JP2001301177A - Method for manufacturing ink jet printer head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing ink jet printer heads whereby residues generated by etching a mask to work discharge nozzles are prevented from adhering to discharge nozzles and electrode terminals. SOLUTION: An orifice plate 15 with thermoplastic polyimide adhesive layers applied to both faces is first attached onto a diaphragm not illustrated on which the mask film 16 is formed. The resist mask 17 is formed to a limited neighborhood of a region where discharge nozzles are to be formed. The mask film 16 is then etched. Subsequently the resist mask 17 is removed to expose the mask film 16. A thick film resist 19 is coated and patterned to open only the discharge nozzle part and the electrode terminal part. Discharge nozzles 21 are bored to the orifice plate 15 by helicon wave etching. Overetching is carried out for several minutes at this time to a level so that the orifice plate 15 is etched only by a thickness d. The thick film resist 19 is completely removed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an ink jet printer head which has a discharge nozzle of an appropriate shape without wrinkles and cracks on an ink discharge surface and can discharge ink satisfactorily.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an ink jet printer head which performs printing by discharging ink from a discharge nozzle onto a paper surface. In a printing method using this ink jet printer head, ink droplets (print dots) are ejected from a number of fine holes (ejection nozzles) arranged on the ink ejection surface of the head, and the ink droplets (print dots) are covered with paper, cloth, or the like. The recording material (paper) is landed and absorbed, thereby printing characters and images, etc., which generates little noise, does not require special fixing processing, and is relatively easy to record in full color. Is the way.

As a method of discharging ink droplets,
A piezo-jet method, which uses an electromechanical transducer such as a piezoresistive element (piezoelectric element) to generate pressure due to mechanical deformation in the ink chamber, thereby ejecting ink droplets from minute ejection nozzles, A thermal element that disposes a heat generating section, applies electric pulses to the heat generating section, generates bubbles at the interface between the ink and the heat generating section at high speed, and uses the growth power of the bubbles to discharge ink droplets from minute discharge nozzles as described above. There is a jet method.

[0004] The above-mentioned thermal jet method includes:
There are two types of configurations depending on the direction in which the ink droplets are ejected.One is a configuration in which ink is ejected in a direction parallel to the heating surface of the heating unit, and the other is a configuration perpendicular to the heating surface of the heating unit. This is a configuration in which ink is ejected in the direction. Above all, those that eject ink droplets in the direction perpendicular to the heat generating surface of the heat generating portion are called roof shooter type or top shooter type ink jet printer heads, and discharge ink in a direction parallel to the heat generating surface of the heat generating portion. It is known that the power consumption is extremely small as compared with the side shooter type.

As a method of manufacturing this roof shooter type thermal ink jet printer head, for example, 6 × 2
On a single silicon wafer having a diameter of 5.4 mm or more, for example, on a large number of chip substrates of about 10 mm × 15 mm divided into 90 pieces or more, using silicon LSI forming technology and thin film forming technology. There is a method in which a large number of heat generating parts and a drive circuit, a wiring electrode, an ink flow path, a discharge nozzle and the like for individually driving these heat generating parts are collectively and monolithically formed.

In addition, a print head section including the above-described heating section, wiring electrodes, ink flow paths, discharge nozzles and the like is formed on an insulating substrate such as a glass substrate using a thin film forming technique without using a silicon wafer. There is also a method of forming a drive circuit unit by an LSI forming technology on a separate body such as a silicon substrate and electrically connecting the drive circuit unit and the print head unit.

FIGS. 5 (a), 5 (b) and 5 (c) show such a conventional roof shooter type ink jet printer head (hereinafter, referred to as "printer head").
FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating a method of manufacturing a print head in order of steps, and schematically show a schematic plan view and a cross-sectional view of a state of being formed on an insulating substrate such as glass in a series of steps.

