JP7187832B2 - Powder composition for forming thick film conductor and paste for forming thick film conductor - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a powder composition for forming a thick film conductor and a paste for forming a thick film conductor. The present invention relates to a thick film conductor forming powder composition and a thick film conductor forming paste used for forming the conductor, particularly to a lead-free thick film conductor forming powder composition and a thick film conductor forming paste.

When a thick film conductor is formed using a thick film technique, a conductive powder having a high conductivity is generally dispersed in an organic vehicle together with an oxide powder such as a glass powder to form a paste for forming a thick film conductor. obtain. Then, this paste is applied in a predetermined shape on a ceramic substrate such as an alumina substrate by using a screen printing method or the like, and fired at 500° C. or higher and 900° C. or lower to form a thick film conductor. It is

As the conductive powder, powders with a number average particle size of 10 μm or less, such as Au, Ag, Pd, and Pt, which are highly conductive and can be fired in an air atmosphere, are used. Among these, inexpensive Ag powder and Pd powder are used. is mainly used.

As the glass powder, lead borosilicate-based glass powder or lead aluminoborosilicate-based glass powder, whose softening point can be easily controlled and which has high chemical durability, is used. However, in recent years, from the viewpoint of preventing environmental pollution, the demand for lead-free conductor pastes has been increasing, and thus there has been a demand for alternative materials as glass powders. Patent document 1 discloses a composition for forming a lead-free thick film conductor.

By the way, a thick film conductor formed using such a composition for forming a thick film conductor is applied as electrodes of electronic parts such as chip resistors, resistor networks, and hybrid ICs used in the electronics industry. For example, as shown in the schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, a chip resistor 100 includes an alumina substrate 10; It has a resistance film 30 made of a ruthenium-based thick film or the like, and a protective film 40 of insulating glass that covers the resistance. In order to improve the solderability, the exposed electrode surfaces of the internal electrodes 20 are provided with intermediate electrodes 50 made of Ni plating or the like, Sn—Pb solder plating, or an alternative Sn-based alloy lead-free solder plating. and the like are further formed by electroplating.

JP 2012-043622 A

The composition for forming a thick film conductor contains glass powder in order to ensure adhesion between the thick film conductor and a ceramic substrate such as an alumina substrate. However, when the content of the glass powder is large, there is a problem that the thick film conductor is difficult to be plated.

In view of such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a powder composition for forming a thick film conductor and a paste for forming a thick film conductor, which can form a thick film conductor that is easily plated.

In order to solve the above problems, the powder composition for forming a thick film conductor of the present invention contains a conductive powder, a lead-free glass powder, and a manganese oxide powder, and the content of the glass powder is 100 mass of the conductive powder. 1.5 parts by mass or more and 5 parts by mass or less per part, and the content of the manganese oxide powder is 0.5 parts by mass or more and 3.5 parts by mass or less with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder. A powder composition for forming a thick film conductor.

The manganese oxide powder may be _{Mn3O4 powder} .

The conductive powder may be at least one selected from silver powder, palladium powder and platinum powder.

The glass powder may have a glass transition temperature of 400° C. or higher and 600° C. or lower, and a softening point of 500° C. or higher and 700° C. or lower.

The glass powder may contain bismuth.

In order to solve the above problems, the thick film conductor forming paste of the present invention is a thick film conductor forming paste containing a mixture of the thick film conductor forming powder composition, a solvent, and a resin. .

In order to solve the above problems, the paste for forming a thick film conductor of the present invention contains conductive particles, lead-free glass particles, manganese oxide particles, a solvent, and a resin, and the content of the glass particles is , 1.5 parts by mass or more and 5 parts by mass or less with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive particles, and the content of the manganese oxide particles is 0.5 parts by mass or more and 3.5 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive particles It is a paste for forming a thick film conductor, which is less than or equal to parts by mass.

With the powder composition for forming a thick film conductor and the paste for forming a thick film conductor of the present invention, a thick film conductor that is easily plated can be obtained.

It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of a chip resistor. FIG. 2 shows an SEM image of a thick film conductor according to Example 1; FIG. 4 is a SEM image of a thick film conductor according to Comparative Example 1;

Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and can be modified as appropriate without changing the gist of the present invention.

