Product Code: ICAL07_M701

Multi-Beam Parallel Processing and Chemical Finishing of Silicon for Microcavities in Ink-Jet Printer Heads (Invited Paper - 40 Minute Presentation)
Authors:
Jun Amako, Seiko Epson Corporation; Japan
Presented at ICALEO 2007

We demonstrate a laser-based process for manufacturing of microcavities in inkjet printer heads. It is a kind of hybrid process in which laser and non-laser technology is effectively coupled while incorporating multi-beam processing scheme for increased productivity. Improvement in printing quality and speed on inkjet printers requires reduction in cross talk between ink cavities. To this end, cavities can be better produced with a high aspect ratio on thick silicon. A silicon wafer is ablated with a pulsed laser beam to form a through-hole and then the wafer is dipped into a chemical bath to hollow out a cavity. Debris and deposit around and in the holes are washed away. Multi-beam parallel processing is essential for high throughput. Plural points on the wafer are drilled with a line of equally intense beams, which are generated by a diffractive beam splitter. This hybrid process has been applied into the inkjet cavity manufacture to render it competitive and cost-effective.