Ink-Jet Technology: Microfluidics: Pipetting, Dispensing & Microarrays

Ink-Jet Technology
Pr axisbepl:A usarbeitng
Ausarbeit ngderSta
Jens Ducrée
FSRM Course
Microfluidics: Pipetting, Dispensing & Microarrays
in Stockholm, September 19-20, 2002
Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

Ink-Jet: Definition
The ink-jet technology is a contact free

dot matrix printing procedure. Ink is
issued from a small aperture directly
onto a specific position on a
medium.
Ausarbeit ngderSta
Quelle: Hue P. Le, Journal of Imaging Science and Technology ·

Volume 42, Number 1, January/February 1998

Overview
h Commercial engagement
h History of Ink-Jet Technology
h Ink-Jet Principles
¾ Continuous Ink-Jet
¾ Drop-on-Demand
- Thermal Ink-Jet (tIJ)
- Piezo-electric Ink-Jet (pIJ)
h Medien der Ink-Jet Technologie
Ausarbeit ngderSta
¾ Water-soluable Tinte
¾ Phase-Change Ink
¾ Oil-based Ink
h Substrate types
h Summary and outlook

MST-Market Study
Ausarbeit ngderSta
NEXUS
Market analysis for microsystems 1996 - 2002

Commercial Engagement
Ausarbeit ngderSta

Ink-Jet Technology: History (1)
h 1878: Lord Rayleigh

¾ Breaking of liquid jets into individual droplets
¾ [On the instability of jets, in Proc. London Math. Soc. 10 (4), 4–13
(1878)]
¾ Surface-tension related stable minimum of energy
Ausarbeit ngderSta

h 1951: Elmqvist from Siemens files first patent for device

based on Rayleigh principle
¾ [Measuring instrument of the recording type, U.S. Patent
2566443 (1951)]
¾ Mingograph: first ink-jet based writer for recording analogue
voltage signals
h Early 1960s: Sweet (Stanford University)
¾ Distinct pressure wave patterns Pr axisbepl:A usarbeitng
Ausarbeit ngderSta
¾ Applied to orifice of liquid column

¾ Jet breaks up into equaly spaced droplets of same volume
h Continuous Ink-Jet Technology (cIJ):
¾ Dedicated charging of droplets
¾ Recirculation by deflection in a transversal electrical field
¾ Products: A. B. Dick VideoJet und Mead DIJIT

h 1970s: IBM licences continuous ink-jet technology

¾ Massive development efforts at IBM to establish ink-jet technology for their printers
¾ 1976: IBM 4640 (Word-Processing Hardcopy-Output application)
h ~1976: Hertz et al. (Lund Institut, Schweden)
¾ cIJ-procedure with gray-scale capabilty
¾ Multiple droplets dispensed on same spot
¾ License for Iris Graphics and Stork which develop color ink-jet
Ausarbeit ngderSta
h 1970s: Drop-on-Demand (DoD) Technology

¾ Advantage: error-prone charging and recirculation obsolete
¾ Pressure generated by voltage pulse applied to piezo element
¾ Pioneering work
- By Zoltan, Kyser und Sears
¾ Products
- Siemens (PT-80 serial character printer,1977)
- Sílonics (1978)

h Up to early 1980s: problems of IJ-technology

¾ Clogging of nozzles
¾ Inconsistencies in printing quality
h 1979: Canon invents bubble-jet (BJ) technology
¾ Pressure built up by expanding vapor bubble above small heat element
¾ High precision due to microtechnological fabrication
h ~1979: Hewlett-Packard
¾ (Independently) develops drop-on-demand method
¾ Termed „thermal Ink-Jet“
Ausarbeit ngderSta
h 1984: ThinkJet by Hewlett Packard

¾ First commercially successful low-lost printer based on BJ-principle
¾ Disposable cartridges elegantly eliminate reliablity problem
h Late 1980s: IJ-technolgy replaces dot-matrix pin printers to conquer low-
cost market of rapidly expanding PC industry
h 1990s: low-cost color ink-jet printer become standard equipment in home
and office solutions

