Editors note: Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) is a phrase and acronym that has appeared in recent news articles. Fujifilm Dimatix’s recent announcement of its MEMS-based, Q-Class products has drawn even further attention to the term. Fuji Photo Film Co. Ltd. (Tokyo) is an important player in nearly all technology industries.
Two years ago, the company acquired Dimatix (Lebanon, NH), a printhead-manufacturing firm that produces MEMS piezo-electric printheads. In this purchase, Fuji also acquired Dimatix’s Spectra Printing Div (Lebanon). Spectra Inc., a company that began developing and fabricating printheads in 1984, changed its name to Dimatix in 2005.
MEMS are manufacturing technologies that create dimensional, micrometer-level, electronic and mechanical structures on silicon substrates. “MEMS” also refers to manufactured parts using such technologies. MEMS technology often merges with nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS). The systems comprise minuscule components that integrate sensors and other electronic elements onto a silicon wafer.
When applied to digital-print-machine applications, MEMS-based components allow printhead manufacturers to innovatively design and array inkjet nozzles, which, in turn, allow forward-thinking installations and uses. MEMS technology is also used in automotive stability-control systems, airbags, iPhones, digital cameras and other technological devices.
Obviously, MEMS-based, printhead technology has gained the attention of large-format, print-machine buyers and operators. The benefits include innovative uses as well as resistance to mechanical tension, high temperature and other common disturbances. Not surprisingly, MEMS has become something of a holy grail in printhead development, but it’s taken time to come to market. However, the demand for smaller drop sizes and multi- and single-pass options is driving print engineers to create inventive, but practical, solutions.
In simple terms, MEMS allows for wider and denser printhead arrays, which, in turn, improve output resolutions while accelerating throughput. The major innovators include HP (San Jose, CA), Fujifilm Dimatix, Kodak (Rochester, NY), Xaar (Schaumburg, IL) and Memjet Wide Format Inc. (San Diego). These players continue to improve and, hopefully, perfect MEMS for use in large-format, inkjet printers.
Kevin Shimamoto, marketing VP for Memjet, said its heads permit high-speed and high-quality color printing at breakthrough prices. “The Memjet technology and related components – printheads, ink, driver chips and software – are very flexible, making this technology applicable to many printing markets,” he said. Kevin emphasized that no other page-width printing technology delivers high-quality, 1600-dpi printing at 60 pages/min. He said the technology will significant impact the wide-format market. See a large-format-print video at www.memjet.com.
Xaar CEO Ian Dinwoodie said common-inkjet MEMS printheads are inkjet actuators fabricated from a silicon wafer. Silicon is the substrate material found in thermal-inkjet heads, Ian said, and it’s a very elegant fit for that technology, but, he adds, because silicon isn’t a piezo-electric material, printhead engineers must, to create a MEMS printhead, create a piezo system that marries piezo elements with silicon processing.
Ian said Xaar investigated MEMS technology five years ago and concluded the cost advantages were dubious in all but mass markets. Xaar, he said, decided that similar performance could be achieved via alternate methods; thus, the company continued to develop its ceramic MEMS technology and the Xaar 1001 product, which is presently being utilized in more than 50 developments worldwide – including the Nilpeter Caslon Digital Label Press. See www.xaar.com to see a video (tag “Products,” then “Platform 3”).
Still, you mustn’t forget the accepted inkjet ethos: Prints must be good enough to satisfy the client, and not necessarily be any better. Not every application benefits from photographic-quality standards; nor are printmakers often excited about what drives a printer. Most want machines that work efficiently and do what it says on the box.
What all large-format printmakers want is faster print speeds. If MEMS delivers improved speed with greater efficiency, fewer failures, longer life cycles and better print consistency, then it’s a go. Nonetheless, time will tell how successful MEMS will be – as will the printed results.
U.K.-based writer, photographer, editor and consultant Sophie Matthews-Paul is an acknowledged authority on digital printing, worldwide. You may contact her at sophie [at] rockstro [dot] net.