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
  • B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
  • B41J2/14451—Structure of ink jet print heads discharging by lowering surface tension of meniscus

Definitions

• the present invention is in the field of computer controlled printing devices.
• the field is constructions and manufacturing processes for thermally activated drop on demand (DOD) printing heads which integrate multiple nozzles on a single substrate.
• DOD thermally activated drop on demand
• Inkjet printing has become recognized as a prominent contender in the digitally controlled, electronic printing arena because, e.g., of its non-impact, low-noise characteristics, its use of plain paper and its avoidance of toner transfers and fixing. Many types of ink jet printing mechanisms have been invented.
• Continuous inkjet printing dates back to at least 1929: Hansell, US Pat. No. 1,941,001.
• Sweet et al US Pat No. 3,373,437, 1967 discloses an array of continuous inkjet nozzles where ink drops to be printed are selectively charged and deflected towards the recording medium. This technique is known as binary deflection CU, and is used by several manufacturers, including Elmjet and Scitex. Hertz et al US Pat No.
• 3,416,153, 1966 discloses a method of achieving variable optical density of printed spots in CU printing using the electrostatic dispersion of a charged drop stream to modulate the number of droplets which pass through a small aperture.
• This technique is used in ink jet printers manufactured by Iris Graphics.
• Kyser et al US Pat No. 3,946,398, 1970 discloses a DOD ink jet printer which applies a high voltage to a piezoelectric crystal, causing the crystal to bend, applying pressure on an ink reservoir and jetting drops on demand.
• Many types of piezoelectric drop on demand printers have subsequently been invented, which utilize piezoelectric crystals in bend mode, push mode, shear mode, and squeeze mode.
• Piezoelectric DOD printers have achieved commercial success using hot melt inks (for example, Tektronix and Dataproducts printers), and at image resolutions up to 720 dpi for home and office printers (Seiko Epson). Piezoelectric DOD printers have an advantage in being able to use a wide range of inks. However, piezoelectric printing mechanisms usually require complex high voltage drive circuitry and bulky piezoelectric crystal arrays, which are disadvantageous in regard to manufacturability and performance.
• Endo et al GB Pat No. 2,007,162, 1979 discloses an electrothermal DOD inkjet printer which applies a power pulse to an electrothermal transducer (heater) which is in thermal contact with ink in a nozzle.
• the heater rapidly heats water based ink to a high temperature, whereupon a small quantity of ink rapidly evaporates, forming a bubble.
• the formation of these bubbles results in a pressure wave which cause drops of ink to be ejected from small apertures along the edge of the heater substrate.
• BubblejetTM trademark of Canon K.K. of Japan
• Thermal Ink Jet printing typically requires approximately 20 ⁇ J over a period of approximately 2 ⁇ s to eject each drop.
• the 10 Watt active power consumption of each heater is disadvantageous in itself and also necessitates special inks, complicates the driver electronics and precipitates deterioration of heater elements.
• U.S. Patent No. 4,275,290 discloses a system wherein the coincident address of predetermined print head nozzles with heat pulses and hydrostatic pressure, allows ink to flow freely to spacer-separated paper, passing beneath the print head.
• U.S. Patent Nos. 4,737,803; 4,737,803 and 4,748,458 disclose ink jet recording systems wherein the coincident address of ink in print head nozzles with heat pulses and an electrostatically attractive field cause ejection of ink drops to a print sheet
• One object of the invention is to provide power supply connections for a drop-on-demand print head operating on the coincident forces printing principles.
• the present invention constitutes a drop on demand print head comprising a plurality of electrothermal heater elements formed on a silicon chip and electrical power connections for supplying power to said electrothermal elements, the improvement wherein said connections are formed on the chip surface substantially at opposite edges of the print head and extend a distance substantially equal to the length of the corresponding edge.
• the present invention constitutes a drop on demand print head comprising a plurality of integrated circuits formed on a silicon substrate, an arrangement of an electrical connection from said integrated circuit to an external circuit, said arrangement being characterized by the region of contact to said integrated circuit being situated in a bevel formed in the substrate of said integrated circuit.
• Figure 1(a) shows a simplified block schematic diagram of one exemplary printing apparatus according to the present invention.
• Figure 1(b) shows a cross section of one variety of nozzle tip in accordance with the invention.
• Figures 2(a) to 2(f) show fluid dynamic simulations of drop selection.
• Figure 3(a) shows a finite element fluid dynamic simulation of a nozzle in operation according to an embodiment of the invention.
• Figure 3(b) shows successive meniscus positions during drop selection and separation.
• Figure 3(c) shows the temperatures at various points during a drop selection cycle.
• Figure 3(d) shows measured surface tension versus temperature curves for various ink additives.
• Figure 3(e) shows the power pulses which are applied to the nozzle heater to generate the temperature curves of figure 3(c)
• Figure 4 shows a block schematic diagram of print head drive circuitry for practice of the invention.
• Figure 5 shows projected manufacturing yields for an A4 page width color print head embodying features of the invention, with and without fault tolerance.
• Figure 6 shows a generalized block diagram of a printing system using a print head
• Figure 7 shows a single silicon substrate with a multitude of nozzles etched in it
• Figures 8(a) to 8(d) shows a possible nozzle layouts and dimensions for a small section of a print head.
• Figure 8(b) is a detail of figure 8(a).
• Figures 9(a) to 9(o) show simplified manufacturing steps for the processes added to a standard integrated circuit fabrication.
• Figures 10 show part of a layout for a 6 color print head, showing high current power connections.
• Figure 11 (a) shows an arrangement of nozzles for a small part of one color of a print head.
• Figure 11 (b) is a detail enlargement of the region around three of the nozzles shown in figure 11 (a).
• Figures 12(a) and 12(b) are cross-section views showing a connection for print heads which overcomes problems with conventional systems.
• the invention constitutes a drop-on-demand printing mechanism wherein the means of selecting drops to be printed produces a difference in position between selected drops and drops which are not selected, but which is insufficient to cause the ink drops to overcome the ink surface tension and separate from the body of ink, and wherein an alternative means is provided to cause separation of the selected drops from the body of ink.
• the separation of drop selection means from drop separation means significantly reduces the energy required to select which ink drops are to be printed.
• the drop separation means can be a field or condition applied simultaneously to all nozzles.
• the drop selection means may be chosen from, but is not limited to, the following list:
• the drop separation means may be chosen from, but is not limited to, the following list:
• DOD printing technology targets shows some desirable characteristics of drop on demand printing technology.
• the table also lists some methods by which some embodiments described herein, or in other of my related applications, provide improvements over the prior art DOD printing technology targets
• TU thermal inkjet
• piezoelectric inkjet systems a drop velocity of approximately 10 meters per second is preferred to ensure that the selected ink drops overcome ink surface tension, separate from the body of the ink, and strike the recording medium.
• These systems have a very low efficiency of conversion of electrical energy into drop kinetic energy.
• the efficiency of ⁇ J systems is approximately 0.02%).
• This means that the drive circuits for TU print heads must switch high currents.
• the drive circuits for piezoelectric inkjet heads must either switch high voltages, or drive highly capacitive loads.
• the total power consumption of pagewidth TU printheads is also very high.
• An 800 dpi A4 full color pagewidth TU print head printing a four color black image in one second would consume approximately 6 kW of electrical power, most of which is converted to waste heat The difficulties of removal of this amount of heat precludes the production of low cost high speed, high resolution compact pagewidth TU systems.
• One important feature of embodiments of the invention is a means of significantly reducing the energy required to select which ink drops are to be printed. This is achieved by separating the means for selecting ink drops from the means for ensuring that selected drops separate from the body of ink and form dots on the recording medium. Only the drop selection means must be driven by individual signals to each nozzle.
• the drop separation means can be a field or condition applied simultaneously to all nozzles.
• Drop selection means shows some of the possible means for selecting drops in accordance with the invention.
• the drop selection means is only required to create sufficient change in the position of selected drops that the drop separation means can discriminate between selected and unselected drops.
• the preferred drop selection means for water based inks is method 1: "Electrothermal reduction of surface tension of pressurized ink”.
• This drop selection means provides many advantages over other systems, including; low power operation (approximately 1% of TU), compatibility with CMOS VLSI chip fabrication, low voltage operation (approx. 10 V), high nozzle density, low temperature operation, and wide range of suitable ink formulations.
• the ink must exhibit a reduction in surface tension with increasing temperature.
• the preferred drop selection means for hot melt or oil based inks is method 2: 'Electrothermal reduction of ink viscosity, combined with oscillating ink pressure".
• This drop selection means is particularly suited for use with inks which exhibit a large reduction of viscosity with increasing temperature, but only a small reduction in surface tension. This occurs particularly with non-polar ink carriers with relatively high molecular weight This is especially applicable to hot melt and oil based inks.
• the table “Drop separation means” shows some of the possible methods for separating selected drops from the body of ink, and ensuring that the selected drops form dots on the printing medium.
• the drop separation means discriminates between selected drops and unselected drops to ensure that unselected drops do not form dots on the printing medium.
• drop separation means may also be used.
• the preferred drop separation means depends upon the intended use. For most applications, method 1: “Electrostatic attraction”, or method 2: “AC electric field” are most appropriate. For applications where smooth coated paper or film is used, and very high speed is not essential, method 3: ' roximity" may be appropriate. For high speed, high quality systems, method 4: 'Transfer proximity” can be used. Method 6: “Magnetic attraction” is appropriate for portable printing systems where the print medium is too rough for proximity printing, and the high voltages required for electrostatic drop separation are undesirable. There is no clear 'best' drop separation means which is applicable to all circumstances.
• FIG. 1 A simplified schematic diagram of one preferred printing system according to the invention appears in Figure 1(a).
• An image source 52 may be raster image data from a scanner or computer, or outline image data in the form of a page description language (PDL), or other forms of digital image representation.
• This image data is converted to a pixel-mapped page image by the image processing system 53.
• This may be a raster image processor (RIP) in the case of PDL image data, or may be pixel image manipulation in the case of raster image data.
