Lexmark International, Inc.

Funai Electric Company Ltd.

Zachary Justin Reitmeier

Yimin Guan

Burton Lee Joyner, Ii

Carl Edmond Sullivan

A heater stuck includes first strata having a planar configuration supporting and forming a fluid heater element responsive to repetitive electrical activation and deactivation to produce repetitive cycles of fluid ejection from an ejection chamber above the heater element and second strata having a planar configuration coating the heater element of the first strata and being contiguous with the ejection chamber to protect the heater element. The first strata include a substrate and heater strata disposed on it and forming a cavity above the substrate and encompassed on three sides by the heater substrata. The heater substrata includes a pair of conductive layer portions constituting terminal leads disposed on the substrate at opposite sides of the cavity and a resistive layer disposed on the conductive layer portions and defining the fluid heater element that spans the top of the cavity.

Planar heater stack and method for making planar heater stack with cavity within planar heater substrata above substrate

A micro-fluid ejection device is assembled by wafer-to-wafer bonding at a temperature below about 150&#xb0; C. a first silicon oxide layer of a first wafer, having flow features patterned in the first silicon oxide layer on an actuator chip in a first silicon substrate of the first wafer, to a second silicon oxide layer of a second wafer, defining a nozzle plate on a second silicon substrate of the second wafer. Nozzle holes are formed in the nozzle plate in alignment with actuator elements of the actuator chip of the first wafer either before or after bonding the first and second wafers together. The second silicon substrate of the second wafer is used as a handle and then removed from the silicon oxide layer of the second wafer after bonding the first and second wafers together.

Micro-fluid ejection device and method for assembling a micro-fluid ejection device by a wafer-to-wafer bonding

A fin-shaped heater stack includes first strata configured to support and form fluid heater elements responsive to repetitive electrical activation and deactivation to produce repetitive cycles of ejection of a fluid, and second strata on the first strata to protect the fluid heater elements from adverse effects of the repetitive cycles of fluid ejection and of contact with the fluid. The first strata include a substrate having a front surface, and heater substrata supported on the front surface. The heater substrata have opposite facing side surfaces which extend approximately perpendicular to the front surface and an end surface interconnecting the side surfaces which extends approximately parallel to the front surface such that the heater substrata is provided in either an upright or inverted fin-shaped configuration on the substrate with the fluid heater elements forming the opposite facing side surfaces of the heat substrata.

Fin-shaped heater stack and method for formation

A heater stack includes first strata configured to form a fluid heater element responsive to energy from repetitive electrical activation and deactivation to fire repetitive cycles of heating and ejecting fluid from an ejection chamber above the fluid heater element and second strata overlying the first strata and contiguous with the ejection chamber to provide protection of the fluid heater element. The first strata includes a substrate and a heater substrata overlying the substrate and including a resistive layer having lateral portions spaced apart, a central portion extending between the lateral portions and defining the fluid heater element, and transitional portions interconnecting the central portion and lateral portions and elevating the central portion relative to the lateral portions and above the substrate to form a gap between the lateral portions and between the central portion and substrate insulating the substrate from the fluid heater element and a planar upper surface on the heater substrata.

Planar heater stack and method for making planar heater stack

A method for forming a floating heater element includes processing a silicon substrate to form a heater stack having the heater element on the substrate with peripheral edge portions, processing the heater stack by depositing and patterning a layer of photoresist or hard mask thereon to substantially mask the heater stack and form a trench through the photoresist or hard mask exposing a surface area of the substrate extending along the peripheral edge portions of the heater element, and processing the masked heater stack and exposed surface area of the substrate by sequentially removing the photoresist and portions of the substrate at the exposed surface area and that underlie the heater element so as to create a well in the substrate undercutting the heater element and open along the peripheral edge portions thereof, the well being capable of filling with a fluid so as to produce the floating heater element.

Heater stack in a micro-fluid ejection device and method for forming floating electrical heater element in the heater stack

A heater stack includes first strata configured to support and form a fluid heater element responsive to energy from repetitive electrical activation and deactivation to fire repetitive cycles of heating and ejecting fluid from an ejection chamber above the fluid heater element and second strata overlying the first strata and contiguous with the ejection chamber to provide protection of the fluid heater element. The first strata includes a substrate and a heater substrata overlying the substrate and including a resistive layer having lateral portions spaced apart, a central portion extending between the lateral portions and defining the fluid heater element, and transitional portions interconnecting the central portion and lateral portions and elevating the central portion relative to the lateral portions and above the substrate to form a gap between the lateral portions and between the central portion and substrate insulating the substrate from the fluid heater element.

Heater stack having resistive layer with underlying insulative gap and method for making heater stack

A heater stack includes first strata configured to support and form a fluid heater element responsive to repetitive electrical activation and deactivation to produce cycles of fluid ejection and second strata overlying the first strata to protect the heater element. A decomposed sacrificial layer of a preselected polymer between the substrate and a heater substrata containing the heater element provides a decoupled relationship between them which, during a heat-up period of each cycle, results in the heater element buckling out of physical contact with substrate enabling the heater element to transfer heat energy for producing fluid ejection into the fluid without transferring any into the substrate whereas the decoupled relationship, during the next following cool-down period of each cycle, results in the heater element de-buckling back into physical contact with the substrate enabling the heater element transfer residual heat energy to the substrate.

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Lexington, KY, United States of America

Zachary Justin Reitmeier