Method for manufacturing orifice sheet

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a spray orifice sheet. The method comprises the following steps: preparing a spray orifice sheet material; coating a photoresistive material (photoresistive material) on the material of the orifice sheet; exposing and developing the photoresist material, patterning the orifice sheet material and the photoresist material, defining an orifice, and manufacturing an outlet diameter of the orifice by an etching process; etching the orifice sheet material and the photoresist material, and defining the diameter of an inlet of the orifice; removing the photoresist material from the orifice sheet material to form an orifice sheet; and preparing an ink jet wafer, and arranging the jet hole sheet on the ink jet wafer. The diameter of the spray hole inlet is larger than or equal to that of the spray hole outlet.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a nozzle sheet, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing a nozzle sheet with improved process for the nozzle sheet to meet more detailed inkjet pattern and manufacturing cost. BACKGROUND

[0002] Inkjet printing technology, commonly known as "Inkjet Printing", is a widely used printing technology, which can be traced back to the 1950s when the British HP company (Hewlett-Packard) invented inkjet printing technology. Since then, inkjet printing technology has developed rapidly, making inkjet printers the mainstream technology for home and commercial printing. Inkjet printers have many advantages, including: low cost, especially in terms of economic advantages for home and small business use; high printing quality, which can provide high resolution and high quality images, especially in terms of photos or pictures; easy to use, inkjet printers are easy to install, and most inkjet printers can be printed through a computer or mobile device. With the rise of multi-function devices (including fax, photocopying, scanning) in recent years, inkjet printers can quickly expand the flexibility of office paperwork.

[0003] The existing inkjet printing technology is increasingly diverse, from school and office inkjet printers to 3D printing or industrial printing on various material surfaces (such as printing labels), all of which require various types of optimized inkjet chips. For example, US Patent US9016836B2 describes a structure of an inkjet chip. Figure 3 of the '836 case discloses a stack structure composed of protective layer, resistance layer, thermal resistance layer, silicon carbide layer and other elements in its architecture. Ink flows from the lower layer of the inkjet chip through a ink flow channel to the above-mentioned element stack structure and then enters the ink supply chamber to supply the required printing, so that modern inkjet printing technology can achieve the purpose of printing high-resolution and high-quality images.

[0004] Further, the ink ejection nozzle plate has ink ejection nozzles. In order to achieve high resolution and high quality images during printing, the structure of the nozzles and the corresponding manufacturing method directly affect the physical properties of the ink flow, such as whether the atomization is uniform and whether the flow rate can be stably controlled, which directly affect the printing effect. In the current market, the demand for high printing quality is increasing. In order to make the printed pattern more detailed, it is necessary to miniaturize the size of the nozzles. The use of laser drilling and cutting forming technology in the manufacture of nozzle plates has some deficiencies in further miniaturizing the size of the nozzles. Therefore, a novel nozzle plate structure and a corresponding manufacturing method are proposed as the subject of the present invention. SUMMARY

[0005] The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a nozzle plate manufacturing method, including a nozzle plate and a corresponding inkjet chip. The structure of the nozzle plate is manufactured by semiconductor process, so that the size of the nozzles in the manufactured nozzle plate meets the requirements of pattern detail and resolution during inkjet printing. At the same time, the structure of the ink droplet generator can integrally form the ink supply chamber and the ink outlet on the barrier layer. This can not only maintain the performance of high resolution and high quality images in traditional inkjet printing technology, but also make the manufacturing process more convenient. The cost of the nozzle plate manufactured by the chip manufacturing method is greatly reduced, which further meets the cost requirements of various offices, businesses and industries, and achieves the purpose of improving the printing quality in the industry. The detailed technical solutions are described as follows.

[0006] A general embodiment of the present invention provides a nozzle plate manufacturing method applied to an inkjet chip structure, including the following steps: preparing a nozzle plate material; coating photoresist on the nozzle plate material; exposing and developing the photoresist to pattern the nozzle plate material and the photoresist, to make a nozzle and define a nozzle outlet diameter by etching process; etching the nozzle plate material and the photoresist to define a nozzle inlet diameter; removing the photoresist from the nozzle plate material to form a nozzle plate; preparing an inkjet chip and arranging the nozzle plate on the inkjet chip; wherein the nozzle inlet diameter is greater than or equal to the nozzle outlet diameter.

