WO2015043344A1

WO2015043344A1 - Method for manufacturing liquid ejection head, liquid ejection head and printing device

Info

Publication number: WO2015043344A1
Application number: PCT/CN2014/084928
Authority: WO
Inventors: 邹赫麟; 孙莎; 周毅
Original assignee: 大连理工大学; 珠海纳思达企业管理有限公司
Priority date: 2013-09-27
Filing date: 2014-08-21
Publication date: 2015-04-02
Also published as: CN104085195B; JP6229220B2; JP2016536179A; CN104085195A

Abstract

Disclosed is a method for manufacturing a liquid ejection head. The method comprises: forming a pressure-actuated component on a first surface of a base (1); forming a groove (5) by etching on a second surface of the base (1) opposite to the first surface; filling the groove (5) with a first photoresist to form a sacrificial layer (7), a surface of the sacrificial layer (7) being flush with the second surface of the base (1); forming an orifice plate on the second surface of the base (1) and on the surface of the sacrificial layer (7); and performing development processing on the sacrificial layer (7) by using a first developer solution so as to remove the sacrificial layer (7) thereby forming a pressure chamber (12). The method can solve the problems of existing liquid ejection heads requiring complex manufacturing process, and of using an adhesive thus reducing the printing quality. Further provided are a liquid ejection head and a printing device.

Description

Liquid jet head manufacturing method, liquid jet head and printing device

Technical field

The present invention relates to a printer manufacturing technique, and more particularly to a method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting head, a liquid ejecting head, and a printing apparatus. Background technique

Printers are a common type of office equipment. With the gradual advancement of printer technology, file processing speeds and printing speeds have received increasing attention. The liquid ejecting head is an important component in the printer. The ink droplet is ejected onto the printing medium by ejecting ink droplets to realize the printing process. The speed at which the liquid ejecting head ejects ink droplets and the accuracy of the ejection position determine the printing speed of the printer and Print quality.

In order to achieve high printing accuracy, the inside of the liquid ejecting head is usually provided with a complicated ink flow path to allow the ink to flow smoothly and accurately into the corresponding passage. The existing liquid jet head structure comprises a substrate, a orifice plate, a pressure chamber, a pressure actuating member and the like, wherein the pressure chamber is laminated after etching a plurality of thin plates, in order to ensure that the thin plates can be bonded to each other Firm, usually bonded with an adhesive. In the manufacturing process of the liquid ejecting head, the components of the substrate, the orifice plate, the pressure chamber and the pressure actuating member are separately processed to form a semi-finished product, and then the prepared orifice plate is bonded thereto by using an adhesive. Semi-finished products.

Since the existing liquid ejecting head is mostly bonded by an adhesive during the manufacturing process, precise positioning of each component is required in the bonding process, which complicates the manufacturing process, prolongs the production cycle, and has a low yield. . Also, if the adhesive flows outside the predetermined area, the ink flow path may become narrow or clogged, and if the orifice on the orifice plate is clogged, the print quality and printing accuracy may be seriously degraded. Summary of the invention

The invention provides a method for manufacturing a liquid ejecting head, a liquid ejecting head and a printing device, which are used for solving the problems that the manufacturing process of the conventional liquid ejecting head is complicated, and that the printing quality is easily reduced by using an adhesive. An aspect of the invention provides a method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting head, comprising:

Forming a pressure actuating member on the first surface of the substrate;

Forming a recess on the second surface opposite to the first surface on the substrate; filling a first photoresist in the recess to form a sacrificial layer, a surface of the sacrificial layer and a second of the substrate The surface is flush;

Forming a perforated plate on the second surface of the substrate and the surface of the sacrificial layer;

The sacrificial layer is developed by a first developer to remove the sacrificial layer to form a pressure chamber.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a liquid ejecting head which is formed into a unitary structure by the manufacturing method of the liquid ejecting head as described above.