Technology Map
Ausarbeit ngderSta

cIJ: Droplet Formation Process
0.20 ms
nozzle
0.25 ms
0.30 ms
0.35 ms
Ausarbeit ngderSta
0.40 ms
0.50 ms
0.60 ms
0.70 ms

cIJ: Setup
Ausarbeit ngderSta

cIJ: Binary Deflection
Ausarbeit ngderSta
•Uncharged droplet dispensed on substrate

•Charged droplets recirculate

cIJ: Multiple Deflection
Ausarbeit ngderSta
•Uncharged droplets recirculated by gutter

•Charged droplets deflected according to q / m-ratio
•2-dimensional writing of small areas with single nozzle

Drop-on-Demand Methods
h Mechanism of droplet formation

¾ Thermal
¾ Piezo-electric
¾ Electrostatic
¾ Acoustic
Ausarbeit ngderSta
h Thermal and piezo-electrical principles primarily used
h Electro-static and acoustic principles under developement

¾ Many patents, few commercial products

Drop-on-Demand:Setup
Ausarbeit ngderSta

Thermal Ink-Jet Technology
h Commercially most successful
h Variant 1: roof shooter

¾ Heater above orifice
¾ Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark and Olivetti
Ausarbeit ngderSta
h Variant 2: side-shooter
¾ Heater lateral to orifice
¾ Canon and Xerox

tIJ: Phases of Droplet Formation
•Heating (some µs)

•Overheated ink
•At 300°C: nucleation of bubble
•Expansion Pr axisbepl:A usarbeitng

Ausarbeit ngderSta
•Ejection of ink
•Parallel to bubble expansion
•Droplet formation
•Collapsing vapor bubble
•Retraction of bulk ink
•Refilling of cavity (80-200 µs)

tIJ: Droplet Formation
Ausarbeit ngderSta

tIJ: Nozzle of DJ 850C Color Print Head
(SEM)
h Heater (roof shooter, aperture plate removed)

h 6000 droplets à 32 pl per second
h Width and height of ink channel on µm range
h Critical production parameters
¾ Dimensional stability Pr axisbepl:A usarbeitng
Ausarbeit ngderSta
¾ Precision
¾ Uniformatiy of nozzles
h Drop performance
¾ Frequency
¾ Volume
¾ Speed

tIJ: Trends
h Enhancement of frequencies
¾ Speed of printing
h Reduction of volume
¾ Quality of printing
h Cost reduction
h Further miniaturization Pr axisbepl:A usarbeitng

Ausarbeit ngderSta
¾ Problem: reliability
h Example: HP 890C (roof shooter)
¾ 192 nozzles (3 colors)
¾ 12000 droplets at 10 pl / second
¾ Heater surface 1 mm²
¾ Series of small openings to avoid clogging by particles

tIJ: Further Trends
h Canon BJC 7000

¾ 480 nozzles in a single print head
¾ Largest density in small-office arena
¾ 6 colors, also 80 nozzles per color
Ausarbeit ngderSta
h Market need for low-cost print heads

¾ Larger ink containers
¾ Permanent or semi-permanent print heads

Piezo-Electric IJ: Principle
h Drop-on-demand method
h Deformation of piezo-ceramics
h Change in volume
h Pressure wave propagates to nozzle
Ausarbeit ngderSta
•Problem of pIJ-Technology
•Deflection of piezo-ceramics in sub-µm range
•Piezo-element has to be much larger than orifice
•Main problem: miniaturization

pIJ: Droplet Formation
• Acoustic pressure wave

• Pressure drop due to viscosity
• Pressure drop due to surface tension
• Dynamic pressure
Ausarbeit ngderSta

pIJ: Modes of Deformation for Piezo-
Ceramic Plate
Ausarbeit ngderSta

pIJ: Types
Ausarbeit ngderSta

pIJ: Squeeze-Mode
h Thin piezo-ceramic tube surrounds glass nozzle

¾ Gould´s Impulse-Ink-Jet
h Piezo-ceramic tube casted in plastics surrounds ink channel