[0007] According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the thickness of the nozzle plate material is between 43um and 57um, the nozzle inlet diameter-nozzle outlet diameter is greater than or equal to 12um. According to another embodiment of the present invention, when the thickness of the nozzle plate material is between 20um and 30um, the nozzle inlet diameter-nozzle outlet diameter is greater than or equal to 8um.

[0008] According to an embodiment of the present application, the inkjet wafer comprises a plurality of ink drop generators, each of the ink drop generators comprises a wafer substrate, a thermal barrier layer, a heating resistor layer, a conductive layer, a protective layer, and a barrier layer, which are sequentially stacked to form a stacked structure, wherein the protective layer and the barrier layer have an ink chamber therebetween, and the ink chamber has an ink outlet at a top end thereof to connect to a nozzle of a nozzle sheet.

[0009] In the above embodiment of the present application, the thermal barrier layer is formed of an insulating material on the wafer substrate, the heating resistor layer is formed of a resistive material on the thermal barrier layer, the conductive layer is formed of a conductive material, a portion of the conductive layer is formed on the heating resistor layer, a portion of the protective layer is formed on the heating resistor layer, another portion of the protective layer is formed on the conductive layer, and the barrier layer is formed of a polymer material on the protective layer. In addition, the ink chamber and the ink outlet are integrally formed in the barrier layer, and the ink is supplied from a side of the ink chamber to the ink chamber through an ink supply channel in a direction parallel to a plane of the stacked structure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0010] The following detailed description of the application and the embodiments thereof should be considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0011] Figure 1 is a method flow chart illustrating a method for manufacturing a nozzle sheet.

[0012] Figure 2A is a method flow chart illustrating a method for manufacturing a nozzle sheet.

[0013] Figure 2B is a method flow chart illustrating a method for manufacturing a nozzle sheet.

[0014] Figure 2C is a method flow chart illustrating a method for manufacturing a nozzle sheet.

[0015] Figure 2D is a method flow chart illustrating a method for manufacturing a nozzle sheet.

[0016] Figure 3 is a configuration of a nozzle sheet and an inkjet wafer in an inkjet wafer structure.

[0017] Figure 4 is a stacked structure viewed from a perspective in an inkjet wafer structure.

[0018] Figure 5 is a stacked structure viewed from a perspective in an inkjet wafer structure. Figure 4 is a stacked structure viewed from a side in an inkjet wafer structure.

[0019] SYMBOL DESCRIPTION

[0020] 1: Inkjet chip structure

[0021] 10: Orifice sheet

[0022] 11: Orifice

[0023] 20: Inkjet chip

[0024] 21: Ink supply channel

[0025] 22: Ink drop generator

[0026] 221: Thermal barrier layer

[0027] 222: Heating resistor layer

[0028] 222a: Heating resistor

[0029] 223: Conductive layer

[0030] 224: Protective layer

[0031] 224A: First protective layer

[0032] 224B: Second protective layer

[0033] 224C: Third protective layer

[0034] 225: Barrier layer

[0035] 226: Ink supply chamber

[0036] 227: Ink outlet

[0037] 228: Chip substrate

[0038] ink flow: ink flow direction

[0039] 501: Orifice sheet material

[0040] 502: Photoresist material

[0041] D: Orifice exit diameter

[0042] L: Orifice entrance diameter

[0043] S1-S6: Method flow DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] The present application will be described in a more detailed manner with preferred embodiments and aspects so that the reader can have a thorough understanding of the implementation of the embodiments. However, those skilled in the art should understand that the present application can be implemented without these details. In addition, the present application can be applied and implemented by other specific embodiments, and the details described in the specification can be applied based on different needs, and various modifications or changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present application. Therefore, the present application will be described with preferred embodiments and aspects, which are explanatory of the structure of the present application and are used to illustrate but not to limit the scope of the patent application. The terms used in the following description will be interpreted in the broadest reasonable manner, together with the detailed description of a particular embodiment of the present application, and those skilled in the art can adjust the structure of the present application to meet the needs of the actual industry, as described above.