The composition for forming thick film conductors of the present invention includes a conductive powder, a lead-free glass powder, and a manganese oxide powder. In this composition, the content of the lead-free glass powder is 1.5 parts by mass or more and 5 parts by mass or less with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder, and the content of the manganese oxide powder is 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder. It is 0.5 mass parts or more and 3.5 mass parts or less with respect to mass parts. With such a composition for forming a thick-film conductor, as described below, the phenomenon that the glass, which is difficult to be plated, is melted by firing can be suppressed from floating on the surface of the thick-film conductor. , a thick film conductor excellent in plating can be obtained.

In order to improve the adhesion of the thick film conductor to the plating, the inventors of the present invention have extensively studied the problem of glass floating on the surface of the thick film conductor. , it was found that the glass protruding from the surface of the thick-film conductor obtained by firing can be suppressed. Furthermore, it is surprising that the addition of manganese oxide forms a striped pattern of fine steps on the surface of the thick film conductor. Further, since a fine step-like pattern is deposited on the surface of the thick film conductor, it can be expected that the adhesion between the surface of the thick film conductor and the Ni plating film or the like is improved by an anchor effect. That is, the adhesion between the thick-film conductor and the plated film becomes better due to the suppression of floating of the glass and the anchor effect.

The present invention has been completed based on such findings. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail in order of (1) a powder composition for forming a thick film conductor and (2) a paste for forming a thick film conductor. In addition, (3) a method for producing a thick film conductor using the thick film forming paste of the present invention and (4) a thick film conductor will also be described in detail.

[(1) Powder composition for forming a thick film conductor]
The present invention can be a lead-free thick film conductor forming powder composition, which can be composed of at least a conductive powder and an oxide powder. Here, the term “lead-free” refers to the case where lead is not contained, and lead as an inevitable impurity due to lead being mixed in raw material powders such as conductive powders and oxide powders containing lead and in the manufacturing process. is included in the amount of 100 ppm by mass or less.

(Conductive powder)
The conductive powder used in the present invention may be one used for forming a normal thick film conductor, and examples thereof include noble metals such as Au, Ag, Pd and Pt. These noble metal powders can be used singly or in combination of two or more. Among these, it is preferable to use Ag powder, Pd powder, or mixed powder thereof from the viewpoint of low melting point and cost.

The number average particle diameter of the conductive powder is preferably 10 μm or less, and more preferably 0.1 μm or more and 5.0 μm or less from the viewpoint of deterioration of the coating properties of the paste for forming a thick film conductor according to the present invention. . If the number average particle diameter exceeds 10 μm, firing may be delayed during the temperature rising process, which is not preferable. For example, when a mixed powder of Ag powder and Pd powder is used, from the viewpoint of worsening the coating properties of the paste for forming a thick film conductor according to the present invention and from the viewpoint of uniform dispersion of Ag powder and Pd powder, Ag powder It is preferable that the number average particle diameter is 0.1 μm or more and 3.0 μm or less, and the number average particle diameter of the Pd powder is 0.01 μm or more and 0.3 μm or less. Here, the number-average particle size is the number-average particle size obtained from a scanning micrograph (SEM image) of the powder. The shape of the conductive powder includes grains, flakes, and the like, and the shape to be used is appropriately selected depending on the application.

(Lead-free glass powder)
In the present invention, the lead-free glass powder includes SiO ₂ —B ₂ O ₃ —alkaline earth oxide glass powder, Bi ₂ O ₃ —SiO ₂ —B ₂ O ₃ glass powder, and ZnO—SiO ₂ —B. Glass powder such as ₂ O ₃ -based glass powder can be used. Considering the firing temperature for forming a thick film conductor, it is desirable that these glass powders have a glass transition point of 400° C. or higher and 600° C. or lower and a softening point of 500° C. or higher and 700° C. or lower. The lead-free glass to be used may be crystallized glass or non-crystallized glass. The lead-free glass powder is a glass powder containing no lead or a glass powder containing 100 mass ppm or less of lead as an unavoidable impurity. Here, the glass transition point is obtained by measuring a rod-shaped sample obtained by remelting glass powder in the atmosphere by thermal mechanical analysis (TMA), and is measured as the temperature indicating the inflection point of the thermal expansion curve. be. In addition, the softening point is determined by measuring the glass powder in the atmosphere by differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA). is the decreasing peak temperature.

