Electronic components and information reading method

Abstract

To provide an electronic component that can be formed by a simple and easy method and includes an indicator area where information is read with few reading errors.SOLUTION: An element body 4 includes a metal particle dispersion element 15 in which metal particles 12 are dispersed. The surface of the metal particle dispersion element 15 includes an indicator area 10. The indicator area 10 includes a recess 10a having a predetermined depth measured from a reference plane L of the metal particle dispersion element 15. The predetermined depth D1 is deeper than D50 of the metal particles 12 included in the metal particle dispersion element 15.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic component having a display area in which information can be easily written and in which reading errors are reduced. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, as shown in Patent Document 1, a display area may be provided on the surface of an electronic component, in which symbols and characters such as the model number of the electronic component, the manufacturing lot number, an identification symbol indicating the performance of the electronic component, or an identification symbol indicating the orientation of the electronic component may be written. The characters and symbols (including bar codes and two-dimensional codes) provided in such a display area may be formed by laser engraving.

[0003] Moreover, in order to prevent misrecognition of characters or symbols written on the display, it is recommended to engrave deeply into the surface of the electronic component with a laser. Conventionally, it was common knowledge that unless the marking was made relatively deep into the surface of the electronic component, it would be difficult to read the display, regardless of the particle size of the particles that make up the element body of the electronic component. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-56475 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic component that can be formed by a simple method and has a display area with fewer information reading errors. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the inventors conducted intensive research and discovered that by forming a recess in the display area, the depth of which is determined in relation to the particle size of the particles that make up the element body of the electronic component, it becomes possible to read information with relatively high accuracy, and thus completed the present invention.

[0007] That is, the electronic component according to the first aspect of the present invention is An electronic component having an element body, the element body has a metal particle dispersion in which metal particles are dispersed, The metal particle dispersion has a display area on a surface thereof, the display region has a recess having a predetermined depth from a reference surface of the metal particle dispersion, The predetermined depth is characterized in that it is shallower than D90 of the metal particles contained in the metal particle dispersion.

[0008] Moreover, an electronic device according to a second aspect of the invention comprises: An electronic component having an element body, the element body has a sintered particle dispersion in which sintered particles are dispersed, The sintered particle dispersion has a display area on a surface thereof, the indication region has a recess having a predetermined depth from a reference surface of the sintered particle dispersion, The predetermined depth is characterized in that it is shallower than D90 of the sintered particles contained in the sintered particle dispersion.

[0009] According to the electronic component of the present invention, instead of deeply marking the surface of the element body of the electronic component by, for example, a laser, a recess shallower than the D90 of the metal particles (or sintered particles / hereinafter the same) contained in the metal particle dispersion (or sintered particle dispersion / hereinafter the same) is formed in the display area according to the particle size distribution of the metal particles (or sintered particles / hereinafter the same) contained in the metal particle dispersion. The present inventors have found that by configuring in this way, the accuracy of reading information is improved.

[0010] The recesses are formed by irradiating energy light such as laser light. The output of the laser light can be smaller than that of conventional laser light, and the recesses can be formed by irradiating the device for a short period of time. This makes it easy to write bar codes, two-dimensional codes, and other such marks directly on the surface of the device body. It also makes it possible to form minute display patterns, and to form display areas on very small electronic components.

[0011] An electronic device according to a third aspect of the invention comprises: An electronic component having an element body, the element body has a metal particle dispersion in which metal particles are dispersed, The metal particle dispersion has a display area on a surface thereof, the display region has a recess having a predetermined depth from a reference surface of the metal particle dispersion, The predetermined depth is deeper than D50 of the metal particles contained in the metal particle dispersion.

[0012] The inventors have found that this configuration improves the accuracy of reading information. The recesses are formed by irradiating energy light such as laser light. The output of the laser light can be smaller than that of conventional laser light, and can be formed by short-term irradiation. This makes it easy to write displays such as bar codes and two-dimensional codes directly on the surface of the element body. It also makes it possible to form fine display patterns, and to form display areas on very small electronic components.

[0013] Preferably, the aspect ratio obtained by dividing the opening width of the recess by the predetermined depth is greater than 2 and smaller than 5.5. The present inventors have found that this configuration further improves the accuracy of reading information.

[0014] The metal particle dispersion may be a portion in which the metal particles are dispersed in the resin, or may be a portion in which the metal particles are dispersed alone. A resin-rich portion may be present on the inner surface of the recess, and a resin-rich portion may also be present on the surface of the element body.

