Patent ID: 8240052

Claim:
An improved process for fabricating an integrated multiplexed electrospray atomizer containing a ring extractor, a nozzle array layer and a spacer intermediate between the ring extractor and the nozzle array layer, said process comprising: Forming a plurality of holes in a ring extractor substrate to create the ring extractor; providing the nozzle array layer having a plurality of nozzles, each of said plurality of nozzles defining a central axis; bonding a planar spacer layer to one of the ring extractor or the nozzle array layer to form a bonded stack of spacer-ring extractor or spacer-nozzle array layer, the improvement including that the spacer layer is an un-patterned substrate formed in-situ and does not require alignment; aligning said un-patterned bonded stack of spacer layer-ring extractor with the nozzle array layer or said un-patterned bonded stack of spacer-nozzle array layer with the ring extractor; bonding said un-patterned bonded stack of planar spacer-ring extractor to the nozzle array layer or said bonded stack of spacer-nozzle array layer to the ring extractor such that the un-patterned spacer layer is intermediate between the ring extractor and the nozzle array layer to form a bonded stack of nozzle array layer-spacer-ring extractor; and said improvement being, etching said planar spacer layer within a bonded stack of nozzle array layer-spacer-ring extractor to provide fluid communication between the nozzle array layer and the ring extractor and to form the spacer.