 8, and a piezoelectric element 9 for driving the vibrating plate is adhered and fixed to the back surface of the vibrating plate 8.
  • Ink is supplied to the ink reservoir 6 from the outside via an ink supply tube 12 connected to an ink intake port 11 communicating with the ink reservoir.
  • the ink supplied to the ink reservoir 6 is supplied to each ink cavity 5 through each orifice 7.
  • the diaphragm 8 reduces the volume of the ink cavity 5 due to the bimorph effect of the piezoelectric element 9 and the diaphragm 8. Ink drops are ejected from the ink nozzle 4.
  • the inkjet head 1 having this configuration supplies the above-described ink to the substrate surfaces 2a and 3a on the bonding side of the first and second silicon single crystal substrates 2 and 3 respectively.
  • the groove for forming the road is etched, and then the substrates 2 and 3 are bonded to each other.
  • the first silicon single crystal substrate 2 has a (100) plane crystal plane orientation of the substrate surface 2a on the bonding side, and the ink passes through the first silicon single crystal substrate 2 in a direction perpendicular to the substrate surface 2a.
  • Nozzle 4 is formed.
  • a groove 7A for forming the orifice 7 is formed on the substrate surface 2a.
  • the groove 7A for orifice formation is formed by wet-crystal anisotropic etching of the substrate surface 2a having a (100) crystal plane orientation. Therefore, the formed groove 7A has a quadrangular pyramid shape which is narrowed from the substrate surface side toward the groove bottom surface, and its four side surfaces are 54.7 degrees with respect to the substrate surface 2a. (11 1) defined by the crystal plane.
  • the cross-sectional area of the groove can be accurately defined by the etching width of the substrate surface. Therefore, by prescribing the dimension of the mask opening covering the substrate surface with high precision, the cross-sectional area of the formed groove can be adjusted to the target value with high precision.
  • the cross-sectional area of each groove 7A for forming the orifice can be formed with high accuracy by suppressing the variation.
  • the length of the orifice 7 can be formed with high precision, the variation in the fluid resistance of the orifice 7 can be suppressed, so that the ink supply amount through the orifice 7 can be kept constant.
  • variations in the ink ejection characteristics of each ink nozzle can be suppressed, and print quality can be improved.
  • the ink nozzle 4 formed on the first silicon single crystal substrate 2 has a straight portion 4a having a constant cross-sectional area in the direction of the nozzle axis, and ink from the straight portion 4a. It has a cross-sectional shape with a tapered portion 4b whose cross-sectional area gradually increases toward the cavity 5.
  • the flat portion 4a is a portion provided with a high fluid resistance necessary to attenuate the vibration of the meniscus after the ink is ejected, and the tapered portion 4b communicates with the straight portion 4a to form bubbles. This is a necessary part for discharging.
  • the straight portion 4a is a circular opening formed by dry etching the back surface 2b of the first silicon single crystal substrate 2.
  • the tapered portion 4b is formed by wet anisotropic etching of the substrate surface 2a on the bonding side of the first silicon single crystal substrate 2 having the (100) crystal orientation. It is formed by doing. Therefore, the tapered portion 4b has a truncated pyramid shape in which the cross-sectional area is reduced from the side of the substrate surface to the opposite straight portion 4a, and the four side surfaces are formed on the substrate surface. Appears with an inclination of 54.7 degrees to 2a. (1 1 1) Defined by crystal plane.
  • the cross-sectional area of the groove is determined by the etching width of the substrate surface.
  • the ink nozzle 4 composed of the tapered portion 4b formed with high accuracy and the straight portion 4a formed with high accuracy by dry etching as described above has a dimension and shape with little variation. ing. Accordingly, the ink ejection characteristics of each ink nozzle can be made constant, and as a result, a decrease in print quality can be suppressed.
  • the crystal plane orientation of the substrate surface 3a on the bonding side is the (110) plane orientation
  • an ink cavity 5 is formed on the substrate surface 3a.
  • 5A and a groove 6A for forming the ink reservoir 6 are formed.
  • an ink inlet 11 is opened on the bottom surface of the groove 6A for forming the ink reservoir.
  • a partition 15 is formed between the formed groove 5A for the ink cavity and the groove 6A for the ink reservoir.
  • the side surfaces 15a and 15b facing the groove 5A and the groove 6A in the partition wall 15 are (111) crystal planes inclined by 35 degrees with respect to the substrate surface 3a.
  • the first and second silicon single crystal substrates 2 and 3 having the respective grooves formed in this way are bonded together with their bonded substrate surfaces 2a and 3a aligned with each other. It has a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG. In this state, both side surfaces 15a and 15b of the partition wall 15 defining the length of the orifice 7 are (1 1 1) crystal planes. Well set. As described above, since the cross-sectional area of the orifice 7 is also set with high accuracy, the variation in the fluid resistance of each orifice 7 is small, and accordingly, the variation in the ink flow rate in each orifice 7 is small. Further, as described above, each ink nozzle 4 is also formed without variation. As a result, in the ink jet head 1 of this example, there is little variation in the ink ejection characteristics of each ink nozzle.
  • an etching solution used for wet anisotropic etching of each of the silicon single crystal substrates 2 and 3 is, for example, 20 weight percent heated to 80 degrees Celsius.
  • An aqueous solution of the hydroxide of potassium hydroxide can be used. The concentration of this aqueous solution should be appropriately changed depending on the shape of the groove to be formed.
