Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid ejection head substrate configured to eject a liquid and a method for manufacturing the same.
Description of the Related Art
A liquid ejection head ejects droplets from an ejection port by heating a liquid rapidly with a heat-generating resistor disposed in a liquid ejection head substrate so as to generate bubbles. The heat-generating resistor is covered by an insulating layer configured to ensure the insulation between the heat-generating resistor and the liquid, a protective layer configured to protect the heat-generating resistor from the impact of cavitation associated with bubble generation or debubbling of the liquid, and the like. It becomes possible to heat the liquid efficiently by making these layers covering the heat-generating resistor thin. Therefore, it is desirable to make these layers thin.
However, in the configuration, in which electrode layers constituting a pair of electrodes configured to supply electric power to the heat-generating resistor are disposed on the front surface or back surface of the heat-generating resistor layer, a large height difference is generated by the pair of electrodes. In general, the electrode is composed of Al, although Al corrodes easily. Therefore, processing is difficult and the shape is not stabilized easily. Regarding the insulating layer or the protective layer disposed on the upstanding portion and the like of the height difference, the film thickness is small and the film quality is degraded compared with a film disposed on a flat portion. Consequently, if the insulating layer or the protective layer is made thin in the above-described configuration, it is difficult to protect the height difference portion generated by the pair of electrodes sufficiently, and shortages of insulation and durability to withstand impact may be caused. Also, the heat-generating resistor may be corroded by a liquid.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-10882 proposes a configuration, in which electrodes are embedded in a heat storage layer, the surface thereof is planarized, and a heat-generating resistor layer, an insulating layer, and a protective layer are disposed on the planarized surface, as a form in which a height difference due to an electrode layer is not generated.
Meanwhile, in the case where the heat-generating resistor layer is etched in a production process of a liquid ejection head substrate, a photoresist as an example of a mask is applied to the surface of the substrate provided with the heat-generating resistor layer, and a pattern is formed by using photolithography. At this time, for example, if dry etching is performed by plasma using a gas, e.g., Cl2 or CF4, the surface of the photoresist is altered and the photoresist is not removed completely by only being dipped into an chemical solution configured to dissolve the photoresist.
At the time of bubble generation for ejecting a liquid, the heat-generating resistor reaches a high temperature such as several hundred degrees, and if the photoresist is left on the surface, a breakage may occur at an early stage. Therefore, the photoresist is removed by performing dry ashing using oxygen plasma or the like.
However, if dry ashing is performed such that the photoresist does not remain, the surface of the heat-generating resistor layer is exposed to the oxygen plasma, the surface is oxidized, a portion having a thickness of several nanometers from the surface of the heat-generating resistor layer is altered, and the resistance value of that portion increases. The thickness of the heat-generating resistor is set to be very small in order to increase the resistance value. Therefore, a profound effect is exerted by alteration of even the portion several nanometers from the surface.
The entirety of photoresist is not removed by dry asking at the same timing, the thickness of the portion altered and the degree of the alteration are different depending on the places and, therefore, there are variations in the resistance value. In addition, the durability to withstand current of the heat-generating resistor is degraded because of alteration. Consequently, if there is a portion in which the degree of alteration is great, the heat-generating resistor may break at an early stage.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a liquid ejection head substrate capable of heating a liquid efficiently and suppressing alteration of the surface of a heat-generating resistor layer during a production process.
The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a liquid ejection head substrate, in which a heat storage layer, a pair of electrodes extending from the surface of the heat storage layer toward the back surface, a heat-generating resistor layer in contact with the pair of electrodes and the surface of the heat storage layer, and a first cover layer configured to cover the heat-generating resistor layer are stacked, the method including the steps of etching the heat-generating resistor layer and the first cover layer of a substrate including the heat-generating resistor layer and the first cover layer by using a mask, removing the mask, and forming a second cover layer configured to cover an end portion of the heat-generating resistor layer in that order.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
The present invention provides a liquid ejection head substrate capable of heating a liquid efficiently and suppressing alteration of the surface of a heat-generating resistor layer during a production process.
