Ceramic bodies with end termination electrodes

Abstract

A sintered ceramic article which comprises internal electrodes and/or conductors is formed by producing a sintered ceramic body that has areas of ceramic material extending to an outer face thereof, said areas having an open structure characterized by interconnected voids, and thereafter providing a conductor in said porous areas. The ceramic body may be formed by depositing, for example by screen printing, on sheets of a powdered dielectric or insulating ceramic material bonded with a temporary bond, an area of a temporarily bonded powdered ceramic material which on firing becomes porous, i.e. open-structured, consolidating a plurality of such sheets, and sintering them. Subsequently, electrodes or conductors may be provided in the open-structured areas by impregnating said areas with a metal or alloy and providing a termination electrode on the said outer face. If desired, an open-structured permeable barrier can be provided on said outer face before such impregnation. The barrier may be either a porous ceramic or a porous conductive coating which serves as a termination electrode.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.