Apparatus and process for forming electrodes of electronic components

A process for forming at least one electrode of an electronic component, comprising the steps of:

• preparing a work;
• preparing a mask including two principal planes and at least one through-hole extending from one of the principal planes of the mask to the other principal plane, at least one masking portion adapted to be brought into contact with a predetermined portion of the work to completely shield the predetermined portion of the work, and at least one pseudo masking portion that is formed to have a bottom surface located spaced from a bottom surface of the at least one masking portion in a thickness direction of the mask for partially masking the work when the mask is disposed in contact with the work, the mask being formed such that a ratio b/a is less than 3, where a represents a distance between the bottom surface of the at least one pseudo masking portion and the bottom surface of the at least one masking portion, and b represents a width of the at least one pseudo masking portion;
• placing the mask on an upper surface of the work;
• and
• applying an electrode material over the mask onto the upper surface of the work by one of a sputtering process and a vapor deposition process to form an electrode on the work.