[0045] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 2A , Figure 2B , Figure 2C , and Figure 2D , in order to achieve the purpose of the present application, the present application proposes a method for manufacturing a nozzle sheet 10 applied to an inkjet chip structure 1, comprising the following steps: in process S1, preparing a nozzle sheet material 501; in process S2, applying a photoresist material 502 on the nozzle sheet material 501; performing process S3, exposing and developing the photoresist material 502 to pattern the nozzle sheet material 501 and the photoresist material 502, to make a nozzle 11, and to define a nozzle exit diameter D by etching process; in process S4, etching the nozzle sheet material 501 and the photoresist material 502 to define a nozzle entrance diameter L; and in process S5, removing the photoresist material 502 from the nozzle sheet material 501 to form a nozzle sheet 10; wherein the nozzle entrance diameter L is greater than or equal to the nozzle exit diameter D. According to an aspect and physical properties of the present application, for inkjet printing, when the nozzle entrance diameter L is less than or equal to the nozzle exit diameter D, the nozzle 11 will generate a larger flow resistance, and when the ink stays in the nozzle 11 due to the above-mentioned flow resistance, the inkjet chip 20 needs to heat the ink by a larger amount of heat energy to be able to eject the ink out of the nozzle 11, which will waste more energy. Therefore, during the manufacturing process of the nozzle sheet 10, the condition that the nozzle entrance diameter L is greater than or equal to the nozzle exit diameter D can make the inkjet process more energy-efficient, and since the energy of the ejection is small, the process of inkjet can also be more subtle in controlling the fineness of the pattern, and the manufacturing process can also achieve the purpose of further miniaturization of the nozzle sheet 10 which is traditionally made by laser drilling and cutting forming.

[0046] In the embodiment of the present application, the method for manufacturing the orifice sheet further comprises performing the procedure S6, preparing an inkjet wafer 20, and forming the orifice sheet 10 on the inkjet wafer 20 to form an inkjet wafer structure 1.

[0047] As mentioned above, according to the embodiment of the present application, when the thickness of the orifice sheet material 501 is between 43um and 57um, then the orifice inlet diameter L - orifice outlet diameter D is greater than or equal to 12um. According to another embodiment of the present application, when the thickness of the orifice sheet material 501 is between 20um and 30um, then the orifice inlet diameter L - orifice outlet diameter D is greater than or equal to 8um. In this way, the specifications of the orifice 11 are optimized for inkjet printing according to the needs of the application. According to the embodiments of the present application, the specifications of the orifice sheet material 501, the orifice inlet diameter L, and the orifice outlet diameter D allow the inkjet wafer structure 1 to correspond to a resolution DPI (Dots Per Inch) range of 150 to 48000 DPI.

[0048] Referring to Figure 3 , Figure 4 , and Figure 5 , according to the embodiments of the present application, the orifice sheet 10 can be configured in a manner adhered to the surface of the inkjet wafer 20, or can be formed on the inkjet wafer 20 by means of semiconductor processing. Wherein Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of Figure 3 , Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of Figure 4Fig. 6 is a schematic view of the stereoscopic view angle formed after a slight rotation (omitting the ejection orifice sheet 10), wherein the ink ejection chip 20 further comprises a plurality of ink droplet generators 22, including a chip substrate 228, a thermal barrier layer 221, a heating resistor layer 222, a conductive layer 223, a protective layer 224, and a barrier layer 225, to form a stack structure, each ejection orifice 11 corresponding to an opposite ink droplet generator 22. In addition, according to an embodiment of the present application, the chip substrate 228 can be made by a semiconductor process using a 3 to 20 inch wafer. In the above-mentioned embodiment of the present application, the thermal barrier layer 221 is formed on the chip substrate 228 by an insulating material, the heating resistor layer 222 is formed on the thermal barrier layer 221 by a resistive material, the conductive layer 223 is formed on the heating resistor layer 222 by a conductive material to form a heating resistor 222a, and the protective layer 224 is formed on the heating resistor 222a, wherein the protective layer 224 and the barrier layer 225 have an ink supply chamber 226, and the ink supply chamber 226 has an ink outlet 227 at the top end thereof to connect the ejection orifice 11. In addition, the other part of the protective layer 224 is formed on the conductive layer 223, and the barrier layer 225 is formed on the protective layer 224 by a polymer material, and the ink supply chamber 226 and the ink outlet 227 are integrally formed in the barrier layer 225, and the ink is supplied from the side of the ink supply chamber 226 in a direction parallel to the plane of the stack structure through an ink supply channel 21 to reduce the flow path during ink supply and increase the speed of ink supply, and the ink outlet 227 is connected to the ejection orifice 11, and the ink is ejected from the ejection orifice 11 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the stack structure. Figure 4 The ink flow is as described above, wherein the ink is supplied from the side of the ink supply chamber 226 in a direction parallel to the plane of the stack structure.

