Inkjet wafer structure

Abstract

An ink-jet wafer structure is used for single-color and multi-color printing and comprises a spray hole sheet and an ink-jet wafer. And a plurality of spray holes are formed in the surface of the spray hole sheet. The orifice sheet is disposed on the surface of the ink jet wafer. The inkjet wafer also includes a plurality of ink droplet generators. Each ink droplet generator corresponds to one spray hole and is provided with a wafer substrate, a thermal barrier layer, a heating resistance layer, a conductive layer, a protective layer and a barrier layer which are sequentially stacked to form a stacked structure. The heating resistive layer includes a heating resistor for heating the ink. And the diameters of the spray holes of the spray hole sheet are different. And the heating resistor is arranged corresponding to the spray hole. And the areas of the heating resistors are equal.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to an inkjet chip structure, and more specifically, to an improvement in the efficiency of ink heating by modifying the configuration of the nozzles thereon. Background Technology

[0002] Inkjet printing, commonly known as "Inkjet Printing," is a widely used printing technology whose history dates back to the 1950s when it was invented by the British company Hewlett-Packard. 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 economical for home and small business use; high print quality, providing high-resolution and high-quality images, particularly for photos or pictures; ease of use, as inkjet printers are easy to install, and most can print via computer or mobile devices. Combined with the increasingly popular all-in-one office machines (including fax, photocopying, and scanning), they can rapidly expand the flexibility of office paperwork.

[0003] Existing inkjet printing technology has increasingly diverse applications, ranging from inkjet printers used in schools and offices to 3D printing and industrial printing on various material surfaces (such as label printing), all requiring various types of inkjet chips optimized for specific needs. For example, US Patent 9016836B2 discloses an inkjet chip structure, which in this '836 case... Figure 3 The paper reveals that the inkjet chip architecture includes a stacked structure composed of components such as a protective layer, a resistive layer, a thermal resistive layer, and a silicon carbide layer. The ink flows from the lower layer of the inkjet chip through an ink channel, passes through the stacked structure of the components, and enters the ink supply chamber to supply the printing needs. After being heated, the ink is ejected from the nozzle, enabling modern inkjet printing technology to achieve the goal of printing high-resolution and high-quality images.

[0004] However, although existing inkjet printing technology can meet various output needs in schools, office documents, 3D printing, and industry, the inkjet chip structures currently on the market have different characteristics. With larger nozzles, the heating resistors below them have larger areas, while with smaller nozzles, the heating resistors have smaller areas. This architecture, with smaller heating resistors, results in low heating efficiency due to their high resistance, requiring a longer heating time to eject ink droplets. Furthermore, this design of heating plates places high demands on the materials used in the heating resistors, which is detrimental to the current market demand for rapid ink droplet ejection and increased printing speed. Therefore, how to improve the inkjet chip structure to increase heating efficiency and printing speed to meet increasingly stringent market demands has become the subject of this invention. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The main objective of this invention is to provide an inkjet chip structure, including a nozzle sheet and a corresponding inkjet chip. By optimizing the nozzle arrangement structure of the inkjet chip and the size of the corresponding heating resistor, the configuration of the heating resistor and nozzle is optimized to improve heating efficiency. This inkjet chip structure can maintain the performance of printing high-resolution and high-quality images in traditional inkjet printing technology, while also having sufficient printing speed to meet various office, commercial, and industrial applications. This achieves the goal of improving the productivity of industrial document processing, and at the same time, the material requirements of the heating resistor can be further reduced to save the cost of producing inkjet chips, thus achieving the objective of this invention. For detailed technical solutions, please refer to the following description.

[0006] A broad embodiment of the present invention provides an inkjet chip structure for monochrome or multicolor printing, having multiple sets for supplying several colors of ink. Each set includes an orifice plate and an inkjet chip, wherein the orifice plate has several nozzles on its surface, which are disposed on the left and right sides of the orifice plate, and the inkjet chip further includes several droplet generators. Each droplet generator includes a chip substrate, a thermal barrier layer, a heating resistor layer, a conductive layer, a protective layer, and a barrier layer stacked sequentially to form a stacked structure. An ink supply chamber is located between the protective layer and the barrier layer, and the top of the ink supply chamber has an ink outlet connected to the nozzle of the orifice plate. The nozzles on the left and right sides have different diameters. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the heating resistor layer in the droplet generator includes a heating resistor, which is disposed below the corresponding nozzle, and the ink is heated by electricity provided by the conductive layer. The heating resistors on the left and right sides of the nozzle have equal areas.

