• Journal of Institute of Convergence Technology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.34-40
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• 2011

In this paper, a hybrid design tool combining one-dimensional(1D) lumped model and three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics(CFD) approach has been developed in order to evaluate the performance of inkjet print head and droplet control process are studied to reduce the deviations between nozzles which affect the size of the printed line for the industrial application of direct writing on printed circuit boards(PCB). 1D lumped model analysis shows that it is useful tool for evaluating performance of an inkjet head by varying the design parameters. The differences in ejected volume and droplet velocity between analytical and experimental result are within 12%. Time sequence of droplet generation is verified by the comparison between 3D analysis result and photographic images acquired by stroboscopic technique. In addition, by applying DPN process, velocity and volume uniformity between nozzles is dramatically improved that the tolerance achieved by the piezoelectric inkjet printhead across the 64 nozzles is 5 to 8%. A printed line pattern is successfully obtained using the fabricated inkjet print head and droplet calibration system.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.73-79
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• 2011

Inkjet printhead may have a lot of nozzles to increase productivity as a manufacturing tool. So, the uniformity of jetting performance among a lot of nozzles has been one of the key issues in inkjet technology In this study, we investigated the cross-talk effect which should be reduced for uniform jetting performance among a lot of nozzles. Due to the cross-talk, the jetting performance of a nozzle can be affected when neighboring nozzles are firing. For experimental study, we used commercial inkjet head SE-128 from Dimatix. To understand the cross-talk effect of SE-128 head, we measured the change in jetting speed of a nozzle when neighboring nozzles are jetting. The measured jetting speed was compared to the case of one nozzle jetting. Also, we used laser vibrometer to measure change in pressure wave due to cross-talk. As a result of the cross-talk, the jetting speed can become faster or sometimes slower depending on firing nozzle location. If the all nozzle are jetting, the jetting speed of a nozzle became slower because the pressure wave for jetting is reduced.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.417-422
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• 2006

This paper presents the effect of driving waveform for piezoelectric bend mode inkjet printhead with optimized mechanical design. Experimental and theoretical studies on the applied driving waveform versus jetting characteristics were performed. The inkjet head has been designed to maximize the droplet velocity, minimize voltage response of the actuator and optimize the firing frequency to eject ink droplet. The head design was carried out by using mechanical simulation. The printhead has been fabricated with Si(100) and SOI wafers by MEMS process and silicon direct bonding method. To investigate how performance of the piezoelectric ceramic actuator influences on droplet diameter and droplet velocity, the method of stroboscopy was used. Also we observed the movement characteristics of PZT actuator with LDV(Laser Doppler Vibrometer) system, oscilloscope and dynamic signal analyzer. Missing nozzles caused by bubbles in chamber were monitored by their resonance frequency. Using the water based ink of viscosity of 4.8 cps and surface tension of 0.025 N/m, it is possible to eject stable droplets up to 20 kHz, 4.4 m/s and above 8 pl at the different applied driving waveforms.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.369-375
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• 2015

This paper presents ejection of high viscosity fluids with magnetostrictive inkjet printhead(Magjet), which is not common with any other printhead. The MagJet uses a magnetostrictive material, Terfenol-D rod with 10-mm in diameter and 50-mm in length, as an actuation mechanism. It has been known that high viscosity is often an obstacle in ejecting small and mono-disperse droplets. We calculated required pressure with fluidic inertia (Bernoulli equation) and viscous loss (Hagen Poiseuille equation). The required pressure for ejecting a droplet is 1300kPa. The generated force and displacement with Terfenol-D rod are estimated to be 480N (2600kPa) and $28{\mu}m$, respectively. It was enough that Magjet eject high viscosity fluid (Max 1000cP). The experiments are performed to eject the high viscosity fluid with Magjet. The ejection of high viscosity fluids is successful with the aid of Terfenol-D's high performance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.366-372
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• 2007