• Continuous tone data produced by the image processing unit 53 is halftoned. Halftoning is performed by the Digital Halftoning unit 54.
• Halftoned bitmap image data is stored in the image memory 72.
• the image memory 72 may be a full page memory, or a band memory.
• Heater control circuits 71 read data from the image memory 72 and apply time-varying electrical pulses to the nozzle heaters
• the recording medium 51 is moved relative to the head 50 by a paper transport system 65, which is electronically controlled by a paper transport control system 66, which in turn is controlled by a microcontroller 315.
• the paper transport system shown in figure 1(a) is schematic only, and many different mechanical configurations are possible. In the case of pagewidth print heads, it is most convenient to move the recording medium 51 past a stationary head 50.
• the microcontroller 315 may also control the ink pressure regulator
• ink is contained in an ink reservoir 64 under pressure.
• the ink pressure is insufficient to overcome the ink surface tension and eject a drop.
• a constant ink pressure can be achieved by applying pressure to the ink reservoir 64 under the control of an ink pressure regulator 63.
• the ink pressure can be very accurately generated and controlled by situating the top surface of the ink in the reservoir 64 an appropriate distance above the head 50.
• This ink level can be regulated by a simple float valve (not shown).
• ink is contained in an ink reservoir 64 under pressure, and the ink pressure is caused to oscillate.
• the means of producing this oscillation may be a piezoelectric actuator mounted in the ink channels (not shown).
• the ink is distributed to the back surface of the head 50 by an ink channel device 75.
• the ink preferably flows through slots and/or holes etched through the silicon substrate of the head 50 to the front surface, where the nozzles and actuators are situated.
• the nozzle actuators are electrothermal heaters.
• an external field In some types of printers according to the invention, an external field
• a convenient external field 74 is a constant electric field, as the ink is easily made to be electrically conductive.
• the paper guide or platen 67 can be made of electrically conductive material and used as one electrode generating the electric field.
• the other electrode can be the head 50 itself.
• Another embodiment uses pro ⁇ d-nity of the print medium as a means of discriminating between selected drops and unselected drops.
• Figure 1(b) is a detail enlargement of a cross section of a single microscopic nozzle tip embodiment of the invention, fabricated using a modified CMOS process.
• the nozzle is etched in a substrate 101, which may be silicon, glass, metal, or any other suitable material. If substrates which are not semiconductor materials are used, a semiconducting material (such as amo ⁇ hous silicon) may be deposited on the substrate, and integrated drive transistors and data distribution circuitry may be formed in the surface semiconducting layer.
• Single crystal silicon (SCS) substrates have several advantages, including:
• High performance drive transistors and other circuitry can be fabricated in SCS;
• Print heads can be fabricated in existing facilities (fabs) using standard VLSI processing equipment;
• SCS has high mechanical strength and rigidity
• SCS has a high thermal conductivity.
• the nozzle is of cylindrical form, with the heater 103 forming an annulus.
• the nozzle tip 104 is formed from silicon dioxide layers 102 deposited during the fabrication of the CMOS drive circuitry.
• the nozzle tip is passivated with silicon nitride.
• the protruding nozzle tip controls the contact point of the pressurized ink 100 on the print head surface.
• the print head surface is also hydrophobized to prevent accidental spread of ink across the front of the print head.
• Many other configurations of nozzles are possible, and nozzle embodiments of the invention may vary in shape, dimensions, and materials used.
• Monolithic nozzles etched from the substrate upon which the heater and drive electronics are formed have the advantage of not requiring an orifice plate.
• the elimination of the orifice plate has significant cost savings in manufacture and assembly.
• Recent methods for ehminating orifice plates include the use of 'vortex' actuators such as those described in Domoto et al US Pat No. 4,580,158, 1986, assigned to Xerox, and Miller et al US Pat No. 5,371,527, 1994 assigned to
• This type of nozzle may be used for print heads using various techniques for drop separation.
• Figure 2 shows the results of energy transport and fluid dynamic simulations performed using FIDAP, a commercial fluid dynamic simulation software package available from Fluid Dynamics Inc., of Illinois, USA.
• FIDAP Fluid Dynamics Inc.
• This simulation is of a thermal drop selection nozzle embodiment with a diameter of 8 ⁇ m, at an ambient temperature of 30°C.
• the total energy applied to the heater is 276 nJ, applied as 69 pulses of 4 nJ each.
• the ink pressure is 10 kPa above ambient air pressure, and the ink viscosity at 30°C is 1.84 cPs.
• the ink is water based, and includes a sol of 0.1% palmitic acid to achieve an enhanced decrease in surface tension with increasing temperature.
• a cross section of the nozzle tip from the central axis of the nozzle to a radial distance of 40 ⁇ m is shown.
• Heat flow in the various materials of the nozzle including silicon, silicon nitride, amo ⁇ hous silicon dioxide, crystalline silicon dioxide, and water based ink are simulated using the respective densities, heat capacities, and thermal conductivities of the materials.
• the time step of the simulation is 0.1 ⁇ s.
• Figure 2(a) shows a quiescent state, just before the heater is actuated. An equilibrium is created whereby no ink escapes the nozzle in the quiescent state by erisuring that the ink pressure plus external electrostatic field is insufficient to overcome the surface tension of the ink at the ambient temperature. In the quiescent state, the meniscus of the ink does not protrude significantly from the print head surface, so the electrostatic field is not significantly concentrated at the meniscus.
• Figure 2(b) shows thermal contours at 5°C intervals 5 ⁇ s after the start of the heater energizing pulse. When the heater is energized, the ink in contact with the nozzle tip is rapidly heated. The reduction in surface tension causes the heated portion of the meniscus to rapidly expand relative to the cool ink meniscus.
• Figure 2(c) shows thermal contours at 5°C intervals 10 ⁇ s after the start of the heater energizing pulse.
• the increase in temperature causes a decrease in surface tension, disturbing the equilibrium of forces. As the entire meniscus has been heated, the ink begins to flow.
• Figure 2(d) shows thermal contours at 5°C intervals 20 ⁇ s after the start of the heater energizing pulse.
• the ink pressure has caused the ink to flow to a new meniscus position, which protrudes from the print head.
• the electrostatic field becomes concentrated by the protruding conductive ink drop.
• Figure 2(e) shows thermal contours at 5°C intervals 30 ⁇ s after the start of the heater energizing pulse, which is also 6 ⁇ s after the end of the heater pulse, as the heater pulse duration is 24 ⁇ s.
• the nozzle tip has rapidly cooled due to conduction through the oxide layers, and conduction into the flowing ink.
• the nozzle tip is effectively 'water cooled' by the ink. Electrostatic attraction causes the ink drop to begin to accelerate towards the recording medium. Were the heater pulse significantly shorter (less than 16 ⁇ s in this case) the ink would not accelerate towards the print medium, but would instead return to the nozzle.
• Figure 2(f) shows thermal contours at 5°C intervals 26 ⁇ s after the end of the heater pulse.
• the temperature at the nozzle tip is now less than 5°C above ambient temperature. This causes an increase in surface tension around the nozzle tip.
• the rate at which the ink is drawn from the nozzle exceeds the viscously limited rate of ink flow through the nozzle, the ink in the region of the nozzle tip 'necks', and the selected drop separates from the body of ink.
• the selected drop then travels to the recording medium under the influence of the external electrostatic field.
• the meniscus of the ink at the nozzle tip then returns to its quiescent position, ready for the next heat pulse to select the next ink drop.
• One ink drop is selected, separated and forms a spot on the recording medium for each heat pulse. As the heat pulses are electrically controlled, drop on demand inkjet operation can be achieved.
• Figure 3(a) shows successive meniscus positions during the drop selection cycle at 5 ⁇ s intervals, starting at the begmning of the heater energizing pulse.
• Figure 3(b) is a graph of meniscus position versus time, showing the movement of the point at the centre of the meniscus. The heater pulse starts 10 ⁇ s into the simulation.
• Figure 3(c) shows the resultant curve of temperature with respect to time at various points in the nozzle.
• the vertical axis of the graph is temperature, in units of 100°C.
• the horizontal axis of the graph is time, in units of 10 ⁇ s.
• the temperature curve shown in figure 3(b) was calculated by FIDAP, using 0.1 ⁇ s time steps.
• the local ambient temperature is 30 degrees C. Temperature histories at three points are shown:
• a - Nozzle tip This shows the temperature history at the circle of contact between the passivation layer, the ink, and air.
• B - Meniscus midpoint This is at a circle on the ink meniscus midway between the nozzle tip and the centre of the meniscus.
• C - Chip surface This is at a point on the print head surface 20 ⁇ m from the centre of the nozzle. The temperature only rises a few degrees. This indicates that active circuitry can be located very close to the nozzles without experiencing performance or lifetime degradation due to elevated temperatures.
• Figure 3(e) shows the power applied to the heater.
• Optimum operation requires a sha ⁇ rise in temperature at the start of the heater pulse, a maintenance of the temperature a little below the boiling point of the ink for the duration of the pulse, and a rapid fall in temperature at the end of the pulse.
• the average energy applied to the heater is varied over the duration of the pulse.
• the variation is achieved by pulse frequency modulation of 0.1 ⁇ s sub-pulses, each with an energy of 4 nJ.
• the peak power applied to the heater is 40 mW, and the average power over the duration of the heater pulse is 11.5 mW.
• the sub-pulse frequency in this case is 5 Mhz. This can readily be varied without significantly affecting the operation of the print head.
• a higher sub-pulse frequency allows finer control over the power applied to the heater.
• a sub-pulse frequency of 13.5 Mhz is suitable, as this frequency is also suitable for minimizing the effect of radio frequency interference (RFI).
• ⁇ -r is the surface tension at temperature T
• k is a constant 7.
• M is the molar mass of the liquid
• x is the degree of association of the liquid
• p is the density of the liquid.
• surfactant is important
• water based ink for thermal ink jet printers often contains isopropyl alcohol (2-propanol) to reduce the surface tension and promote rapid drying.
