Patent ID: 8322827

Claim:
A thermal inkjet printhead integrated circuit comprising: an array of ink chambers formed on a wafer substrate, each having a nozzle aperture and a thermal actuator, the thermal actuator having a heater element extending between two contacts; CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) drive circuitry formed by a plurality of flat, metal layers interleaved with interlayer dielectric for selectively providing the thermal actuators of the array with drive signals, the CMOS drive circuitry having a top-most metal layer providing electrodes for each of the thermal actuators respectively, the electrodes each having a flat surface, the contacts of each of the thermal actuators overlying the flat surfaces of the corresponding electrodes for face to face contacting engagement, the contacts and the heater element being coplanar such that the thermal actuator is an integral planar structure; wherein, each of the chambers has an opening for refill ink, and the thermal actuator is positioned such that during use the refill ink flows over one of the contacts to enter the chamber.