In the plan view shown in the upper part of FIGS. 5 (a), 5 (b) and 5 (c), five heating parts or discharge nozzles are shown for convenience of illustration. The number of such heating parts and discharge nozzles is 64 or 128, depending on the design policy.
A large number of them are continuously formed in the vertical direction in each figure, such as 256 pieces. Also, the cross-sectional views shown in the middle of FIGS. (A), (b), and (c) are cross-sectional views taken along the line AA ′ of the upper row,
It is a sectional view taken along the line CC 'and a sectional view taken along the line EE'. The lower sectional views of FIGS.
It is B 'sectional arrow view, DD' sectional arrow view, and FF 'sectional arrow view. With reference to FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C, a conventional method for manufacturing a print head will be briefly described below.

First, in step 1, tantalum (Ta) -silicon (Si) -oxygen (O) or Ta-Si-ON (nitrogen) is formed on a suitable insulating substrate by using a thin film forming technique.
, And an electrode film made of Au or Ni or the like are sequentially laminated with an adhesive layer (not shown) made of Ti-W or the like interposed therebetween.

In step 2, the electrode film, the adhesion layer, and the heating resistor film are patterned by photolithography, respectively, to expose regions of the strip-shaped heating resistor film that are to be heated, and to generate heat on both sides thereof. A wiring electrode film is formed on the resistor film to form a heating element including a heating portion and wiring electrodes on both sides. In this step, the positions of a large number of heat generating parts are determined.

FIG. 5A shows a state immediately after the steps 1 and 2 have been completed. That is, the heat generating portion 2 is formed on the insulating substrate 1. The common wiring electrode 3 is connected to one end of the heat generating portion 2, and the individual wiring electrode 4 to be connected to the drive circuit is connected to the other end. The heating section 2, the common wiring electrodes 3, and the individual wiring electrodes 4 are patterned into a set of strips in the vicinity of the heating section 2, and each strip forms a heating element, and at predetermined intervals. They are arranged side by side in parallel. However, the number of the common wiring electrodes 3 is one as a whole, and a large and elongated opening 3-1 is formed near the left end portion.
Surface 1-1 is exposed.

Subsequently, as a step 3, a partition member made of an organic material such as photosensitive polyimide is formed to a height of about 20 μm by coating in order to form an ink conduction path for guiding the ink to the individual heat generating portions 2. After patterning by the photolithography technique, heat of 300 to 400 ° C. is applied for 3 hours.
Perform curing (dry curing, baking) for 0 to 60 minutes,
A partition made of the photosensitive polyimide having a height of about 10 μm is formed and fixed on the substrate 1.

Further, as a step 4, in order to form an ink supply path for supplying ink from the outside to the ink conduction path, an elongated slit-like ink supply to the surface side of the substrate 1 is performed by a sand blast method or the like with high processing efficiency. A groove is formed, and an ink supply hole is formed in the ink supply groove, one of which is open and the other of which penetrates the substrate 1 and opens on the back side of the substrate 1.

In step 4, since the shape of the ink supply groove on the front side where the heat generating portion, the wiring electrodes, the partition walls, etc. are formed, and the ink supply hole on the back side are different, they are separately processed from the front and back. For example, an ink supply groove is formed on the front side to about half the thickness of the substrate, and an ink supply hole is formed from the back side to penetrate the front and back.

FIG. 5B shows a state immediately after Steps 3 and 4 are completed. That is, the partition 5 (seal partition) is provided between the left portion of the common wiring electrode 3 with respect to the opening 3-1, the portion where the individual wiring electrodes 4 on the right side are provided, and each heat generating portion 2. 5-1, 5-2, partition wall 5
-3) is formed.

The above-mentioned partition 5 is composed of seal partitions 5-1 and 5
-2, a large internal ink flow path which is isolated from the outside as a whole is formed, and the seal partition 5-2 on the individual wiring electrode 4 and the partition partition 5-3 extending between the heat generating portions 2 are combined with the comb body. It has a shape corresponding to the teeth of a comb. As a result, the fine partition portions in which the heat generating portions 2 are located at the roots between the teeth are formed by the number of the heat generating portions 2 with the comb-shaped partition walls 5-3 of the comb as partition walls. I have. An elongated ink supply groove 6 and a rectangular ink supply hole 7 are formed to supply ink from the outside to the ink conduction path formed by the internal ink flow path and the partition.

