Piezoelectric Inkjet
Definition
An inkjet drop-formation mechanism using a piezoelectric crystal to deform and eject a droplet without heating; used in Epson PrecisionCore and Micro Piezo lines; drop waveform control allows variable drop size.
- Mechanism
- Piezoelectric crystal deforms to eject droplet
- Heat used
- No, unlike thermal inkjet
- Example brands
- Epson PrecisionCore, Micro Piezo
- Forensic relevance
- Drop waveform allows variable drop size
Common questions
Why does drop size variability matter for identifying a printer in a questioned document case?+
A piezoelectric printer can vary droplet size within a single print job to improve image quality, which leaves a distinctive micro-pattern of dot sizes on the page. Examining that pattern under magnification can help distinguish output from a piezoelectric printer from output produced by a thermal inkjet, which typically uses more uniform drop sizes.
How does piezoelectric inkjet differ fundamentally from thermal inkjet printing?+
Thermal inkjet heats ink to form a vapour bubble that forces a droplet out, while piezoelectric inkjet uses mechanical deformation of a crystal instead of heat. This means piezoelectric systems can use a wider range of ink chemistries, since the ink is never heated, which can also matter when characterising ink composition forensically.
Related terms
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