Liquid discharge head, liquid discharge apparatus, and method of manufacturing liquid discharge head
AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation
InventorsMasashi Fujioka, Osamu Tonomura
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Abstract
A liquid discharge head includes a first substrate in which a nozzle is formed, a second substrate disposed above the first substrate, an energy generation element that generates energy for discharging a liquid by a drive signal being applied, and a vibration plate that vibrates by the energy generated by the energy generation element and that is stacked on the second substrate, in which the vibration plate has a first area and a second area positioned at a position different from the first area and having a lower elastic modulus than an elastic modulus of the first area.
Claims10
A liquid discharge head, comprising:
- a first substrate in which a nozzle is formed;
- a second substrate disposed above the first substrate;
- an energy generation element that generates energy for discharging a liquid by a drive signal being applied;
- and
- a vibration plate that vibrates by the energy generated by the energy generation element and that is stacked on the second substrate, wherein
- the vibration plate has a first area and a second area positioned at a position different from the first area and having a lower elastic modulus than an elastic modulus of the first area,
- the first area includes a first layer formed by a first material and a second layer formed by a second material,
- the second area includes a first layer formed by the first material and a third layer formed by a third material,
- the first material, the second material, and the third material are different materials,
- the first layer of the first area and the first layer of the second area have different thicknesses, and
- the first area and the second area have a substantially same thickness.
A method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head, comprising:
- a first step of forming a first layer containing silicon oxide containing silicon;
- a second step of stacking a zirconium-containing layer containing zirconium on the first layer;
- a third step of stacking a resist film provided with an opening on the zirconium-containing layer;
- a fourth step of removing a portion of the first layer and a portion of the zirconium-containing layer by etching using the resist film;
- a fifth step of removing the resist film;
- a sixth step of forming a second layer containing zirconium oxide by thermally oxidizing the zirconium-containing layer;
- and
- a seventh step of forming a third layer having a lower elastic modulus than an elastic modulus of zirconium oxide on the first layer, wherein:
- an area formed by the first layer and the second layer is a first area,
- an area formed by the first layer and the third layer is a second area,
- the first layer of the first area and the first layer of the second area have different thicknesses, and
- the first area and the second area have a substantially same thickness.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.