Thin-film thermal print head and method of producing same

Abstract

A thin-film type thermal print head has a resistor layer formed over an insulative substrate, a conductor layer having a specified planar pattern overlapping the resistor layer, a portion of the resistor layer serving as a heat-emitting part which is not covered by the conductor layer, and a protective layer formed over the heat-emitting part and at least a portion of the conductor layer adjacent to the heat-emitting part. The protective layer may be formed as a conductive layer with resistance greater than that of the heat-emitting part such that static electricity which may be generated by the friction with printing paper can quickly escape to the conductor layer. The protective layer may also include a wear-resisting layer of a prior art type between the conductive layer and the conductor layer, a portion of the conductive layer being preferably connected to the conductor layer. The conductive layer is preferably a mixed layer of SiC and ZrB.sub.2 containing ZrB.sub.2 by 5-20 molar %, formed by sputtering or chemical vapor deposition and having surface resistance of 10.sup.6 -10.sup.9 .OMEGA..

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.