Electrohydrodynamic jet printing

© Fraunhofer IAP
High resolution printed blue to green colour converter.

At Fraunhofer IAP, we are developing specific inks and processes for high resolution printing.

Electrohydrodynamic jet printing (EHDJET), also known as Electrostatic jet printing (ESJET), or super inkjet (SIJ), is an emerging new technology for printing very high resolution, high aspect ratio structures. Here, droplets or continuous jets are ejected by applied electric fields instead of mechanical actuation. In this way, inks in a very wide viscosity range from 1 to 10000 cP can be printed:  

- Low-viscosity inks can be printed through very small nozzle openings of only a few µm in diameter, where mechanical actuation does not apply sufficiently large forces. In this way, droplets and continuous lines with a diameter of 1 - 10 µm can be printed.  

- Highly viscous inks can be printed through larger nozzle openings of 50 µm - 100 µm diameter. Ink is ejected at the tip of a Taylor cone, which forms due to the forces acting on the meniscus. In this way, much smaller droplets and continuous lines of 10 µm - 100 µm and high aspect ratio are printable. 

 

Website:

https://www.iap.fraunhofer.de/en/research/functional_polymer_systems/functional-materials-and-devices-2/recent-projects-/Hi-Accuracy.html

Contact:

Fraunhofer IAP, Dr. Manuel Gensler, manuel.gensler@iap.fraunhofer.de, 0331 568 1913