[0049] According to the present application, the material of the ejection orifice sheet 501 can be selected from one or more of polyimide (PI), metal, ceramic, or any combination thereof.

[0050] According to the present application, the thermal barrier layer 221 is formed on the chip substrate 228 by an insulating material, and the material of the chip substrate 228 is a silicon wafer, and the insulating material can be selected from one or more of field oxide (FOX), silicon dioxide (SiO2), silicon nitride (Si3N4), and phosphosilicate glass (PSG), or any combination thereof.

[0051] According to the content of the present application, the heating resistance layer 222 is formed on the thermal barrier layer 221 by a resistance material, which can be one of or any combination of polysilicon (Poly silicon), tantalum aluminum (TaAl), tantalum (Ta), tantalum nitride (TaN), tantalum disilicide (Si2Ta), carbon (C), silicon carbide (SiC), indium tin oxide (ITO), zinc oxide (ZnO), cadmium sulfide (CdS), hafnium diboride (HfB2), titanium tungsten alloy (TiW), titanium nitride (TiN).

[0052] According to the content of the present application, the conductive layer 223 is formed by a conductive material, which can be one of or any combination of aluminum (Al), aluminum copper alloy (AlCu), aluminum silicon alloy (AlSi), gold (Au), palladium (Pd), palladium silver alloy (PdAg), platinum (Pt), aluminum silicon copper (AlSiCu), niobium (Nb), vanadium (V), hafnium (Hf), titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), yttrium (Y).

[0053] According to the content of the present application, a portion of the protective layer 224 is formed on the heating resistance layer 222, and the other portion of the protective layer 224 is formed on the conductive layer 223, while the protective layer 224 is composed of a first protective layer 224A stacked on an under layer, a second protective layer 224B stacked on an upper layer of the first protective layer 224A, and a third protective layer 224C stacked on an upper layer of the second protective layer 224B (i.e., the stacking order from bottom to top is the first protective layer 224A, the second protective layer 224B, and the third protective layer 224C). The first protective layer 224A is a silicon nitride (Si3N4) material; the second protective layer 224B is a passivation material selected from one of silicon nitride (Si3N4), silicon dioxide (SiO2), titanium dioxide (TiO2), hafnium dioxide (HfO2), zirconium dioxide (ZrO2), tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5), rhenium heptoxide (Re2O7), niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5), uranium pentoxide (U2O5), tungsten trioxide (WO3), silicon oxynitride (Si4O5N3), and silicon carbide (SiC); and the third protective layer 224C is a metal material selected from one of tantalum (Ta), tantalum nitride (TaN), titanium nitride (TiN), and tungsten nitride (TiW). The number and material of the protective layer 224 can be adjusted and modified according to the degree of ink erosion, the thermal stress on the inkjet chip structure 1 caused by temperature changes during operation of the heating resistor 222a, and the product life cycle required by the inkjet chip structure 1. The first protective layer 224A, the second protective layer 224B, and the third protective layer 224C are only illustrative and not intended to limit the scope of the present application.

[0054] The barrier layer 225 is formed on the protective layer 224 by a polymer material, which is one of polyimide and organic plastic material; and the ink supply chamber 226 and the ink outlet 227 are integrally formed in the barrier layer 225, and the bottom of the ink supply chamber 226 is communicated with the protective layer 224, and the ink outlet 227 at the top of the ink supply chamber 226 is communicated with the nozzle 11.

[0055] According to the embodiment of the present application, the ink supply channel 21 in the inkjet wafer 20 can be 1-6 colors. If single color ink is provided, the single color ink can be cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) ink respectively. In other embodiments of the present application, the ink supply channel 21 can be 6 colors, which provides black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), light cyan (LC), and light magenta (LM) ink respectively. Of course, in another embodiment, the ink supply channel 21 can be 4 colors, which provides cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) ink respectively. The number of the above-mentioned ink supply channel 21 or the provided colors can be replaced or modified according to the actual application requirements.

