Inkjet printing systems are a type of fluid ejection device. Such systems generally include an inkjet die, which comprises a silicon semiconductor substrate having one or more arrays of firing nozzles (e.g. heater resistors) fabricated thereon, along with circuitry for addressing the nozzles. Such systems can also include an array of Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM) cells on the die. Such fluid ejection devices can be used to eject ink, such as in printing systems, or other fluids.
It is generally desirable to reduce the total physical area and/or width of an inkjet die with EPROM cells. In doing so, the placement and geometry of the EPROM array(s) can be adjusted. Nonetheless, performance characteristics vary among EPROM cells that have been fabricated on a single semiconductor die, and the performance variations of these cells can increase with the physical distance between the cells. Consequently, when multiple EPROM arrays are separated by some distance on an inkjet die, more of the dies can fail to meet established performance standards, and thus be discarded. This results in lower device yield and, hence, increases fabrication costs and time.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds