Electrohydrodynamic Jet Printing Patents 2026 — PatSnap Eureka
Electrohydrodynamic Jet Printing Patents 2026
EHD jet printing achieves resolutions up to 295× finer than the nozzle orifice, with filings spanning flexible electronics, photonics, ALD integration, and space manufacturing. This dataset covers patents and literature from 1976 to 2025.
How EHD Jet Printing Works and Why It Matters
Electrohydrodynamic jet printing applies a high-voltage electric field between a nozzle tip and substrate, deforming the ink meniscus into a Taylor cone and ejecting jets far finer than the nozzle itself. A 2021 study demonstrated a 3.02 μm line width from an 890 μm inner-diameter needle — a 295× scaling ratio. Resolutions as fine as 50 nm have been reported in review literature.
The technology spans five overlapping sub-domains in this dataset: single-nozzle cone-jet printing, multi-nozzle architectures, 3D EHD printing, integrated hybrid systems combining EHD with atomic layer deposition or thermal fields, and induced EHD using contactless electrodes. Key process parameters include applied voltage, stand-off height, flow rate, ink viscosity, and substrate wettability.
The earliest filing in retrieved records dates to 1976, when IBM Information Products Corporation patented a monolithic silicon EHD nozzle. The 2007–2015 period established foundational IP at the University of Illinois. The 2021–2025 stratum is the most active in this dataset, spanning photonic devices, EHD-ALD integration, high-frequency jetting, and hybrid EHD/piezoelectric architectures.
Innovation in this dataset is concentrated in a small number of academic institutions and one commercial equipment maker. The University of Illinois (8 patents in this dataset) dominated the foundational period, while the University of Michigan (8 patents in this dataset) leads recent filings from 2021 to 2025, extending the technology into photonics, ALD integration, and high-frequency operation.
Filing Trends and Technology Cluster Distribution
The EHD jet printing patent record in this dataset spans nearly five decades, with clear acceleration in the 2021–2025 window. Technology clusters range from single-nozzle feedback control to EHD-ALD hybrid nanofabrication.
Patent Filings by Technology Cluster (This Dataset)
Feedback-controlled single-nozzle printing and EHD-ALD integration account for the largest patent clusters in this dataset, reflecting both foundational IP and the most recent advanced-process filings.
↗ Click bars to exploreEHD Printing Patent Activity by Era (This Dataset)
Filing activity in this dataset shows a stepwise increase across three eras, with the 2021–2025 window representing the most concentrated cluster of recent advanced-process patents.
↗ Click bars to exploreWhere EHD Jet Printing Is Being Deployed
EHD jet printing has demonstrated deployment across flexible electronics, photonic devices, biomedical cell printing, solar cell electrode fabrication, and emerging space manufacturing applications — each representing distinct resolution, material, and substrate requirements identified in this dataset.
Flexible Printed Electronics
EHD printing of silver nanoparticle inks achieves conductive line widths below 50 μm on flexible plastic substrates including PET and PDMS. A 2019 study demonstrated Ag nanoparticle paste with 4,000 cP viscosity printed into lines narrower than 100 μm with average sheet resistance of 0.027 Ω □⁻¹ for thin-film transistor applications. A 2022 study achieved 5 μm printed PDMS mesh structures for flexible strain sensors.
Flexible ElectronicsPhotonic and Semiconductor Devices
The University of Michigan filed two patents (2022 US, 2023 US) covering EHD-printed thin film photonic structures, printing successive layers of liquid inks to build optical stacks for waveguides, filters, and optoelectronics. A separate multi-jurisdictional family (US 2022, WO 2021, EP 2025) targets area-selective atomic layer deposition for lithography-free semiconductor nanofabrication.
Photonic DevicesBiomedical and Cell Printing
A 2017 study demonstrated pulsed EHD printing achieving stable droplet generation at 700 Hz for spatially precise deposition of living HeLa cells and yeasts in cell-laden micro-droplets. This approach enables precise spatial control unavailable with conventional inkjet methods, though patent coverage in this dataset remains limited.
Biomedical PrintingSolar Cell Electrode Fabrication
East China University of Science and Technology (Huadong Ligong Daxue) filed a 2018 CN patent describing a 3D inkjet printing method for fabricating HIT (Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin layer) solar cell electrodes. The approach cites reduced silver consumption and lower contact resistance versus conventional screen printing methods.
Solar ManufacturingLeading Patent Assignees in EHD Jet Printing — Dataset Snapshot
In this dataset, eight named assignees account for all directly relevant patent records, with the University of Illinois and University of Michigan each holding 8 filings in retrieved records. Innovation is concentrated in US academic institutions and one Korean commercial equipment maker, ENJET Co. Ltd.
Top Assignees by Filing Count in Retrieved Records (Dataset Snapshot)
↗ Click bars to exploreUniversity of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois holds 8 patents in this dataset spanning 2009 (WO) through 2016 (US), establishing the foundational IP on feedback-controlled high-resolution EHD jet printing. Key patents cover nozzle orifice areas below 700 μm², integrated electrodes, and real-time sensing of output current and voltage for feedforward process control enabling sub-micron printing. The filing family spans WO, US jurisdictions across the 2009–2016 period.
