Patent ID: 7638200

Claim:
Method of making a sputter target for sputtering a heater layer of an ink jet printer comprising: (a) providing elemental W metal powder, Si 3 N 4 powder and MgO; (b) blending said elemental W metal powder, Si 3 N 4 powder and MgO to form an agglomerated blend, screening said agglomerated blend to result in an agglomerated blend of less than 300 microns in dimension; and (c) pressure consolidating said agglomerated blend of less than 300 microns under heated conditions for a time sufficient to form a consolidated blend having an actual density of greater than 95% of the theoretical density, said agglomerated blend comprising from about 40-about 80 atomic percent W, about 60- about 20 atomic percent Si 3 N 4 , with the atomic percent of said Si 3 N 4 and W equaling about 100 atomic percent, said MgO being present in an amount of between about 0.05-6 weight percent based on the weight of said Si 3 N 4 .