[0015] The method for reading information from an electronic component of the present invention includes the steps of: The display area of ​​any of the electronic components described above is irradiated with red light or a specific light having a wavelength shorter than that of red light, and information contained in the display area is read from the reflected light. The wavelength of the specific light is preferably equal to or shorter than that of green light, more preferably equal to or shorter than that of blue light, and particularly preferably UV light. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electronic component according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the display area shown in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the depth of the recess, the aspect ratio (AS ratio), and the read rate in the examples of the present invention and the comparative examples. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the depth of the recess, the aspect ratio (AS ratio), and the read rate in a comparative example of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the depth of the recess and the read rate in the examples of the present invention and the comparative examples. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the aspect ratio (AS ratio) of the recess and the read rate in the examples of the present invention and the comparative examples. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 1, an inductor 2 serving as an electronic component according to an embodiment of the present invention has an element body 4 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape (substantially hexahedral).

[0019] The element body 4 has a top surface 4a, a bottom surface 4b located on the opposite side of the top surface 4a in the Z-axis direction, end surfaces 4c and 4d located on opposite sides along the X-axis, and side surfaces located on opposite sides along the Y-axis (not shown). The dimensions of the element body 4 are not particularly limited. For example, the dimension of the element body 4 in the X-axis direction can be 1.2 to 6.5 mm, the dimension in the Y-axis direction can be 0.6 to 6.5 mm, and the dimension in the height (Z-axis) direction can be 0.5 to 5.0 mm.

[0020] A pair of terminal electrodes 8 are formed on the bottom surface 4b of the element body 4. The pair of terminal electrodes 8 are formed apart in the X-axis direction and insulated from each other. Each terminal electrode 8 is formed so as to continue not only on the bottom surface 4b of the element body 4 but also on the end surfaces 4c, 4d located nearby each terminal electrode 8.

[0021] In the inductor 2 of this embodiment, the terminal electrodes 8 can be connected to an external circuit via wiring (not shown). The inductor 2 can be mounted on various substrates such as a circuit board using a bonding material such as solder or a conductive adhesive. When mounted on a substrate, the bottom surface 4b of the element body 4 becomes the mounting surface, and the terminal electrodes 8 and the substrate are bonded by a bonding material.

[0022] The element body 4 has a coil section 5 therein. The coil section 5 is formed by winding a conductor wire 6 into a coil shape. In FIG. 1 of this embodiment, the coil section 5 is an air-core coil wound in a typical normal-width manner, but the winding method of the wire 6 is not limited to this. For example, the wire 6 may be an air-core coil wound in an α-winding manner, or an air-core coil wound in a flat-winding or edge-wise winding manner.

[0023] The wire 6 is mainly composed of a conductor portion containing a low-resistance metal such as copper, and an insulating coating covering the outer periphery of the conductor portion. More specifically, the conductor portion is composed of pure copper such as oxygen-free copper or tough pitch copper, an alloy containing copper such as phosphor bronze, brass, red brass, beryllium copper, or a silver-copper alloy, or a copper-coated steel wire. On the other hand, the insulating coating is not particularly limited as long as it has electrical insulation properties. For example, epoxy resin, acrylic resin, polyurethane, polyimide, Polyamide-imide, nylon, Examples of the material include polyester and the like, and synthetic resins obtained by mixing at least two of the above resins. In this embodiment, the wire 6 is a round wire as shown in Fig. 1, and the cross-sectional shape of the conductor portion is circular, but it is not limited to a round wire and may be a rectangular wire or the like.

[0024] As shown in Fig. 2, the element body 4 in this embodiment can be formed of a compact containing, for example, metal particles 12 and a resin 14. The metal particles 12 may be any magnetic material, and are not particularly limited. Examples of the material include Fe-Ni alloys, Fe-Si alloys, Fe-Co alloys, Fe-Si-Cr alloys, Fe-Si-Al alloys, amorphous alloys containing Fe, nanocrystalline alloys containing Fe, and other soft magnetic alloys. Subcomponents may be added to the metal particles 12 as appropriate.

[0025] The metal particles 12 contained in the element body 4 may have a median diameter (D50) of about 0.1 μm to 100 μm, preferably 5 μm or more, and more preferably 10 μm or more. The upper limit of D50 is preferably 20 μm or less, and more preferably 15 μm or less. With such a particle size distribution, the data readability in the display region 10 is improved in relation to the depth of the recesses 10a described below.