Yet another aspect of the present invention provides a printing apparatus comprising the liquid ejecting head as described above. The technical solution provided by the embodiment of the invention can form the integral structure of the orifice plate and the substrate, which can solve the problem that the prior liquid jet head manufacturing process is complicated, and avoids the adhesive flow and the ink flow path. Or the phenomenon that the nozzle hole is blocked, which improves the printing accuracy and print quality.

Moreover, the technical solution adopted in the embodiment forms a liquid ejection head of an integral structure, and the mechanical strength thereof is not affected by the number of pressure chambers, and the etching precision can be increased according to the need of printing precision to increase the number of pressure chambers and nozzle holes, The yield is improved to some extent. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing a method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting head according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a structure of a vibrating plate formed in a method for manufacturing a liquid ejecting head according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic structural view of forming a piezoelectric element in a method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting head according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a schematic view showing a structure of forming a protective layer in a method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting head according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a schematic structural view of forming a groove in a method of manufacturing a liquid jet head according to an embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a flow of forming a sacrificial layer in a method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting head according to an embodiment of the present invention; 7 is a junction forming a sacrificial layer in a method of fabricating a liquid ejecting head according to an embodiment of the present invention;

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8 is a schematic structural view showing exposure treatment of a sacrificial layer in a method for manufacturing a liquid ejecting head according to an embodiment of the present invention;

9 is a schematic structural view of forming a spray hole adhesive layer in a method for manufacturing a liquid jet head according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural view showing exposure processing of a nozzle hole layer in a method of manufacturing a liquid jet head according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

11 is a diagram of forming a nozzle hole in a method of manufacturing a liquid jet head according to an embodiment of the present invention;

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Figure 12 is a schematic view showing the structure of a pressure chamber formed in a method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting head according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference mark:

1-substrate; 2-vibration plate; 3-piezoelectric element

4-protective layer; 5-groove; 6-liquid supply channel

7-sacrificial layer; 8-first mask: 9-spray layer

10-second mask; 11-nozzle; 12-pressure chamber

1 is a flow chart of a method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting head according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the manufacturing method of the liquid ejecting head may include the following steps:

Step 10. Form a pressure actuating member on the first surface of the substrate.

The pressure actuating member can be a piezoelectric element or a sheet resistor commonly used in the prior art. If a piezoelectric element is used, a piezoelectric element is formed on the first surface of the substrate, and a voltage is applied through the piezoelectric element to deform the piezoelectric element, thereby applying pressure to the surrounding ink to cause the ink to be ejected from the ejection hole. On the printing medium; if a thin film resistor is used, a thin film resistive layer is formed on the first surface of the substrate, and a pulse voltage signal is applied to the thin film resistor, and the thin film resistor dissipates heat. The water is heated to a certain temperature, and the volatile components in the ink are vaporized to form bubbles, which are extruded from the orifices and then blasted by cold air and printed on the printing medium.

Step 20: etching a second surface on the substrate opposite to the first surface to form a groove.

The groove acts as a pressure chamber for providing pressure to the ink to eject the ink out of the orifice. The size of the groove can be set according to the size of the pressure chamber.

Step 30: filling a first photoresist in the recess to form a sacrificial layer, the surface of the sacrificial layer being flush with the second surface of the substrate.

The manufacturing method of the liquid ejecting head provided in this embodiment requires forming an orifice plate on the surface of the pressure chamber, that is, forming an orifice plate with a spray hole on the second surface of the substrate, but the presence of the groove increases the formation of the orifice plate. Difficulty. Therefore, the solution adopted in the step 30 is to first form a sacrificial layer in the groove, and then form an orifice plate on the surface of the sacrificial layer. After the orifice plate and the orifice are formed, the sacrificial layer is removed to form a pressure chamber. room.

Step 40: forming a orifice plate on the second surface of the substrate and the surface of the sacrificial layer.

After the step 30, the surface of the sacrificial layer is in the same plane as the second surface of the substrate, so that an orifice plate can be formed on the plane, and the orifice plate and the substrate are formed into a unitary structure.