[0007] In the above embodiments of the present invention, the thermal barrier layer is an insulating material formed on the wafer substrate, the heating resistance layer is a resistive material formed on the thermal barrier layer, the conductive layer is a conductive material, and a portion of the conductive layer is formed on the heating resistance layer, a portion of the protective layer is formed on the heating resistance layer, the other portion of the protective layer is formed on the conductive layer, and the barrier layer is a polymer material formed on the protective layer. In addition, the ink supply chamber and the ink outlet are integrally formed in the barrier layer, and the ink is supplied from the side of the ink supply chamber through an ink supply channel in a direction parallel to the plane of the stacked structure. Attached Figure Description

[0008] The following detailed description of the invention and the illustrated embodiments are intended to enable a fuller understanding of the invention; however, it should be understood that this is limited to providing a reference for understanding the application of the invention and not to limiting the invention to a particular embodiment.

[0009] Figure 1 Explain the configuration of the nozzle plate and the inkjet chip in the inkjet chip structure.

[0010] Figure 2A This describes the arrangement of multiple droplet generators within the inkjet chip.

[0011] Figure 2B The diagram illustrates the arrangement of the droplet generators within the inkjet chip, but omits the illustration of the nozzles being attached to the inkjet chip.

[0012] Figure 2C This invention describes the configuration of the nozzles on the surface of the inkjet wafer in a monochrome module, as described in one embodiment of the invention.

[0013] Figure 2D This invention describes the configuration of the nozzles on the surface of the inkjet chip in a monochrome module, as described in another embodiment of the invention.

[0014] Figure 2E In another embodiment of the present invention, the nozzle configuration of the inkjet wafer surface, which includes multiple modules, is described.

[0015] Figure 2F Explain the relationship between the area of ​​the nozzle in the nozzle plate and the area of ​​the heating resistor located below it.

[0016] Figure 3 It is the stacked structure seen from a three-dimensional perspective in inkjet chip structure.

[0017] Figure 4 It means Figure 2A In the middle, the A-A' cross section illustrates the stacked structure of the ink droplet generator as seen from the side view.

[0018] [Symbol Explanation]

[0019] 1: Inkjet chip structure

[0020] 10: Spray nozzle plate

[0021] 11: Spray nozzle

[0022] 20: Inkjet chip

[0023] 21: Ink supply channel

[0024] 22: Ink Droplet Generator

[0025] 221: Thermal barrier

[0026] 222: Heating resistance layer

[0027] 222a: Heating resistor

[0028] 223: Conductive layer

[0029] 224: Protective layer

[0030] 224A: First protective layer

[0031] 224B: Second protective layer

[0032] 224C: Third protective layer

[0033] 225: Barrier layer

[0034] 226: Ink Supply Chamber

[0035] 227: Ink outlet

[0036] 228: Wafer substrate

[0037] 23: Ink supply hole

[0038] A-A': Cross-section

[0039] D: Diameter

[0040] ink flow: direction of ink flow

[0041] 14: Ink supply chamber Detailed Implementation

[0042] This invention will be described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments and viewpoints to enable the reader to fully understand how these embodiments are implemented. However, those skilled in the art will understand that this invention can also be implemented without these details. Furthermore, this invention can also be used and implemented through other specific embodiments, and the various details set forth in this specification can be applied based on different needs, and various modifications or changes can be made without departing from the spirit of this invention. Therefore, this invention will be described with reference to preferred embodiments and viewpoints. Such descriptions are for explaining the structure of the invention and are only for illustration and not for limiting the scope of the patent application. The terminology used in the following description will be interpreted in the broadest and most reasonable way so that it can be used with the detailed description of a particular embodiment of the invention. Those skilled in the art can adjust the structure of the invention to meet the needs of actual industry according to manufacturing or application requirements, which is hereby stated in advance.