• Isopropyl alcohol has a boiling point of 82.4°C, lower than that of water.
• a surfactant such as 1-Hexanol (b.p. 158°C) can be used to reverse this effect and achieve a surface tension which decreases slightly with temperature.
• a relatively large decrease in surface tension with temperature is desirable to maximize operating latitude.
• a surface tension decrease of 20 mN/m over a 30°C temperature range is preferred to achieve large operating margins, while as little as lOmN/m can be used to achieve operation of the print head according to the present invention.
• the ink may contain a low concentration sol of a surfactant which is solid at ambient temperatures, but melts at a threshold temperature. Particle sizes less than 1 ,000 A are desirable. Suitable surfactant melting points for a water based ink are between 50°C and 90°C, and preferably between 60°C and 80°C.
• the ink may contain an oil/water microemulsion with a phase inversion temperature (PIT) which is above the maximum ambient temperature, but below the boiling point of the ink.
• PIT phase inversion temperature
• the PIT of the microemulsion is preferably 20°C or more above the maximum non-operating temperature encountered by the ink. A PIT of approximately 80°C is suitable.
• Inks can be prepared as a sol of small particles of a surfactant which melts in the desired operating temperature range.
• surfactants include carboxylic acids with between 14 and 30 carbon atoms, such as:
• the melting point of sols with a small particle size is usually slightly less than of the bulk material, it is preferable to choose a carboxylic acid with a melting point slightly above the desired drop selection temperature.
• a good example is Arachidic acid.
• a mixture of carboxylic acids with slightly varying chain lengths can be used to spread the melting points over a range of temperatures. Such mixtures will typically cost less than the pure acid.
• surfactant it is not necessary to restrict the choice of surfactant to simple unbranched carboxylic acids.
• Surfactants with branched chains or phenyl groups, or other hydrophobic moieties can be used. It is also not necessary to use a carboxylic acid.
• Many highly polar moieties are suitable for the hydrophilic end of the surfactant It is desirable that the polar end be ionizable in water, so that the surface of the surfactant particles can be charged to aid dispersion and prevent flocculation. In the case of carboxyhc acids, this can be achieved by adding an alkali such as sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide.
• the surfactant sol can be prepared separately at high concentration, and added to the ink in the required concentration.
• An example process for creating the surfactant sol is as foUows:
• the ink preparation will also contain either dye(s) or pigment(s), bactericidal agents, agents to enhance the electrical conductivity of the ink if electrostatic drop separation is used, humectants, and other agents as required.
• Anti-foaming agents will generally not be required, as there is no bubble formation during the drop ejection process.
• Cationic surfactant sols
• Inks made with anionic surfactant sols are generally unsuitable for use with cationic dyes or pigments. This is because the cationic dye or pigment may precipitate or flocculate with the anionic surfactant To aUow the use of cationic dyes and pigments, a cationic surfactant sol is required.
• the family of alkylainines is suitable for this purpose.
• the method of preparation of cationic surfactant sols is essentially similar to that of anionic surfactant sols, except that an acid instead of an alkali is used to adjust the pH balance and increase the charge on the surfactant particles.
• a pH of 6 using HC1 is suitable.
• Micrpemul.-im Based Into An alternative means of achieving a large reduction in surface tension as some temperature threshold is to base the ink on a microemulsion.
• a microemulsion is chosen with a phase inversion temperature (PIT) around the desired ejection threshold temperature. Below the PIT, the microemulsion is oil in water (O/W), and above the PIT the microemulsion is water in oil (W/O).
• PIT phase inversion temperature
• O/W oil in water
• W/O water in oil
• the surfactant forming the microemulsion prefers a high curvature surface around oil, and at temperamres significantly above the PIT, the surfactant prefers a high curvature surface around water.
• the microemulsion forms a continuous 'sponge' of topologically connected water and oU. There are two mechanisms whereby this reduces the surface tension.
• the surfactant prefers surfaces with very low curvature.
• surfactant molecules migrate to the ink/air interface, which has a curvature which is much less than the curvature of the oil emulsion. This lowers the surface tension of the water.
• the microemulsion changes from O/W to W/O, and therefore the ink/air interface changes from water/air to oil/air.
• the oil/air interface has a lower surface tension.
• microemulsion based inks There is a wide range of possibilities for the preparation of microemulsion based inks. For fast drop ejection, it is preferable to chose a low viscosity oil.
• water is a suitable polar solvent.
• different polar solvents may be required.
• polar solvents with a high surface tension should be chosen, so that a large decrease in surface tension is achievable.
• the surfactant can be chosen to result in a phase inversion temperature in the desired range.
• surfactants of the group poly(oxyethylene)alkylphenyl ether ethoxylated alkyl phenols, general formula: C n H_- + ⁇ C4H_(CH2CH 2 ⁇ ) m OH
• the hydrophilicity of the surfactant can be increased by increasing m, and the hydrophobicity can be increased by increasing n. Values of m of approximately 10, and n of approximately 8 are suitable.
• ethoxylated alkyl phenols include those listed in the foUowing table:
• Microemulsions are thermodyn-tmically stable, and will not separate. Therefore, the storage time can be very long. This is especially significant for office and portable printers, which may be used sporadicaUy.
• the microemulsion will form spontaneously with a particular drop size, and does not require extensive stirring, centrifuging, or filtering to ensure a particular range of emulsified oil drop sizes.
• the amount of oil contained in the ink can be quite high, so dyes which are soluble in oil or soluble in water, or both, can be used. It is also possible to use a mixture of dyes, one soluble in water, and the other soluble in oil, to obtain specific colors.
• Oil miscible pigments are prevented from flocculating, as they are trapped in the oil microdroplets.
• microemulsion can reduce the riiixing of different dye colors on the surface of the print medium.
• Oil in water mixtures can have high oil contents - as high as 40% and still form O/W microemulsions. This allows a high dye or pigment loading. Mixtures of dyes and pigments can be used.
• An example of a microemulsion based ink mixture with both dye and pigment is as foUows:
• the foUowing table shows the nine basic combinations of colorants in the oil and water phases of the microemulsion that may be used.
• the ninth combination is useful for printing transparent coatings, UN ink, and selective gloss highlights.
• the abso ⁇ tion spectrum of the resultant ink will be the weighted average of the abso ⁇ tion spectra of the different colorants used.
• the color of the dye will tend to have a smaller contribution to the printed ink color on more abso ⁇ tive papers, as the dye will be absorbed into the paper, while the pigment wiU tend to 'sit on top' of the paper. This may be used as an advantage in some circumstances.
• This factor can be used to achieve an increased reduction in surface tension with increasing temperature. At ambient temperatures, only a portion of the surfactant is in solution. When the nozzle heater is turned on, the temperamre rises, and more of the surfactant goes into solution, decreasing the surface tension.
• a surfactant should be chosen with a Krafft point which is near the top of the range of temperatures to which the ink is raised. This gives a maximum margin between the concentration Of surfactant in solution at ambient temperatures, and the concentration of surfactant in solution at the drop selection temperature.
• the concentration of surfactant should be approximately equal to the CMC at the Krafft point In this manner, the surface tension is reduced to the maximum amount at elevated temperamres, and is reduced to a minimum amount at ambient temperatures.
• the foUowing table shows some commercially available surfactants with Krafft points in the desired range.
• Non-ionic surfactants using polyoxyethylene (POE) chains can be used to create an ink where the surface tension falls with increasing temperature.
• the POE chain is hydrophilic, and maintains the surfactant in solution.
• the structured water around the POE section of the molecule is disrupted, and the POE section becomes hydrophobic.
• the surfactant is increasingly rejected by the water at higher temperatures, resulting in increasing concentration of surfactant at the air/ink interface, thereby lowering surface tension.
• the temperature at which the POE section of a nonionic surfactant becomes hydrophilic is related to the cloud point of that surfactant POE chains by themselves are not particularly suitable, as the cloud point is generally above 100°C
• Polyoxypropylene (POP) can be combined with POE in POE/POP block copolymers to lower the cloud point of POE chains without introducing a strong hydrophobicity at low temperatures.
• Two main configurations of symmetrical POE POP block copolymers are available. These are: 1 ) Surfactants with POE segments at the ends of the molecules, and a POP segment in the centre, such as the poloxamer class of surfactants (generically CAS 9003-11-6) 2) Surfactants with POP segments at the ends of the molecules, and a POE segment in the centre, such as the meroxapol class of surfactants (genericaUy also CAS 9003-11-6)
• Desirable characteristics are a room temperature surface tension which is as high as possible, and a cloud point between 40°C and 100°C, and preferably between 60°C and 80°C.
• Meroxapol [HO(CHCH3CH 2 O) folk(CH2CH2O) y (CHCH3CH2O) z OH3 varieties where the average x and z are approximately 4, and the average y is approximately 15 may be suitable.
• the cloud point of POE surfactants is increased by ions that disrupt water structure (such as I " ), as this makes more water molecules available to form hydrogen bonds with the POE oxygen lone pairs.
• the cloud point of POE surfactants is decreased by ions that form water structure (such as Cl " , OH ' ), as fewer water molecules are available to form hydrogen bonds. Bromide ions have relatively little effect
• the ink composition can be 'tuned' for a desired temperature range by altering the lengths of POE and POP chains in a block copolymer surfactant and by changing the choice of salts (e.g Cl ' to Br * to I " ) that are added to increase electrical conductivity. NaCl is likely to be the best choice of salts to increase ink conductivity, due to low cost and non-toxicity. NaCl slightly lowers the cloud point of nonionic surfactants.
• Hot Melt Inks The ink need not be in a liquid state at room temperature.
• Solid 'hot melt' inks can be used by heating the printing head and ink reservoir above the melting point of the ink.
• the hot melt ink must be formulated so that the surface tension of the molten ink decreases with temperature. A decrease of approximately 2 mN/m will be typical of many such preparations using waxes and other substances. However, a reduction in .surface tension of approximately 20 mN/m is desirable in order to achieve good operating margins when relying on a reduction in surface tension rather than a reduction in viscosity.