By containing bismuth as the lead-free glass powder, the effect of improving the bonding strength between the internal electrode formed of the thick film conductor and the ceramic substrate such as an alumina substrate can be obtained. For example, when the content of bismuth in the lead-free glass powder is 30% by mass or more and 70% by mass or less as Bi ₂ O ₃ , the adhesive strength can be improved.

The content of the lead-free glass powder in the powder composition for forming a thick film conductor is 1.5 parts by mass or more and 5 parts by mass or less with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder. Considering the wettability of , it is more preferably 1.5 parts by mass or more and 3 parts by mass or less, and more preferably 1.5 parts by mass or more and 2.7 parts by mass or less. If the content of the lead-free glass powder is less than 1.5 parts by mass, the adhesive strength with the ceramic substrate may be reduced. If the content is more than 5 parts by mass, the glass may float on the surface of the thick film conductor. be.

As for the composition of the glass in the lead-free glass powder, a composition capable of achieving the glass transition point and softening point described above can be used. In the glass powder, the content of _SiO2 is 15
It is preferable to make it more than mass % and 60 mass % or less. If the SiO ₂ content is less than 15% by mass, the chemical resistance of the glass may decrease, and the weather resistance, water resistance, and chemical resistance of the glass in the thick film conductor may decrease, resulting in a decrease in the chemical resistance of the glass. Problems such as poor plating may occur when the thick film conductor is plated with Ni. On the other hand, if the SiO ₂ content exceeds 60% by mass, the softening temperature of the glass becomes too high, which may impair the adhesion between the thick film conductor and the ceramic substrate.

The shape of the lead-free glass powder includes various shapes such as spherical shape and needle shape, and is not particularly limited. The D ₅₀ diameter (median diameter) of the distribution is preferably 10 μm or less, and from the viewpoint of the applicability of the paste for forming a thick film conductor according to the present invention and the uniform dispersion of the conductive powder and the lead-free glass powder, it is 0.5 μm or more. It is more preferably 3 μm or less. If the D ₅₀ diameter is 10 μm or more, the conductive powder and the lead-free glass powder are prevented from uniformly dispersing, and the lead-free glass powder is unevenly distributed, which tends to reduce the adhesive strength between the thick-film conductor and the substrate.

(Manganese oxide powder)
The content of the manganese oxide powder is 0.5 parts by mass or more and 3.5 parts by mass or less with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder. If the content is less than 0.5 parts by mass, the effect of suppressing the protrusion of the glass onto the surface of the thick-film conductor may not be expected, and the plating properties may not be improved. On the other hand, if the content is 3.5 parts by mass, the effect of improving the plating property is sufficiently obtained, and even if the content is higher than this, the effect of improving the plating property is not improved.

Consider the plating properties of thick-film conductors. If the glass bulges out on the surface of the thick film conductor, the adhesion of Ni plating to the surface of the thick film conductor deteriorates. If Ni plating or Sn alloy plating adheres poorly to the surface of the thick film conductor, and if there are holes such as pinholes on the plated surface, the Ag of the thick film conductor will be sulfurized by sulfur components in the atmosphere. This may lead to poor connection of electronic components.

By the way, when the meltability of lead-free glass and glass containing lead as a constituent component, not unavoidably, is studied in the process of increasing the temperature, even if both have the same softening point, the lead-free glass has a higher meltability. The melting temperature is on the high temperature side. In the sintering process to obtain a thick-film conductor, the ceramic substrate such as an alumina substrate and the glass are bonded to each other during the limited time during which the temperature is raised and the peak temperature is maintained for a certain period of time. , ensuring the adhesion of the thick-film conductor. Since lead-free glass is difficult to melt, it is necessary to increase the content of glass powder in a powder composition for forming a thick film conductor using lead-free glass in order to achieve adhesion to the substrate. However, if the content of the glass powder exceeds 1.5 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder, the glass may bulge out on the surface of the thick film conductor. Even if the content of the glass exceeds 1.5 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder, when the content of the glass is close to 1.5 parts by mass, the embossment of the glass is local. As the content increases, the area where the glass protrudes from the surface of the thick film conductor increases. Therefore, by setting the content of the manganese oxide powder to 0.5 parts by mass or more and 3.5 parts by mass or less with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder, the plating property of the thick film conductor is improved, and the plated thick film conductor By preventing sulfidation of Ag, etc., it is possible to improve poor connection of electronic parts.