  • the etchant used should be A different composition such as an aqueous ammonia solution or an organic amine-based aqueous solution may be used.
  • both silicon single crystal substrates 2 and 3 can be performed as follows. In other words, these silicon single crystal substrates 2 and 3 are aligned, bonded at room temperature, and then directly heated to 100 degrees Celsius for direct bonding. Instead, it is also possible to form eutectic film of gold on the interface between both substrates in advance and to form a eutectic bond at a low temperature by heating to 400 degrees Celsius in close contact. is there. In addition, an adhesive may be used, which enables bonding at room temperature.
  • the dimensional error in the width and length of each orifice 7 was ⁇ 2 microns with respect to the standard value.
  • the average weight of the ink droplets ejected from each ink nozzle was 0.025 micrograms and the average ink speed was 12 m / s.
  • the variation in ink weight and ink speed was less than 5% in each case, and extremely uniform ejection characteristics were obtained.
  • a silicon substrate having a (110) plane crystal plane orientation on the bonding-side substrate surface was used as the second substrate, but a silicon substrate having a (100) plane crystal orientation was used.
  • a substrate may be used.
  • FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of an inkjet head 1A according to a modification of the first embodiment.
  • the substrate surface 2a of the first silicon single crystal substrate 2 has the same crystal plane orientation as that of the substrate surface 3a of the second silicon single crystal substrate 3 (110). ).
  • the other configuration is the same as that of the ink jet head 1 of the first embodiment, and accordingly, corresponding portions in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals.
  • each orifice 7B for forming each orifice are formed by anisotropic etching.
  • the two side surfaces of each orifice 7 are defined by (111) crystal planes that appear with an inclination of 35 degrees with respect to the substrate surface 2a.
  • the other two sides are defined by (1 1 1) crystal planes that appear perpendicular to the substrate surface 2a.
  • each ink nozzle 4 is formed along the 2 1 1> axis, so that the roof surface in which the groove opening shape of the substrate surface 2 a is a parallelogram is formed. It is a type.
  • the inkjet head 1A of this embodiment has an advantage that, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, silicon single crystal substrates of the same standard can be used as the first and second silicon single crystal substrates 2 and 3.
  • FIGS. 4 and 5 are a cross-sectional view and an exploded perspective view of an ink jet head 1B according to another modification of the first embodiment.
  • the crystal plane orientation of the substrate surface 2a on the bonding side of the first silicon single crystal substrate 2 is the (1 10) is there.
  • the groove 7C for forming the orifice 7 is formed along the 211> axis, and the substrate surface has a parallelogram roof shape.
  • the two inclined surfaces of the groove 7C are defined from the (1 1 1) crystal plane inclined at 35 degrees with respect to the substrate surface 2a, and the two side surfaces of the remaining triangle are formed on the substrate surface 2a. It is defined by a (111) crystal plane perpendicular to it.
  • the groove 7C for forming the orifice can have a greater groove depth by increasing its length. Therefore, even if the width of the groove 7C for forming the orifice is reduced, a necessary orifice cross-sectional area can be secured. Therefore, it is easy to cope with an increase in the nozzle pitch.
  • FIG. 6 is a sectional view of an ink jet head according to a second embodiment to which the present invention is applied.
  • the ink jet head 1C of the present embodiment is an electrostatically driven ink jet head disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-50601 proposed by the present applicant.
  • the ink jet head 1C uses an electrostatic force acting between the opposing electrodes to vibrate the vibration plate 8 instead of the piezoelectric element 9, thereby discharging ink droplets.
  • the ink head 1C also forms an ink supply path by joining the first and second silicon single crystal substrates 20 and 3 °.
  • a third substrate (electrode glass) 40 is bonded to the back surface of the second silicon single crystal substrate 30, and a groove is formed on the surface of the third substrate 40 facing the diaphragm 8. 40 a is formed, and an individual electrode layer 40 b is formed in the groove 40 a while maintaining a predetermined gap with respect to the diaphragm 8.
  • each diaphragm 8 By applying a driving voltage between the second silicon single crystal substrate 30 on which each diaphragm 8 is formed and each individual electrode 40b, each diaphragm 8 functioning as a common electrode and each individual electrode Electrostatic force is generated between the electrodes 40b, whereby the diaphragm 8 vibrates, the volume of the ink cavity 5 fluctuates, and ink droplets are ejected.
  • the first silicon single crystal substrate 20 of the ink jet head 1C of this example has a groove 4D for forming an ink nozzle, a groove 7D for forming an orifice, and a groove 7D for forming an ink inlet. A groove 11D is formed.
  • a groove 5D for forming a cavity and a groove 6D for forming an reservoir are formed in the second silicon single crystal substrate 30 in the second silicon single crystal substrate 30 in the second silicon single crystal substrate 30 in the second silicon single crystal substrate 30, a groove 5D for forming a cavity and a groove 6D for forming an reservoir are formed.
  • the first silicon single crystal substrate 20 has a (100) crystal plane orientation of the substrate surface 20a on the bonding side, and the first silicon single crystal substrate 20 has a (100) crystal plane orientation.
  • the crystal plane orientation of the substrate surface 30a is defined as the (110) crystal plane. ing.
  • each groove can be formed by wet-crystal anisotropic etching in the same manner as in each of the above-described embodiments.