• the temperature difference between quiescent temperature and drop selection temperature may be greater for a hot melt ink than for a water based ink, as water based inks are constrained by the boiling point of the water.
• the ink must be liquid at the quiescent temperature.
• the quiescent temperature should be higher than the highest ambient temperature likely to be encountered by the printed page. T he quiescent temperature should also be as low as practical, to reduce the power needed to heat the print head, and to provide a maximum margin between the quiescent and the drop ejection temperatures.
• a quiescent temperature between 60°C and 90°C is generaUy suitable, though other temperatures may be used.
• a drop ejection temperature of between 160°C and 200°C is generaUy suitable.
• a dispersion of microfine particles of a surfactant with a melting point substantially above the quiescent temperamre, but substantially below the drop ejection temperamre, can be added to the hot melt ink while in the liquid phase.
• the hot melt ink carrier have a relatively large surface tension (above 30 mN/m) when at the quiescent temperamre. This generally excludes alkanes such as waxes. Suitable materials will generally have a strong intermolecular attraction, which may be achieved by multiple hydrogen bonds, for example, polyols, such as Hexanetetrol, which has a melting point of 88°C.
• Figure 3(d) shows the measured effect of temperature on the surface tension of various aqueous preparations containing the foUowing additives:
• operation of an embodiment using thermal reduction of viscosity and proximity drop separation, in combination with hot melt ink is as foUows.
• solid ink Prior to operation of the printer, solid ink is melted in the reservoir 64.
• the reservoir, ink passage to the print head, ink channels 75, and print head 50 are maintained at a temperamre at which the ink 100 is liquid, but exhibits a relatively high viscosity (for example, approximately 100 cP).
• the Ink 100 is retained in the nozzle by the surface tension of the ink.
• the ink 100 is formulated so that the viscosity of the ink reduces with increasing temperamre.
• the ink pressure oscillates at a frequency which is an integral multiple of the drop ejection frequency from the nozzle.
• the ink pressure oscillation causes osculations of the ink meniscus at the nozzle tips, but this oscillation is small due to the high ink viscosity. At the normal operating temperamre, these oscillations are of insufficient amplitude to result in drop separation.
• the heater 103 When the heater 103 is energized, the ink forming the selected drop is heated, causing a reduction in viscosity to a value which is preferably less than 5 cP. The reduced viscosity results in the ink meniscus moving further during the high pressure part of the ink pressure cycle.
• the recording medium 51 is arranged sufficiently close to the print head 50 so that the selected drops contact the recording medium 51 , but sufficiently far away that the unselected drops do not contact the recording medium 51. Upon contact with the recording medium 51, part of the selected drop freezes, and attaches to the recording medium.
• ink begins to move back into the nozzle.
• the body of ink separates from the ink which is frozen onto the recording medium.
• the meniscus of the ink 100 at the nozzle tip then returns to low amplitude oscillation.
• the viscosity of the ink increases to its quiescent level as remaining heat is dissipated to the bulk ink and print head.
• One ink drop is selected, separated and forms a spot on the recording medium 51 for each heat pulse. As the heat pulses are electrically controlled, drop on demand inkjet operation can be achieved.
• An objective of printing systems according to the invention is to attain a print quality which is equal to that which people are accustomed to in quahty color pubhcations printed using offset printing. This can be achieved using a print resolution of approximately 1,600 dpi. However, 1,600 dpi printing is difficult and expensive to achieve. Similar results can be achieved using 800 dpi printing, with 2 bits per pixel for cyan and magenta, and one bit per pixel for yeUow and black This color model is herein called CC'MM'YK. Where high quahty monochrome image printing is also required, two bits per pixel can also be used for black This color model is herein called CC'MM' YKK'. Color models, halftoning, data compression, and real-time expansion systems suitable for use in systems of this invention and other printing systems are described in the foUowing Austrahan patent specifications filed on 12 April 1995, the disclosure of which are hereby inco ⁇ orated by reference:
• Printing apparatus and methods of this invention are suitable for a wide range of applications, including (but not limited to) the foUowing: color and monochrome office printing, short run digital printing, high speed digital printing, process color printing, spot color printing, offset press supplemental printing, low cost printers using sc-u_ning print heads, high speed printers using pagewidth print heads, portable color and monochrome printers, color and monochrome copiers, color and monochrome facsimile machines, combined printer, facsimile and copying machines, label printing, large format plotters, photographic duplication, printers for digital photographic processing, portable printers inco ⁇ orated into digital 'instant' cameras, video printing, printing of PhotoCD images, portable printers for 'Personal
• drop on demand printing systems have consistent and predictable ink drop size and position. Unwanted variation in ink drop size and position causes variations in the optical density of the resultant print, reducing the perceived print quality. These variations should be kept to a smaU proportion of the nominal ink drop volume and pixel spacing respectively. Many environmental variables can be compensated to reduce their effect to insignificant levels. Active compensation of some factors can be achieved by varying the power apphed to the nozzle heaters.
• An optimum temperature profile for one print head embodiment involves an instantaneous raising of the active region of the nozzle tip to the ejection temperature, maintenance of this region at the ejection temperamre for the duration of the pulse, and instantaneous cooling of the region to the ambient temperature.
• Figure 4 is a block schematic diagram showing electronic operation of an example head driver circuit in accordance with this invention.
• This control circuit uses analog modulation of the power supply voltage apphed to the print head to achieve heater power modulation, and does not have individual control of the power apphed to each nozzle.
• Figure 4 shows a block diagram for a system using an 800 dpi pagewidth print head which prints process color using the CC'MM'YK color model.
• the print head 50 has a total of 79,488 nozzles, with 39,744 main nozzles and 39,744 redundant nozzles.
• the main and redundant nozzles are divided into six colors, and each color is divided into 8 drive phases.
• Each drive phase has a shift register which converts the serial data from a head control ASIC 400 into parallel data for enabling heater drive circuits.
• Each shift register is composed of 828 shift register stages 217, the outputs of which are logically anded with phase enable signal by a nand gate 215.
• the output of the nand gate 215 drives an inverting buffer 216, which in turn controls the drive transistor 201.
• the drive transistor 201 actuates the electrothermal heater 200, which may be a heater 103 as shown in figure 1(b).
• the clock to the shift register is stopped the enable pulse is active by a clock stopper 218, which is shown as a single gate for clarity, but is preferably any of a range of weU known glitch free clock control circuits. Stopping the clock of the shift register removes the requirement for a parallel data latch in the print head, but adds some complexity to the control circuits in the Head Control ASIC 400. Data is routed to either the main nozzles or the redundant nozzles by the data router 219 depending on the state of the appropriate signal of the fault status bus.
• the print head shown in figure 4 is simplified, and does not show various means of improving manufacturing yield, such as block fault tolerance.
• Drive circuits for different configurations of print head can readily be derived from the apparatus disclosed herein.
• Digital information representing patterns of dots to be printed on the ⁇ * ecording medium is stored in the Page or Band memory 1513, which may be the same as the Image memory 72 in figure 1(a).
• Data in 32 bit words representing dots of one color is read from the Page or Band memory 1513 using addresses selected by the address mux 417 and control signals generated by the Memory Interface 418.
• These addresses are generated by Address generators 411, which forms part of the 'Per color circuits' 410, for which there is one for each of the six color components.
• the addresses are generated based on the positions of the nozzles in relation to the print medium. As the relative position of the nozzles may be different for different print heads, the Address generators 411 are preferably made progra_____able.
• Address generators 411 normally generate the address corresponding to the position of the main nozzles. However, when faulty nozzles are present, locations of blocks of nozzles containing faults can be marked in the Fault Map RAM 412. The
• Fault Map RAM 412 is read as the page is printed. If the memory indicates a fault in the block of nozzles, the address is altered so that the Address generators 411 generate the address corresponding to the position of the redundant nozzles. Data read from the Page or Band memory 1513 is latched by the latch 413 and converted to four sequential bytes by the multiplexer 414. Timing of these bytes is adjusted to match that of data representing other colors by the FIFO 415. This data is then buffered by the buffer 430 to form the 48 bit main data bus to the print head 50. The data is buffered as the print head may be located a relatively long distance from the head control ASIC. Data from the Fault Map RAM 412 also forms the input to the FIFO 416. The tinting of this data is matched to the data output of the FIFO 415, and buffered by the buffer 431 to form the fault status bus.
• the progr__mmable power supply 320 provides power for the head 50.
• the voltage of the power supply 320 is controlled by the DAC 313, which is part of a RAM and DAC combination (RAMDAC) 316.
• the RAMDAC 316 contains a dual port RAM 317.
• the contents of the dual port RAM 317 are programmed by the MicrocontroUer 315. Temperature is compensated by changing the contents of the dual port RAM 317. These values are calculated by the microcontroller 315 based on temperature sensed by a thermal sensor 300.
• the thermal sensor 300 signal connects to the Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) 311.
• the ADC 311 is preferably inco ⁇ orated in the MicrocontroUer 315.
• the Head Control ASIC 400 contains control circuits for thermal lag compensation and print density.
• Thermal lag compensation requires that the power supply voltage to the head 50 is a rapidly time- varying voltage which is synchronized with the enable pulse for the heater. This is achieved by programming the programmable power supply 320 to produce this voltage.
• An analog time varying progr * am ⁇ ning voltage is produced by the DAC 313 based upon data read from the dual port RAM 317. The data is read according to an address produced by the counter 403.
• the counter 403 produces one complete cycle of addresses during the period of one enable pulse. This synchronization is ensured, as the counter 403 is clocked by the system clock 408, and the top count of the counter 403 is used to clock the enable counter 404.
• the count from the enable counter 404 is then decoded by the decoder 405 and buffered by the buffer 432 to produce the enable pulses for the head 50.
• the counter 403 may include a prescaler if the number of states in the count is less than the number of clock periods in one enable pulse. Sixteen voltage states are adequate to accurately compensate for the heater thermal lag. These sixteen states can be specified by using a four bit connection between the counter 403 and the dual pott RAM 317. However, these sixteen states may not be linearly spaced in time. To allow non-linear timing of these states the counter 403 may also include a ROM or other device which causes the counter 403 to count in a non-linear fashion. Alternatively, fewer than sixteen states may be used.
