Patent ID: 7322686

Claim:
An ink jet printhead comprising: a substrate having a planar support surface; a structure supported on the planar support surface, the structure being formed by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to define a planar nozzle plate and depending side walls, the planar nozzle plate being parallel to, and spaced from the planar support surface of the substrate, and the side walls extending between the support surface and the planar nozzle plate; a plurality of nozzle apertures formed in the planar nozzle plate; and at least one respective heater element corresponding to each nozzle aperture for thermal contact with a bubble forming liquid to heat at least part of the bubble forming liquid to a temperature above its boiling point to form a gas bubble therein thereby to cause the ejection of a drop of the bubble forming liquid through the nozzle aperture corresponding to that heater element; wherein, the at least one heater element is deposited in a plane parallel to both the planar support surface and the planar nozzle plate such that it forms a suspended beam positioned for immersion in the bubble forming liquid so to be in thermal contact therewith.