A head substrate 100, which is a liquid ejection head substrate according to the present embodiment, used for a liquid ejection head configured to eject a liquid, e.g., ink, will be described with reference to
The stacking configuration of the head substrate 100 will be described. In the head substrate 100, a heat storage layer 101 composed of a silicon substrate (not shown in the drawing), a thermal oxide film, a SiO film, a SiN film, and the like is disposed. In the heat storage layer 101, electrodes 102, which extend from the surface of the heat storage layer 101 toward the back surface and which are composed of a metal material, e.g., W, TiN, or an Al alloy, (hereafter may be referred to as “a pair of electrodes 102a and 102b”) are disposed. The surfaces of the heat storage layer 101 and the electrodes 102 are subjected to a planarization treatment, e.g., chemical mechanical polishing (CMP method) or etch back. Therefore, the surfaces of the heat storage layer 101 and the electrodes 102 are substantially flat faces. A heat-generating resistor layer 103, which is composed of a film of TaSiN, WSiN, or CrSiN, having a thickness of 10 to 50 nm is disposed on these surfaces. An insulating layer 104, which is composed of an insulating material, e.g., SiN, SiO, or SiCN, having a thickness of 50 to 300 nm is further disposed on the surface of the heat-generating resistor layer 103. The heat-generating resistor layer 103 and the insulating layer 104 are disposed so as to have the same pattern by dry etching.
In this configuration, as indicated by alternate long and short dashed lines shown in
In addition, an end portion cover layer 105, which is composed of an insulating material, e.g., SiN, SiO, or SiCN, which is configured to cover the end portion of the heat-generating resistor layer 103, and which has a thickness of 50 to 300 nm, is disposed on the surfaces of the heat storage layer 101 and the insulating layer 104. The end portion cover layer 105 is disposed so as to surround the peripheral edge of the end portion of the heat-generating resistor layer 103, when viewed from a direction orthogonal to the surface of the head substrate 100. In
Also, a protective layer 106, which is composed of Ta, Ir, Ru, or the like and which protects the heat-generating resistor layer 103 and the insulating layer 104 from an impact due to cavitation associated with bubble generation or debubbling, is further disposed. The protective layer 106 has a thickness of 50 to 300 nm and covers the heat-generating resistor layer 103 and the insulating layer 104. Furthermore, it is not necessary to provide the protective layer 106.
In this regard, the insulating layer 104, the end portion cover layer 105, and the protective layer 106 may be referred to as, a first cover layer, a second cover layer, and a third cover layer, respectively.
Next, issues in the production process of the head substrate 100 will be described with reference to
As shown in
A method for manufacturing the head substrate according to the comparative example will be described. As shown in
The surface of the photoresist 200 is altered by the dry etching and, therefore, the photoresist 200 is not completely removed by only being dipped into a chemical solution which dissolves the photoresist 200. When bubbles are generated in the liquid, the temperature of the heat-generating resistor layer 103 reaches a high temperature of several hundred degrees. If the photoresist 200 is left on the surface even in small quantities, a breakage may occur at an early stage. Consequently, the photoresist 200 is removed by dry ashing using oxygen plasma or the like capable of removing an altered layer of the photoresist 200. As a result, the surface of the heat-generating resistor layer 103 is exposed to oxygen plasma or the like during dry ashing (
The surface of the thus produced heat-generating resistor layer 103 of the head substrate 100 is oxidized by the oxygen plasma, a portion having a thickness of several nanometers from the surface of the heat-generating resistor layer 103 is altered, and the resistance value of that portion increases. The thickness of the heat-generating resistor is set to be very small in order to increase the resistance value. Therefore, a profound effect is exerted by alteration of even the portion several nanometers from the surface.
A method for manufacturing the head substrate 100 according to the present embodiment will be described.