• the printing density is detected by counting the number of pixels to which a drop is to be printed ('on' pixels) in each enable period.
• the 'on' pixels are counted by the On pixel counters 402.
• the number of enable phases in a print head in accordance with the invention depend upon the specific design. Four, eight and sixteen are convenient numbers, though there is no requirement that the number of enable phases is a power of two.
• the On Pixel Counters 402 can be composed of combinatorial logic pixel counters 420 which determine how many bits in a nibble of data are on. This number is then accumulated by the adder 421 and accumulator 422.
• a latch 423 holds the accumulated value valid for the duration of the enable pulse.
• the multiplexer 401 selects the output of the latch 423 which corresponds to the current enable phase, as determined by the enable counter 404.
• the output of the multiplexer 401 forms part of the address of the dual port RAM 317.
• An exact count of the number of 'on' pixels is not necessary, and the most significant four bits of this count are adequate.
• Combining the four bits of thermal lag compensation address and the four bits of print density compensation address means that the dual port RAM 317 has an 8 bit address. This means that the dual port RAM 317 contains 256 numbers, which are in a two dimensional array. These two dimensions are time (for thermal lag compensation) and print density.
• a third dimension • temperature - can be included. As the ambient temperature of the head varies only slowly, the microcontroUer 315 has sufficient time to calculate a matrix of 256 numbers compensating for thermal lag and print density at the current temperature.
• the microcontroUer Periodically (for example, a few times a second), the microcontroUer senses the current head temperature and calculates this matrix.
• the clock to the print head 50 is generated from the system clock
• JTAG test circuits 499 may be included.
• Invention compares the aspects of printing in accordance with the present invention with thermal inkjet printing technology.
• Thermal inkjet printers use the foUowing fundamental operating principle.
• a thermal impulse caused by electrical resistance heating results in the explosive formation of a bubble in hquid ink Rapid and consistent bubble formation can be achieved by superheating the ink so that sufficient heat is transferred to the ink before bubble nucleation is complete.
• For water based ink ink temperatures of approximately 280°C to 400°C are required.
• the bubble formation causes a pressure wave which forces a drop of ink from the aperture with high velocity. The bubble then collapses, drawing ink from the ink reservoir to re-fill the nozzle.
• Thermal ink jet printing has been highly successful commercially due to the high nozzle packing density and the use of weU established integrated circuit manufacturing techniques.
• thermal inkjet printing technology faces significant technical problems including multi-part precision fabrication, device yield, image resolution, 'pepper' noise, printing speed, drive transistor power, waste power dissipation, sateUite drop formation, thermal stress, differential thermal expansion, kogation, cavitation, rectified diffusion, and difficulties in ink formulation.
• Printing in accordance with the present invention has many of the advantages of thermal ink jet printing, and completely or substantially eliminates many of the inherent problems of thermal ink jet technology.
• yield The percentage of operational devices which are produced from a wafer run is known as the yield. Yield has a direct influence on manufacturing cost. A device with a yield of 5% is effectively ten times more expensive to manufacture than an identical device with a yield of 50%.
• FIG. 5 is a graph of wafer sort yield versus defect density for a monohthic fuU width color A4 head embodiment of the invention.
• the head is 215 mm long by 5 mm wide.
• the non fault tolerant yield 198 is calculated according to
• Mu ⁇ hy's method which is a widely used yield prediction method. With a defect density of one defect per square cm, Mu ⁇ hy's method predicts a yield less than
• Figure 5 also includes a graph of non fault tolerant yield 197 which explicitly models the clustering of defects by introducing a defect clustering factor.
• the defect clustering factor is not a controUable parameter in manufacturing, but is a characteristic of the manufacturing process.
• the defect clustering factor for manufacturing processes can be expected to be approximately 2, in which case yield projections closely match Mu ⁇ hy's method.
• a solution to the problem of low yield is to inco ⁇ orate fault tolerance by including redundant functional units on the chip which are used to replace faulty functional units.
• redundant sub-units In memory chips and most Wafer Scale Integration (WSI) devices, the physical location of redundant sub-units on the chip is not important However, in printing heads the redundant sub-unit may contain one or more printing acmators. These must have a fixed spatial relationship to the page being printed. To be able to print a dot in the same position as a faulty actuator, redundant actuators must not be displaced in the non-scan direction. However, faulty acmators can be replaced with redundant actuators which are displaced in the scan direction. To ensure that the redundant actuator prints the dot in the same position as the faulty actuator, the data timing to the redundant actuator can be altered to compensate for the displacement in the scan direction.
• the minimum physical dimensions of the head chip are determined by the width of the page being printed, the frag-lity of the head chip, and ma iufacturing corjstraints on fabrication of ink channels which supply ink to the back surface of the chip.
• the minimum practical size for a full width, full color head for printing A4 size paper is approximately 215 mm x 5 mm. This size allows the inclusion of 100% redundancy without significantly increasing chip area, when using 1.5 ⁇ m CMOS fabrication technology. Therefore, a high level of fault tolerance can be included without significantly decreasing primary yield.
• Figure 5 shows the fault tolerant sort yield 199 for a full width color A4 head which includes various forms of fault tolerance, the modeling of which has been included in the yield equation.
• This graph shows projected yield as a function of both defect density and defect clustering.
• the yield projection shown in figure 5 indicates that thoroughly implemented fault tolerance can increase wafer sort yield from under 1 % to more than 90% under identical manufacturing conditions. This can reduce the manufacturing cost by a factor of 100.
• fault tolerance is highly recommended to improve yield and reliability of print heads containing thousands of printing nozzles, and thereby make pagewidth printing heads practical.
• fault tolerance is not to be taken as an essential part of the present invention.
• FIG. 6 A schematic diagram of a digital electronic printing system using a print head of this invention is shown in Figure 6.
• This shows a monohthic printing head 50 printing an image 60 composed of a multitude of ink drops onto a recording medium 51.
• This medium wUl typically be paper, but can also be overhead transparency film, cloth, or many other substantially flat surfaces which will accept ink drops.
• the image to be printed is provided by an image source 52, which may be any image type which can be converted into a two dimensional array of pixels.
• Typical image sources are image scanners, digitally stored images, images encoded in a page description language (PDL) such as Adobe Postscript Adobe Postscript level 2, or Hewlett-Packard PCL 5, page images generated by a procedure-call based rasterizer, such as Apple QuickDraw, Apple Quickdraw GX, or Microsoft GDI, or text in an electronic form such as ASCII.
• PDL page description language
• This image data is then converted by an image processing system 53 into a two dimensional array of pixels suitable for the particular printing system. This may be color or monochrome, and the data wiU typically have between 1 and 32 bits per pixel, depending upon the image source and the specifications of the printing system.
• the image processing system may be a raster image processor (RIP) if the source image is a page description, or may be a two dimensional image processing system if the source image is from a scanner. If continuous tone images are required, then a halftoning system 54 is necessary. Suitable types of halftoning are based on dispersed dot ordered dither or error diffusion. Variations of these, commonly known as stochastic screening or frequency modulation screening are suitable. The halftoning system commonly used for offset printing - clustered dot ordered dither - is not recommended, as effective image resolution is unnecessarily wasted using this technique.
• the output of the h-dftoning system is a binary monochrome or color image at the resolution of the printing system according to the present invention.
• the binary image is processed by a data phasing circuit 55 (which may be inco ⁇ orated in a Head Control ASIC 400 as shown in figure 4) which provides the pixel data in the correct sequence to the data shift registers 56. Data sequencing is required to compensate for the nozzle arrangement and the movement of the paper.
• the driver circuits 57 wiU electronically connect the corresponding heaters 58 with the voltage pulse generated by the pulse shaper circuit 61 and the voltage regulator 62.
• the heaters 58 heat the tip of the nozzles 59, affecting the physical characteristics of the ink Ink drops 60 escape from the nozzles in a pattem which corresponds to the digital impulses which have been apphed to the heater driver circuits.
• the pressure of the ink in the ink reservoir 64 is regulated by the pressure regulator 63. Selected drops of ink drops 60 are separated from the body of ink by the chosen drop separation means, and contact the recording medium 51.
• the recording medium 51 is continually moved relative to the print head 50 by the paper transport system 65. If the print head 50 is the fuU width of the print region of the recording medium 51, it is only necessary to move the recording medium 51 in one direction, and the print head 50 can remain fixed. If a smaller print head 50 is used, it is necessary to implement a raster scan system. This is typically achieved by scanning the print head 50 along the short dimension of the recording medium 51, while moving the recording medium 51 along its long dimension.
• a printing speed of 60 A4 pages per minute (one page per second) will generaUy be adequate f or many applications.
• achieving an electronically controUed print speed of 60 pages per minute is not simple.
• the minimum time taken to print a page is equal to the number of dot positions on the page times the time required to print a dot divided by the number of dots of each color which can be printed simultaneously.
• the image quahty that can be obtained is affected by the total number of ink dots which can be used to create an image.
• approximately 800 dots per inch (31.5 dots per mm) are required.
• the spacing between dots on the paper is 31.75 ⁇ m.
• a standard A4 page is 210 mm times 297 mm. At 31.5 dots per mm,
• 61,886,632 dots are required for a monochrome fuU bleed A4 page.
• High quahty process color printing requires four colors - cyan, magenta, yeUow, and black.
• the total number of dots required is 247,546,528. WhUe this can be reduced somewhat by not allowing printing in a small margin at the edge of the paper, the total number of dots required is stiU very large. If the time taken to print a dot is 144 ms, and only one nozzle per color is provided, then it wiU take more than two hours to print a single page.
• printing heads with many small nozzles are preferred.
• the printing of a 800 dpi color A4 page in one second can be achieved if the printing head is the full width of the paper.
• the printing head can be stationary, and the paper can travel past it in the one second period.
• a four color 800 dpi printing head 210 mm wide requires 26,460 nozzles.
