ACTUATOR SENSOR TECHNOLOGY ON ELECTRONIC GRADE DIAMOND FILMS

Thermal microheaters as used for example in thermal ink print heads co ntain a variety of materials, the heater itself is commonly based on r efractory metals. Here, a novel concept based on diamond as a multifun ctional material is proposed and demonstrated. In this concept, diamon d serves as an insulating substrate, a metal-like heater and as a temp erature sensor. Superheating of water could be achieved after 7.5 mu s heating of a 60 x 60 mu m element. Bubble nucleation was visualized u sing a high speed stroboscopic technique. The influence of the diamond thermal properties and geometry on the thermal response were investig ated by dynamic SD-simulations.