Then, in step 5, an orifice plate of a polyimide film having a thickness of 10 to 30 μm was used, and thermoplastic polyimide as an adhesive was coated on both surfaces or one surface to an extremely thin thickness of, for example, 2 to 5 μm. The substrate in the state is placed on the uppermost layer of the laminated structure, that is, on the partition wall 5 and heated at 200 to 250 ° C. in vacuum to 5.8.
Pressure is applied at a pressure several times as high as × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa, and this is continued for several tens of minutes to fix the orifice plate. Subsequently, a metal film having a thickness of about 0.5 to 1 μm, such as Ti, Ni, Cu or Al, is deposited on the surface of the orifice plate as a mask film for etching by a vacuum device or a sputtering device.

In step 6, the metal mask film on the surface of the orifice plate is patterned to form a metal mask for selectively etching polyimide. Subsequently, the metal mask is formed by, for example, dry etching using a helicon wave. , A large number of discharge nozzles having a diameter of 20 μm to 40 μm are collectively formed on the orifice plate.

FIGS. 6 (a) to 6 (e) are diagrams showing in more detail the method of forming a discharge nozzle 12 in the orifice plate 9 in the above steps 5 and 6. FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 1A, the surface of the orifice plate 9 is made of Al, Ti or T
A mask film 11 made of a metal such as a is formed by sputtering. After that, using photolithography technology,
As shown in (b), a resist mask 13 is formed, and patterning is performed by wet or dry etching according to the resist mask 13, and a pattern corresponding to the shape and arrangement of the discharge nozzles is formed as shown in FIG. After forming the metal mask 11a provided with the resist mask 13, the resist mask 13 is removed as shown in FIG.

Thereafter, according to the above-mentioned metal mask 11a, as shown in FIG. 1E, a hole is formed in the discharge nozzle 12 by helicon wave etching. This completes all processing. However, since this helicon wave etching is mainly physical etching by ion plasma,
In this etching, not only the polyimide (exposed portion 9-1 of the orifice plate 9) in the opening of the metal mask 11a but also the metal mask 11a is simultaneously etched by the height h shown in FIG. 6 (e). This etching will cause a problem later, which will be described later.

FIG. 5C shows the state immediately after the completion of the steps 5 and 6. That is, the orifice plate 9 covers the entire area of the substrate 1, and the orifice plate 9 has a metal mask 11 a at a position facing the heat generating portion 2.
Is formed in accordance with the above.
In the interior covered by the orifice plate 9, the ink conducting path 14 having the height corresponding to the thickness of the partition wall 5 of 10 μm and including the above-described internal ink flow path and partitioning section is formed. Is formed between. As a result, a monocolor print head having a large number of discharge nozzles 12 in one row is completed on the substrate 1.

Normally, in full-color printing, black (Bk) dedicated to black portions of characters and images is added to three colors of three subtractive primary colors, yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C). In addition, a total of four color inks are required. Therefore, at least four nozzle rows are required.
According to the above-described manufacturing method, it is possible to configure four rows of monocolor print heads on one substrate,
The positional relationship between the nozzle rows of each monocolor print head can also be accurately arranged by today's microfabrication manufacturing technology.

[0023]

Incidentally, the above-mentioned helicon wave etching is currently an optimum etching method from the viewpoint of work efficiency because of a high etching rate. However, as described above, only the orifice plate is used. And the metal mask is etched at the same time. Therefore, an etching residue of the metal mask is generated, and the residue adheres to the discharge nozzle and the electrode terminal. If such a residue adheres to the inside or in the vicinity of the discharge nozzle, it causes ink discharge failure,
If it adheres to the electrode terminal, it causes a problem of poor electrical connection.