The head substrate 100 is produced by stacking a film on the surface of a silicon substrate in which driving elements of semiconductors are incorporated (not shown in the drawing). A P—SiO film formed on the basis of a SiH4 gas is disposed as part of the heat storage layer 101 on the surface of the base substrate, on which the heat-generating resistor layer 103 is to be formed. Through holes are formed in the heat storage layer 101. After TiN serving as a barrier metal is formed in the through holes by a physical vapor deposition method (PVD method), W is embedded by a metal organic chemical vapor deposition method (MO-CVD method). Subsequently, the surfaces of the heat storage layer 101 and W are planarized by the CMP method so as to form W plugs serving as the electrodes 102 (
A TaSiN film having a thickness of 15 nm and serving as the heat-generating resistor layer 103 is formed on the planarized surface by the reactive PVD method using TaSi and nitrogen, and a SiN film having a thickness of 100 nm and serving as the insulating layer 104 is formed on the surface thereof by the plasma CVD method (
A photoresist 200 as an example of a mask is applied, a pattern is formed by photolithography, this is used as a mask, and dry etching is performed by a reactive ion etching method (RIE method) using Cl2 and BCl3 gases (
The photoresist 200 is removed by dry asking using oxygen plasma capable of removing an altered surface of the photoresist 200 after dry etching (
Subsequently, in order to cover the exposed side surface of the heat-generating resistor layer 103, a SiH4 based P—SiO film having a thickness of 200 nm is formed as the end portion cover layer 105 configured to cover the end portion of the heat-generating resistor layer 103 is formed by the plasma CVD method. A pattern having an opening in at least a portion corresponding to the heat-generating resistor 107 is formed by photolithography, the P—SiO film in accordance with the pattern is removed by using BHF so as to form the end portion cover layer 105, and the resist is peeled (
A Ta film having a thickness of 100 nm and serving as the protective layer 106 is formed by the PVD method, a pattern is formed by photolithography, dry etching is performed by the RIE method using a Cl2 gas, and a photoresist is removed by dry ashing (
As described above, in the step shown in
The material for the insulating layer 104 can be SiN so that the surface of the insulating layer 104 is not oxidized. In order to protect the surface of the heat-generating resistor layer 103 during ashing regardless of the material for the insulating layer 104, the thickness of the insulating layer 104 is specified as being preferably 50 nm or more. In addition, in order to avoid reduction in the energy efficiency of the heat-generating resistor 107, the thickness of the insulating layer 104 is specified as preferably 300 nm or less. That is, the thickness of the insulating layer 104 is specified as preferably 50 nm or more and 300 nm or less.
In the case where the insulating layer 104 and the protective layer 106 are disposed having small thicknesses in order to enhance the energy efficiency of the heat-generating resistor 107 as well, height differences generated by the heat-generating resistor layer 103 and the insulating layer 104 are covered by the end portion cover layer 105 sufficiently.
The side surface of the end portion of the heat-generating resistor layer 103 is exposed because the patterns of the heat-generating resistor layer 103 and the insulating layer 104 are the same. However, the end portion cover layer 105 is disposed and, thereby, the heat-generating resistor 107 is protected.
Meanwhile, in contrast to the form shown in
Meanwhile, in the form shown in
The end portion cover layer 105 can be a film of an insulating material in order to ensure insulation between the heat-generating resistor layer 103 and the protective layer 106. However, in the case where the protective layer 106 is composed of a nonconductive material, in the case where the insulation between the heat-generating resistor layer 103 and the protective layer 106 is ensured and, in addition, the end portion cover layer 105 is not corroded because of the potential of the heat-generating resistor 107, and the like, the end portion cover layer 105 may be a film composed of a conductive material.
If the end portion cover layer 105 is a film composed of an insulating material, as shown in
The configuration and the manufacturing method of the head substrate 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to
A TaSiN film having a thickness of 15 nm and serving as the heat-generating resistor layer 103 is formed on the planarized surfaces of the heat storage layer 101 and the electrodes 102 by the reactive PVD method using TaSi and nitrogen, and a SiN film having a thickness of 100 nm and serving as the insulating layer 104 is formed on the surface thereof by the plasma CVD method. A Ta film having a thickness of 100 nm and serving as the protective layer 106 is further formed by the PVD method (
A photosensitive photoresist 200 is applied, a pattern is formed by photolithography, and dry etching is performed by the RIE method using Cl2 and BCl3 gases so as to form the heat-generating resistor 107. In this manner, the heat-generating resistor layer 103, the insulating layer 104, and the protective layer 106 are etched in the same step and, therefore, these layers are formed having the same pattern (
The photoresist 200 is removed by dry asking using oxygen plasma capable of removing an altered surface of the photoresist 200 after dry etching (
Subsequently, in order to cover the exposed side surface of the heat-generating resistor layer 103, a P—SiCN film serving as the end portion cover layer 105 configured to cover the end portion of the heat-generating resistor layer 103 is formed by the plasma CVD method using a SiH4 gas, a CH4 gas, or the like. A photosensitive photoresist 300 is applied, and a pattern having an opening in at least a portion corresponding to the heat-generating resistor 107 is formed by photolithography. Thereafter, the P—SiCN film is subjected to dry etching in accordance with the pattern by the RIE method using a CH4 gas (
The photoresist 300 is removed by dry ashing using oxygen plasma (
In the step shown in
For example, in the case where a SiCN film is used as the insulating layer 104, the surface of the insulating layer 104 may be altered because of oxidation by oxygen plasma during dry asking. According to the present embodiment, the surface of the insulating layer 104 is covered by the protective layer 106 composed of Ta or Ir. Therefore, alteration of the surface of the insulating layer 104 is suppressed.
In the step shown in
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-146934, filed Jul. 24, 2015, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2015-146934 | Jul 2015 | JP | national |