fig2 is a cross - sectional view of an embodiment of an improved resistive heater structure which can be used , for example , in a printhead of the type disclosed in u . s . pat . re . nos . 32 , 572 , 4 , 774 , 530 and 4 , 951 , 063 , whose contents are hereby incorporated by reference . it is understood that the improved heater structures of the present invention can be used in other types of thermal ink jet printheads where a resistive element is heated to nucleate ink in an adjoining layer . referring to fig2 the heater substrate portion of an ink jet printhead 42 is shown with ink in channel 44 being ejected from nozzle 45 . printhead 42 is fabricated by the process steps disclosed by the patents referenced supra modified according to the invention concepts disclosed below . a silicon substrate 46 has an underglaze layer 48 of a thermal insulator formed on its surface . a gate oxide layer 49 is formed on the surface of layer 48 if the heater structure is integrated on the same wafer with addressing or driver devices . the gate oxide is grown as a component of active transistor devices elsewhere on the wafer , and in the heater area serves only to slightly increase the effective thickness of the underglaze layer 48 . heater elements 50 are formed on layer 49 . according to the invention , and in a preferred embodiment , the resistor 50 comprises a section 51 of moderately - doped n + polysilicon with the heater ends 51a of heavily - doped n ++ polysilicon . the heavily - doped heater ends 51a are for the purpose of reducing the contact resistance of the electrical interconnection to the aluminum electrodes . according to the invention , a thin buffer oxide layer 54 is grown or deposited on the surface of layer 51 . in a preferred embodiment , the oxide is grown in dry oxygen at 800 - 1000 ° c . until an optimum thickness of approximately 50 - 1000 å is reached . formation of a nitride layer 52 immediately follows formation of layer 54 . the nitride layer can be reduced proportionately to maintain the thermal conductivity properties of the heater passivation stack ; e . g ., to a thickness of 500 å as compared to the prior art thickness of 1500 å . contact windows ( vias ) 59 , 60 are formed by first depositing a thermal oxide / doped lpcvd oxide composite layer 62 , then etching with a buffered hydrofluoric acid wet etch through layer 62 to open contact windows 59 and 60 as well as the opening over the heater 72 . alternatively , these layers can be dry etched by a plasma process . a protective tantalum layer 56 is deposited on layer 52 and 62 , then masked and plasma etched away everywhere but over the heater opening 72 . a hot phosphoric acid wet etch or plasma dry etch is then used to remove the nitride layer 54 remaining at the bottoms of the contact vias to expose conductive heater ends 51a . a metallization and etch step follows , forming aluminum address electrodes 64 and aluminum counter return electrodes 65 . one or more additional doped lpcvd glass intermetal dielectric layers 62 may follow , depending how many aluminum metal interconnect levels are required for driver and address electronics elsewhere on the device . a hard passivation layer composed of doped lpcvd oxide and / or plasma - enhanced cvd nitride is used to protect the interconnect layers 64 , 65 and the intermetal dielectric layers 62 from mechanical damage or chemical attack , followed by a thick film layer 68 , polyimide , in a preferred embodiment . ink fill channels 44 flow into heater pit 72 and come into thermal contact with resistor 50 . electrical input signals are applied across the metalization electrodes 64 , 65 to provide drive or pulse signals to the resistors which cause vapor bubble nucleation in the overlying ink and ejection of ink through the nozzles . the buffer oxide layer 54 can be grown to a thickness of between 50 å and 1500 å . layer 54 elastically or plastically deforms under the stress inherent in the nitride layer 52 , reducing the stress transmitted down to the polysilicon layer . also , the thinner nitride layer 52 has a lower stress than the thicker layer used in the prior art , simply by being thinner , which also helps to reduce the stress on the polysilicon heater . the changes in resistance of resistor 50 are correspondingly reduced resulting in more consistent and predictable heater characteristics . the thinner nitride layer enabled by the buffer oxide layer also reduces the edge cracking phenomenon of the prior art and alleviates the seal problem associated with nitride layer etching step . as an additional improvement to reliability , any pinholes or microcracks formed in the thin nitride layer will tend to be sealed by the underlying oxide layer 54 . while the embodiment disclosed herein is preferred , it will be appreciated from this teaching that various alternative , modifications , variations or improvements therein may be made by those skilled in the art , which are intended to be encompassed by the following claims :