Step 50: developing the sacrificial layer with a first developer to remove the sacrificial layer to form a pressure chamber.

After the orifice plate is formed, the first photoresist selected for the sacrificial layer may be selected as a first developer for development processing to dissolve the sacrificial layer material to form a pressure chamber.

The above technical solution can form the integral structure of the orifice plate and the substrate, avoiding the bonding by the adhesive, and can solve the problem that the prior liquid jet head manufacturing process is complicated, and the use of the adhesive can easily reduce the printing quality.

The following is a detailed example of the specific implementation of each of the above steps:

The technical solution provided by the present embodiment is to replace the method of separately manufacturing the respective components in the conventional liquid ejecting head with an integral molding on a substrate, which may be a silicon substrate and having a thickness of less than 70 m. Those skilled in the art can reduce the thickness of the liquid crystal head by reducing the thickness of the silicon substrate to less than 50 μm by various technical means.

For step 10, reference can be made to FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view of a vibrating plate formed in a method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting head according to an embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment uses a piezoelectric element as a pressure source Moving member, first, the vibrating plate 2 may be formed on the first surface of the substrate 1, and the vibrating plate 2 may be formed by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The material of the vibrating plate 2 may be silicon nitride. The function of the vibrating plate 2 is to convert the driving force generated by the piezoelectric element into deformation of the vibrating plate 2, causing it to be pressed against the liquid ink, forcing the ink to be ejected from the ejection holes.

Then, the piezoelectric element 3 is formed on the surface of the vibrating plate 2. Referring to Fig. 3, Fig. 3 is a schematic structural view showing the formation of the piezoelectric element in the method of manufacturing the liquid ejecting head according to the embodiment of the present invention. The method includes forming a lower electrode layer, a piezoelectric layer and an upper electrode layer in sequence, and specifically forming a lower electrode layer on the surface of the vibrating plate 2 by using a high temperature resistant metal such as platinum or titanium, and then depositing zirconium on the lower electrode layer by sputtering. A lead titanate film is formed into a piezoelectric layer, and finally a high-temperature metal such as platinum is used to form an upper electrode layer on the surface of the piezoelectric layer.

Preferably, a protective layer may be formed on the periphery of the piezoelectric element 3. Referring to Fig. 4, Fig. 4 is a schematic view showing the structure of forming a protective layer in the method for manufacturing a liquid jet head according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, a silicon nitride film is deposited on the surface of the upper electrode layer by low pressure chemical vapor deposition as a protective layer 4, which covers the lower electrode layer, the piezoelectric layer and the upper electrode layer. Internally, the piezoelectric element 3 can be protected from damage.

For the above-mentioned step 20, reference may be made to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a schematic structural view showing the formation of a groove in the method for manufacturing a liquid jet head according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, a groove 5 may be formed on the second surface of the substrate 1 by a wet etching or reactive ion etching as a pressure chamber. From the perspective of the view of Fig. 5, the upper surface of the substrate 1 is the first surface and the lower surface is the second surface.

In addition, the liquid supply channel 6 may be etched on the side of the recess 5, and may also be etched by wet etching or reactive ion etching. The liquid supply channel 6 communicates with the groove 5 and penetrates the substrate 1 . The first surface is such that ink flows into the pressure chamber through the liquid supply passage 6.