[0026] The metal particles 12 may be a mixture of large particles with a D50 of 10 μm to 50 μm, medium particles with a D50 of 1 μm to 9 μm, and small particles with a D50 of 0.3 μm to 0.9 μm. In addition to the above combination of the three types of particle groups, combinations of large and medium particles, large and small particles, and medium and small particles may also be used. The large, medium, and small particles may all be made of the same material, or may be made of different materials.

[0027] When a plurality of particle groups are mixed as described above, the content ratio of each particle group is not particularly limited. For example, when three types of particle groups (large particles, medium particles, and small particles) are mixed, when the total area occupied by the large particles, medium particles, and small particles in the cross section of the element body 4 is 100%, the area occupied by the large particles is preferably 5% to 30%, the area occupied by the medium particles is preferably 0% to 30%, and the area occupied by the small particles is preferably 50% to 90%. By forming the metal particles 12 from a plurality of particle groups, the filling rate of the metal particles 12 contained in the element body 4 can be increased. As a result, various characteristics of the inductor 2, such as magnetic permeability, eddy current loss, and DC superposition characteristics, are improved.

[0028] The particle size, particle size distribution, and area occupied by each particle group of the metal particles 12 can be measured by observing the cross section of the element body 4 with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) or a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) and performing image analysis of the obtained cross section photograph using software. In this case, the particle size of the metal particles 12 is preferably measured in terms of a circle-equivalent diameter.

[0029] Furthermore, the metal particles 12 contained in the element body 4 may be insulated from each other. Examples of the insulation method include a method of forming an insulating coating on the particle surface. Examples of the insulating coating include a coating formed from a resin or an inorganic material, and an oxide coating formed by oxidizing the particle surface by heat treatment. When the insulating coating is formed from a resin or an inorganic material, examples of the resin include a silicone resin, an epoxy resin, and the like.

[0030] Examples of inorganic materials include phosphates such as magnesium phosphate, calcium phosphate, zinc phosphate, and manganese phosphate, silicates (water glass) such as sodium silicate, soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, lead glass, aluminosilicate glass, borate glass, and sulfate glass. The thickness of the insulating coating of the metal particles 12 is preferably 5 nm to 200 nm. By forming the insulating coating, the insulation between the particles can be improved, and the withstand voltage of the inductor 2 can be improved.

[0031] The resin 14 contained in the element body 4 is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, a thermosetting resin such as an epoxy resin, a phenol resin, a melamine resin, a urea resin, a furan resin, an alkyd resin, a polyester resin, or a diallyl phthalate resin, or a thermoplastic resin such as an acrylic resin, a polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), a polypropylene (PP), or a liquid crystal polymer (LCP). The content of the resin 14 may be 2.0 parts by weight to 10 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the metal particles.

[0032] 1, a pair of lead portions 6a, which are both ends of the wire 6 constituting the coil portion 5, are exposed from the coil portion 5 to the outer surface (for example, the bottom surface 4b) of the element body 4 and connected to terminal electrodes 8, 8. Each of the lead portions 6a is composed of the wire 6, but in the portion exposed to the bottom surface 4b, the insulating coating existing on the outer periphery of the wire 6 is removed, exposing the conductor portion of the wire 6.

[0033] In this embodiment, the terminal electrode 8 may have a resin electrode layer. The terminal electrode 8 may have a laminated structure having a resin electrode layer and other electrode layers. When the terminal electrode 8 has a laminated structure, the resin electrode layer is located in a portion that contacts the bottom surface 4b of the element body 4, and the other electrode layers may be a single layer or multiple layers, and the material is not particularly limited. For example, the other electrode layers may be made of metals such as Sn, Au, Cu, Ni, Pt, Ag, and Pd, or alloys containing at least one of these metal elements, and may be formed by plating or sputtering. The overall thickness of the terminal electrode 8 is preferably 3 μm to 60 μm on average, and the thickness of the resin electrode layer is preferably 1 μm to 50 μm.

[0034] The resin electrode layer of the terminal electrode 8 contains a resin component and a conductor powder. The resin component in the resin electrode layer is made of a thermosetting resin such as an epoxy resin or a phenol resin. Meanwhile, the conductor powder can be made of metal particle powder such as Ag, Au, Pd, Pt, Ni, Cu, Sn, or the like, or a metal particle powder of an alloy containing at least one of the above, and it is particularly preferable that the conductor powder contains Ag as the main component.