Ausarbeit ngderSta
¾ Siemens PT-80 (1977)

- Matrix composed of 12 nozzles
- Innovative service station
- First truly successful office ink-jet printer
¾ Development of 32-nozzle follow-up print head failed due to problems
with nozzle-to-nozzle uniformity

pIJ: Bend-Mode
h Piezo-ceramic platelet bonded to diaphragm

¾ Bi-laminar electro-mechanical transducer
h Voltage pulse (E || P) generates droplet
h Tektronix Phaser 300 and 350 and Epson Color Stylus 400, 600,
800
Ausarbeit ngderSta

pIJ: Push-Mode
h Piezo-ceramic rod (E || P) pushes against ink nozzle

h Diaphragm protects piezo-ceramics against reaction with ink
h Commercial products: Dataproducts, Trident and Epson
Ausarbeit ngderSta

pIJ: Shear-Mode
h Polarization of piezo-ceramics perpendicular to E-field

h Piezoceramics as active wall in direct touch with ink
¾ Stiction of ink on wall crucial parameter
h Scheer-motion generates droplet
h Pioneers: Spectra and Xaar
Ausarbeit ngderSta

pIJ: Shear Mode
Ausarbeit ngderSta

pIJ: Fabrication by Stacking
h Several photochemically structured layers of stainless steel

h Intermetal bonding by layer of Au or Ni at high temperature
h Uniform thickness of layer
¾ uniform performance of channels
¾ Hermetic sealing of channels
h Print heads by Tektronix (352 nozzles, below) and Sharp (48
Ausarbeit ngderSta
nozzles)
SEM-images of steel-laminated print head by Tektronix

pIJ: Alternative Bonding
h Spectra
¾ Soldering
¾ Epoxy Pr axisbepl:A usarbeitng

Ausarbeit ngderSta
¾ Electro-plated
Ni-orifice

IJ-Technology: Nozzle Design (1)
h Geometry parameters of nozzle
¾ Diameter
¾ Depth
h Effect on droplets
¾ Volume
¾ Speed
¾ Deflection angle
h Effect on ink supply Pr axisbepl:A usarbeitng
Ausarbeit ngderSta
¾ Capillary forces
h Fabrication tolerances limit picture quality
h Fabrication of orifice plates
¾ Laser-ablation in polyimid, epecially for small nozzles (10 pl, 20 µm)
¾ Nickel-electroplating
¾ Electro-discharge machining (EDM)
¾ Micro-punching
¾ Micro-pressing

Ausarbeit ngderSta

Ausarbeit ngderSta
electroplated Ni-nozzle

Ausarbeit ngderSta
Nozzle plate formed by laser ablation in polyimid

Ausarbeit ngderSta
Stainless-steel nozzle (Electro-Discharge Machining)

Ink-Jet Technology: Media (1)
h High-quality color prints require special inks and media

¾ Capillary forces make ink follow pores and fibers
¾ Ink penetrates paper too slow to allow absorption of multiple droplets at
same spot
¾ Consequences: intercolor-bleeding und ink-spreading
h Special coatings of substrates
h Design parameters for ink-subtrate combination
¾ Droplet volume
¾ Rate of evaporation
Ausarbeit ngderSta
¾ Time of penetration
¾ Thickness of coating
¾ Porosity, etc.
h Early 1980s: Jujo Paper and Mitsubishi Paper Mills
¾ Development of glossy paper types for ink jet printouts
h Nowadays: Canon, Xerox, Asahi Glass, Arkwright, Folex, 3M and
Imation

Ink-Jet Technology: Media (2)
h Alternative: solid ink (phase-change Ink)