In addition, when a thick film conductor is formed using a thick film conductor forming powder composition using lead-free glass, if the content of manganese oxide is less than 0.5 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder, the ceramic substrate Although the adhesion with is improved, there is a possibility that the plating property is not improved. On the other hand, when the content of manganese oxide exceeds 3.5 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder, the adhesion to the ceramic substrate may deteriorate. From these points, the content of manganese oxide with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder is preferably 0.5 parts by mass or more and 3 parts by mass or less, and is preferably 0.5 parts by mass or more and 2.5 parts by mass or less. more desirable.

In addition, the number average particle diameter of the manganese oxide powder is preferably 0.8 μm or less, and from the viewpoint of suppressing the phenomenon that the glass floats on the surface of the thick film conductor, it is preferably 0.2 μm or more and 0.8 μm or less. more preferred. If the number average particle diameter is larger than 0.8 μm, the manganese oxide powder may not be uniformly dispersed with the conductive powder and the lead-free glass powder, resulting in uneven distribution of the manganese oxide powder. Also, powders with a number average particle size of less than 0.2 μm can be used, but powders with a number average particle size of 0.2 μm or more are generally readily available. Here, the number-average particle size is the number-average particle size obtained from a scanning micrograph (SEM image) of the powder.

As the manganese oxide, MnO ₂ (manganese dioxide) _, Mn ₃ O _{4 (} manganese tetroxide), or the like can be used. A fine stepped striped pattern is formed on the surface of the film, and the anchor effect can be exhibited.

(Oxide powder)
The powder composition for forming a thick film conductor can contain oxide powders other than the lead-free glass powder and the manganese oxide powder described above, as long as the effects of the present invention are not impaired. For example, at least _one oxide powder such as _Bi2O3 , _SiO2 , _CuO , ZnO, _TiO2 , ZrO2, _MnO2 is added for the purpose of improving the adhesive strength, acid resistance, solder wettability, etc. of the thick film conductor. More than one seed can be added. However, from the viewpoint of suppressing an increase in the resistance value, the content of the oxide powder other than the lead-free glass powder and the manganese oxide powder should be in the range of about 0 to 10 parts by mass in total with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder. preferably stay.

The powder composition for forming a thick-film conductor of the present invention is preferably a mixture of conductive powder, lead-free glass powder and manganese oxide powder. By being a mixture, it is possible to obtain a paste for forming a thick film conductor and a thick film conductor having a more uniform content. As a mixing method, known techniques such as a ball mill and a bead mill can be used, and a sufficiently homogeneous mixture can be obtained by these techniques.

[(2) Thick film conductor forming paste]
An example of the paste for forming a thick film conductor of the present invention is a paste containing a mixture of the powder composition for forming a thick film conductor, a solvent, and a resin.

As the solvent, terpineol, butyl carbitol, and the like, which are commonly used in pastes, can be used. As the resin, ethyl cellulose, methacrylate, and the like, which are commonly used in pastes, can be used. The resin and solvent are mixed in advance to form an organic vehicle, which can be used to produce a paste for forming a thick film conductor. For example, from the viewpoint of cost and ease of handling, a solution of ethyl cellulose in terpineol can be used as the organic vehicle. In the organic vehicle, the ratio of the resin to the solvent is appropriately selected according to the printability and coating method of the final paste composition for forming a thick film conductor.

The content in the thick film conductor forming paste as an organic vehicle can be 15 parts by mass or more and 250 parts by mass or less with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder. If the content of the organic vehicle is less than 15 parts by mass, the viscosity may be so high that coating may not be practically possible. A problem may arise that the denseness of the film of the film conductor is greatly reduced. Considering printability, ease of application, sedimentation of particles as a paste, and denseness of the thick-film conductor film, the content is preferably 20 parts by mass or more and 100 parts by mass or less .

