Huang Zheguan, Tang Yang, Liu Zhibin, Zhang Xiaofei, Zhou Yan, Xie Yonglin
Key Laboratory of Nanodevices and Applications, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China.
Gusu Laboratory of Materials, Suzhou 215123, China.
Micromachines (Basel). 2022 Mar 17;13(3):455. doi: 10.3390/mi13030455.
The process of fabricating chambers is becoming more important for inkjet printheads. However, there are some problems with the majority of present fabrication methods, such as nozzle structural deformation, blocked chambers, and collapsed chambers. In this paper, we propose a new process for preparing printhead chips by bonding tantalum nitride thin-film heaters and SU-8 chamber film using UV curing optical adhesive. This process simplifies the preparation process of printhead chips and overcomes the limitations of the traditional adhesive bonding process. Firstly, a chamber film was prepared by the molding lithography process based on a PDMS mold. The chamber film was then bonded with the membrane heater by the adhesive bonding process based on film transfer to form a thermal bubble printhead chip. Finally, the chip was integrated with other components to form a thermal inkjet printhead. The results show that the overflow width of bonding interface of 3.10 μm and bonding strength of 3.3 MPa were achieved. In addition, the printhead could stably eject polyvinyl pyrrolidone binder droplets, which are expected to be used for binder-jetting printing of powder such as ceramics, metals, and sand molds. These results might provide new clues to better understand the adhesive bonding process based on film transfer and the new applications of inkjet printheads.
对于喷墨打印头而言，腔室制造工艺正变得愈发重要。然而，当前大多数制造方法存在一些问题，比如喷嘴结构变形、腔室堵塞和腔室塌陷。在本文中，我们提出了一种通过使用紫外光固化光学粘合剂将氮化钽薄膜加热器与SU-8腔室薄膜进行键合来制备打印头芯片的新工艺。该工艺简化了打印头芯片的制备过程，克服了传统粘合剂键合工艺的局限性。首先，基于聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）模具，通过模塑光刻工艺制备腔室薄膜。然后，通过基于薄膜转移的粘合剂键合工艺将腔室薄膜与薄膜加热器键合，以形成热气泡打印头芯片。最后，将芯片与其他组件集成以形成热喷墨打印头。结果表明，键合界面的溢流宽度达到3.10μm，键合强度为3.3MPa。此外，该打印头能够稳定地喷射聚乙烯吡咯烷酮粘合剂液滴，有望用于陶瓷、金属和砂模等粉末的粘合剂喷射打印。这些结果可能为更好地理解基于薄膜转移的粘合剂键合工艺以及喷墨打印头的新应用提供新线索。
