Method of forming hydrophobic coating layer on surface of nozzle plate of inkjet printhead

Abstract

A method of forming a hydrophobic coating layer on a surface of a nozzle plate of an inkjet printhead includes forming a plurality of nozzles in the nozzle plate, each of the nozzles having an exit, stacking a film on the surface of the nozzle plate to cover the exit of each of the nozzles, forming a predetermined metal layer on an inner wall of each of the nozzles and an inner surface of the film covering the exit of each of the nozzles using a plating method, removing the film from the surface of the nozzle plate, forming a hydrophobic coating layer on the surface of the nozzle plate to cover the metal layer exposed through the exit of each of the nozzles, and removing the metal layer formed on the inner wall of each of the nozzles and the hydrophobic coating layer formed on the surface of the metal layer.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of forming a hydrophobic coating layer on a surface of a nozzle plate of an inkjet printhead, the method comprising:
 forming a plurality of nozzles in the nozzle plate, each of the nozzles having an exit and an inner wall;   stacking a film on the surface of the nozzle plate such that a portion of the film covers the exit of each of the nozzles;   forming a predetermined metal layer on the inner wall of each of the nozzles and the portion of the film covering the exit of each of the nozzles;   removing the film from the surface of the nozzle plate;   forming the hydrophobic coating layer on the surface of the nozzle plate such that the hydrophobic coating layer covers the predetermined metal layer exposed through the exit of each of the nozzles; and   removing the predetermined metal layer formed on the inner wall of each of the nozzles and the hydrophobic coating layer formed on the surface of the metal layer.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 forming a seed layer on the inner wall of each of the nozzles and the inner surface of the film covering the exit of each of the nozzles after the stacking of the film and before forming the predetermined metal layer.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 etching the predetermined metal layer exposed through the exit of each of the nozzles to a predetermined depth after the removing of the film.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the predetermined metal layer is etched to a depth of about 1 to about 10 μm. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined metal layer is formed using a damascening plating method. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the hydrophobic coating layer formed on the surface of the predetermined metal layer is removed by a dry etching method after the predetermined metal layer formed on the inner wall of each of the nozzles is removed. 
     
     
         7 . A method of forming a hydrophobic coating layer on a surface of a nozzle plate of an inkjet printhead, the method comprising:
 forming a plurality of nozzles in the nozzle plate, each of the nozzles having an exit;   stacking a film on the surface of the nozzle plate such that the film covers the exit of each of the nozzles;   forming a polymer layer on an inner wall of each of the nozzles and an inner surface of the film covering the exit of each of the nozzles;   removing the film from the surface of the nozzle plate;   forming a hydrophobic coating layer on the surface of the nozzle plate such that the hydrophobic coating layer covers the polymer layer exposed through the exit of each of the nozzles; and   removing the polymer layer formed on the inner wall of each of the nozzles and the hydrophobic coating layer formed on the surface of the polymer layer.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 etching the polymer layer exposed through the exit of each of the nozzles to a predetermined depth after the removing of the film.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the polymer layer is etched using a dry etching method. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the polymer layer is etched to a depth of about 1 to about 10 μm. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the forming of the polymer layer comprises:
 coating a polymer in a liquid state on the inner wall of each of the nozzles and the inner surface of the film covering the exit of each of the nozzles; and   thermally treating the coated polymer to harden the coated polymer.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the polymer in the liquid state is coated using a spray coating method. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the polymer layer is formed of a photoresist. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the hydrophobic coating layer formed on the surface of the polymer layer is removed through a dry etching method after the polymer layer formed on the inner wall of each of the nozzles is removed. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the hydrophobic coating layer comprises a material that is not damaged by the removing of the polymer layer. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the hydrophobic coating layer comprises parylene. 
     
     
         17 . A method of forming a hydrophobic layer on a nozzle plate of an inkjet printhead, the nozzle plate having first and second surfaces, a plurality of nozzles having nozzle openings and inner nozzle surfaces, and a covering layer formed on the second surface of the nozzle plate to cover the inner nozzle surfaces and the nozzle openings and having exposed portions exposed through the nozzle openings to the first surface of the nozzle plate, the method comprising:
 forming the hydrophobic layer on the first surface of the nozzle plate, the nozzle openings, and the exposed portions of the covering layer; and   removing the covering layer and portions of the hydrophobic layer formed on the exposed portions of the covering layer.