• Such a print head may contain 26,460 active nozzles, and 26,460 redundant (spare) nozzles, giving a total of 52,920 nozzles.
• Print heads with large numbers of nozzles can be manufactured at low cost This can be achieved by using semiconductor manufacturing processes to simultaneously fabricate many thousands of nozzles in a sihcon wafer. To eliminate problems with mechanical alignment and differential thermal expansion that would occur if the print head were to be manufactured in several parts and assembled, the head can be manufactured from a single piece of sihcon. Nozzles and ink channels are etched into the sihcon. Heater elements are formed by evaporation of resistive materials, and subsequent photohthography using standard semiconductor m-m-ifacturing processes.
• Figure 7 is a simplified view of a portion of a print head, seen from the back surface of the chip, and cut through some of the nozzles.
• the substrate 120 can be made from a single sihcon crystal.
• Nozzles 121 are fabricated in the substrate, e.g., by semiconductor photohthography and chemical wet etch or plasma etching processes. Ink enters the nozzle at the top surface of the head, passes through the substrate, and leaves via the nozzle tip 123.
• Planar fabrication of the heaters and the drive circuitry is on the underside of the wafer; that is, the print head is shown 'upside down' in relation the surface upon which active circuitry is fabricated.
• the substrate thickness 124 can be that of a standard sihcon wafer, approximately 650 ⁇ m.
• the head width 125 is related to the number of colors, the arrangement of nozzles, the spacing between the nozzles, and the head area required for drive circuitry and interconnections. For a monochrome head, an appropriate width would be approximately 2 mm. For a process color head, an appropriate width would be approximately 5 mm. For a CC'MM'YK color print head, the appropriate head width is approximately 8 mm.
• the length of the head 126 depends upon the application.
• Very low cost applications may use short heads, which must be scanned over a page.
• High speed applications can use fixed page- width monohthic or multi-chip print heads.
• a typical range of lengths for print heads is between 1 cm and 21 cm, though print heads longer than 21 cm are appropriate for high volume paper or fabric printing.
• monohthic printing heads is similar to standard sihcon integrated circuit manufacture. However, the normal process flow are modified in several ways. This is essential to form the nozzles, the barrels for the nozzles, the heaters, and the nozzle tips. There are many different semiconductor processes upon which monohthic head production can be based. For each of these semiconductor processes, there are many different ways the basic process can be modified to form the necessary structures.
• the process described herein is based on standard semiconductor manufacmring processes, and can use equipment designed for 1.5 ⁇ m line widths.
• TFT Thin Film Transistors
• the choice of the base technology is largely independent of the ability to fabricate nozzles.
• the method of inco ⁇ oration of nozzle manufacmring steps into semiconductor processing procedures which have not yet been invented is also likely to be obvious to those skilled in the art
• the simplest fabrication process is to manufacture the nozzles using silicon micromechanical processing, without fabricating active semiconductor devices on the same wafer.
• this approach is not practical for heads with large numbers of nozzles, as at least one external connection to the head is required for each nozzle.
• CMOS is currently the most popular integrated circuit process. At present, many CMOS processes are in commercial use, with line widths as small as 0.35 ⁇ m being in common use. CMOS offers the following advantages for the fabrication of heads:
• the substrate can be grounded from the front side of the wafer.
• CMOS has, however, some disadvantages over nMOS and other technologies in the fabrication of heads which include integrated drive circuitry. These include:
• CMOS is susceptible to latchup. This is of particular concern due to the high currents at a voltage typically greater than Vdd that are required for the heater circuits.
• CMOS is susceptible to electrostatic discharge damage. This can be niinimized by including protection circuits at the inputs, and by careful handling. There is no absolute 'best' base manufacturing process which is apphcable to aU possible configurations of printing head. Instead, the manufacmring steps which are specific to the nozzles should be inco ⁇ orated into the manufacturer's preferred process. In most cases, there wiU need to be minor alterations to the specific details of nozzle manufacturing steps to be compatible with the existing process flow, equipment used, preferred photoresists, and preferred chemical processes. These modifications are obvious to those skilled in the art, and can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
• Figure 8(a) shows an example layout for a section of an 800 dpi four color head.
• the nozzle pitch for 800 dpi printing is 31.75 ⁇ m.
• Figure 8(a) shows four rows of nozzles, for cyan, magenta, yeUow, and black inks. Each of these four rows contains four parallel ink channels.
• the ink channels are etched almost through the wafer and each contains 64 nozzles. Two ink channels are for the main nozzles, and two ink channels are for the redundant nozzles.
• the nozzles are spaced by two pixel widths (63.5 ⁇ m) along each ink channel.
• the nozzles in one of the two main ink channels for each color are offset by one pixel width (31.75 ⁇ m) from the nozzles in the other main ink channel.
• the redundant nozzles are arranged in an identical manner, but offset in the print direction.
• the ink channels do not extend the entire length of the print region of the print head, as this would mechanicaUy weaken the print head too much. Instead, ink channels containing 64 nozzles are staggered in the print direction. Using a staggered array of nozzles such as this requires that the data be provided to drive the nozzles in such a manner as to compensate for the nozzle offsets. This can be achieved by digital circuitry which reads the page image from memory in the appropriate order and supphes the data to the print head.
• Rectangular regions 100 ⁇ m wide and 200 ⁇ m long are shown along the short edge chip layout. These are bonding pads for data, clocks, and logic power and ground.
• the V * and V * bonding pads extend along the entire two long edges of the chip, and are 200 ⁇ m wide.
• Figure 8(b) is a detail enlargement of the ink channels and nozzles for one color of the print head shown in figure 8(a).
• the distance 4,064 mm is 64 times the nozzle spacing in a channel (63.5 ⁇ m).
• the distance 8,128 ⁇ m is 128 times the nozzle spacing in a channel.
• the distance 6790.6 ⁇ m is 4064 ⁇ m plus 2 * (1260 ⁇ m + (50 ⁇ m / tan 70.52°) + (50 ⁇ m / tan 54.74°) + 50 ⁇ m tolerance).
• the 50 ⁇ m tolerance is required because the wafer thickness may vary by as much as 25 ⁇ m.
• Figure 8(c) is a detail enlargement of the end of a single ink channel.
• the angles shown are due to the anisotropic etching process, and result from the orientation of the ⁇ 111 ⁇ crystaUographic planes.
• the distance from full wafer thickness to the point at the bottom of the ink channel is 1260 ⁇ m.
• This results from a (111) crystaUographic plane which is at an angle of tan '1 (0.5) 26.57° to the wafer surface.
• an extra length of 1260 ⁇ m must be provided at the ends of the slot to be etched.
• Figure 8(d) is a detail enlargement of two of the nozzles shown in figure 8(c).
• the nozzle radius is 10 ⁇ m, therefore the nozzle diameter is 20 ⁇ m.
• the nozzle barrel is shown as a dotted line.
• the nozzle barrel does not have a well defined radius, as it is formed by a boron diffusion etch stop for KOH etching.
• the distance from the edge of the nozzle to the edge of the ink channel is 15 ⁇ m. This is because the surface of the wafer is typically not perfectly ahgned to the (110) crystaUographic plane, but may vary by as much as ⁇ 1 °.
• a 1 ° tilt of the ⁇ 111 ⁇ crystaUographic planes wiU result in the bottom of the ink channels being displaced
• the line from A to B in figure 8(d) is the line through which the cross section diagrams of figure 9 are taken. This line includes a heater connection on the "A" side, and goes through a 'normal' section of the heater on the "B" side.
• the manufacturing process described herein uses the crystaUographic planes inherent in the single crystal sihcon wafer to control etching.
• the orientation of the masking procedures to the ⁇ 111 ⁇ planes must be precisely controUed.
• the orientation of the primary flats on a sihcon wafer are normally only accurate to within ⁇ 1 ° of the appropriate crystal plane. It is essential that this angular tolerance be taken into account in the design of the mask and manufacturing processes.
• a groove is to be etched along the long edges of a 215 mm print head, then a 1° error in the alignment of the wafer to the ⁇ 111 ⁇ planes controUing the etch rates wiU result in a 3,752 ⁇ m error in the width of the groove, given sufficient etch time.
• An alignment error of ⁇ 0.1° or less is required. This can be achieved by etching a test groove in an area of the wafer which is unused. The groove should be long, and ahgned to a (111) plane using the primary flat to ahgn the wafer.
• test groove is then over-etched using a solution of 500 grams of KOH per hter of water at 50°C to expose the ⁇ 111 ⁇ planes.
• This solution etches sihcon approximately 400 times faster in ⁇ 100> directions than ⁇ 111> directions.
• Subsequent angular ahgnment can be made optically to this groove.
• the wafer can be etched clean through at the groove, which may extend to the edges of the wafer. This wiU produce another flat on the wafer, ahgned with high accuracy to the chosen (111) plane. This flat can then be used for mechanical angular alignment
• the surface orientation of the wafer is also only accurate to ⁇ 1°.
• the first manufacturing step is the delivery of the wafers.
• Sihcon wafers are highly recommended over other materials such as gallium arsenide, due to the ava abihty of large, high quahty wafers at low cost the strength of sihcon as a substrate, and the general maturity of fabrication processes and equipment.
• the example manufacturing process described herein uses n-type wafers with (110) crystaUographic orientation.
• the wafers should not be mechanicaUy or laser gettered, as this wiU affect back surface etching processes.
• 150 mm (6") wafers manufactured to standard Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Institute (SEMI) specifications aUow 25 mm total thickness variation.
• SEMI Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Institute
• 200 mm (8") wafers are in use, and international standards are being set for 300 mm (12") sihcon wafers.300 mm wafers are especially useful for manufacturing heads, as pagewidth A4 (also US letter) print heads can be fabricated as a single chip on these wafers.
• Figure 9(a) shows a (110) n-type 300 mm wafer. The wafer shows
• Each print head chip is 215 mm long x 8 mm wide. These print heads can be used for US letter or A4 size printing, or as components in multi-chip print heads for A3 printing, sheet fed or web fed digital printing presses, and cloth printing.