[0035] The shape of the conductive powder may be nearly spherical, elongated spheroid, irregular block, needle-like, or flat, and is particularly preferably needle-like or flat. In this embodiment, flat particles refer to particles having an aspect ratio (ratio of the longitudinal length to the transverse length) of 2 to 30 in the cross section of the resin electrode layer. The average particle size of the conductive powder can be measured by observing the cross section of the resin electrode layer with SEM or STEM and analyzing the obtained cross-sectional photograph. In this measurement, the average particle size of the conductive powder is calculated in terms of the maximum length.

[0036] In the cross section of the resin electrode layer, assuming that the total area occupied by the resin component and the conductive powder is 100%, the area occupied by the conductive powder is preferably 60% or less.

[0037] In this embodiment, a single or multiple display regions 10 are formed on the upper surface 4a (or another surface) of the element body 4. The area of ​​each display region 10 is not particularly limited, and is, for example, about 1 / 20 to 18 / 20 of the area of ​​the upper surface 4a of the element body 4.

[0038] As shown in Fig. 2, the element body 4 is composed of a metal particle dispersion 15 in which magnetic metal particles 12 are dispersed in a resin 14. When the element body 4 is produced by molding inside a mold, the outer surface of the element body 4 becomes the surface that comes into contact with the mold, and the upper surface 4a, which is a part of the outer surface, becomes a plane along the inner surface of the mold and has some surface roughness, but a reference plane L can be defined. The reference plane L can also be defined as a plane that includes the center line (average line) of the surface roughness of the element body 4 on which no recesses 10a are formed, measured according to JIS B0601 or the like.

[0039] In this embodiment, in the display region 10, at least one recess 14a corresponding to an identification display pattern such as a two-dimensional barcode is formed on the upper surface 4a of the element body 4. The recess 14a is formed in a cone shape, recessed in the Z-axis direction with respect to a reference plane L of the upper surface 4a, and has a predetermined depth D1 and a predetermined opening width W1. The predetermined depth D1 is defined as the maximum depth of the recess 10a from the reference plane L. The opening width W1 is defined as the length of the opening of the recess 10a measured along the reference plane L in a cross-sectional photograph including the recess 10a (the length along the X-axis, Y-axis, or an intermediate between them).

[0040] In this embodiment, the recesses 10a of the predetermined pattern are formed, for example, by irradiation with laser light. Specifically, the upper surface 4a of the element body 4 is irradiated with laser light in a predetermined display pattern. As a result, the recesses 10a of the predetermined pattern are formed on the upper surface of the element body 4. Note that there is a tendency for more fine powder to be observed on the inner surface of the recesses 10a than inside the element body 4.

[0041] In addition, the portion not irradiated with the laser is a recess. 10aThe surface is a plane along the reference plane L, and some fine irregularities exist depending on the particle size of the metal particles 12 and the variation in the surface thickness of the resin 14. In this embodiment, a resin-rich portion 14a may exist on the inner surface of the recess 10a or on the surface of the element body 4 on which the recess 10a is not formed.

[0042] The thickness of the resin 14 in the resin-rich portion 14a is not particularly limited, but may be preferably 1 μm or more, and is preferably about 30 μm or less. On the inner surface of the recess 10a, the resin-rich portion 14 may be formed around the relatively large metal particles 12, and the metal particles 12 may not be directly exposed on the inner surface of the recess 10a.

[0043] In this embodiment, the recess 10a The predetermined depth D1 is preferably shallower than D90 of the metal particles 12 contained in the metal particle dispersion 15, and more preferably shallower than D80. 10a The predetermined depth D1 is deeper than D50, and more preferably deeper than D60, of the metal particles 12 contained in the metal particle dispersion 15. The aspect ratio (AS ratio) obtained by dividing the opening width W1 of the recess 10a by the predetermined depth D1 is preferably greater than 2 and less than 5.5, and more preferably from 2.4 to 5.4.

[0044] Examples of symbols represented by the display pattern formed by the recesses 10a include, but are not limited to, letters, numbers, bar codes, two-dimensional codes, data matrix codes, QR codes (registered trademark), Aztec codes, maxi codes, etc. Furthermore, the information that can be read from these symbols is also not particularly limited, and examples thereof include the model number of an electronic component, a manufacturing lot number, an identification code indicating the performance of an electronic component, an identification code such as the orientation of an electronic component, a manufacturing date, a manufacturing location, a manufacturing method, and materials.

[0045] Next, a method for manufacturing the inductor 2 of this embodiment will be described.

