Fine silver particle powder, method for manufacturing the same, silver paste using the powder, and method of use of the paste

A method for manufacturing silver particles, the method comprising the steps of:

• mixing a copper component in an amount of 1 to 1,000 ppm relative to an amount of silver, a protective agent, and a reducing agent into a solution;
• and adding a silver solution to the solution to precipitate silver particles of which surfaces are coated with an organic material, thereby obtaining particles with an average particle diameter (DTEM) of 5 to 100 nm as measured using a transmission electron microscope.

A method for manufacturing silver particles, the method comprising the steps of:

• mixing a copper component in an amount of 1 to 1,000 ppm relative to an amount of silver, a protective agent, and a reducing agent into a solution;
• mixing a silver solution with a copper component in an amount of 1 to 1,000 ppm relative to an amount of silver in the silver solution;
• further mixing the mixture solutions obtained in the preceding two steps to precipitate silver particles of which surfaces are coated with an organic material, thereby obtaining particles with an average particle diameter (DTEM) of 5 to 100 nm as measured using a transmission electron microscope.

A powder of silver particles of which surfaces are coated with a protective agent composed of an organic material having 5 to 8 carbon atoms, which have an average particle diameter (DTEM) of 5 to 100 nm computed from a TEM photograph, and which contain copper in an amount of 1 to 200 ppm.