[0043] Please see Figure 1 , Figure 2A , Figure 2B , Figure 2C , Figure 2D , Figure 2E , Figure 2F , Figure 3 and Figure 4This invention proposes an inkjet chip structure 1 for monochrome and multicolor printing, having several modules (sets) supplying multiple colors of ink. Each module includes an nozzle plate 10 and an inkjet chip 20, wherein the nozzle plate 10 has several nozzles 11 on both sides of its left and right surfaces, and these nozzles are connected to the left and right surfaces of the inkjet chip 20. According to embodiments of the invention, the nozzle plate 10 can be disposed on the surface of the inkjet chip 20 in a bonded manner, or it can be formed on the inkjet chip 20 by semiconductor processes. The inkjet chip 20 further includes several droplet generators 22, each corresponding to a nozzle 11, and includes 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, which are stacked sequentially to form a stacked structure. An ink supply chamber 226 is located between the protective layer 224 and the barrier layer 225, and the top of the ink supply chamber 226 has an ink outlet 227 connecting to the nozzle 11 of the nozzle plate 10. The diameter D of the nozzles 11 on the left and right sides of the nozzle plate 10 is different, allowing the inkjet chip structure 1 to control the ink heating time using two different nozzles 11 according to the printing speed or printing parameters, thereby improving the ink heating efficiency. Furthermore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the chip substrate 228 can be fabricated using semiconductor processes on 3- to 20-inch wafers. In the above-described embodiments of the present invention, the thermal barrier layer 221 is an insulating material formed on the wafer substrate 228, the heating resistance layer 222 is a resistive material formed on the thermal barrier layer 221 for heating ink, the conductive layer 223 is a conductive material and is partially formed on the heating resistance layer 222 to form a heating resistor 222a, and the protective layer 224 is partially formed on the heating resistor 222a formed by the heating resistance layer 222. There is an ink supply chamber 226 between the protective layer 224 and the barrier layer 225, and the top of the ink supply chamber 226 has an ink outlet 227 connected to the nozzle 11. In addition, other parts of the protective layer 224 are formed on the conductive layer 223, while the barrier layer 225 is a polymer material and is formed on the protective layer 224. The ink supply chamber 226 and the ink outlet 227 are integrally formed in the barrier layer 225. The ink is supplied from the side of the ink supply chamber 226 through an ink supply channel 21 in a direction parallel to the plane of the stacked structure, so as to reduce the flow path of the ink during supply and increase the speed of ink supply.

[0044] Please continue reading. Figure 2C , Figure 2D and Figure 2E ,exist Figure 2C and Figure 2D The image shows an inkjet chip structure 1 for monochrome printing, while... Figure 2EThis describes a configuration of an inkjet chip structure 1 for multi-color printing. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the module (set) of the inkjet chip structure 1 includes a nozzle plate 10 and an inkjet chip 20. The inkjet chip 20 is provided with nozzles 11 and ink supply holes 23 corresponding to the colors. When multi-color printing is required, the inkjet chip structure 1 can be configured with multiple modules as needed, such as... Figure 2E As shown, each module has a corresponding ink supply hole 23 and a spray hole 11 to supply ink of different colors, and the number of modules can be set according to the required color.

[0045] Please continue reading. Figure 2C According to one embodiment of the present invention, the nozzles 11 connected to the left and right sides of the inkjet wafer 20 can be arranged in a double-row parallel structure; while in another embodiment of the present invention, please refer to Figure 2D The arrangement on both sides can be a double-row staggered structure of nozzles 11. According to one aspect of the present invention, and Figure 2C As explained in the description, since the nozzles 11 on the surface of the inkjet chip structure 1 are arranged in a double-row parallel structure, from the horizontal axis direction of the inkjet chip structure 1, it is equivalent to a printing point on the paper being printed twice simultaneously or intermittently by the two nozzles (two nozzles 11). This makes the printed colors more vibrant, and the ink required for printing can also be adjusted more finely through the double-hole printing method, which can also increase the color gradation combination during printing. In addition, according to another aspect of the present invention, in the double-row staggered nozzle structure, the two nozzles 11 in the horizontal direction are not arranged on the same horizontal axis. In addition to making the printed colors more vibrant and detailed, the printed pattern can also present a more layered visual effect according to the needs of the industry. Both of the above arrangement methods can be selected and configured according to the application needs.