• the boundary of each chip is etched with a deep groove. This groove can be etched before or after the fabrication of the active devices, depending upon process flow for the active devices. However, it is recommended that the grooves be etched after most fabrication steps are complete to avoid problems with resist edge beading at the grooves.
• Figure 9(b) shows a cross section of the boundary groove along the short edges of the chip. CrystaUographic planes of the ⁇ 111 ⁇ family control the etch direction, resulting in a slope of 26.56° in the groove.
• Figure 9(c) shows a cross section of the boundary groove along the long edges of the chip. CrystaUographic planes of the ⁇ 111 ⁇ family control the etch direction, resulting in vertical sidewalls in the groove.
• the grooves are only required for proximity print heads, and are formed so that the electrical connections to the print head do not protrude beyond the surface of the chip.
• the etching of these grooves is best performed after the fabrication of the active devices on the chip, and is described in steps 5) and 6) below.
• the active devices are then fabricated using a prior art integrated circuit fabrication process with double layer metal.
• the prior art process may be nMOS, pMOS, CMOS, Bipolar, or other process.
• the active circuits can be fabricated using unmodified processes.
• some processes wiU need modification to allow for the large currents which may flow though a head.
• a large head may have in excess of 28 Amperes flowing through the heater circuits when fuUy energized, it is essential to prevent electromigration.
• Molybdenum can be used instead of aluminum for first level metal, as it is resistant to electromigration.
• care must be taken not to damage underlying MOS or CMOS structures.
• the preferred method of preventing electromigration is the provision of very wide alun inum traces which form a grid over the surface of the print head. This approach does not require modification of the manufacturing process, but must be considered in the mask pattem design. The prior-art manufacturing process proceeds unaltered up to the stage of application of the inter-level dielectric.
• Etch the bonding pad grooves The etch can be performed by an anisotropic wet etch, which etches the [100] crystaUographic direction preferentiaUy to the [111] direction.
• a solution of 440 grams of potassium hydroxide (KOH) per hter of water can be used for a very high preferential etch rate (approximately 400:1).
• Figure 9(b) shows a cross section of V groove at the short edge of the heads after this etching step.
• Figure 9(c) shows a cross section of the boundary groove along the long edges of the chip. CrystaUographic planes of the ⁇ 111 ⁇ family control the etch direction, resulting in vertical sidewalls in the groove.
• a 0.5 ⁇ m layer of CVD SiO_ should be apphed after etching the V grooves to insulate the bonding pads from the substrate.
• Etch the inter-metal vias In some cases, this step may be able to be combined with the etching of the SiO 2 to form the mask for V groove etching. As the inter-metal SiO 2 is much thicker than normal, tapering of the via sidewalls is recommended. 8) Application of second level metal. As with the first level metal, electromigration must be taken into account Electromigration can be mininiized by using large line-widths for all high current traces, and by using an aluminum aUoy containing 2% copper. Molybdenum is not recommended due to the difficulty in bonding to molybdenum thin films. The step coverage of the second level metal is important as the inter-level oxide is thicker than normal. Also, the vertical sidewaUs of the V and V * grooves along the long edges of the chips must be coated. Adequate step coverage is possible by using low pressure evaporation.
• Via step coverage can be improved by placing vias only to areas where the first level metal covers field oxide.
• the preferred process is the deposition by low pressure evaporation of 1mm of 98% aluminum, 2% copper.
• the heater material for example 0.05 ⁇ m of TaAl aUoy, or refractory materials such as HfB 2 or ZrB 2
• the heater material can be apphed by low pressure evaporation or sputtering.
• the heater is masked as a disk rather than an annulus.
• the centre of the disk is later etched during the nozzle formation step. This is to ensure exceUent ahgnment between the heater and the nozzle. Heater radius should be controUed to finer tolerance than is generally available in a 1.5 ⁇ m process, and the use of a stepper for 0.5 ⁇ m process is recommended.
• Figure 9(f) shows a cross section of the wafer in the region of a nozzle after this step.
• 11) Apply a protective coating of Si 3 N 4 . This is apphed to the front face of the wafer only, and should be at least 0.1 ⁇ m thick to protect the front face of the wafer from attack by the long wet-etch of the back face of the wafer.
• Figure 9(g) shows a cross section of the wafer in the region of a nozzle after this step. 12) Mask the back surface of the wafer. Si 3 N 4 is used as a mask, as resist is attacked by the wet etching solution, and the etch rate of SiO 2 is too high (approx.
• the etch rate of Si 3 N is approximately 14 A/hour.
• Apply a 0.5 ⁇ m layer of Si 3 N 4 , to the back surface of the wafer, followed by spin coating with 0.5 ⁇ m of resist Expose and develop the resist on the back surface of the wafer using a mask of the ink channels.
• Ahgnment is taken from the front surface of the wafer by modified ahgnment optics of the lithography equipment Ahgnment of this step is not critical, and can be performed to an accuracy of approximately ⁇ 4 ⁇ m.
• the Si 3 N is then etched and the resist is stripped. 13) Etch the ink channels.
• the advantage of a wet etch over an anisotropic plasma etch is very low equipment cost combined with highly accurate etch angles determined by crystaUographic planes.
• the etchant exposes the ⁇ 111 ⁇ planes. Four of these planes are oriented at an angle of 90° to the wafer surface.
• the ink channels are oriented parallel to two of these parallel planes so that the ⁇ 111 ⁇ planes define the vertical sidewalls of the ink channels.
• a further two ⁇ 111 ⁇ planes are oriented at an angle of 26.56° to the wafer surface in the plane of the ink channels, and limit the etch depth of the ink channels.
• the ink channel mask must be made longer than the required channel length, so that the fuU etch depth is attained where required in the ink channel.
• FIG. 9(h) is a perspective view of some of the ink channels after etching. This view is from the back surface of the wafer.
• Figure 9(i) shows a cross section of the wafer in the region of a nozzle after this step.
• the ink channel etched into the sihcon from the rear of the wafer appears -.symmetrical because the line A to B is not straight: at the A side the cross section is pe ⁇ endicular to the ink channel, and at the B side the cross section runs along the ink channel.
• the Si 3 N 4 masking layer should not be stripped.
• Mask the nozzle tip using resist This must be performed accurately, as the ahgnment of the nozzle tip to the heater, and the radius of the nozzle tip, both affect drop ejection performance. These parameters should be controUed to an accuracy of better than 0.5 ⁇ m, and preferably better than 0.3 ⁇ m.
• Figure 9(j) shows a cross section of the wafer in the region of a nozzle after this step.
• the first step is the etching of the Si 3 N 4 layer.
• the second step is etching the heater. As the heater is very thin, a wet etch can be used.
• the third step is the etching of the SiO 2 forming the nozzle tip. This should be etched with an anisotropic etch, for example an RIE etch using CF 4 - H 2 gas mixture. The etch is down to sihcon in the nozzle region. The resist is then stripped.
• Figure 9(k) shows a cross section of the wafer in the region of a nozzle after this step.
• Etch the nozzle barrels This is also performed by a wet etch of the sihcon using KOH. Etching proceeds from both sides of the wafer at the same time, with etching from the rear occurring through the ink channels, and etching from the front occurring through the nozzle tip. Approximately 20 ⁇ m of sihcon thickness must be etched, 10 ⁇ m from each side. However, as the boron etch stop controls the geometry of the final nozzle barrel, etch time is not critical, and should be substantially longer than the mimmum etch time to accommodate 25 ⁇ m variations in wafer thickness and variable etch rates. Etch the wafer in a 50% solution of KOH in water at 80°C for 1 hour.
• Figure 9(1) is a perspective view of some of the nozzle barrels in two of the ink channels after this step. This view is from the back surface of the wafer, looking down into two adjacent ink channels.
• the circular apertures are the nozzle tips.
• the arrangement is for a 800 dpi printer with 31.75 ⁇ m pixel spacing.
• the nozzles in each channel are spaced at 63.5 ⁇ m, and are offset between the two channels by 31.75 ⁇ m.
• the diameter of the nozzle tip is 20 ⁇ m .
• the line A to B is the line of the cross sections in figure 9., as shown in figure 8(d).
• Figure 9(m) shows a cross section of the wafer in the region of a nozzle after this step. 17) Form the passivation layer.
• a hydrophobic surface coating may be apphed at this stage, if the coating chosen can survive the subsequent processing steps. Otherwise, the hydrophobic coating should be apphed after TAB bonding.
• hydrophobic coatings which may be used, and many methods which may be used to apply them.
• F*DLC fiuorinated diamond- like carbon
• amo ⁇ hous carbon film with the outer surface substantially saturated with fluorine is described in US patent number
• the exposed dielectric layer can be treated with a hydrophobising agent For example, if
• SiO_ is used as the passivation layer in place of Si_N 4 , the device can be treated with dimethyldichloro- lane to make the exposed SiO 2 hydrophobic.
• This wiU affect the entire nozzle, unless the regions which are to remain hydrophihc are masked, as dimethyldichlorosUane fumes wiU affect any exposed SiO ⁇
• the application of a hydrophobic layer is required if the ink is water based, or based on some other polar solvent. If the ink is wax based or uses a non- polar solvent then the front surface of the head should be lipophobic. In summary, the front surface of the head should be fabricated or treated in such a manner as to repel the ink used.
• the hydrophobic layer need not be limited to the front surface of the device.
• the entire device may be coated with a hydrophobic layer (or lipophobic layer is non- polar ink is used) without significantly affecting the performance of the device. If the entire device is treated with an ink repeUent layer, then the nozzle radius should be taken as the inside radius of the nozzle tip, instead of the outside radius. 19) Bond, package and test
• the bonding, packaging, and testing processes can use standard manufacmring techniques. Bonding pads must be opened out from the Si 3 N 4 passivation layer.
• the bonding pads are fabricated at an angle in the V groove, no special care is required to mask them, as the entire V groove area can be stripped of Si 3 N 4 .
• the resist must be stripped, and the wafer cleaned.
