An inkjet drop ejection apparatus comprising: a chamber with a side wall and a nozzle wall, the nozzle wall defining an ink ejection nozzle; and, an actuator for ejecting drops of ink through the nozzle; the chamber and actuator being fabricated by lithographic etching and deposition techniques; wherein, the nozzle wall and at least part of the side wall integrally formed by a single deposition process. Simultaneously depositing the chamber walls and nozzle plate removes the need to align and adhere a separate nozzle guard to the printhead. Using VLSI fabrication techniques provides a compact monolithic nozzle array at relatively low cost and high yield.