[0046] Please continue reading. Figure 2FAccording to an embodiment of the present invention, the heating resistor layer 222 in the ink droplet generator 22 includes a heating resistor 222a. Each heating resistor 222a of the ink droplet generator 22 is provided corresponding to the nozzle 11, and the ink is heated by electricity provided by the conductive layer 223. Each heating resistor 222a corresponding to the nozzles 11 on both the left and right sides has an equal area. Thus, by using heating resistors 222a of the same size below nozzles 11 of both sizes, a wider range of materials for the heating resistor 222a can be selected. The selection of the heating resistor 222a is not limited by the heating resistor 222a of the smaller nozzle 11. At the same time, the two nozzle sizes 11 can be selected to eject ink from the larger nozzle 11 or the smaller nozzle 11 according to the needs of printing, thereby improving printing efficiency and achieving the objective of the present invention.

[0047] Please continue reading. Figure 3 and Figure 4 ,in Figure 4 for Figure 2A A-A' section view, Figure 3 Then it is a general Figure 4 The diagram shows a three-dimensional view formed after slight rotation, and the ink flow is as described above, where ink is supplied from the side of the ink supply chamber 226 parallel to the plane of the stacked structure. In this embodiment of the invention, the diameter D of the nozzles 11 on both sides is different to achieve the aforementioned goals of maintaining the performance of printing high-resolution and high-quality images in conventional inkjet printing technology, having sufficient versatility, and increasing industrial management efficiency and economic cost control. According to an embodiment of the invention, the DPI (Dots Per Inch) range corresponding to the inkjet chip structure 1 is between 150 and 48000 DPI, and the printable swath is between 0.25 inches and 12 inches.

[0048] According to the present invention, the thermal barrier layer 221 is an insulating material formed on the wafer substrate 228, the wafer substrate 228 is a silicon wafer, and the insulating material can be selected from one of field oxide (FOX), silicon dioxide (SiO2), silicon nitride (Si3N4) and phosphosilicate glass (PSG).

[0049] According to the present invention, the heating resistance layer 222 is a resistive material formed on the thermal barrier layer 221. The resistive material may be one of polysilicon, tantalum aluminide (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), and titanium nitride (TiN).

[0050] According to the present invention, the conductive layer 223 is a conductive material, which is one 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), and yttrium (Y).

[0051] According to the present invention, 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. The protective layer 224 is composed of a second protective layer 224B stacked on top of a first protective layer 224A, and a third protective layer 224C stacked on top of the second protective layer 224B (that is, 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 made of silicon nitride (Si3N4); 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 heptaoxide (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 metallic material selected from one of tantalum (Ta), tantalum nitride (TaN), titanium nitride (TiN), and tungsten nitride (TiW). The number and materials of the aforementioned protective layers 224 can be appropriately adjusted and modified according to the degree of erosion of each material by the ink, the thermal stress on the inkjet chip structure 1 caused by temperature changes when the heating resistor 222a is operating, and the required product life cycle of the inkjet chip structure 1. Similarly, the first protective layer 224A, the second protective layer 224B, and the third protective layer 224C described in this invention are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

[0052] The barrier layer 225 is a polymer material formed on the protective layer 224. The polymer material is either polyimide or an organic plastic material. The ink supply chamber 226 and the ink outlet 227 are integrally formed in the barrier layer 225. The bottom of the ink supply chamber 226 is connected to the protective layer 224, and the ink outlet 227 at the top of the ink supply chamber 226 is connected to the nozzle 11.