• wafer testing can proceed. Then the wafer is diced. The wafers should be sawed instead of scribed and snapped, to prevent breakage of long heads, and because the wafer is weakened along the nozzle rows.
• the diced wafers (chips) are then mounted in the ink channels. For color heads, the separate ink channels are sealed to the chip at this stage. After mounting, the chip is bonded, and dry device tests performed. The device is then be connected to the ink supply, ink pressure is apphed, and functional testing can be performed.
• Figure 9(0) shows a cross section of the wafer in the region of a nozzle after this step.
• 100 is ink
• 101 is sihcon
• 102 is CVD SiO-
• 103 is the heater material
• 105 is boron doped sihcon
• 106 is the second layer metal interconnect (alummum)
• resist 108 is sihcon nitride (Si 3 N 4 )
• 109 is the hydrophobic surface coating.
• the above manufacmring process is not the simplest process that can be employed, and is not the lowest cost practical process.
• the above process has the advantage of fabrication of high performance data distribution devices and drive transistors on the same wafer as the nozzles.
• the process is also readily scalable, and 1mm line widths can be used if desired.
• the use of l ⁇ m hne widths (or even finer geometries) allows more circuitry to be integrated on the wafer, and allows a reduction in either the size or the on resistance (or both) of the drive transistors.
• the smaller device geometries can be used in the following, or a combination of the foUowing, ways: 1 ) To reduce the width of the monohthic head 2) To increase the yield of the head, by inco ⁇ orating more sophisticated fault tolerance circuitry
• the process described herein is a preferred process for production of printing heads as it aUows high resolution, fuU color heads to inco ⁇ orate drive circuitry, data distribution circuitry, and fault tolerance, and can be manufactured with relatively low cost extensions to standard CMOS production processes. Many simpler head manufacturing processes can be derived. In particular, heads which do not include active circuitry may be manufactured using much simpler processes.
• the present invention is a method of achieving very high current delivery to print heads by utilizing the entire long edges of the print head as power terminals.
• V* and V * connections are fabricated as 200 ⁇ m wide strips of 1 ⁇ m a -iminum along the edges of the chip which are pe ⁇ endicular to the print direction.
• lines of aluminum extend from the V * connection until the row of nozzles closest to the V connection. These lines pass between every second nozzle, and are as wide as the device layout and process technology wiU allow. Lines of al-tminum extend from the V connection until the row of nozzles closest to the V * connection. These lines are interdigitated with the V * lines.
• This power supply configuration aUows tens of amperes to be supphed to print heads with very low electrical resistance and without significant temperature rise in the on-chip connections.
• the table "LIFT type A4-6-800" Appendix A lists some of the characteristics on one configuration of a pagewidth full color A4 print head.
• This print head is capable of printing 6 color A4 pages (using CC'MM'YK or other color models) at 800 dpi in approximately 1.3 seconds.
• the print head has 39,744 active nozzles. There are also 39,744 redimdant nozzles inco ⁇ orated for fault tolerance. A maximum of 4,968 nozzle heaters are activated at any one time.
• the head must be supplied with an average of 29.8 Amperes while printing full black This level of current supply is weU beyond the normal current supply to integrated circuits, so standard wire-bonded or TAB connections are not appropriate.
• the present invention provides a solution to the problem of high current power connections.
• Elongated bonding pads are formed along substantially the entire length of opposite edges of the chip.
• the V* connection is formed on one edge, and the V connection is formed on the opposite edge.
• the recommended edges to use are the edges pe ⁇ endicular to the print direction. This choice of edges has the foUowing benefits:
• the length of the edges, and thus the power connections is proportional to the number of nozzles, and therefore to the power supply current; 2) the current flow is evenly distributed along these edges;
• edges which are pe ⁇ endicular to the print direction are the longest edges, and will therefore support the most current
• the distance between the print head and the print medium is very small.
• Placement of the power supply rails on the edges perpendicular to the print direction simplifies construction of the print head assembly by allowing the data connections to be situated on the other edges, which in some configurations can be past the edges of the print medium.
• Figure 10 shows one possible basic layout for a 6 color 800 dpi A4 pagewidth print head.
• the print head is 215 mm long by 8 mm wide, and is fabricated from a single crystal sihcon wafer cut longitudinally from the boule.
• the crystaUographic orientation of the surface is (110).
• the ink channels and nozzles are anisotropicaUy etched using wet etchants which etch ⁇ 111> directions at a much slower rate than ⁇ 100> or ⁇ 110> directions.
• the V * and V- connections are fabricated as 200 ⁇ m wide strips of 1 ⁇ m aluminum along the edges of the chip which are pe ⁇ endicular to the print direction. lines of aluminum (not shown) extend from the V * connection until the row of nozzles closest to the V * connection.
• V lines pass between every second nozzle, and are as wide as the device layout and process technology wiU allow. With the parameters as shown here, the V " lines can be 30 ⁇ m wide. Lines of aluminum (also not shown) extend from the V- connection until the row of nozzles closest to the V * connection. These lines are interdigitated with the V * lines.
• Electromigration One problem which can occur with high currents in aluminum metallization is electromigration.
• the median time to failure (MTF) due to dectromigration of aluminum leads evaporated onto a cold substrate has been experiment-ally found to be approximated by: ,____, ⁇ .lxlO l6 AB MTF - e a
• ⁇ fTF is in hours
• A is the cross section of the lead in cm 2 ;
• B is a units conversion constant equal to 1 A 2 hour cm “ *;
• j is the current density in A cm '2 ;
• Figure 11(a) shows a possible nozzle placement for a small section of one color of an 800 dpi print head. There are four rows of nozzles shown, spaced at 6 pixel widths (190.5 ⁇ m). Two of the rows are for main nozzles, and two of the rows are for redimdant nozzles. The nozzles in each row are spaced at two pixel widths (63.5 ⁇ m), and offset from the adjacent row by one pixel width (31.75 ⁇ m).
• Figure 11(b) is a detail enlargement of a small section of figure 11 (a), showing three nozzles in one row. The diagram shows the no__de 200, drive transistor 201, and inverting buffer 216.
• Figure 11(b) shows wide vertical aluminum leads carrying the V * and V power supplies. Also shown are wide horizontal connections that join the V * and V lines between each row of nozzles, ensuring that the current flow for differing patterns of activated heaters is evenly distributed.
• Highest electromigration occurs where the power supply connections are the thinnest. This occurs between the nozzles of a row.
• a width of at least 30 ⁇ m is available for the V * line between each alternate nozzle when using the layout shown in figure 11 (b).
• the alternate spaces between nozzles can accommodate a V- line of approximately 30 ⁇ m.
• Each V * or V line carries 1/1653 of the total current being a maximum of 18 mA.
• the current is weU distributed over the various V* and V lines due to the matrix connections nmning along the chip.
• MTF 1.05 x 10* hours (approximately 12,000 years) This MTF is sufficiently large to indicate that electromigration is not a significant problem for print heads using the present invention.
• Electromigration can be further reduced by alloying a small amount (1% to 2%) of copper in the aluminum, and/or heating the substrate during evaporation to promote larger aluminum grain sizes.
• Connection of the V * and V connections to the power supply can be achieved in many ways, including, but not limited to: multiple spring contacts along the length of the V * and V pads, which can be formed from a single piece of slotted metal; connection to two rigid metal pieces along the length of the V * and
• V " pads using a conductive paste to ensure low ohmic connections; multiple wire bonds distributed along the length of the V * and V pads;
• TAB bonding involving the apphcation of solder bumps along the length of the V * and V " pads and apphcation of TAB film to the solder bumps.
• the region of the V * and V pads used for connections can be divided into 100 ⁇ m 'pads' which are aU electrically connected.
• Proximity print heads require the recording medium to be in close proximity to the nozzle tip.
• a preferred method of manufacturing pro-amity heads involves etching the nozzles through a substrate of single crystal sihcon. When the heads are manufactured in this way, the drive transistors and data distribution circuits can be fabricated on the same wafer as the nozzles and nozzle heaters.
• Recessing or chamfering of the substrate in the region of the bonding pads can be achieved by various means, but is preferably achieved by chemical etching.
• Recesses can be etched isotropicaUy or anisotropicaUy, and chamfering is preferably achieved by anisotropic etching.
• Figure 10 shows one possible basic layout for a 6 color 800 dpi A4 pagewidth print head in accordance with the invention.
• the print head is 105 mm long by 8 mm wide, and is fabricated from a 150mm single crystal sihcon wafer.
• the crystaUographic orientation of the surface is (110).
• the ink channels and nozzles are anisotropicaUy etched using wet etchants which etch ⁇ 111> directions at a much slower rate than ⁇ 100> or ⁇ 110> directions.
• the V * and V connections are fabricated as 200 ⁇ m wide strips of 1 ⁇ m aluminum along the edges of the chip which are pe ⁇ endicular to the print direction.
• the bonding pads 687 are formed as
• Figure 12(a) iUustrates the problem which occurs for proximity print heads where the surface upon which extemal connections are to be made is the same surface which must be in close proximity to the recording medium.
• the surface of the sihcon substrate 101 is approximately 20 ⁇ m from the recording medium 51.
• the wire bond 688 protrudes from the surface of the sihcon substrate 101 by several hundred ⁇ m, and interferes with the recording medium 51.
• Figure 12(b) shows a construction which solves this problem.
• the sihcon substrate 101 is cliamfered in the region of the bonding pads as shown in figure 9(b).
• This chamfering is achieved by anisotropic etching which etches the ⁇ 111> crystaUographic directions more slowly than ⁇ 100> or ⁇ 110> crystaUographic directions.
• the bonding connection 689 is achieved by a means, which may be Tape Automated Bonding (TAB) or other means, which does not protrude from the sihcon substrate in the region of the chamfer sufficiently to interfere with the recording medium 51.
• TAB Tape Automated Bonding

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• 1996
  • 1996-04-10 JP JP8531091A patent/JPH10501763A/ja active Pending
  • 1996-04-10 EP EP96912626A patent/EP0765238A1/de not_active Withdrawn
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