Patent ID: 7434912

Claim:
An ultrafine fluid jet apparatus, comprising: an ultrafine-diameter nozzle member comprising an ultrafine capillary tube that is tapered towards its distal end and is capable of being supplied with a liquid, in which the nozzle member has an inner diameter in the range of from 0.01 μm to 8 μm at the distal end of the tapered ultrafine capillary tube, and the nozzle member is made of an electric insulator, an electrode provided in or on the nozzle member being extended into the tapered section of the nozzle member, and a device for generating an optional-waveform voltage to be applied to the electrode, for ejecting an ultrafine-diameter fluid droplet of the liquid from the nozzle member; wherein, upon i) applying optional-waveform voltage of 1000V or less, ii) supplying the nozzle member with the liquid, and iii) positioning a substrate close to the distal end of the nozzle member, an electric field is focused onto the distal end of the nozzle member so as to increase a density of electric flux lines drawn from the nozzle member toward the substrate to which the fluid droplet lands, and the ultrafine-diameter fluid droplet is ejected from the nozzle member and lands on a prescribed point on the substrate which is close to the distal end of the nozzle member.