  • the depth dimension of the groove 5 D for ink cavities is precisely controlled, and the diaphragm 8 defining the bottom surface is accurately targeted.
  • an etch stop layer may be formed by doping boron or the like on the back surface of the substrate, and then etching may be performed after a short time.
  • FIG. 7 shows an etching method for this purpose.
  • the thickness of the second single crystal silicon substrate 30 used was set to 180 microns.
  • the groove 5D for ink cavities as a deep groove formed on this substrate is, for example, a width of 108 microns, a length of 3.6 millimeters and a depth of 178 microns, and has a common ink reservoir.
  • the shallow groove 6D has a width of 1.5 millimeters, a length of 3.0 millimeters and a depth of 160 microns.
  • the single crystal silicon substrate 30 may be etched as follows.
  • boron is uniformly doped at a high concentration on the back surface of the silicon single crystal substrate 30 to form an etch stop layer 32 having a thickness of 2 to 3 ⁇ m. . Further, a SiO 2 film 33 was formed on the surface of the silicon substrate 30.
  • the Sio2 film 33 is etched with hydrofluoric acid while the Sio3 33 is subjected to a predetermined masking, and the deep groove 5 is etched.
  • the opening 35 is formed by removing the portion that becomes D, and the shallow groove 6 D is subjected to half-etching to form a Si 2 having a width of 200 ⁇ m or less.
  • a plurality of thin film portions 37 were formed.
  • the concentration is 35% and the temperature is 80.
  • Etching was performed with an aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide C for about 20 to 30 minutes. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7 (C), only the portion where the deep groove 5D was formed was etched by about 80 to 90 microns.
  • etching was performed again using a potassium hydroxide aqueous solution having a concentration of 35% and a temperature of 80 ° C. for about 20 to 30 minutes.
  • a potassium hydroxide aqueous solution having a concentration of 35% and a temperature of 80 ° C. for about 20 to 30 minutes.
  • etching was performed for about 40 to 50 minutes using an aqueous solution of hydrating hydroxide at 80 ° C. at a concentration of 2 to 5% as an etching solution.
  • aqueous solution of hydrating hydroxide at 80 ° C. at a concentration of 2 to 5% as an etching solution.
  • FIG. 7 (F) in the portion where the deep groove 5D is formed, a groove having a depth reaching the etch stop layer 32 formed on the back side of the silicon substrate is formed, and the other shallow groove 6D is formed.
  • etching proceeded in the lateral direction, and a wide groove was formed.
  • the ink nozzle 4, the orifice 7, and the ink supply port can be formed with high accuracy, as in the first embodiment. Further, the thickness of the diaphragm 8 can be formed with high accuracy. Therefore, it is possible to suppress variations in the ink ejection characteristics of each ink nozzle, and to realize an ink jet head capable of performing printing with high print quality.
  • Industrial applicability As described above, the present invention relates to an ink jet head having first and second silicon single crystal substrates each having an ink cavity, an orifice, and an ink reservoir formed by bonding the first silicon substrate to each other.
  • the single-crystal substrate is subjected to wet-crystal anisotropic etching or dry-etching on the substrate surface on the bonding side to form an ink nozzle and a groove for forming an orifice.
  • a groove for forming an ink cavity and a groove for forming an ink reservoir are formed by performing wet crystal anisotropic etching on the surface of the substrate on the bonding side. I have to.
  • the inkjet head of the present invention relatively small-sized ink nozzles and grooves for forming orifices are formed in the first silicon single crystal substrate, and relatively large-sized ink cavities are formed. And a groove for forming an ink reservoir is formed in the second silicon single crystal substrate. As a result, compared to the case where the groove for forming the ink supply passage is etched only on one of the substrates, it is easier to control the etching conditions for forming the groove of each dimension. Good etching becomes easy.
  • wet crystal anisotropic etching is performed.
  • these parts can be formed with higher accuracy than in the case of employing.
  • the first silicon single crystal substrate when a groove is formed on the first silicon single crystal substrate by using wet-crystal anisotropic etching, the first silicon single crystal substrate is formed as the first silicon single crystal substrate.
  • the substrate surface on the bonding side has a (100) plane orientation or a (110) plane orientation, preferably a (100) crystal plane.
  • both side walls in the width direction of the formed orifice forming groove are defined by the (111) crystal plane. It is possible to accurately set the cross-sectional area of the groove to a target value. As a result, variations in the fluid resistance of the orifice can be suppressed, and the ink ejection characteristics can be improved.
  • the second silicon single crystal substrate one having a (110) plane orientation of the substrate surface on the bonding side is used. If a plurality of grooves for ink cavities are formed by performing anisotropic etching from the substrate surface with this crystal plane orientation, each ink cavity can be formed with high precision and high density, making it easy to increase the nozzle pitch. Can respond to.
  • the groove for forming the orifice is formed in the partition wall between the groove for forming each of the ink cavities in the second silicon single crystal substrate and the groove for forming the ink reservoir.
  • the wall portions located at both ends in the longitudinal direction can be defined by the (111) crystal plane.
  • the length of the orifice is precisely defined by the (1 1 1) crystal plane.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Particle Formation And Scattering Control In Inkjet Printers (AREA)