[0056] In summary, the manufacturing method of the nozzle sheet of the present application includes the nozzle sheet and the corresponding inkjet wafer. The nozzle sheet manufactured by the semiconductor process improves the nozzle sheet manufactured by the traditional laser process. The nozzle of the nozzle sheet of the present application has a smaller size and a higher resolution, and the manufacturing process is more convenient.

[0057] The MJ25A-1340CN_24D8711TWCN_Simplified Chinese version can increase the performance of printing high resolution and high quality images in the inkjet printing technology, and can have sufficient manufacturing process convenience. The cost of the nozzle sheet manufactured by the process is greatly reduced, further meeting the cost requirements of various offices, businesses, and industries, achieving the purpose of improving the printing quality in the industry in the present application, and having high industrial applicability. The present application can be modified by those skilled in the art, but all modifications do not deviate from the protection scope defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a nozzle sheet, comprising: preparing a nozzle sheet material; coating a photoresist material on the nozzle sheet material; exposing and developing the photoresist material to pattern the nozzle sheet material and the photoresist material, thereby forming a plurality of nozzles and defining a nozzle exit diameter by an etching process; etching the nozzle sheet material and the photoresist material to define a nozzle entry diameter; and removing the photoresist material from the nozzle sheet material to form a nozzle sheet; wherein the nozzle entry diameter is greater than or equal to the nozzle exit diameter, and when the thickness of the nozzle sheet material is between 43 um and 57 um, the nozzle entry diameter - the nozzle exit diameter is greater than or equal to 12 um.

2. The method for manufacturing a nozzle sheet of claim 1, further comprising preparing an inkjet die, and disposing the nozzle sheet on the inkjet die, thereby forming an inkjet die structure. a portion of the conductive layer is formed on the heating resistor layer, a portion of the protective layer is formed on the heating resistor layer, other portions of the protective layer are formed on the conductive layer, an ink supply chamber and an ink outlet are integrally formed in the barrier layer, and the ink supply chamber is in communication with the protective layer at the bottom, and the ink outlet is in communication with the plurality of nozzles at the top.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the ink ejection chip further comprises a plurality of drop generators, the plurality of drop generators further comprising a chip substrate, a thermal barrier layer, a heating resistor layer, a conductive layer, a protective layer, and a barrier layer push-up to form a stack structure; wherein, 4. The method for manufacturing a nozzle sheet of claim 1, wherein the material of the nozzle sheet material is selected from one or more of polyimide (PI), metal, ceramic, or any combination thereof.

5. The method for manufacturing a nozzle sheet of claim 2, wherein the resolution range of the inkjet die structure is between 150 and 48000 DPI.

6. A method for manufacturing a nozzle sheet, comprising: preparing a nozzle sheet material; coating a photoresist material on the nozzle sheet material; exposing and developing the photoresist material to pattern the nozzle sheet material and the photoresist material, thereby forming a plurality of nozzles and defining a nozzle exit diameter by an etching process; etching the nozzle sheet material and the photoresist material to define a nozzle entry diameter; and removing the photoresist material from the nozzle sheet material to form a nozzle sheet; wherein the nozzle entry diameter is greater than or equal to the nozzle exit diameter, and when the thickness of the nozzle sheet material is between 20 um and 30 um, the nozzle entry diameter - the nozzle exit diameter is greater than or equal to 8 um.

7. The method for manufacturing a nozzle sheet of claim 6, further comprising preparing an inkjet die, and disposing the nozzle sheet on the inkjet die, thereby forming an inkjet die structure. a portion of the conductive layer is formed on the heating resistor layer, a portion of the protective layer is formed on the heating resistor layer, other portions of the protective layer are formed on the conductive layer, an ink supply chamber and an ink outlet are integrally formed in the barrier layer, and the ink supply chamber is in communication with the protective layer at the bottom, and the ink outlet is in communication with the plurality of nozzles at the top.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the ink ejection chip further comprises a plurality of drop generators, the plurality of drop generators further comprising a chip substrate, a thermal barrier layer, a heating resistor layer, a conductive layer, a protective layer, and a barrier layer push-up to form a stack structure; wherein, 9. The method for manufacturing a nozzle sheet of claim 6, wherein the material of the nozzle sheet material is selected from one or more of polyimide (PI), metal, ceramic, or any combination thereof. ​ 10. The orifice plate manufacturing method of claim 7, wherein the resolution range of the inkjet die structure is between 150 and 48,000 DPI.

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