The orifice plate is coated with an adhesive only on the surface to be bonded to the partition wall. That is, when the orifice plate is coated with a thermoplastic polyimide adhesive on only one side, the orifice plate has a curl on the orifice plate. Paste work becomes very difficult. Therefore, in order to make the characteristics of both surfaces of the orifice plate the same so that the orifice plate is not curled, it is required that a thermoplastic polyimide adhesive be applied to both surfaces of the orifice plate.

However, the coefficient of thermal expansion of the thermoplastic polyimide adhesive on the surface of the orifice plate and the material of the metal mask, such as Al, Ti, Ta, etc., adhered to the surface of the orifice plate via the thermoplastic polyimide adhesive are different. And the difference between Young's modulus is large. Also, in the case of a Ni plating film which may be applied to the orifice plate surface to impart ink repellency, similarly, the difference between the coefficient of thermal expansion and the Young's modulus of the thermoplastic polyimide adhesive is large.

FIG. 7 is a table showing the thermal expansion coefficient and the Young's modulus of the various members for reference. The unit of thermal expansion coefficient shown in the figure is 10 ⁻⁶ / deg, and the unit of Young's modulus is 10
¹¹ N / m ² ). As shown in the figure, the thermal expansion coefficient of the thermoplastic polyimide is “40” and the thermal expansion coefficient is extremely high, whereas the thermal expansion coefficients of the Al, Ta, Ti, Pl (polyimide) and Ni plating films are as follows. , "2
3.9 "," 6.6 "," 8.4 "," 15 "and" 1 "
3 ". In addition, the Young's modulus of thermoplastic polyimide (the Young's modulus is the same for polyimide) has a large strain due to simple tensile stress and is out of the measurement range.
The Young's moduli of the Al, Ta, Ti and Ni plating films are “0.757”, “1.81”, “1.14” and “2.05”, respectively.

As described above, the thermoplastic polyimide on the surface of the orifice plate and Al, Ti, T
a and Ni, which is an ink-repellent material, have a large difference in thermal expansion coefficient and Young's modulus. Therefore, when the substrate is heated by heat generated during the etching process of the discharge nozzle, the thermal expansion of the thermoplastic polyimide is reduced. The metal mask or the Ni plating film cannot follow, is deformed or broken beyond the plasticity range, and wrinkles or cracks occur in the metal mask or the Ni plating film.

If wrinkles or cracks occur on the metal mask or the Ni plating film as described above, or if etching residues adhere to the discharge nozzle, the direction in which the ink should be discharged, that is, perpendicular to the surface of the orifice plate, during printing. This causes a problem that ink is ejected in a direction different from the proper direction, and a problem that minute unnecessary dots called satellites land around the landed dots.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems,
By providing a method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head that suppresses the generation of etching residues of a metal mask, has a discharge surface free of wrinkles and cracks, and has a discharge nozzle of an appropriate shape and stably exhibits good ink discharge performance. is there.

[0030]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to the present invention is a method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head for printing by applying pressure to ink and ejecting the ink in a predetermined direction from a discharge nozzle provided on an orifice plate. A step of applying a mask film for forming a discharge nozzle on the ink discharge surface side surface of the orifice plate material on which the discharge nozzle is to be formed; and forming the mask film around an area where the discharge nozzle is formed. The method includes a step of forming a pattern selectively present in a necessary region, and a step of forming the discharge nozzle by dry etching through the formed mask film.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head according to claim 2, wherein, before forming the discharge nozzle, a region excluding the discharge nozzle formation region is coated with the mask film. Preferably, a resist resin is applied to a region including the resist resin, and the discharge nozzle is formed by dry etching through the resist resin and the mask film.

Preferably, the mask film is a metal film, the dry etching is a helicon wave dry etching, and the mask film is, for example, a metal film. As described in 4, a composite film in which an ink-repellent film and a metal film are laminated may be used.