[0053] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the ink supply channel 21 in the inkjet chip 20 can be 1-6 colors. Figure 2A and Figure 2B The ink supply channel 21 shown is one of them, which can provide single-color ink, namely cyan (C): Cyan, magenta (M): Megenta, yellow (Y): Yellow, and black (K): Black. In other embodiments of the present invention, the ink supply channel 21 can be six-color, providing black (K): Black, cyan (C): Cyan, magenta (M): Megenta, yellow (Y): Yellow, light cyan (LC): Light cyan (LC): Light cyan (LM): Light magenta (LM): Light cyan (LM): Light cyan (LM): Black (LM): Black (LM): Black (LM): Black (LM): Black (LM): Black (LM): Black (LM): Yellow (Y): Yellow (LM): Black ...

[0054] In summary, this invention provides an inkjet chip structure, including a nozzle plate and an inkjet chip. By improving the nozzle configuration and corresponding heating resistors, the heating efficiency of the ink is improved. This allows for the widest industrial application of an inkjet chip architecture. Furthermore, by integrally molding the ink supply chamber and ink outlet of the droplet generator into the barrier layer, the inkjet chip manufactured with this architecture can maintain the high-resolution inkjet printing design of traditional inkjet printing technology, making it highly applicable to industry.

[0055] This invention may be modified in various ways by those skilled in the art, but none of these modifications shall depart from the scope of protection defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An inkjet chip structure, comprising: a nozzle sheet having a plurality of nozzles formed on a surface thereof; and an inkjet chip having the nozzle sheet formed on a surface thereof; wherein the inkjet chip comprises a plurality of drop generators, each of the drop generators corresponding to one of the nozzles, and having a chip substrate, a thermal barrier layer, a heating resistor layer, a conductive layer, a protective layer, and a barrier layer, and sequentially stacked to form a stacked structure; wherein the conductive layer is partially formed on the heating resistor layer, the protective layer is partially formed on a heating resistor formed by the heating resistor layer, the protective layer is partially formed on the conductive layer, an ink chamber and an ink outlet are integrally formed in the barrier layer, and the ink chamber is in communication with the protective layer at a bottom thereof, and the ink outlet is in communication with the nozzle at a top thereof; wherein the plurality of nozzles of the nozzle sheet have different diameters; wherein each of the heating resistors is formed corresponding to one of the nozzles, and each of the heating resistors has an equal area.

2. The inkjet chip structure of claim 1, wherein the thermal barrier layer is an insulating material selected from one of field oxide (FOX), silicon dioxide (SiO2), silicon nitride (Si3N4), and phosphosilicate glass (PSG).

3. The inkjet chip structure of claim 1, wherein the heating resistor layer is a resistive material selected from one of polysilicon, 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 (TiW), titanium nitride (TiN).

4. The inkjet chip structure of claim 1, wherein the conductive layer is a conductive material selected from one 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).

5. The inkjet chip structure of claim 1, wherein the protective layer comprises a first protective layer, a second protective layer, and a third protective layer, and the first protective layer, the second protective layer, and the third protective layer are sequentially stacked from bottom to top.

6. The inkjet chip structure of claim 5, wherein the first protective layer is silicon nitride (Si3N4).

7. The inkjet wafer structure of claim 5, wherein the second protective layer 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), silicon carbide (SiC).

8. The inkjet wafer structure of claim 5, wherein the third protective layer is a metal material selected from one of tantalum (Ta), tantalum nitride (TaN), titanium nitride (TiN), tungsten nitride (TiW).

9. The inkjet wafer structure of claim 1, wherein the barrier layer is a polymer material selected from one of polyimide (POLYIMIDE), organic plastic material.

10. The inkjet wafer structure of claim 1, wherein the ink supply chamber comprises an ink supply channel disposed on a side of the ink supply chamber, and ink is supplied in a direction parallel to the plane of the stacked structure.

11. The inkjet wafer structure of claim 10, wherein the ink supply channel can be 1-6 colors.

12. The inkjet wafer structure of claim 1, wherein the inkjet wafer structure can correspond to a resolution DPI range of 150-48000 DPI, and a printable range of 0.25 inch-12 inches.

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