Overview

An etched nozzle plate is a thin metal plate carrying one or a few hundred orifices, usually between 0.03 mm and 0.2 mm across, and photochemical machining is what makes those holes repeatable. The plate itself is only 0.05–0.3 mm thick, and a 40 µm orifice must hold its diameter to ±2 µm with a clean exit edge, because a single burr or a 3 µm variation changes the jet angle and the droplet volume of that nozzle. Substrates are 316L and 304 stainless steel, nickel 200, electroformed nickel and titanium grade 2; the choice is driven by the fluid, the cleaning chemistry and whether the plate is later plated or coated.

The orifice is not a straight drilled hole: it is etched from both faces so the inlet opens into a shallow cone and the exit ends in a short cylindrical land of 10–20 µm. That profile lowers the pressure loss at the inlet and fixes the direction of the jet at the exit, which matters more than raw hole size when several hundred nozzles must spray the same volume. Etched nozzle plates also come out flat and stress-free, so a 60 mm wide printhead plate seals against its manifold without a gasket preload that would distort the orifice row.

Parameter Window

• Available Materials: 316L/304 stainless steel, nickel 200, electroformed nickel, titanium grade 2
• Material Thickness Range: 0.05–0.3 mm; 0.03 mm for high-density arrays
• Tolerance: ±2 µm on orifice diameter at 50 µm nominal, ±0.005 mm on orifice position, ±5% on cone depth
• Minimum Feature: 30 µm orifice at 0.05 mm stock, 0.05 mm land between adjacent orifices
• Surface Options: electro-polish, Ni/Au plating, passivation, hydrophobic or oleophobic coating, PTFE impregnation
• Compliance: ISO 9001 process control, RoHS/REACH material traceability

Manufacturing Process / Workflow (8 Steps)

1. Orifice Layout & Compensation — Place the hole array, then offset each opening by the etch factor so the finished exit diameter, not the artwork diameter, meets the drawing.
2. Material Selection — Match alloy and temper to the fluid: nickel for chemically aggressive inks, 316L for water-based spray, titanium where chloride attack is expected.
3. Double-Side Lamination — Laminate resist on both faces with the sheet held flat, so the inlet cone and outlet land etch symmetrically.
4. Registered Exposure — Expose front and back through pinned film; front-to-back registration of 0.005 mm keeps the cone concentric with the exit land.
5. Development — Open the orifice windows and inspect under a microscope for residual resist, which would leave a plugged or oval hole.
6. Two-Stage Etching — Etch the cone from the inlet side, then finish the exit land from the outlet side, with spray pressure and conveyor speed logged per lot.
7. Stripping & Coating — Strip resist, electro-polish the burr-free exit face, then plate or apply the hydrophobic coating without bridging a 40 µm hole.
8. Flow Test & Packing — Measure orifice diameter, roundness, cone depth and per-hole flow rate, then pack in a clean carrier with particle-free interleaving.

Core Advantages

1. Orifice-to-orifice consistency: All holes on a plate etch in the same bath, so a 300-nozzle row holds diameter within ±2 µm and flow within a few percent.
2. Burr-free exit edges: Chemical removal leaves no drilling burr to deflect the jet, so spray direction stays inside the specified cone angle.
3. Shaped inlet cone: A double-side etch produces a smooth funnel that cuts pressure loss and lets the plate run at lower pump pressure.
4. No per-hole tooling: A new array is a new film, so prototype printheads with 50 holes and production plates with 500 cost the same to set up.
5. Flat, stress-free plates: No mechanical punching means the plate seals against a manifold without bowing and without disturbing orifice spacing.
6. Thin-wall capability: 0.05 mm stock allows a short orifice length, which suits high-frequency inkjet and fine atomising nozzles.

Typical Applications

• Inkjet printheads: Rows of 20–50 µm orifices on nickel plates, with hydrophobic face coating to control droplet break-off.
• Fine spray and fogging nozzles: Multi-orifice plates that atomise water or disinfectant at low pressure with an even plume.
• Mesh nebulisers: Aperture arrays that vibrate to produce a fine aerosol for respiratory drug delivery.
• Dispensing and dosing heads: Orifice plates for reagent, adhesive and lubricant dosing where each channel must deliver the same volume.
• Fuel and burner atomisers: Heat-resistant stainless plates with conical inlets for consistent fuel spray in small burners.
• Coating and humidification systems: Wide plates with hundreds of orifices for uniform film application or humidity control.

Design Notes & Process Considerations

1. Etch factor, not artwork size: A hole widens by roughly 1.2–1.4 times the etched depth per side, so the artwork diameter must be undersized to hit the finished bore.
2. Specify where the diameter is measured: State exit diameter, entry diameter and land length separately; a single "hole size" callout is ambiguous on a conical orifice.
3. Land length controls the jet: A 10–20 µm exit land stabilises direction, but a land longer than 30 µm adds pressure loss and raises the risk of clogging.
4. Coatings versus hole size: A 2 µm hydrophobic film narrows a 40 µm orifice by 10%; define coating thickness and whether flow is set before or after coating.
5. Filtration and particle size: Keep the largest expected particle below one third of the orifice diameter, otherwise a plate that meets tolerance will still block in service.
6. Cleaning and handling: Orifices plug with lint and skin oil, so specify a particle-free pack and a cleaning route that does not push residue into the cones.