Further, the orifice plate may be formed by applying a thermoplastic adhesive layer on both surfaces of a polyimide base material, for example, as described in claim 5, and the required area is, for example, As described in claim 6, it is preferable that the area surrounding the ejection nozzle is an area covering at least an area where an ink flow path communicating with the ejection nozzle is formed.

[0034]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1A to 1F are diagrams showing the configuration near the discharge nozzle of the ink jet printer head according to the first embodiment in the order of the manufacturing process. 6A to 6F show only the orifice plate and the structure above the orifice plate. Further, the configuration of the partition, wiring electrode, heating section, ink conduction path, ink supply groove, ink supply hole, substrate, and the like below the orifice plate (not shown) are the same as those of partition 5 and common wiring electrode 3 shown in FIG. , Individual wiring electrode 4, heating part 2,
Ink conduction path 14, ink supply groove 6, ink supply hole 7,
The configuration is the same as that of the substrate 1.

In FIG. 1A, an orifice plate 15 having a thickness of 10 to 30 μm is attached on a partition not shown. The orifice plate 15 is coated on both sides with a thermoplastic polyimide film having a thickness of 2 to 5 μm. Ai, Ti, Ta, or the like is formed as a mask film 16 by sputtering on the surface of the orifice plate 15, that is, on the thermoplastic polyimide.

The selectivity between the polyimide (orifice plate 15) and the mask film 16 in the dry etching of the helicon wave is 1
Since the thickness is not less than 00, the thickness of the mask film 16 for etching the orifice plate 15 having a plate thickness of about 10 to 30 μm is sufficient to be about 0.5 to 1 μm.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, a resist mask 17 made of an appropriate photoresist material is formed, as shown in FIG. As shown in c), the mask film 16 is etched. Thus, the mask film 16 in the portion 18-1 where the discharge nozzle is to be formed and the peripheral portion 18-2 except for the vicinity of the discharge nozzle to be formed is removed, and the metal mask 16a is positioned below the resist mask 17. Formed. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3D, the resist mask 17 is removed to expose the metal mask 16a.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 3E, a thick resist 19 having a thickness of about 20 to 30 μm is applied and patterned. In patterning the thick film resist 19, only the discharge nozzle portion and the electrode terminal portion (not shown) are opened. At this time, in consideration of positional accuracy and processing accuracy, the opening of the discharge nozzle portion of the thick film resist 19 is formed in the opening portion 16a of the metal mask 16a.
It is formed so that the diameter is increased by a width c (c = 1 to 2 μm) in the radial direction with respect to −1.

After the patterning of the thick film resist 19, a discharge nozzle 21 is formed in the orifice plate 15 by helicon wave dry etching as shown in FIG. Usually, the material of the disposable thick film resist 19 is inferior to the orifice plate 15 in heat resistance and abrasion resistance, so that the surface is easily deformed. Therefore, in this helicon wave etching, the orifice plate 1 can be maintained even after the discharge nozzle 21 penetrates.
Over-etching is performed for several minutes to the extent that 5 is etched by the thickness d so that the thick film resist 19 is completely removed.

As described above, according to the method of the present invention, since the metal mask 16a is formed only in a necessary area only and the dry etching is performed in a state where the metal mask 16a is covered with the thick film resist 19, the metal mask 16a generated by the conventional method is used. Almost no etching residue is generated, and therefore, problems such as the adhesion of the etching residue to the discharge nozzles and electrode terminals do not occur.

By forming the metal mask only in a very limited area around the discharge nozzle,
The internal stress of the metal mask generated by the expansion of the thermoplastic polyimide on the surface of the orifice plate 15 by the heat generated during the processing of the discharge nozzle is reduced. This prevents wrinkles and cracks in the metal mask.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are plan views showing examples of the shape of the metal mask as viewed from the discharge nozzle forming surface of the orifice plate. In FIG. 5A, a metal mask 16a on an orifice plate 15 is formed in a linear band shape, and an array of discharge nozzles 21 is formed in the band shape. FIG. 4B shows that the metal mask 16 a ′ is connected to the discharge nozzle 2.
Each of them is independently formed annularly along the diameter of the discharge nozzle. 5C, the metal mask 16a ″ is formed in an annular shape along the diameter of the discharge nozzle 21, and they are arranged so as to be like a skewer dumpling. Before the installation, the pattern is selectively present in a necessary area (around the area where the discharge nozzle is formed).

FIGS. 3A to 3E are diagrams showing the configuration of an ink jet printer head according to the second embodiment in the order of manufacturing steps. It should be noted that the drawings (a) to (f) do not show the wiring electrodes and the heat generating portion. The substrate 22, the partition wall 23, the ink supply holes 24, and the like shown in FIG.
The configuration of the ink supply groove 25 and the ink conduction path 26 is shown in FIG.
Are the same as the configurations of the substrate 1, the partition wall 5, the ink supply holes 7, the ink supply grooves 6, and the ink conducting paths 14 shown in FIG.

In this example, a plate thickness of 10 to 3
The process is the same as that of FIG. 1A up to the point where the orifice plate 15 of 0 μm is attached and the mask film 16 is formed on the orifice plate 15 by sputtering. In this example, as shown in FIG. 3B, the resist mask 27 for etching the mask film 16 is formed not only in the vicinity of the region where the discharge nozzle is formed but also in the ink discharge chamber in which the heat generating portion is provided. It is also formed on a portion that covers the entire area of the ink flow path 28 and the ink flow path 29.

By etching through the resist mask 27, as shown in FIG. 3C, the entire area of the ink discharge chamber 28 and the ink flow path 29 and the portion where the orifice plate 15 is adhered to the edge of the partition wall 23 are formed. The metal mask 16b is formed by patterning into a shape to cover. After this,
As shown in (d), the resist mask 27 is removed. The covering width c of the metal mask 16b at the portion where the orifice plate 15 is adhered to the edge of the partition 23 is about 100 μm to 1 mm.

After the formation of the metal mask 16b in this manner, as shown in FIG. 3E, the discharge nozzle 31 is pierced by helicon wave dry etching. At this time, not only the discharge nozzle portion but also the entire region of the orifice plate 15 where the metal mask 16b is not attached, that is, the region of the orifice plate 15 that covers the ink discharge chamber 28 and the ink flow path 29 and the partition wall 23 of the orifice plate 15 All of the exposed portions 15a and 15b excluding the adhesion margin portions that adhere to the edges of the substrate are etched.

Also in this case, since the area of the metal mask 16b is smaller than that of the conventional structure, a metal mask etching residue that does not adhere to the discharge nozzle or the electrode terminal portion does not occur during the helicon wave dry etching.

The shape of the metal mask 16 b of this embodiment has a width of 100 μm to 1 μm for bonding the entire area of the ink discharge chamber 28 and the ink flow path 29 and the orifice plate 15 to the edge of the partition 23.
There is a restriction that the adhesive margin portion of about mm is always covered, but since there is no step of patterning the thick film resist 19 shown in FIG. 1 (e), the number of steps shown in FIG. There is an advantage that the same operation and effect as in the embodiment can be obtained.

In the present embodiment, the etching of the discharge nozzle is performed after removing the resist mask after etching the metal mask. However, the discharge nozzle is perforated as it is without removing the resist mask. Is also good.

In the first and second embodiments,
In any case, since the metal mask is arranged only around the ejection nozzle, if wiping is performed to clean the ink ejection surface during the actual operation of the ink jet printer head, ink adhering to the ink ejection surface will not be removed. The ink is attracted to the surface of the orifice plate or the exposed portion of the partition wall, which is more ink-friendly than the metal mask, so that the ink around the ejection nozzle can be easily removed and cleaned.

FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (f) are views showing the configuration in the vicinity of the discharge nozzle of the ink jet printer head according to the third embodiment in the order of the manufacturing process. The figures (a) to (f)
Shows only the orifice plate and the configuration above the orifice plate.
In addition, the configuration of the wiring electrodes, heat generating portions, partition walls, ink conduction paths, ink supply grooves, ink supply holes, substrates, and the like below the orifice plate (not shown) is the same as the common wiring electrode 3 shown in FIG. Electrode 4, heating part 2, partition 2 shown in FIG.
3, the configuration of the ink conduction path 26, the ink supply groove 25, the ink supply hole 24, and the substrate 22 is the same.

In FIG. 4A, an orifice plate 32 having a thickness of 10 to 30 μm is attached on a partition not shown. The orifice plate 32 is formed by coating a polyimide film 33 having a thickness of 8 to 25 μm with a thermoplastic polyimide adhesive layer 34 having a thickness of 2 to 5 μm on both surfaces. 3 until the mask film 35 made of a metal such as Ai, Ti, or Ta is formed to a thickness of about 0.5 to 1 μm on the thermoplastic polyimide adhesive layer 34 on the surface of the orifice plate 32. Same as (a).

In this embodiment, a Ni plating layer 36 is further formed on the mask film 35 as shown in FIG. In forming the Ni plating layer 36, fine particles such as fluororesin, graphite fluoride, or PTFE are coated with Ni.
A Ni plating method is used, which is formed by electrolessly dispersing in a plating solution. The Ni plating layer 36 is formed of the above-mentioned fluororesin, graphite fluoride or PT
By the action of fine particles such as FE, a water-repellent, ie, ink-repellent, film is formed. Thus, the ink droplets ejected from the ejection nozzles are cut more easily.

Subsequently, on the Ni plating layer 36,
As shown in FIG. 4C, a resist mask 37 made of a photoresist material is limited to the vicinity where the discharge nozzle is formed.
To form Then, as shown in FIG. 4D, the Ni plating layer 36 and the mask film 35 are etched to remove the resist mask 37. Then, as shown in FIG.
The thick film resist 38 having a thickness of about 20 to 30 μm is deposited and patterned.

Also in the case of patterning the thick film resist 38, as in the case of FIG. 1E, only the discharge nozzle portion and the electrode terminal portion are opened, and the discharge is performed in consideration of the positional accuracy and processing accuracy. Resist 38 thicker than nozzle diameter
Is formed such that the diameter of the opening is larger by about 1 to 2 μm. Then, as shown in FIG. 6F, the discharge nozzle 39 is formed by helicon wave dry etching. Also,
At this time, the thick film resist 38 is completely removed by overetching to the extent that the thermoplastic polyimide adhesive layer 34 on the surface of the orifice plate 32 is removed. As a result, an ink-repellent region 36 a having the same shape as the metal mask 35 a is formed around the ejection nozzle 39.

With this configuration, the ink-repellent area 36 for improving the cut of the ink droplet ejected from the ejection nozzle is provided.
a around the discharge nozzle 39, the generation of an etching residue is extremely small, so that a discharge nozzle of an appropriate shape can be obtained, and wrinkles and cracks in the metal mask and the ink repellent layer can be obtained. Configuration can be obtained.

In this case, when wiping is performed to clean the ink discharge surface during the actual operation of the ink jet printer head, the ink adhering to the ink discharge surface is discharged from the ink repellent area 36a around the discharge nozzle 39. Since the ink is ejected and concentrated on the ink-philic area on the outer surface of the orifice plate 32, the ink around the ejection nozzle can be more easily removed and cleaned.

The metal mask is not limited to the peripheral portion of the discharge nozzle, but may be formed in a region other than the peripheral portion of the discharge nozzle.

[0059]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, by limiting the area where the metal mask is attached to the minimum necessary area around the discharge nozzle, the processing of the discharge nozzle by helicon wave etching can be performed. Almost no etching residue of the metal mask is generated, and therefore, it is possible to prevent problems such as defective ink discharge and defective electrical connection due to the fact that these residues adhere to the discharge nozzles and electrode terminals.

Further, by depositing the pressure resist on the region including the metal mask-covered region except for the region where the discharge nozzle is formed, the generation of the etching residue of the metal mask can be more reliably prevented. .

