Ink Jet Printing

What is Ink Jet Printing?

Ink jet printing is a technology in which ink is delivered as a spray of ink onto a target. The ink can be any color or mix of colors, and it can be used to print a wide variety of materials, including electronic devices, circuit boards, solar cells, PLEDs, RFID, and more. It can also be used to print biological objects, such as DNA microarrays, stem cells, and other biomedical items.

Inkjet printing uses a single nozzle to print. The ink stream is broken into droplets by a piezoelectric crystal, which generates an electric charge under pressure and a mechanical strain. Some droplets receive a charge from a charging electrode and others are deflected by electrostatic deflection plates. The remaining droplets, referred to as guard droplets, fall into a collection gutter and are redirected back to the ink reservoir.

Inkjet printers are widely used for coding and marking products. This method is also used to print labels on packaging and labels. Several newer designs employ multiple reservoirs to hold various types of ink. Some of the printers are able to handle multiple materials at once. Ink jet printing is the most common form of digital printing, and can be used to print on a variety of substrates.