The thick film conductor forming paste of the present invention can be produced by kneading the thick film conductor forming powder composition and an organic vehicle. The kneading method is not particularly limited, but kneading can be performed using a known technique such as a wet kneading mill, a roll mill, and a tapered roll mill. The viscosity of the conductor paste to be obtained is appropriately selected depending on the desired thickness of the thick-film conductor, the type of the ceramic substrate, and the like.

Further, as an example of the paste for forming a thick film conductor of the present invention other than the above, the paste for forming a thick film conductor of the present invention contains conductive particles, lead-free glass particles, manganese oxide particles, a solvent, and a resin, and the content of the glass particles is It is 1.5 parts by mass or more and 5 parts by mass or less with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive particles, and the content of the manganese oxide particles is 0.5 parts by mass or more and 3.5 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive particles. The following thick film conductor forming pastes may be mentioned.

The contents of the conductive particles, the lead-free glass particles, the manganese oxide particles, the lead-free glass particles, and the manganese oxide particles are as described in the section on the powder composition for forming a thick-film conductor. is omitted. Further, the solvent and the resin are the same as those described in the example of the paste for forming a thick film conductor, so the description is omitted.

The paste for forming a thick film conductor of the present invention can be produced, for example, by adding conductive particles, lead-free glass particles, and manganese oxide particles to an organic vehicle, forming a mixture, and kneading the mixture. The kneading method is not particularly limited, but kneading can be performed using a known technique such as a wet kneading mill, a roll mill, and a tapered roll mill. The viscosity of the conductor paste to be obtained is appropriately selected depending on the desired thickness of the thick-film conductor, the type of the ceramic substrate, and the like.

In addition to the lead-free glass powder and manganese oxide powder described above, the thick-film conductor-forming paste described above may contain oxide powders other than these as long as the effects of the present invention are not impaired. be. For example, at least _one oxide powder such as _Bi2O3 , _SiO2 , _CuO , ZnO, _TiO2 , ZrO2, _MnO2 is added for the purpose of improving the adhesive strength, acid resistance, solder wettability, etc. of the thick film conductor. More than one seed can be added. However, from the viewpoint of suppressing an increase in the resistance value, the content of the oxide powder other than the lead-free glass powder and the manganese oxide powder should be in the range of about 0 to 10 parts by mass in total with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder. preferably stay.

[(3) Thick film conductor manufacturing method]
A method for producing a thick film conductor includes, for example, a coating step of applying the paste for forming a thick film conductor of the present invention to a ceramic substrate, a drying step of drying the substrate coated with the paste, and then a temperature of 500° C. or more and less than 900° C. A firing step of firing at a temperature can be included.

(Coating process)
In addition, the coating method is not particularly limited, and known techniques such as screen printing, letterpress printing, gravure printing, and other printing methods, and drawing methods using a dispenser can be used. From the viewpoint of mass production, it is preferable to apply by screen printing. As the ceramic substrate, a 96% alumina substrate, forsterite, or the like is used depending on the application of the electronic component, but the thick film conductor forming paste of the present invention can be applied to any substrate.

(Drying process)
After applying the thick film conductor forming paste, it is preferable to dry the applied film together with the ceramic substrate at a temperature of 80° C. or higher and 200° C. or lower for 2 minutes or more and 15 minutes or less. Thus, by providing a drying step between the coating step and the baking step, it is possible to prevent volatilization and combustion of the solvent and the like due to the remaining volatile components such as the solvent even during baking. When a kiln is used, the effect of preventing contamination of the kiln can be obtained. In this step, the drying method is not particularly limited, and known means such as an oven or a belt-type drying furnace can be used. Moreover, if the drying temperature is less than 80° C., the time required for drying becomes long, which may not be preferable because the productivity deteriorates. Moreover, if the drying temperature exceeds 200° C., the resin may be oxidized and the dried film may become brittle, which is not preferable.