Abstract

La présente invention concerne une tête (1) à jet d'encre constitué d'un premier substrat (2) à monocristal en silicium ayant une surface (2a) de substrat et dont une orientation des faces du cristal correspond à une face du cristal (100), lequel est soumis à une attaque anisotrope du cristal de type humide pour former des buses (4) d'encre et des rainures (7a) pour la formation des orifices. Un second substrat (3) à monocristal en silicium ayant une surface (3a) de substrat et dont une orientation de la face du cristal correspond à une face du cristal (110) est soumis une attaque anisotrope du cristal de type humide pour former des rainures (5A) pour la création de cavités d'encre et des rainures (6A) de manière à constituer un réservoir d'encre. On réunit entre eux ces deux substrats à monocristal en silicium pour former des buses (4) d'encre, les cavités (5) à encre communiquant avec leurs buses d'encre respectives. Un réservoir (6) commun d'encre, alimentant en encre les cavités à encre et les orifices (7) respectifs, établit une communication entre les cavités à encre respectives et le réservoir à encre. Ainsi, les orientations des faces du cristal des substrats (2, 3) respectifs sont disposées de telle manière que les rainures respectives puissent être formées avec une grande précision, les buses d'encre respectives présentant des caractéristiques d'alimentation en encre variant moins et des têtes à jet d'encre assurant une grande qualité d'impression.
PCT/JP1997/000830 1996-03-18 1997-03-14 Tete a jet d'encre et son procede de fabrication WO1997034769A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP8/61499 1996-03-18
JP6149996 1996-03-18

Publications (1)

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WO1997034769A1 true WO1997034769A1 (fr) 1997-09-25

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PCT/JP1997/000830 WO1997034769A1 (fr) 1996-03-18 1997-03-14 Tete a jet d'encre et son procede de fabrication

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WO (1) WO1997034769A1 (fr)

Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0950525A3 (fr) * 1998-04-17 2000-08-23 Nec Corporation Tête d'enregistrement à jet d'encre
WO2001002122A1 (fr) * 1999-07-06 2001-01-11 Ekra Eduard Kraft Gmbh Puce d'impression pour tete d'impression fonctionnant selon le principe d'impression a encre
WO2001010646A1 (fr) * 1999-08-04 2001-02-15 Seiko Epson Corporation Tete d'enregistrement a jet d'encre, procede de fabrication associe et enregistreur a jet d'encre
US6712456B2 (en) 2000-01-17 2004-03-30 Seiko Epson Corporation Ink-jet recording head, manufacturing method of the same and ink-jet recording apparatus
EP1681169A1 (fr) * 2005-01-18 2006-07-19 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Tête d'impression à jet d'encre piezoélectrique et sa méthode de fabrication
JP2007069127A (ja) * 2005-09-07 2007-03-22 Ulvac Japan Ltd 印刷ヘッド、印刷装置及び印刷ヘッドの製造方法
JP2017132210A (ja) * 2016-01-29 2017-08-03 セイコーエプソン株式会社 液体噴射ヘッド及び液体噴射装置並びに液体噴射装置の製造方法
JP2018199293A (ja) * 2017-05-29 2018-12-20 セイコーエプソン株式会社 圧電デバイス、液体吐出ヘッド、液体吐出装置

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JPS56126460A (en) * 1980-03-12 1981-10-03 Ricoh Co Ltd Nozzle plate for liquid injection
JPH03293141A (ja) * 1990-04-11 1991-12-24 Seiko Epson Corp 液体噴射ヘッド
JPH0631914A (ja) * 1992-07-14 1994-02-08 Seiko Epson Corp インクジェットヘッドおよびその製造方法
JPH0655733A (ja) * 1992-08-06 1994-03-01 Seiko Epson Corp インクジェットヘッド及びその製造方法

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS56126460A (en) * 1980-03-12 1981-10-03 Ricoh Co Ltd Nozzle plate for liquid injection
JPH03293141A (ja) * 1990-04-11 1991-12-24 Seiko Epson Corp 液体噴射ヘッド
JPH0631914A (ja) * 1992-07-14 1994-02-08 Seiko Epson Corp インクジェットヘッドおよびその製造方法
JPH0655733A (ja) * 1992-08-06 1994-03-01 Seiko Epson Corp インクジェットヘッド及びその製造方法

Cited By (15)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6305792B1 (en) 1998-04-17 2001-10-23 Nec Corporation Ink jet recording head
EP0950525A3 (fr) * 1998-04-17 2000-08-23 Nec Corporation Tête d'enregistrement à jet d'encre
US6773084B1 (en) 1999-07-06 2004-08-10 Ekra Edward Kraft Gmbh Printing chip for a printing head working according to the ink-jet printing principle
WO2001002122A1 (fr) * 1999-07-06 2001-01-11 Ekra Eduard Kraft Gmbh Puce d'impression pour tete d'impression fonctionnant selon le principe d'impression a encre
WO2001010646A1 (fr) * 1999-08-04 2001-02-15 Seiko Epson Corporation Tete d'enregistrement a jet d'encre, procede de fabrication associe et enregistreur a jet d'encre
US6502930B1 (en) 1999-08-04 2003-01-07 Seiko Epson Corporation Ink jet recording head, method for manufacturing the same, and ink jet recorder
US6712456B2 (en) 2000-01-17 2004-03-30 Seiko Epson Corporation Ink-jet recording head, manufacturing method of the same and ink-jet recording apparatus
US7135121B2 (en) 2000-01-17 2006-11-14 Seiko Epson Corporation Ink-jet recording head, manufacturing method of the same and ink-jet recording apparatus
EP1681169A1 (fr) * 2005-01-18 2006-07-19 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Tête d'impression à jet d'encre piezoélectrique et sa méthode de fabrication
US7703895B2 (en) 2005-01-18 2010-04-27 Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd. Piezoelectric inkjet printhead and method of manufacturing the same
JP2007069127A (ja) * 2005-09-07 2007-03-22 Ulvac Japan Ltd 印刷ヘッド、印刷装置及び印刷ヘッドの製造方法
JP4634258B2 (ja) * 2005-09-07 2011-02-16 株式会社アルバック 印刷ヘッド、印刷装置及び印刷ヘッドの製造方法
JP2017132210A (ja) * 2016-01-29 2017-08-03 セイコーエプソン株式会社 液体噴射ヘッド及び液体噴射装置並びに液体噴射装置の製造方法
US10479078B2 (en) 2016-01-29 2019-11-19 Seiko Epson Corporation Liquid ejecting head, liquid ejecting apparatus, and manufacturing method of liquid ejecting apparatus
JP2018199293A (ja) * 2017-05-29 2018-12-20 セイコーエプソン株式会社 圧電デバイス、液体吐出ヘッド、液体吐出装置

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