An ink jet printing system consists of three fundamental parts: inks, printing engine, and substrates. Inks are materials creating color by selectively absorbing and scattering the visible illumination light. The printer acts as an ink distributor that governs the ink application. Finally, the substrate acts as a receiver of the inks and forms the images. Ink setting on the substrate is a compl...

This study introduces new models and mathematical formulations describing the light scattering and ink spreading phenomena. Based on these new theoretical tools, the spectra of 100 real paper samples produced by two ink-jet printers were computed with an average prediction error of about in CIELAB.

We report a method to additively build threedimensional (3-D) microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and electrical circuitry by ink-jet printing nanoparticle metal colloids. Fabricating metallic structures from nanoparticles avoids the extreme processing conditions required for standard lithographic fabrication and molten-metal-droplet deposition. Nanoparticles typically measure 1 to 100 nm in ...

The development of high performance inkjet printers and inks is advancing rapidly. Manufacturers seem to introduce their new technology inks to the market on an almost daily basis. Chemists in ink laboratories are still fighting with the issue of combining a wide gamut of dye-based inks with the lightfast and weather resistance qualities of pigment-based inks into new-age ink formulations. Thre...

Many advanced medical and biological devices require microscale patterning of cells, proteins, and other biological materials. This article describes the use of piezoelectric ink jet processing in the fabrication of biosensors, cell-based assays, and other microscale medical devices. A microelectromechanical system-based piezoelectric transducer was used to develop uniform fluid flow through no...

We have developed several devices for positioning organic molecules, molecular aggregates, cells, and single-cell organisms onto solid supports. These printers can create stable, functional protein arrays using an inexpensive technology. The cell printer allows us to create cell libraries as well as cellular assemblies that mimic their respective position in organs. The printers are derived fro...

We demonstrate a printable Thermo-Optic (TO) switch utilizing imprinting and ink-jet printing techniques. The material system, optical and thermal designs are discussed. Imprinting technique is used to transfer a 2 × 2 switch pattern from a flexible mold into a UV15LV polymer bottom cladding. Ink-jet printing is further used to deposit a SU-8 polymer core layer on top. Operation of the switch i...

The topic of photo-equality in hardcopy technologies has been widely discussed from the beginning of digital printing until today. Photographic quality prints can be made on desk-top printers with little compromises in permanence and performance. The paper compares the status of ink-jet prints in professional and desktop systems with commercial photography. The gamut of typical ink-jet dye and ...