After the formation of the grooves, the orifice plate can be continuously formed, but the photoresist required to form the orifice plate is a gel-like substance and does not have a fixed shape. When the surface of the groove is coated with a gelatinous substance, the gelatinous substance will inevitably flow into the groove. Therefore, the embodiment is designed to first fill a groove with a sacrificial layer, and then remove the hole after the orifice plate is formed. The sacrificial layer, thereby forming an orifice plate on the surface of the pressure chamber. The following describes the specific implementations of steps 30, 40, and 50:

For the above step 30, the first photoresist may be a photo-decomposable photoresist or a photo-crosslinking photoresist, wherein the photo-decomposition photoresist has a UV-transfer property. Light irradiation After photo-decomposition reaction, it is denatured and easily soluble in some solvents. The photodegradable photoresist may be a positive photoresist commonly used in the prior art, or some negative photoresists may also have the characteristics of a photodecomposition photoresist due to the incorporation of a specific substance. . The photocrosslinking photoresist is characterized by being cured by ultraviolet light. The photocrosslinking photoresist can be a negative photoresist commonly used in the prior art, but some positive lithography The glue also has the characteristics of a photo-crosslinking type photoresist due to the incorporation of a specific substance.

6 is a flow chart of forming a sacrificial layer in a method for manufacturing a liquid ejecting head according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, the step 30 may specifically include:

Step 301: Spin coating the first photoresist in the recess to form a sacrificial layer.

In this embodiment, a positive photoresist commonly used in the prior art may be specifically used, which may be a polyimide material. The material is denatured after being irradiated by ultraviolet light, and is easily dissolved in a solvent such as potassium hydroxide K0H. A polyimide material is spin-coated in the recess 5 to fill the space of the recess 5 to form a sacrificial layer 7.

Step 302: Flatten the sacrificial layer so that the surface of the sacrificial layer is flush with the second surface of the substrate.

As shown in Fig. 7, Fig. 7 is a schematic view showing the structure of a sacrificial layer formed in a method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting head according to an embodiment of the present invention. The first photoresist filled in the recess 5 in step 301 is flattened so that its surface is flush with the second surface of the substrate 1 to form an orifice plate.

Step 303: Drying the sacrificial layer.

The gelatinous material is dried in a suitable manner to form a solid, depending on the material of the first photoresist selected. For the polyimide material used in this embodiment, it can be dried at (110-180) °C for 180 seconds. Especially in the environment of 125 °C, the material is the fastest from gel to solid. .

Step 304: Exposing the sacrificial layer with a first mask to make the sacrificial layer variably and soluble in the first developer.

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural view showing exposure processing of a sacrificial layer in a method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting head according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, when the first photoresist coated in the recess 5 becomes completely solid, it can be exposed. For the polyimide material used in the embodiment, the first mask 8 can be used for exposure. The first mask 8 can be a common mask, and the light transmittance characteristic can be set as: in the first mask. The portion corresponding to the position of the groove 5 in 8 is completely transparent, and the remaining portion is opaque, and the ultraviolet light having an exposure level of 1 lmw/cm ² is transmitted through the first mask 8 The partially transparent portion is irradiated onto the polyimide material in the recess 5, and the exposure time is maintained for 20 s, whereby the polyimide undergoes a photochemical change under illumination, and is deformed into a substance which is easily soluble in K0H.

A person skilled in the art can also use other materials which are soluble in some solvents as the first photoresist, and are coated in the recess 5 to form the sacrificial layer 7. After the nozzle is formed, the first photoresist can be dissolved. .

After the above steps 301 to 304, a sacrificial layer 7 which is easily soluble in some solvent is formed, and then an orifice plate may be formed on the surface of the sacrificial layer 7 and the second surface of the substrate 1, as described above, specifically Use the following method:

As shown in Fig. 9, Fig. 9 is a schematic structural view showing the formation of a spray hole adhesive layer in the method for manufacturing a liquid jet head according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, a second photoresist is spin-coated on the second surface of the substrate 1 and the surface of the sacrificial layer 7, to form an orifice layer 9, and then the nozzle layer 9 is exposed to form an orifice.

The second photoresist may be a negative photoresist commonly used in the prior art, and specifically, the photoresist SU8 may be used, and its characteristics are cured after being irradiated by ultraviolet light, and the photoresist SU8 itself is easily soluble. 1-methyl ether propylene glycol acetate.

After that, the nozzle rubber layer 9 needs to be dried, and can be dried at (65-95) °C for 7 minutes to convert the gelatinous substance into a solid.

Referring to FIG. 10, FIG. 10 is a schematic structural view showing exposure processing of a nozzle hole layer in a method for manufacturing a liquid jet head according to an embodiment of the present invention. The orifice layer 9 may be exposed to a second mask 10 to cure the illuminated portion of the orifice layer 9. The second mask 10 is disposed such that a portion corresponding to the position of the orifice is opaque, and the remaining portion is completely transparent. Exposure to ultraviolet light with an exposure level of 1 lmw/cm ² for 90 s, and drying at a temperature of (65-95) ° C for 6 min, the ultraviolet light is transmitted through the completely transparent portion of the second mask 10 to the nozzle hole. On the adhesive layer 9, the partially illuminated portion is cured, and the unexposed portion remains as the property of the second photoresist itself, and can be dissolved by the second developer to form an orifice.

The unexposed portion can be dissolved by 1-methyl ether propylene glycol acetate, and thus the orifice rubber layer 9 is developed by using 1-methyl ether acetate propylene glycol as the second developing solution to form the orifices 11. As shown in Fig. 11, Fig. 11 is a structural schematic view showing the formation of an orifice in the method of manufacturing a liquid jet head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The above second developing solution is not limited to 1-methyl ether propylene acetate, and the other is capable of dissolving SU8. The solution of the substance can be used as the second developer, which is not limited in the present invention.

A person skilled in the art can form the orifice plate in various ways, for example, coating a second photoresist on the second surface of the substrate 1 and the surface of the sacrificial layer 7, forming the orifice layer 9, and then using ultraviolet light. The orifice rubber layer 9 is completely exposed to be solidified, and then the orifice is formed by laser drilling, etching, or the like. Alternatively, the orifice plate may be formed in other ways, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Figure 12 is a schematic view showing the structure of a pressure chamber formed in a method of manufacturing a liquid ejecting head according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 12, after the orifice plate is formed, the above step 50 can be performed, and the sacrificial layer 7 is developed by using K0H as the first developing solution, and the exposed polyimide material is dissolved to form a pressure chamber. Room 12. The polyimide material used in this embodiment can be quickly removed by the K0H developing solution after exposure and development, thereby ensuring that the inner wall of the pressure chamber is smooth.

With the above technical solution, a plurality of pressure chambers 12 can be formed on the substrate 1, and each of the pressure chambers is evenly arranged. Appropriately increasing the number of pressure chambers can improve printing accuracy without affecting the mechanical strength of the liquid ejecting head. A plurality of orifices are formed in the orifice plate, each orifice corresponding to a pressure chamber for ejecting ink from the orifices to be printed on the printing medium under the driving of the pressure actuating member.

The technical solution provided by the embodiment can form the integral structure of the orifice plate and the substrate, which can solve the problem that the prior liquid jet head manufacturing process is complicated, and avoids the adhesive flow to cause the ink flow path or The phenomenon that the nozzle hole is blocked occurs, which improves the printing accuracy and print quality.

Moreover, the technical solution adopted in the embodiment forms a liquid ejection head of an integral structure, and the mechanical strength thereof is not affected by the number of pressure chambers, and the etching precision can be increased according to the need of printing precision to increase the number of pressure chambers and nozzle holes, The yield is improved to some extent.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a liquid ejecting head which can be fabricated into a unitary structure by the manufacturing method of the liquid ejecting head provided by the above embodiments, and a pressure actuating member is formed on the first surface of the substrate. On the two surfaces, the orifice plate is formed by the sacrificial layer, and the sacrificial layer is removed to form the pressure chamber, and the orifice plate and the substrate are formed into a single structure, which can solve the complicated problem of the prior art liquid jet head manufacturing process and avoid the stickiness. The mixture is bonded to cause an ink flow path or a nozzle to be clogged, which improves printing accuracy and print quality.