¾ Hot-melt of phase change
¾ Solidification at contact with medium
¾ Widely independent from properties of substrate
¾ Few spreading on substrate
¾ Brilliant colors
Ausarbeit ngderSta
h Pioneering work at Teletype with electrostatic cIJ

h First DoD devices by
¾ Exxon and Howtek
h Recent activities
¾ Tektronix
¾ Dataproducts, Spectra and Brother

Ink-Jet Ink: Technology Map
Ausarbeit ngderSta

Chemistry of Ink-Jet Ink
h Critical component of IJ-technology
¾ Quality of printing
¾ Dynamics of droplet formation
¾ Reliability
h Frequently: water-based inks
¾ tIJ: vapor bubble
¾ Hewlett-Packard DeskJet, Canon BJC and Epson Color Stylus Series
¾ Viscosity range between 2 x 10-2 and 8 x 10-2 Pa s
¾ Drying comparatively slow, penetration prevails
Ausarbeit ngderSta
¾ Water-absorbing layer enhances printing quality
water-based ink
paper

Constituents of Water-Based Ink
Component Purpose Concentration

[%]
DI-water Aqueous carrier medium 60-90
Ausarbeit ngderSta
Water-soluble solvent Wetting, control of viscosity 5-30
Color or pigment Coloring 1-10

Tensides Wetting, penetration 0.1-10
Biocide Avoids biological growth 0.05-1
Buffer Stabilizes pH-value of ink 0.1-0.5
Others Chelator, anti-foam, ... >1

Phase-Change Ink
h Also termed „hot-melt“ oor „solid-ink“

h Often based on wax
h Solid at room temperature
h Typical temperatures: 120-140°C
h Typical viscosities: 8-15 x 10-2 Pa s
Ausarbeit ngderSta
h Nozzle of print head ejects hot melt

h Instantaneneous solidification upon contact avoids spreading
h Print results widely independent from substrate
h High speed of printing: 6ppm (Tektronix Phaser 350)
h Companies: Tektronix, Spectra and Dataproducts (Hitachi)

Solid-Ink: Phases
Ausarbeit ngderSta

Solid-Ink Technology: Mechanisms
Ausarbeit ngderSta

Phase-Change Ink: Constituents
Component Purpose Concentration [%]
Mixture of wax Ink-vehicle 40-70
Viscosity modifier Reduction of Pr axisbepl:A usarbeitng

Ausarbeit ngderSta
5-20
viskosity
Adhesive Adhesion on subtrate 1-15
Plastifier Flexiblity 1-15
Dye / pigment Color 1-10
Antioxidant Heat resistance 0.05-2

Phase-Change Ink
•Solidified ink on Xerox 4024 Papier

•Hemispherical dots, no spreading
Ausarbeit ngderSta

Phase-Change Ink: Fusion
•In practice: solidified ink needs further adhesion

•Tektronix Phaser 300: pressing of droplets with roller
Ausarbeit ngderSta

Phase-Change Ink: Offset Printing
Tektronix Phaser 350 color ink-jet printer
•Print head writes on thin Si film on warm Al drum

•Pattern transferred by transfix roller onto preheated paper
Ausarbeit ngderSta

Phase-Change Offset Printer: Print Result
Al-substrate
Ausarbeit ngderSta
Paper

Further Types of Ink
h Oil-based Ink
¾ For large-format printers (Raster Graphics PiezoPrint 5000, Xerox
ColorgrafX)
¾ Both printers based on Nu-Kote Piezo Shear-mode print heads
¾ Unpolar oil minimizes negative effects of E-fields on ink and print
head
¾ Zeneca: faster evaporation, high-quality printing
Ausarbeit ngderSta
h UV-curable inks
¾ Non-absorbing substrates like glasses, metals and plastics
¾ UV photo-initiators, monomers and oligomers available
¾ Market entry expected