(Baking process)
In the baking process after the drying process, the film after drying is heated together with the ceramic substrate to bake the film. As a firing method, it is preferable to use a belt furnace. In this case, the peak temperature in the firing is 500°C or higher and lower than 900°C, preferably 700°C or higher and lower than 900°C. If the peak temperature is less than 500° C., the glass powder will not be sufficiently melted, which may cause a problem of impairing the adhesion to the ceramic substrate. On the other hand, if the peak temperature is 900° C. or higher, the film may be oversintered. There is a possibility that the thick-film conductor is formed in an island-like shape due to the separation of the thick-film conductor, and a problem that a uniform electrode film is not formed may occur.

It is necessary to maintain the above peak temperature for 5 minutes or more and 20 minutes or less, preferably 7 minutes or more and 13 minutes or less. If the holding time at the peak temperature exceeds 20 minutes, the thick conductor film may be oversintered, and if the holding time is less than 5 minutes, sintering may be insufficient. In addition, the total time of the firing process of raising the temperature to the peak temperature, holding the peak temperature, and cooling from the peak temperature should be 20 minutes or more and 90 minutes or less, preferably 30 minutes or more and 60 minutes or less. . If the total time is less than 20 minutes, the heating rate and cooling rate are too high, and there is a risk that cracks will occur in the thick film conductor due to rapid temperature changes. Moreover, if the total time exceeds 90 minutes, there is a possibility that a problem of deterioration in productivity may occur.

In order to bake at the above peak temperature and baking time, the temperature rising rate to the peak temperature should be 20°C/minute or more and 150°C/minute or less, and the cooling rate from the peak temperature should be 20°C/minute or more and 200 °C. / minute or less . If the heating rate is less than 20°C/min or the cooling rate is less than 20°C/min, the productivity may deteriorate, which is not preferable. Also, if the heating rate exceeds 150° C./min or the cooling rate exceeds 200° C./min, cracks may occur in the thick film conductor due to rapid temperature changes, which is not preferable.

The atmosphere during firing is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of softening the lead-free glass, firing in an air atmosphere is preferred.

[(4) Thick film conductor]
The thick film conductor obtained from the thick film conductor forming paste of the present invention by the above production method contains a conductive component, a glass component obtained by melting the glass powder, and manganese oxide. Manganese oxide means a state in which it is dissolved in glass.

Since the thick-film conductor contains manganese oxide, the glass hardly protrudes from the surface, and a fine step-like striped pattern occurs on the surface.

Desirable film thickness of the thick film conductor is 5.0 μm or more and 10.0 μm or less. Within this range of film thickness, it is possible to suppress protrusion of the glass on the surface of the thick-film conductor while satisfying the adhesion of the thick-film conductor to the ceramic substrate.

Therefore, the thick film conductor produced by using the paste for forming a thick film conductor of the present invention has excellent adhesion strength to the ceramic substrate and satisfies excellent plating adhesion. It's becoming Good plating adhesion can be evaluated as the film thickness of Ni electroplating. When Ni electroplating is applied at the same current density, thick film conductors with glass bulges even locally on the surface are plated better than thick film conductors to which manganese oxide is added to suppress the bulging of glass on the surface. It is confirmed that the film thickness becomes thinner.

EXAMPLES The present invention will be further described below with reference to examples, but the scope of the present invention is not limited by these examples.

In Examples 1 to 7 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3, either the conductive powder and the manganese oxide powder shown below and the spherical lead-free glass powders 1 and 2 shown in Table 1 were used to form powders for forming thick film conductors. A composition and a paste for forming a thick film conductor were prepared, and a thick film conductor was produced. For the obtained thick-film conductor, the thickness of the fired film was measured, the surface condition was observed, the resistance was measured, and the bonding strength with the substrate was evaluated. In addition, the total amount of alkali metal oxides in Table 1 is mainly the total amount of metal oxides of Li, K and Na.

(Conductive powder)
Silver powder or an alloy powder of silver and palladium was used as the conductive powder. The silver powder A is a powder with a number average particle size of 2.0 μm, and the silver powder B is a powder with a number average particle size of 5.0 μm. Moreover, the palladium powder has a number average particle size of 0.2 μm.

(Manganese oxide powder)
Mn ₃ O ₄ (number average particle size 0.5 μm) was used as the manganese oxide powder.

