Claims
- 1. A passivation layer of a printhead formed by an atomic layer epitaxy process.
- 2. The passivation layer of claim 2 wherein a material for the passivation contains at least one of refractory metals, transitional metals, insulators, metal oxides, nitrides, borides, and carbides.
- 3. A fluid ejection device comprising:
a die having a plurality of layers formed thereover; a firing chamber formed from the plurality of layers, from which heated fluid is ejected, wherein one of the plurality of layers is an ALE layer that is formed by an atomic layer epitaxy process.
- 4. The fluid ejection device of claim 3 wherein the ALE layer is a dielectric layer.
- 5. The fluid ejection device of claim 3 wherein the ALE layer is a passivation layer.
- 6. The fluid ejection device of claim 3 wherein the plurality of layers include a conductive layer, wherein the ALE layer is formed in between the conductive layer and the firing chamber.
- 7. The fluid ejection device of claim 3 wherein the ALE layer contains at least one of refractory metals, transitional metals, insulators, metal oxides, nitrides, borides, and carbides.
- 8. The fluid ejection device of claim 3 wherein the ALE layer is aluminum oxide.
- 9. The fluid ejection device of claim 3 wherein the ALE layer has a thickness of between about 250 Angstrom units and about 2000 Angstrom units.
- 10. The fluid ejection device of claim 3 wherein the ALE layer has a thickness of about 1000 Angstrom units.
- 11. A printhead comprising:
a die; a firing chamber disposed upon the die; a heating element interposed between said die and said firing chamber; and an ALE layer interposed between said heating element and said firing chamber, wherein said ALE layer has a thickness of less than 2000 Angstroms.
- 12. The fluid ejection device of claim 11 wherein the ALE layer has a thickness of 1000 Angstroms.
- 13. A fluid ejection device comprising:
a die; a firing chamber disposed upon the die; a heating element interposed between said die and said firing chamber; and a dielectric film, interposed between said heating element and said firing chamber, wherein said dielectric film is formed by an atomic layer epitaxy process.
- 14. The fluid ejection device according to claim 13, wherein said dielectric film contains at least one of refractory metals, transitional metals, insulators, metal oxides, nitrides, borides, and carbides.
- 15. The fluid ejection device according to claim 13, wherein said dielectric film is selected from the group having a composition consisting of silicon carbides, silicon nitrides, metal oxides, nitrides, borides, and carbides.
- 16. The fluid ejection device according to claim 13, wherein said dielectric film is aluminum oxide.
- 17. The fluid ejection device according to claim 13, wherein said dielectric film has a thickness of between about 250 Angstrom units and about 2000 Angstrom units.
- 18. The fluid ejection device according to claim 13, wherein said dielectric film has a thickness of about 1000 Angstrom units.
- 19. A method of forming a passivation layer of a printhead comprising utilizing an atomic layer epitaxy process.
- 20. The method of claim 19 wherein a material for the passivation layer contains at least one of refractory metals, transitional metals, insulators, metal oxides, nitrides, borides, and carbides.
- 21. A method of fabricating a fluid ejection device comprising:
utilizing an atomic layer epitaxy process to deposit a layer between a substrate and a firing chamber.
- 22. The method of claim 21 wherein the layer is deposited to a predetermined thickness.
- 23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the thickness of the layer is between about 250 Angstrom units and about 2000 Angstrom units.
- 24. A method of manufacturing a printhead comprising:
forming a plurality of layers over a substrate; utilizing an atomic layer epitaxy process to form a thin dielectric film over the plurality of layers; and forming a firing chamber, that ejects fluid therefrom, over the thin dielectric film.
- 25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the dielectric film contains at least one of refractory metals, transitional metals, insulators, metal oxides, nitrides, borides, and carbides.
- 26. The method according to claim 24, wherein aluminum oxide is selected as the dielectric film.
- 27. The method according to claim 24, wherein the plurality of layers includes a heating element, wherein the film is disposed between the heating element and the firing chamber.
- 28. The method according to claim 24, wherein said film has a thickness of between about 250 Angstrom units and about 2000 Angstrom units.
- 29. The method according to claim 24, wherein said dielectric film has a thickness of about 1000 Angstrom units.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present disclosure may contain subject matter that is related to commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/296,940, filed Apr. 22, 1999, titled “Inkjet Printhead and Method of Producing Same”.