Unit cell of a printhead for an inkjet printer

Abstract

The invention provides for a unit cell of a printhead for an inkjet printer. The unit cell includes a wafer substrate, a layer of micro-electromechanical drive circuitry deposited on the wafer substrate, and an interlayer dielectric deposited on the drive circuitry layer. The unit cell also includes a passivation layer deposited on the dielectric layer, the passivation layer defining a plurality of vias therethrough. Side walls are deposited on the heater element. A nozzle plate is positioned on the side walls so that the nozzle plate and the side walls form an ink chamber. A heater element is suspended from the sidewalls in said ink chamber. The heater element is connected to the drive circuitry layer through the vias. The unit cell has an ink channel defined through the wafer substrate and ends in an ejection nozzle in the nozzle plate.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.