Chip-like electric component and method for manufacturing the same

A chip-like electric component comprising:

• an insulating substrate made of ceramic, including a front surface and a back surface facing the front surface;
• a pair of surface electrodes based on metal glaze, provided at both end portions of the front surface of the insulating substrate;
• an electrical element layer electrically connected to the pair of surface electrodes and formed on the front surface;
• an insulating protective layer made of an electrical insulating material, the insulating protective layer covering entirely the electrical element layer and partly the pair of surface electrodes adjacent to the electrical element layer;
• and
• a thin-film conductive layer for covering at least portions of the surface electrodes that are not covered with the insulating protective layer, the thin film conductive layer including at least one plated layer, wherein:
• the pair of surface electrodes are formed so that thicknesses of the pair of surface electrodes increase from the electrical element layer toward end portions of the insulating substrate which are positioned in a direction in which the pair of surface electrodes are arranged, so as to form a plating reservoir between the pair of surface electrodes and the insulating protective layer.

A chip resistor comprising:

• an insulating substrate made of ceramic, including a front surface and a back surface facing the front surface;
• a pair of surface electrodes based on metal glaze including Ag, provided at both end portions of the front surface of the insulating substrate;
• a resistor layer electrically connected to the pair of surface electrodes and formed on the front surface;
• an insulating protective layer made of an electrical insulating material, the insulating protective layer covering entirely the resistor layer and partly the pair of surface electrodes adjacent to the resistor layer;
• and
• a thin-film conductive layer for covering at least portions of the pair of surface electrodes that are not covered with the insulating protective layer, the thin film conductive layer including at least one plated layer, wherein:
• the pair of surface electrodes are formed so that thicknesses of the pair of surface electrodes increase from the resistor layer toward end portions of the insulating substrate which are positioned in a direction in which the pair of surface electrodes are arranged, so as to form a plating reservoir between the pair of surface electrodes and the insulating protective layer, and
• the thin-film conductive layer includes a base conductive layer formed by sputtering or evaporation for covering the portions of the surface electrodes that are not covered with the insulating protective layer and the at least one plated layer formed on the base conductive layer.

A manufacturing method of a chip-like electric component comprising the steps of:

• forming a plurality of electrode layers on a front surface of a large-sized insulating substrate made of ceramic at predetermined intervals by screen printing, using a conductive paste based on metal glaze, to constitute columns of electrode layers and rows of electrode layers;
• forming an electrical element layer on the front surface of the large sized insulating substrate by printing so that the electrical element layer extends across each pair of adjacent electrode layers included in the rows of electrode layers;
• forming an insulating protective layer by printing using an electrical insulating material so that the insulating protective layer covers entirely the electrical element layer and partly the pairs of electrode layers adjacent to the electrical element layer;
• forming a plurality of slits in the large-sized insulating substrate so as to halve each of the electrode layers included in the columns of electrode layers at a central portion of each electrode layer and then form a pair of surface electrodes at both end portions of the electrical element layer;
• forming by sputtering or evaporation a base conductive layer for covering portions of the pair of surface electrodes that are not covered with the insulating protective layer and inner surfaces of the slits;
• separating chip pieces each including an insulating substrate, the pair of surface electrodes, the electrical element layer, and the insulating protective layer after the base conductive layer has been formed;
• and
• forming at least one plated layer on the base conductive layer of each of the separated chip pieces,
• wherein the pair of surface electrodes are formed so that thicknesses of the pair of surface electrodes increase from the electrical element layer toward end portions of the insulating substrate, which are positioned in a direction in which the pair of surface electrodes are arranged, so as to form a plating reservoir between the pair of surface electrodes and the insulating protective layer.