US 6,485,130 B2Granted

Bonding process

AssigneeXerox Corporation

InventorsLisa A. DeLouise, David J. Luca

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Abstract

Disclosed is a process for bonding a first article to a second article which comprises (a) providing a first article comprising a polymer having photosensitivity-imparting substituents; (b) providing a second article comprising metal, plasma nitride, silicon, or glass; (c) applying to at least one of the first article and the second article an adhesion promoter selected from silanes, titanates, or zirconates having (i) alkoxy, aryloxy, or arylalkyloxy functional groups and (ii) functional groups including at least one photosensitive aliphatic >C═C< linkage; (d) placing the first article in contact with the second article; and (e) exposing the first article, second article, and adhesion promoter to radiation, thereby bonding the first article to the second article with the adhesion promote. In one embodiment of the present invention, the adhesion promoter is employed in microelectrical mechanical systems such as thermal ink jet printheads.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An ink jet printhead which comprises (i) an upper substrate with a set of parallel grooves for subsequent use as ink channels and a recess for subsequent use as a manifold, the grooves being open at one end for serving as droplet emitting nozzles, (ii) a lower substrate in which one surface thereof has an array of heating elements and addressing electrodes formed thereon, at least a portion of said surface comprising metal, plasma nitride, silicon, or glass, and (iii) an insulative layer deposited on the surface of the lower substrate and over the heating elements and addressing electrodes and patterned to form recesses therethrough to expose the heating elements and terminal ends of the addressing electrodes, the upper and lower substrates being aligned, mated, and bonded together to form the printhead with the grooves in the upper substrate being aligned with the heating elements in the lower substrate to form droplet emitting nozzles, said insulative layer comprising a crosslinked or chain extended polymer wherein the crosslinking or chain extension is at least partly through photosensitivity-imparting substituents;

said insulative layer being bonded to the surface of the lower substrate with an adhesion promoter selected from silanes, titanates, or zirconates having (a) alkoxy, aryloxy, or arylalkyloxy functional groups and (b) functional groups including at least one photosensitive aliphatic >C═C< linkage.

A process for forming an ink jet printhead which comprises (a) providing a lower substrate in which one surface thereof has an array of heating elements and addressing electrodes having terminal ends formed thereon, at least a portion of said surface comprising metal, plasma nitride, silicon, or glass;

(b) depositing onto the surface of the lower substrate having the heating elements and addressing electrodes thereon an adhesion promoter selected from silanes, titanates, or zirconates having (i) alkoxy, aryloxy, or arylalkyloxy functional groups and (ii) functional groups including at least one photosensitive aliphatic >C═C< linkage;
(c) depositing onto the surface of the lower substrate having the adhesion promoter thereon an insulative layer comprising a polymer having photosensitivity-imparting substituents, provided that the R2 group of the adhesion promoter contains a functional group which is capable of reacting with the material selected for the insulative layer;
(d) exposing the adhesion promoter and the insulative layer to actinic radiation in an imagewise pattern such that the polymer comprising the insulative layer in exposed areas becomes crosslinked or chain extended and the polymer in unexposed areas does not become crosslinked or chain extended, wherein the unexposed areas correspond to areas of the lower substrate having thereon the heating elements and the terminal ends of the addressing electrodes, and wherein the insulative layer is bonded to the lower substrate with the adhesion promoter in exposed areas;
(e) removing the adhesion promoter and the polymer from the unexposed areas, thereby forming recesses in the layer, said recesses exposing the heating elements and the terminal ends of the addressing electrodes;
(f) providing an upper substrate with a set of parallel grooves for subsequent use as ink channels and a recess for subsequent use as a manifold, the grooves being open at one end for serving as droplet emitting nozzles;
and (g) aligning, mating, and bonding the upper and lower substrates together to form a printhead with the grooves in the upper substrate being aligned with the heating elements in the lower substrate to form droplet emitting nobles, thereby forming a thermal ink jet printhead.

3 more elements

An ink jet printhead which comprises (i) an upper substrate with a set of parallel grooves for subsequent use as ink channels and a recess for subsequent use as a manifold, the grooves being open at one end for serving as droplet emitting nozzles, (ii) a lower substrate in which one surface thereof has an array of heating elements and addressing electrodes formed thereon, at least a portion of said surface comprising metal, plasma nitride, silicon, or glass, and (iii) an insulative layer deposited on the surface of the lower substrate and over the heating elements and addressing electrodes and patterned to form recesses therethrough to expose the heating elements and terminal ends of the addressing electrodes, the upper and lower substrates being aligned, mated, and bonded together to form the printhead with the grooves in the upper substrate being aligned with the heating elements in the lower substrate to form droplet emitting nozzles, said insulative layer comprising (a) a crosslinked or chain extended polymer wherein the crosslinking or chain extension is at least partly through photosensitivity-imparting substituents, and (b) an adhesion promoter selected from silanes, titanates, or zirconates having (1) alkoxy, aryloxy, or arylalkyloxy functional groups and (2) functional groups including at least one photosensitive aliphatic >C═C< linkage.

(b) depositing onto the surface of the lower substrate an insulative layer comprising (i) a polymer having photosensitivity-imparting substituents, and (ii) an adhesion promoter selected from silanes, titanates, or zirconates having (A) alkoxy, aryloxy, or arylalkyloxy functional groups and (B) functional groups including at least one photosensitive aliphatic >C═C< linkage;
(c) exposing the insulative layer to actinic radiation in an imagewise pattern such that the polymer comprising the insulative layer in exposed areas becomes crosslinked or chain extended and the polymer in unexposed areas does not become crosslinked or chain extended, wherein the unexposed areas correspond to areas of the lower substrate having thereon the heating elements and the terminal ends of the addressing electrodes, and wherein the insulative layer is bonded to the lower substrate in exposed areas;
(d) removing the adhesion promoter and the polymer from the unexposed areas, thereby forming recesses in the layer, said recesses exposing the heating elements and the terminal ends of the addressing electrodes;
(e) providing an upper substrate with a set of parallel grooves for subsequent use as ink channels and a recess for subsequent use as a manifold, the grooves being open at one end for serving as droplet emitting nozzles;
and (f) aligning, mating, and bonding the upper and lower substrates together to form a printhead with the grooves in the upper substrate being aligned with the heating elements in the lower substrate to form droplet emitting nozzles, thereby forming a thermal ink jet printhead.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/844,371Filed 27 Apr 2001 · division
Priority: 26 Jun 1998
Published: US 2001/0025690 A14 Oct 2001
Granted: 26 Nov 2002
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification24 codes

C09J 5/02
Adhesive processes in general; Adhesive processes not provided for elsewhere, e.g. relating to primers: involving pretreatment of the surfaces to…
B41J 2/16
Nozzles: production of nozzles
B41J 2/1623
Manufacturing processes: bonding and adhesion
B41J 2/1628
Etching: dry etching