Characteristics of carbon nanotube based micro-bubble generators for thermal jet printing

This paper proposes a novel thermal printhead with multiwalled carbon nanotubes as heating elements and presents characteristics of the corresponding MEMS-fabricated microbubble generators. Electrical properties of the microheaters in air and performance of bubble generation under water are comprehensively studied. Relationships between input power, resistance and bubble behavior are characterized. For a conceptional design, two microbubble generators are neighbored as a group in the printhead and bubbles individually generated by these two microbubble generators have been demonstrated to merge at the structure center through appropriate control of electrical driving, which is critical to ensure the expected droplet generation without tailing effect.