Mechanisms of Drying
Type of Ink Print head Mechanism of Drying
Aqueous tIJ and pIJ Continuous absorption,

penetration, evaporation
Oil cIJ with piezoPr axisbepl:A usarbeitng
Ausarbeit ngderSta
Absorption, penetration
Solvent-based cIJ with piezo Evaporation
Hot-melt Piezo Phase change

liquid > solid
UV curable cIJ with piezo Polymerization
Reactive cIJ with piezo Oxidation,

Polymerization

Drying of Water-Based Ink
Ausarbeit ngderSta

Pigment-Based Ink
h Dispersion (dye: solution)
h Advantages in terms of
¾ Picture quality
¾ Stability of color vs time and weathering
¾ Reliablitiy of jetting
¾ Costs
h Disadvantages Pr axisbepl:A usarbeitng
Ausarbeit ngderSta
¾ Faster clogging of nozzles

h Companies: 3M, Dupont and Kodak

Comparison between Inks
based on Dye and Pigments
Ausarbeit ngderSta
Pigment-based Dye-based

Plain Paper Optimized Printing (P-POP)
h Canon BJC-7000 series

h Black print head
¾ Preparation of substrate with jet some milliseconds prior to ink
¾ Coupling to dye which is instantaneously fixed on paper
h Water-resistant
h Similar results as on coated glossy paper
Ausarbeit ngderSta
h In case reliabilty can be demonstrated:

¾ Technological breakthough of IJ-Ink technology (!?)

Summary
h Ink-jet technology
¾ Continuous Ink-Jet
¾ Thermal ink-jet (bubble jet)
¾ Piezo-electrical ink-jet
h IJ-technology most mature discipline of microfluidics
h Strong commercial involvement, few pure academic research
h Technological solutions for
¾ Miniaturision
¾ Reliabilty Pr axisbepl:A usarbeitng
Ausarbeit ngderSta
- Clogging
- Droplet volume
¾ Speed
¾ Fabrication technology, often w/o Si
¾ Chemistry of ink-jet ink
¾ Costs
h Typical problems of microfluidics
¾ Extremely application-specific solutions
¾ Interdisciplinary R&D
¾ Broad range of applications, e.g. office printers, biotechnology

Ink-Jet Technology: Microfluidics: Pipetting, Dispensing & Microarrays

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Оригинальное название

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Ink-Jet Technology: Microfluidics: Pipetting, Dispensing & Microarrays

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Ink-Jet Technology

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

The ink-jet technology is a contact free

Quelle: Hue P. Le, Journal of Imaging Science and Technology ·

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

h 1878: Lord Rayleigh

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

h 1951: Elmqvist from Siemens files first patent for device

¾ Applied to orifice of liquid column

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

h 1970s: IBM licences continuous ink-jet technology

h 1970s: Drop-on-Demand (DoD) Technology

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

h Up to early 1980s: problems of IJ-technology

h 1984: ThinkJet by Hewlett Packard

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

•Uncharged droplet dispensed on substrate

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

•Uncharged droplets recirculated by gutter

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

h Mechanism of droplet formation

h Thermal and piezo-electrical principles primarily used

h Electro-static and acoustic principles under developement

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

h Commercially most successful

h Variant 1: roof shooter

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

•Heating (some µs)

•Expansion Pr axisbepl:A usarbeitng

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

h Heater (roof shooter, aperture plate removed)

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

h Further miniaturization Pr axisbepl:A usarbeitng

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

h Canon BJC 7000

h Market need for low-cost print heads

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

• Acoustic pressure wave

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

h Thin piezo-ceramic tube surrounds glass nozzle

h Piezo-ceramic tube casted in plastics surrounds ink channel

¾ Siemens PT-80 (1977)

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

h Piezo-ceramic platelet bonded to diaphragm

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

h Piezo-ceramic rod (E || P) pushes against ink nozzle

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

h Polarization of piezo-ceramics perpendicular to E-field

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

Ink-Jet Technology Jens Ducrée

h Several photochemically structured layers of stainless steel

SEM-images of steel-laminated print head by Tektronix