Self-sensing measurement of piezo inkjet and its application are discussed. The pressure wave inside the inkjet dispenser was measured by current measurement due to self-sensing capability of PZT. The pressure wave measured from current was verified by commercially available laser vibrometer. Here, two applications using self-sensing signal were discussed: waveform design for high speed jetting and condition monitoring. For waveform design, two pulse waveform was designed based on self-sensing signal such that the pressure wave after droplet formation can be minimized. For condition monitoring, self-sensing signal was shown to be effective in detecting air bubble trapped in inkjet printhead.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.455-460
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• 2007

A self-sensing circuit for piezo inkjet has been designed in order to monitor the operating condition during printing. In order to verify the circuit, both ink droplet images from strobe LED and vibration signals from the laser vibrometer were measured and compared with self-sensing signal. Experimental results show that self-sensing signal was effective in detecting the pressure wave change due to the bubble trapped in inkjet printhead.

• Journal of ILASS-Korea
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2012

Inkjet printing is one of the direct writing technologies and is able to form a pattern onto substrate by dispensing droplets in desired position. Also, by inkjet technology manufacturing time and production costs can be reduced, and procedures can be more efficient. To form a metal pattern, it must be harmonized with conductive nano ink, printing process, sintering, and surface treatment. In this study, micro patterning of conductive line has been investigated using the piezoelectric printhead driven by a bipolar voltage signal is used to dispense $20-40{\mu}m$ diameter droplets and silver nano ink which consists of 50 nm silver particles. In addition, hydrophobic treatment of surface, overlap printing techniques, and sintering conditions with changing temperature and times to achieve higher conductivity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.562-565
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• 2008

Measuring system for piezo inkjet droplet and ink jetting status was developed. In order to measure the jetting performance, two different approaches have been used. One is to use the self-sensing capability of the piezo actuator in the printhead. The other is to use the droplet image from a CCD camera. The software as well as hardware using two approaches was developed. The self-sensing signal as well as meniscus motion was shown to be useful in monitoring jetting conditions. Furthermore, ink properties such as viscosity and speed of sound, which is related to jetting performance, can be understood.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.97-103
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• 2007

A novel selective metallization process to fabricate the fine conductive line based on inkjet printing has been investigated. Recently, Inkjet printing has been widely used in flat panel display, electronic circuits, biochips and bioMEMS because direct inkjet printing is an alternative and cost-effective technology for patterning and fabricating objects directly from design without masks. The photosensitive etching resist used in this process is an organic polymer which becomes solidified when exposed to ultraviolet lights and has high viscosity at ambient temperature. A piezoelectric-driven inkjet printhead is used to dispense 20-30 ${\mu}m$ diameter droplets onto the copper substrate to prevent subsequent etching. Repeatability of circuitry fabrication is closely related to the formation of steady droplets, adhesion between etching resist and copper substrate. Therefore, the ability to form small and stable droplets and surface topography of the copper surface and chemical attack must be taken into consideration for fine and precise patterns. In this study, factors affecting the pattern formation such as adhesion strength, etching mechanism, UV curing have been investigated. As a result, microscale copper patterns with tens of urn high have been fabricated.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2006.07c
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• pp.1621-1622
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• 2006

This paper presents the effect of driving waveform for piezoelectric bend mode inkjet printhead with optimized mechanical design. Experimental and theoretical studies on the applied driving waveform versus jetting characteristic s were performed. The inkjet head has been designed to maximize the droplet velocity, minimize voltage response of the actuator and optimize the firing frequency to eject ink droplet. The head design was carried out by using mechanical simulation. The printhead has been fabricated with Si(100) and SOI wafers by MEMS process and silicon direct bonding method. To investigate how performance of the piezoelectric ceramic actuator influences on droplet diameter and droplet velocity, the method of stroboscopy was used. Also we observed the movement characteristics of PZT actuator with LDV(Laser Doppler Vibrometer) system, oscilloscope and dynamic signal analyzer. Missing nozzles caused by bubbles in chamber were monitored by their resonance frequency. Using the water based ink of viscosity of 4.8 cps and surface tension of 0.025N/m, it is possible to eject stable droplets up to 20kHz, 4.4m/s and above 8pL at the different applied driving waveforms.