[Preparation of powder composition for forming thick film conductor]
A conductive powder, a lead-free glass powder, and a manganese oxide powder were mixed so as to have the composition shown in Table 2, and the mixture was stirred in a ball mill to prepare a powder composition for forming a thick film conductor.

[Preparation of paste for forming thick film conductor]
72.5% by mass of the thick film conductor forming powder composition prepared above and 27.5% by mass of the organic vehicle were mixed and then kneaded by a three-roll mill to prepare a thick film conductor forming paste. The organic vehicle was prepared by mixing 7% by mass of ethyl cellulose with 93% by mass of a terpineol solution as a solvent and heating to dissolve the ethyl cellulose.

[Manufacturing thick film conductor]
The thick film conductor forming paste prepared above was screen-printed on a 96% alumina substrate (25.4 mm × 25.4 mm × 1 mm) by a screen printer (coating step), and then using a belt-type drying furnace. It was dried at 150° C. for 5 minutes (drying step). The dried film and alumina substrate were fired in a belt furnace at a peak temperature of 850° C. for 9 minutes for a total of 30 minutes (firing step) to form thick film conductors in a predetermined pattern.

[Evaluation of physical properties of thick film conductor]
For the thick film conductor produced above, the following methods were used to measure the fired film thickness, observe the surface condition, measure the resistance value, and evaluate the adhesive strength with the alumina substrate and the plating film thickness of the nickel plating. . Table 2 shows the evaluation results.

(Measurement of fired film thickness)
The film thickness of the thick-film conductor after firing was measured using a contact-type surface roughness meter with n=5.

(Plating film thickness)
The thickness from the alumina substrate to the Ni electroplated surface of the sample obtained by subjecting the fired thick film conductor to Ni electroplating was measured using a contact surface roughness tester at n = 5. The plating film thickness was calculated by subtracting the film thickness of the conductor.

(Observation of surface condition)
The surface condition of the thick-film conductor was observed using a SEM (scanning electron microscope) to confirm the presence or absence of a stepped striped pattern and the presence or absence of glass protrusions. 2 shows an SEM image of the thick film conductor according to Example 1, and FIG. 3 shows an SEM image of the thick film conductor according to Comparative Example 1. As shown in FIG.

(resistance value measurement)
A sample of a thick film conductor formed in a pattern of 0.5 mm width and 50 mm length on an alumina substrate was measured for its resistance value with a digital multimeter.

(Evaluation of adhesive strength)
280 g/L of nickel sulfate, 60 g/L of nickel chloride, and 40 g of boric acid were applied as Ni plating solutions to a thick film conductor formed in a pad-like pattern of 2.0 mm×2.0 mm on an alumina substrate. /L, the current density is set to 5×10 ⁻³ A/mm ² (5×10 ⁻⁹ A/m ² ), Ni electroplating is performed for 2 minutes, and the sample and did. A Sn-plated copper wire with a diameter of 0.65 mm was soldered to this plated sample using a lead-free solder with a composition of 96.5 mass% Sn-3 mass% Ag-0.5 mass% Cu. was used as a test piece. The initial strength of the adhesive strength is measured by pulling the Sn-plated copper wire of the test piece in the vertical direction of the alumina substrate with a tensile tester, peeling the thick film conductor film from the alumina substrate, and measuring the tensile force at the time of this peeling. Maximum, minimum and average values were calculated and evaluated. In addition, the heat-degraded adhesive strength was obtained by applying a heat load of 150° C. for 24 hours to the same test piece as described above to degrade it, and then performing a tensile test in the same manner. calculated and evaluated. Fifteen test specimens were evaluated for both initial adhesive strength and thermally aged adhesive strength.

(Film thickness and resistance value of thick film conductor)
The film thickness of the thick-film conductor was within the range of 5.0 μm or more and 10.0 μm or less in any of Examples 1 to 7 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3, and no abnormality was observed in the film thickness. In addition, although there was a difference in the resistance value depending on whether silver or silver and palladium were used as the conductive powder, there was no abnormality in these values. No problem was found in any of the values from 1 to 3.

