Fujifilm Dimatix has just announced a new print head, the SkyFire SF600, which is capable of working with water-based inks including the latest textile printing inks. The new head has been built with the same Si-MEMS  (Silicon Micro ElectroMechanical System) technology behind Fujifilm’s proven Samba print heads. But what is Si-MEMS and what benefit will it bring to digital textile printing?

The majority of today’s drop-on-demand print heads use a piezo-electric design, where applying an electric voltage to an actuator causes it to change shape, forcing the ink out of an ink chamber through an open nozzle. This actuator is usually made with lead zirconate titanate, usually referred to as PZT, because of its very efficient shape-changing properties. Most print heads use a bulk piezo approach, which usually involves a block of material, such as ceramic laced with the PZT crystals.

The main alternative is to build a Micro ElectroMechanical System, or MEMS, which combines electronics with moving parts, allowing complex designs to be executed in very small spaces.