Further, by forming the metal mask only in a very limited area around the discharge nozzle, the area of the metal mask can be minimized, thereby covering the thermoplastic polyimide adhesive layer on both sides. Even in the case of using the orifice plate material, the wrinkles and cracks of the metal mask caused by the difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the adhesive layer and the metal mask due to heat generated during the processing of the discharge nozzle by dry etching are prevented. It is possible to form a discharge nozzle having a normal shape for performing normal ink discharge.

Similarly, since a dry etching mask is provided only around the discharge nozzle, the peripheral portion of the discharge nozzle where the mask of the orifice plate in which the ink at the time of wiping is more ink-friendly than the mask is not attached. The ink is attracted to the outer portion, thereby making it easy to remove and clean the ink around the ejection nozzle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1A to 1F are diagrams showing a configuration in the vicinity of a discharge nozzle of an ink jet printer head according to a first embodiment in the order of manufacturing steps.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are plan views each showing an example of the shape of a metal mask viewed from a discharge nozzle forming surface of an orifice plate.

FIGS. 3A to 3E are diagrams illustrating the configuration of an ink jet printer head according to a second embodiment in the order of manufacturing steps.

FIGS. 4A to 4F are diagrams showing a configuration in the vicinity of a discharge nozzle of an ink jet printer head according to a third embodiment in the order of manufacturing steps.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C are schematic plan views and cross-sectional views schematically showing a method of manufacturing a conventional roof shooter type ink jet printer head in the order of steps.

FIGS. 6 (a) to 6 (e) are diagrams showing in more detail a method of forming a discharge nozzle in an orifice plate in steps 5 and 6 in a conventional method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head.

FIG. 7 is a table showing thermal expansion coefficients and Young's moduli of various members.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 1-1 Surface 2 Heating part 3 Common wiring electrode 3-1 Opening 4 Individual wiring electrode 5 Partition 5-1, 5-2 Seal partition 5-3 Partition partition 6 Ink supply groove 7 Ink supply hole 9 Orifice plate 9- Reference Signs List 1 exposed portion 11 mask film 11a metal mask 12 discharge nozzle 13 resist mask 14 ink conduction path 15 orifice plate 16 mask film 16a, 16a ', 16a ", 16b metal mask 16a-1 opening 17 resist mask 18-1 discharge nozzle Part to be formed 18-2 Peripheral part near discharge nozzle to be formed 19 Thick film resist 21 Discharge nozzle 22 Substrate 23 Partition wall 24 Ink supply hole 25 Ink supply groove 26 Ink conduction path 27 Resist mask 28 Ink discharge chamber 29 Ink flow path 31 discharge nozzle 32 orifice plate 33 polyimide fill 34 thermoplastic polyimide adhesive layer 35 mask film 36 Ni plating layer 36a an ink-repellent region 37 resist 38 thick resist 39 discharge nozzle

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method of manufacturing an ink jet printer head for printing by applying pressure to ink and ejecting the ink in a predetermined direction from a discharge nozzle provided on an orifice plate, wherein the ink is discharged from an orifice plate material on which the discharge nozzle is to be formed. A step of applying a mask film for forming a discharge nozzle on the surface side surface, and a step of forming the mask film into a pattern selectively present in a necessary area around a region where the discharge nozzle is formed, A step of piercing the discharge nozzle by dry etching through the formed mask film. 2. A resist resin is applied to an area including an area where the mask film is applied except for the area where the discharge nozzle is formed before forming the discharge nozzle. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the discharge nozzle is formed by dry etching through a film. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mask film is a metal film, and the dry etching is a helicon wave dry etching. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mask film is a composite film in which an ink-repellent film and a metal film are laminated. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the orifice plate is formed by applying a thermoplastic adhesive layer to both surfaces of a polyimide base material. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the required area is an area surrounding the ejection nozzle and covering at least an area where an ink flow path communicating with the ejection nozzle is formed. A method for manufacturing an ink jet printer head.