Lexmark International, Inc.

Funai Electric Company Ltd.

James M Mrvos

Andrew McNees

Carl Edmond Sullivan

John William Krawczyk

Girish Shivaji Patil

Karthik Vaideeswaran

Bradley Leonard Beach

David L Bernard

Gary Raymond Williams

Terence E Franey

Brian Christopher Hart

Jason Todd Vanderpool

Ann M Piekunka

Agnes Kam Zimmer

Christopher John Money

James Harold Powers

Richard Lee Warner

Mark Doerre

Jeanne M Saldanha Singh

Rodney O Aulick

Jerry F Stone

Jing X Sun

Ashok Murthy

Sean Terrance Weaver

Jeanne Marie Saldanha Singh

Ajay Kanubhai Suthar

Paul Timothy Spivey

James F Feeman

Paul William Dryer

Jiandong Fang

Ann P Holloway

Cory Nathan Hammond

Kent Lee Ubellacker

Craig Michael Bertelsen

Colin G Maher

Kin Ming Kwan

Richard B Watkins

Melissa Marie Waldeck

Eric Spencer Hall

Mary Claire Smoot

Michael Raulinaitis

William David Kappele

David Bruce Rhine

Jan Richard DeMeerleer

Ashok Vishnu Gangal

Shauna Marie Leis

Jeffrey H Paterra

Matthew D Clift

David G Vella

Qing Ming Wang

Disclosed is a method for fabricating a fluid ejection device. The method includes forming a drive circuitry layer on a substrate. The method further includes fabricating at least one fluid ejection element on the substrate. Furthermore, the method includes forming at least one slot within a top portion of the substrate, and forming at least one fluid feed trench within a bottom portion of the substrate. Each fluid feed trench of the at least one fluid feed trench is in fluid communication with one or more slots of the at least one slot. Additionally, the method includes laminating a flow feature layer and a nozzle plate over the substrate having the at least one slot and the at least one fluid feed trench formed therewithin. Further disclosed is a fluid ejection device fabricated using the aforementioned method.

Method for fabricating fluid ejection device

A method for fabricating a fluid ejection device includes forming a drive circuitry layer on a substrate, fabricating at least one fluid ejection element on a top portion of the substrate, grinding the substrate from a bottom portion of the substrate up to a predetermined height, etching the top portion of the substrate to configure at least one slot within the top portion of the substrate, depositing a layer of an etch-stop material over the top portion of the substrate while filling the at least one slot with the etch-stop material, etching the bottom portion of the substrate to configure at least one fluid feed trench within the bottom portion of the substrate, removing the layer of the etch-stop material from the top portion of the substrate, and laminating a flow feature layer and a nozzle plate as a single unit over the top portion of the substrate.

A method for fabricating an ejection chip of a fluid ejection device includes forming a drive circuitry layer on a substrate, fabricating at least one fluid ejection element on the substrate, forming at least one slot within a top portion of the substrate, filling each slot of the at least one slot with a protective material, grinding the substrate from a bottom portion of the substrate up to a predetermined height, removing the protective material from the each slot of the at least one slot, and laminating a flow feature layer and a nozzle plate over the substrate having the at least one slot.

Disclosed is a substrate structure for an ejection chip that includes a first substrate layer, a second substrate layer disposed beneath the first substrate layer, and an intermediate layer configured between the first substrate layer and the second substrate layer. The substrate structure also includes a plurality of fluid channels configured within the second substrate layer. Further, the substrate structure includes a plurality of fluid ports configured within the first substrate layer. At least one fluid port of the plurality of fluid ports is configured in alignment with a corresponding fluid channel of the plurality of fluid channels. Furthermore, the substrate structure includes a plurality of slots configured within the intermediate layer such that the at least one fluid port is in fluid communication with the corresponding fluid channel. Further disclosed is a method for fabricating the substrate structure and an ejection chip employing the substrate structure.

Substrate structure for ejection chip and method for fabricating substrate structure

A method of etching a semiconductor substrate. The method includes the steps of applying a photoresist etch mask layer to a device surface of the substrate. A select first area of the photoresist etch mask is masked, imaged and developed. A select second area of the photoresist etch mask layer is irradiated to assist in post etch stripping of the etch mask layer from the select second area. The substrate is etched to form fluid supply slots through a thickness of the substrate. At least the select second area of the etch mask layer is removed from the substrate, whereby mask layer residue formed from the select second area of the etch mask layer is significantly reduced.

Method for making a micro-fluid ejection device

Methods of forming a fluid channel in a semiconductor substrate may include providing a semiconductor substrate having a backside and a device side, wherein the device side is configured to secure ink ejecting devices thereon and applying a material layer to the backside of the semiconductor substrate. The method may further include providing a gray scale mask configured with a pattern corresponding to a fluid channel having a plurality of slots, exposing the material layer to sufficient light radiation energy through the gray scale mask and etching the exposed material layer and the semiconductor substrate through to the device side of the semiconductor substrate.

Fluid ejection device structures and methods therefor

A method of substantially simultaneously forming at least two fluid supply slots through a thickness of semiconductor substrate from a first surface to a second surface thereof. The method includes the steps of applying a photoresist layer to the first surface of the semiconductor substrate. The photoresist layer is patterned and developed using a gray scale mask for a first fluid supply slot. The semiconductor substrate is then reactive ion etched, to form the at least two fluid supply slots through the thickness of the substrate. The first fluid supply slot is substantially wider than the second fluid supply slot, and the first and second fluid supply slots are etched through the substrate at substantially the same rate.

Methods of deep reactive ion etching

The present disclosure provides a method of cleaning a semiconductor substrate after a DRIE etch process, wherein residue from the DRIE process is removed without damaging the substrate. The process may include contacting the micro-fluid ejection head with an aqueous solution of TMAH, stripping a photoresist etch mask from the micro-fluid ejection head, and dissolving a passivating coating from the substrate. Then the substrate may be contacted with an acidic solution. The method may further include rinsing and drying the substrate.

Method of removing residue from a substrate after a DRIE process

A method for improving fluidic flow for a microfluidic device having a through hole or slot therein. The method includes the steps of forming one or more openings through at least part of a thickness of a substrate from a first surface to an opposite second surface using a reactive ion etching process whereby an etch stop layer is applied to side wall surfaces in the one or more openings during alternating etching and passivating steps as the openings are etched through at least a portion of the substrate. Substantially all of the etch stop layer coating is removed from the side wall surfaces by treating the side wall surfaces using a method selected from chemical treatment and mechanical treatment, whereby a surface energy of the treated side wall surfaces is increased relative to a surface energy of the side wall surfaces containing the etch stop layer coating.

Microfluidic substrates having improved fluidic channels

A radiation curable resin composition having improved flexibility. The radiation curable composition having from about 5 to about 50 weight percent of a difunctional polymeric compound; from about 1 to about 10 weight percent of a photoinitiator; from about 1 to about 10 weight percent of a flexibilizer agent, wherein the flexibilizer agent has a molecular weight ranging from about 400 to about 10,000; and about 30 to about 90 weight percent of the non-photoreactive solvent, wherein the weight percents are based on the total weight of the resin composition. Ink jet print heads and ink jet printing apparatusess comprising ink jet print heads utilizing the radiation curable resin compositions are also included.

Radiation curable compositions having improved flexibility

A method for manufacturing an inkjet print cartridge and an inkjet cartridge produced thereby are disclosed. An inkjet print cartridge in accordance with one aspect includes a component of the inkjet print cartridge and an applied adhesive on at least a portion of the component, wherein the applied adhesive is formed from an adhesive having a rheology viscosity ratio &#x3b7;/&#x3b7;of from 1.0 to less than 2.1. The method in accordance with one aspect includes applying an adhesive onto at least a portion of a component of an inkjet print cartridge at an application temperature, T, and heating the adhesive from an initial temperature, T, to a cure temperature for the adhesive, T. The adhesive has a rheology cure profile characterized by at least one of the following parameters: a) a rheology viscosity ratio &#x3b7;/&#x3b7;of from 1.0 to less than 2.1, b) a temperature of the adhesive is approximately equal to a minimum viscosity temperature for the adhesive, T, within less than about 10 minutes from the start of the cure cycle, and c) viscosity of the adhesive increases within less than about 5 minutes from the start of the cure cycle.

Inkjet print cartridge having an adhesive with improved dimensional control

A process for etching semiconductor substrates using a deep reactive ion etching process to produce through holes or slots (referred to collectively as 'slots') in the substrates. The process includes applying a first layer to a first surface of substrate to provide an etch mask material layer on the first surface of the substrate. A second layer is applied to a second surface of the substrate to provide an etch stop material layer on the second surface of the substrate. The first layer and the second layer have similar solubilities in one or more organic solvents. The substrate is etched from the first surface of the wafers to provide a slot in the substrate. After etching the substrate, the etch mask material layer and the etch stop material layer are removed by contacting the first surface and the second surface of the substrate with a single organic solvent.

Dry etching methods

A micro-fluid ejection device structure, a multi-fluid cartridge containing the ejection device structure, and methods for making the ejection device structure and cartridge. The ejection device includes an ejection head substrate having a fluid supply side and a device side and containing two or more fluid flow paths therein for supplying fluid from the fluid supply side to the device side thereof. A multi-channel manifold is attached to the fluid supply side of the ejection head substrate for providing fluid from two or more fluid reservoirs to the fluid flow paths in the ejection head substrate. The multi-channel manifold has fluid flow channels therein in fluid flow communications with the fluid flow paths in the ejection head substrate and the manifold consists essentially of a patterned photoresist material.

Die attach methods and apparatus for micro-fluid ejection device

A micro-fluid ejection assembly including a silicon substrate having accurately formed fluid paths therein. The fluid paths are formed by a deep reactive ion etching process conducted on a substrate having a surface characteristic before etching selected from the group consisting of a dielectric layer thickness of no more than about 5000 Angstroms, and a substantially dielectric material free pitted surface wherein a root mean square depth of surface pitting is less than about 500 Angstroms and a maximum surface pitting depth is no more than about 2500 Angstroms. Fluid paths in such substrates having improved flow characteristics for more reliable fluid ejection operations.

Micro-fluid ejection assemblies

Growing community of inventors

Lexington, KY, United States of America

James M Mrvos