FUJIFILM Dimatix Announces SAMBA Single Pass Piezo DOD Inkjet Technology

FUJIFILM Dimatix has launched a new-generation piezoelectric drop-on-demand (piezo DOD) inkjet technology that delivers the breakthrough quality, speed and scalability required for wide-width single pass production inkjet printing and materials deposition applications.

Developed jointly by FUJIFILM Dimatix and FUJIFILM Corporation, the new SAMBA
 inkjet technology utilizes Dimatix’ proprietary MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) fabrication methods, VersaDrop multi-pulsing jetting capability and Meniscus Replenishment Technology.

Collectively, these technologies and other innovations enable printhead nozzles to be arranged in a matrix array with improved meniscus formation and ink recirculation to provide unparalleled stability, uniformity, maintainability and scalability in a compact package. FUJIFILM Dimatix announces the companies’ new SAMBA technology will be on display at Messe Düsseldorf in Hall 8b, stand B03. FUJIFILM Corporation is demonstrating this technology in its new Digital Color Press also in Hall 8b, at stand A25.

The first implementation of SAMBA inkjet technology is in a parallelogram-shaped “printhead on a chip” that measures a mere 45 mm deep and packs 2048 jets per module at 1200 dot-per-inch spacing, and is capable of pulsing fluids at up to 100,000 cycles/second (100 kHz) – the highest jetting frequencies yet developed. Owing to industry-first native drop volumes of 0.1, 1.0 and 2.0 picoliters (trillionths of a liter), made possible by FUJIFILM Dimatix’ advanced Shaped Piezo Silicon MEMS fabrication methods, SAMBA printhead modules are constructed from robust inert materials and jet a wide variety of inks in grayscale using VersaDrop multi-pulse jetting capability at up to 1200 dpi resolution and at production speeds for printing, photographic and display graphics applications.

The unique attributes of Shaped Piezo Silicon fabrication allow the printhead module’s drop volume to be less than 1 picoliter, essential for small-feature materials deposition applications in both single pass and scanning architectures. Because of its scalability, SAMBA technology enables many SAMBA printhead modules to be placed end-to-end to form a single, tightly integrated SAMBA “Print Bar.” These SAMBA Print Bars can be varied in length to accommodate industry standard press sizes serving diverse printing applications from multi-page signatures to large packaging designs.

Multiple SAMBA Print Bars can be configured in precisely aligned, adjacent clusters to enable high-speed single pass grayscale printing of multicolor inks and varnishes. Color-to-color spacing of less than 50 mm allows four individual color channels to be located within a space of only 200 mm depth. SAMBA technology also allows single pass micro-deposition of functional fluids used in manufacturing products such as photovoltaic arrays, printable electronics and LCD displays.

“SAMBA inkjet technology enables a quantum leap that redefines how Piezo DOD inkjet technology can be designed, manufactured and applied,” said Andreas Bibl, CTO of FUJIFILM Dimatix. “SAMBA™ technology marks the first extensible Piezo DOD inkjet design that truly delivers on the promise of wide-width, high resolution, single pass, drop-on-demand inkjet without having to trade off quality, redundancy or print width, and achieves it in an elegant, compact form.”