A further embodiment of the present invention provides a printing apparatus comprising the above liquid ejecting head, which can form an integral structure of the orifice plate and the substrate, and can solve the conventional manufacturing process of the liquid ejecting head. Miscellaneous, and the use of an adhesive tends to reduce the print quality, avoiding the occurrence of ink flow paths or clogging of the nozzle by bonding with an adhesive, improving printing accuracy and print quality.

Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only for explaining the technical solutions of the present invention, and are not intended to be limiting thereof; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art will understand that The technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may be modified, or some or all of the technical features may be equivalently replaced; and the modifications or substitutions do not deviate from the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention. range.

Claims

claims

1. A method of manufacturing a liquid ejection head, characterized in that it includes:

forming a pressure-actuated component on the first surface of the substrate;

A second surface of the substrate opposite to the first surface is etched to form a groove; a first photoresist is filled in the groove to form a sacrificial layer, and the surface of the sacrificial layer is in contact with the second surface of the substrate. flush surface;

forming an orifice plate on the second surface of the substrate and the surface of the sacrificial layer;

The sacrificial layer is developed using a first developer to remove the sacrificial layer to form a pressure chamber.

2. The method of manufacturing a liquid ejection head according to claim 1, wherein filling the first photoresist in the groove to form a sacrificial layer includes:

Spin-coating the first photoresist in the groove to form a sacrificial layer;

Planarizing the sacrificial layer so that the surface of the sacrificial layer is flush with the second surface of the substrate;

Perform drying treatment on the sacrificial layer;

The sacrificial layer is exposed using a first mask so that the sacrificial layer is denatured and easily soluble in the first developer.

3. The method of manufacturing a liquid ejection head according to claim 2, wherein the first photoresist is a photodecomposable photoresist;

The portion of the first mask corresponding to the groove is completely transparent.

4. The method of manufacturing a liquid ejection head according to claim 3, wherein forming a nozzle orifice plate on the second surface of the substrate and the surface of the sacrificial layer includes:

Spin-coating a second photoresist on the second surface of the substrate and the surface of the sacrificial layer to form a nozzle hole glue layer;

The nozzle hole glue layer is exposed to light to form nozzle holes.

5. The method of manufacturing a liquid ejection head according to claim 4, wherein the second photoresist is a photo-crosslinking photoresist;

Exposing the nozzle hole glue layer to form nozzle holes includes:

The nozzle hole glue layer is exposed using a second mask to solidify the portion of the nozzle hole glue layer that is exposed to light. The portion of the second mask corresponding to the nozzle hole position is opaque, and the rest is opaque. Partially completely transparent;

The second developer is used to develop the nozzle hole glue layer to form nozzle holes.

6. The method of manufacturing a liquid ejection head according to claim 5, wherein etching and forming a groove on the second surface of the substrate opposite to the first surface includes: etching on the substrate A groove is etched on the second surface opposite to the first surface; a liquid supply channel is etched on the side of the groove, and the liquid supply channel is connected with the groove and penetrates the substrate. of the first surface.

7. The method of manufacturing a liquid ejection head according to claim 6, wherein the pressure actuating component is a piezoelectric element;

The forming a pressure actuated component on the first surface of the substrate includes:

forming a vibration plate on the first surface of the substrate;

A lower electrode layer, a piezoelectric layer, and an upper electrode layer are formed in sequence on the surface of the vibration plate.

8. The method of manufacturing a liquid ejection head according to claim 7, wherein forming a pressure actuating component on the first surface of the substrate further includes:

A protective layer is formed on the surface of the upper electrode layer, and the protective layer covers the lower electrode layer, the piezoelectric body layer and the upper electrode layer inside.

9. The method of manufacturing a liquid ejection head according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first photoresist is polyimide.

10. The method for manufacturing a liquid ejection head according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the second photoresist is photoresist SU8.

11. A liquid ejection head, characterized in that the liquid ejection head is made into an integrated structure using the manufacturing method of the liquid ejection head according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

12. A printing device, characterized by comprising the liquid ejection head according to claim 11.