Numerical and Experimental Evaluation of Picoliter Inkjet Head for Micropatterning of Printed Electronics

Abstract

A design process based on multiphysics modeling and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication has been established to develop a picoliter inkjet printhead for micro-patterning for printed electronics. Piezoelectric actuator is designed with numerical analysis using Covent-Ware with consideration of electrical characteristic of piezoelectric material and physical characteristic of silicon structure. The displacements of a piezoelectric actuator according to voltage waveform are evaluated and verified by laser doppler vibrometer (LDV). Piezoelectric printheads have been fabricated with silicon and silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers by MEMS process and silicon to silicon bonding method. As a preliminary approach, liquid metal jetting phenomena are identified by simulating droplet ejection and droplet formation in a consequent manner. Parametric studies are followed by the design optimization process to deduce key issues to inkjet head performance: printhead configuration, input voltage amplitude, ink viscosity and meniscus movement using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). By adjusting the driving voltage along with optimizing the drive waveform, the droplet volume and velocity can be controlled and evaluated by a drop watcher system. As a result, inkjet printhead capable of ejecting 1 pL droplet, which is required by electronic applications such as fabricating metal lines on printed circuit board (PCB), is developed.