Inkjet printhead with encapsulant-retaining features

A MEMS chip assembly comprising:

• a support structure having a chip mounting surface;
• a MEMS chip mounted on the chip mounting surface, each MEMS chip having an active surface including one or more rows of MEMS devices and a row of bond pads disposed alongside a connection edge of the MEMS chip and parallel with the rows of MEMS devices;
• electrical connectors connected to the bond pads;
• and
• an encapsulant material covering the electrical connectors,
• wherein:
• the MEMS chip has multiple rows of encapsulant-retaining trenches defined in the active surface;
• the multiple rows of encapsulant-retaining trenches extend parallel with the rows of MEMS devices;
• a distance between neighboring encapsulant-retaining trenches is greater than a width of each encapsulant-retaining trench;
• the multiple rows of encapsulant-retaining trenches are disposed between the bond pads and the MEMS devices;
• and
• the encapsulant material does not encroach past the encapsulant-retaining trenches towards the MEMS devices.