Monolithic printhead with self-aligned groove and relative manufacturing process
AssigneeOlivetti Tecnost S.p.A.
InventorsRenato Conta, Anna Merialdo
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Abstract
A monolithic thermal ink jet printhead (40) comprising a groove (45), a plurality of chambers (74) and nozzles (56) is manufactured by means of steps of: (203, 205) partially etching the groove (45) by means of a “dry” process and a “wet” process; (210) depositing a plurality of sacrificial layers (54); (212) obtaining a plurality of casts (156); (216) completing the etching of the groove (45) by means of an electrochemical process; and (220) removing the casts (156) and the sacrificial layers (54) in such a way as to obtain a plurality of nozzles (56) and chambers (74).
Claims24
Thermal ink jet printhead (40) comprising nozzles (56), chambers (57) in turn comprising resistors 27, and a groove (45), made in a substrate (140), suitable for fluidly ducting ink (142) to said chambers (57)
- characterized in that said groove (45) comprises a first portion (45′) produced by means of a dry etching, and a second portion (45″) produced by means of an electrochemical etching.
Process for manufacturing a thermal ink jet printhead (40) comprising nozzles (56), chambers (57) and a groove (45) suitable for fluidly ducting ink (142) to said chambers (57), comprising the steps of:
- (200) arranging a wafer (66) containing a geometric reference (63), and having an upper face (170) and a lower face (171),
- characterized in that it also comprises the step of:
- (203) producing a first portion (45′) of said groove (45) by means of a dry etching on said lower face (171), and
- (216) producing a second portion (45″) of said groove (45) by means of an electrochemical etching.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.