Heater chips with silicon die bonded on silicon substrate
View Patent ↗A heater chip has a substrate and at least one die, made of silicon, and a bond non-adhesively attaching them. The substrate, thick enough to resist bowing, has ink supply vias from back to front surfaces. The die has ink flow vias from back to front surfaces and circuitry including heater elements adjacent the front surface interspersed with ink flow vias. The at least one die is superimposed on the substrate such that ink supply vias of the substrate align with ink flow vias of the die and portions of substrate front surface and die back surface are aligned, disposed adjacent and facing one another. The bond formed between substrate and die facing surface portions is hermetic and equal in strength to a Si—O bond. A metal through the die connects a conductor on a front of the substrate to a heater element on a front of the die.
1. A heater chip for a micro-fluid ejection head module, comprising:
a substrate composed of silicon of a carrier wafer, said substrate containing a plurality of fluid supply vias extending therethrough from a back surface to a front surface thereof;
at least one die composed of silicon of a device wafer separate from said carrier wafer, the die containing a plurality of fluid flow vias extending therethrough from a back surface to a front surface thereof and also containing electrical circuitry including a plurality of heater elements formed near said front surface, said heater elements interspersed with said fluid flow vias, said die being superimposed on said substrate such that said fluid flow vias of said die align with said fluid supply vias of said substrate and such that portions of said back surface on said die and portions of said front surface on said substrate align with one another and are disposed adjacent and facing one another;
a bond non-adhesively formed between said respective facing surface portions on said die and said substrate being hermetic in nature and attaching said die and substrate together; and
a conductor on said front surface of the substrate, wherein a metal via extends through said die to electrically connect the conductor and at least one of the heater elements.
2. The heater chip of claim 1 , wherein the metal via extends vertically through the die from the front surface of the die to the back surface of the die.
3. The heater chip of claim 1 , further including a tab circuit, wherein the conductor on said front surface of the substrate is an electrical trace on the tab circuit.