(Evaluation of adhesive strength)
From the results of Examples 1 to 7, there were no problems with the adhesive strength in both the initial evaluation and the evaluation after heat deterioration. By using the glass powder containing bismuth, the effect of increasing the adhesive strength both at the initial stage and after thermal deterioration was observed (Examples 5 and 6).

Moreover, from the results of Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Example 1, the effect of increasing the adhesive strength by containing manganese was recognized both at the initial stage and after thermal deterioration. This effect was remarkably observed when silver and palladium were used together as the conductive powder (Example 4, Comparative Example 2), and resulted in a large effect on the adhesive strength after heat deterioration, in particular.

In addition, it was confirmed that the effect of manganese content on the adhesive strength was exhibited when the manganese content was 0.3 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder (Comparative Example 3).

(Observation result of surface condition)
In Examples 1 to 7, a stepped striped pattern due to the inclusion of manganese was observed, and the surface state was such that improvement in plating adhesion due to the anchor effect could be expected. Comparative Examples 1 and 2 did not contain manganese, and no striped pattern was observed. Also, in Comparative Example 3, although a striped pattern due to the inclusion of manganese was slightly observed, the stepped pattern was not to the extent that an anchor effect could be expected.

As for the presence or absence of floating of the glass, it was found that, in Examples 1 to 7, the inclusion of manganese did not cause the floating of the glass, and the sulfuration of silver could be suppressed. In addition, in Comparative Example 3, it was found that the content of manganese was insufficient because the floating of the glass was observed. Moreover, in Comparative Examples 1 and 2, glass floating was observed due to the absence of manganese, and the result suggested that even if Ni plating or the like was applied, there was a possibility that silver sulfidation might occur.

(Plating film thickness)
When the Ni electroplating film thicknesses of Examples 2 and 7 and Comparative Example 1 are compared, it can be seen that Examples 2 and 7 containing manganese oxide are thicker than Comparative Example 1 containing no manganese oxide. It is also clear that the plating adhesion of the thick film conductor obtained from the thick film conductor forming powder composition to which manganese oxide is added is superior to that not containing manganese oxide.

[summary]
As is clear from the examples, according to the method for producing the powder composition for forming a thick film conductor and the paste for forming a thick film conductor of the present invention, a thick film that is easily plated and that can suppress sulfurization of silver can be obtained. It is clear that conductors can be provided.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is obvious that a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs can conceive of various modifications or modifications within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims. It is understood that these also naturally belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 alumina substrate 20 internal electrode 21 top electrode 22 side electrode 23 back electrode 30 resistive film 40 protective film 50 intermediate electrode 60 external electrode 100 chip resistor

Claims (7)

A powder composition for forming a thick film conductor on an alumina substrate, comprising:
a conductive powder;
lead-free glass powder;
containing manganese oxide powder,
The content of the glass powder is 1.5 parts by mass or more and 2.7 parts by mass or less with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder,
The content of the manganese oxide powder is 0.5 parts by mass or more and 3.5 parts by mass or less with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive powder,
A powder composition for forming a thick film conductor _, which does not contain _Cr2O3 . The powder composition for forming a thick film conductor according to claim ₁ , wherein the manganese oxide powder is _Mn3O4 powder. 3. The powder composition for forming a thick film conductor according to claim 1, wherein said conductive powder is at least one selected from silver powder, palladium powder and platinum powder. The powder composition for forming a thick film conductor according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the glass powder has a glass transition temperature of 400°C or higher and 600°C or lower and a softening point of 500°C or higher and 700°C or lower. thing. The powder composition for forming a thick film conductor according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the glass powder contains bismuth. A paste for forming a thick film conductor on an alumina substrate,
The powder composition for forming a thick film conductor according to any one of claims 1 to 5;
a solvent;
A paste for forming thick film conductors, including a mixture with a resin. A paste for forming a thick film conductor on an alumina substrate,
conductive particles;
lead-free glass particles;
manganese oxide particles;
a solvent;
containing resin,
The content of the glass particles is 1.5 parts by mass or more and 2.7 parts by mass or less with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive particles,
The content of the manganese oxide particles is 0.5 parts by mass or more and 3.5 parts by mass or less with respect to 100 parts by mass of the conductive particles,
A thick-film conductor-forming paste that does not contain Cr ₂ O ₃ .

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