United StatesRegents of the University of Michigan
The Regents of the University of Michigan holds 8 patents in this dataset from 2021 through 2025, covering multi-nozzle EHD printing (2021–2022 US), EHD-printed photonic devices (2022–2023 US), integrated EHD and spatial ALD systems for area-selective nanofabrication (US 2022, EP 2025), and high-frequency EHD printing (2023 WO). The EP grant in 2025 signals active international prosecution of the EHD-ALD platform.
United StatesFive Forward-Looking Technology Vectors in EHD Printing
The 2022–2025 stratum of this dataset surfaces five distinct emerging directions that address EHD printing’s core constraints — throughput, substrate compatibility, and fabrication scale — while opening entirely new application categories.
High-Frequency EHD: 50%+ Throughput Gain
The University of Michigan’s 2023 WO filing on high-frequency electrohydrodynamic printing claims a 50%+ increase in jetting frequency by strategically positioning the charging electrode to exploit high-dielectric-strength materials in the electrode gap. This directly targets the throughput bottleneck that has limited industrial deployment of single-nozzle EHD systems. The approach is hardware-architecture-driven and does not require changes to ink formulation.
EHD-ALD Integration: Lithography-Free Nanofabrication
The University of Michigan’s multi-jurisdictional patent family (US 2022, WO 2021, EP 2025) on integrated EHD printing and spatial atomic layer deposition uses EHD printing not as the final deposition tool but as a patterning enabler for area-selective thin-film growth. The EP grant in 2025 signals active international prosecution. This targets semiconductor and MEMS nanofabrication markets where photolithography is costly and inflexible.
EHD Jet Printing vs. Conventional Inkjet Printing
Click any row to explore further.
| Dimension | EHD Jet Printing | Conventional Inkjet Printing |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution | 50 nm to sub-micron; up to 295× finer than nozzle orifice | Typically limited by nozzle orifice diameter; no field-induced size reduction |
| Line Width Demonstrated | 3.02 μm line from 890 μm nozzle (2021 study); 5 μm PDMS mesh (2022) | Typically >20–50 μm under standard conditions |
| Throughput | Inherently low (single-nozzle); high-frequency approach claims 50%+ frequency increase | Higher throughput per nozzle; multi-nozzle heads commercially standard |
| Printable Viscosity Range | Wide range including 4,000 cP Ag paste, PDMS elastomers, living cells, molten metals | Narrow viscosity window; typically 1–20 cP |
| Substrate Compatibility | Conductive substrates standard; induced EHD enables insulating substrates | Compatible with broad substrate range without high-voltage requirements |
| Advanced Integration | Demonstrated coupling with spatial ALD for area-selective nanofabrication (Univ. of Michigan, 2022–2025) | No equivalent ALD integration reported in this dataset |
| Key IP Holders (This Dataset) | Univ. of Illinois (8), Univ. of Michigan (8), ENJET (5), Virginia Commonwealth (3) | Eastman Kodak burst mode patents (2015); IBM foundational nozzle (1976) |
| Maturity Stage | University-to-commercialization transition; ENJET as primary commercial hardware filer | Mature commercial technology with broad industrial deployment |
Frequently Asked Questions: EHD Jet Printing Patents
Resolutions as fine as 50 nm have been reported in review literature within this dataset. A 2021 study demonstrated printing a 3.02 μm line width using a needle with an inner diameter of 890 μm, representing a 295× scaling ratio between the nozzle orifice and the printed line.
In this dataset, the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois and the Regents of the University of Michigan each hold 8 relevant patents. ENJET Co. Ltd. holds 5, Virginia Commonwealth University and Eastman Kodak Company each hold 3, and Dalian University of Technology and Sandia National Laboratories each hold 2.
The earliest relevant filing in retrieved records dates to 1976, when IBM Information Products Corporation patented a monolithic silicon-based EHD nozzle structure for synchronizing droplet formation, titled ‘Jet nozzle structure for electrohydrodynamic droplet formation and ink jet printing system therewith.’ A corresponding Canadian filing was registered in 1978.
Induced EHD printing is a variant where the main electrode is contactlessly isolated from the solution by an insulator, improving applicability to dielectric inks and enabling printing without direct electrode contact with the ink. ENJET Co. Ltd. of South Korea commercialized this approach with a family of US-granted patents filed between 2018 and 2022, including apparatus designs with auxiliary electrodes.
The University of Michigan developed an integrated platform where EHD printing first deposits an inhibition material in a defined pattern, and spatial atomic layer deposition then selectively grows material only in uninhibited regions. This enables lithography-free nanoscale patterning. The patent family spans US (2022), WO (2021), and EP (2025) jurisdictions, with the EP grant in 2025 signaling active international prosecution.
EHD printing is inherently a single-nozzle, low-throughput process. Multiple recent patents and publications address this directly: the University of Michigan’s 2023 WO filing claims a 50%+ increase in jetting frequency via strategic electrode placement; Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Michigan have filed multi-nozzle and multi-channel architectures; and a 2023 study using AC oscillation-induced voltage control tripled jetting speed while reducing droplet size from 195 to 104 μm.
Data and insights on this page are based on a limited patent and literature dataset and are for reference only. Figures may not represent the complete technology landscape.