[0046] First, the element body 4 is created. The coil portion 5 is insert-molded into the element body 4. The element body 4 is molded by a pressing method such as hot and pressure molding, or an injection molding method. A composite material that has flowability during molding is used as the raw material constituting the element body 4. Specifically, a composite material is used in which raw powder of metal particles 12 is kneaded with a binder such as a thermoplastic resin or a thermosetting resin.

[0047] This composite material may contain an appropriate solvent, dispersant, etc. Furthermore, when the metal particles 12 shown in Fig. 2 are composed of large particles, medium particles, and small particles, the blending ratio of each particle in the entire raw powder of the metal particles 12 is preferably a predetermined ratio. Specifically, the blending ratio of the large particles is preferably 50wt% to 90wt%, the blending ratio of the medium particles is preferably 5wt% to 30wt%, small particles The blending ratio of is preferably 0 wt % to 30 wt %.

[0048] Next, after removing the insulating coating from the lead portions 6a, 6a exposed on part of the bottom surface 4b of the element body 4, terminal electrodes 8, 8 are formed on the bottom surface 4b corresponding to each of them, and the lead portions 6a, 6a are connected to the terminal electrodes 8, 8, respectively.

[0049] The terminal electrodes 8, 8 are formed, for example, as follows: First, a resin electrode paste is applied to a part of the bottom surface 4b of the element body 4 by a method such as printing. At this time, the resin electrode paste is applied so as to cover each of the bottom surfaces 4b where the lead portions 6a are exposed.

[0050] The resin electrode paste contains a binder as a resin component and a metal raw material powder as a conductor powder. In this embodiment, the metal raw material powder has an average particle size of preferably 1 μm to 10 μm, and more preferably 3 μm to 5 μm.

[0051] After the resin electrode paste is applied to the element body 4, the element body 4 is heated under predetermined conditions to harden the binder (resin component) in the paste. The conditions for the heat treatment may be appropriately set depending on the type of binder used. In this way, a resin electrode layer is formed on the bottom surface 4b and end surfaces 4c, 4d of the element body 4. A plating film or a sputtering film may be appropriately formed on the outer surface of the resin electrode layer. For example, the terminal electrodes 8, 8 may be formed by forming a plating film of Ni, Cu, Sn, or the like on the outer surface of the resin electrode layer. In this manner, an inductor 2 in which a pair of terminal electrodes 8 are formed on the element body 4 is obtained.

[0052] Thereafter, or before the terminal electrodes 8 are formed, a display region 10 is formed, for example, by irradiating a laser onto a portion of the upper surface 4a of the element body 4 where the terminal electrodes 8, 8 are not formed.

[0053] The laser light is irradiated onto the upper surface 4a of the element body 4 in a predetermined display pattern. As a result, as shown in FIG. 10a is formed on the upper surface 4a of the element body 4. The output of the energy light such as the laser light and the number of shots are not particularly limited. 10a is determined to be a predetermined depth D1 and AS ratio.

[0054] In the recesses 10a, for example, the resin 14 may be contained in the gaps between adjacent metal particles 12, or some metal particles 12 may remain that are somewhat covered with the resin 14. Alternatively, a resin-rich portion 14a may be formed.

[0055] The laser light used to form the display pattern of the display region 10 preferably has a wavelength of 400 nm or less. In other words, the irradiated laser light is preferably a UV laser light having a shorter wavelength than a green laser light (wavelength: 532 nm). By using a laser having a short wavelength as described above, the recesses 10a can be easily formed.

[0056] In the inductor 2 of this embodiment, Element body 4Instead of deeply marking the outer surface (e.g., upper surface 4a) of the display region 10 with, for example, a laser beam, recesses 10a shallower than D90 of metal particles 12 are formed in the display region 10 in accordance with the particle size distribution of metal particles 12 contained in metal particle dispersion 15. This configuration improves the accuracy of reading information.

[0057] The recesses 10a are formed by irradiating energy light such as laser light. The output of the laser light can be smaller than that of conventional laser light, and can be formed by short-term irradiation. This makes it easy to write displays such as barcodes and two-dimensional codes directly on the surface of the element body 4. It also makes it possible to form fine display patterns, and to form display areas on very small electronic components. Furthermore, by setting the AS ratio of the recesses 10a within a predetermined range, the accuracy of reading information is further improved.

[0058] In the method of reading information from the inductor 2 of this embodiment, red light or a specific light having a wavelength shorter than that of red light is irradiated onto the display area 10 of the above-mentioned inductor 2, and the information contained in the display area 10 can be read from the reflected light.

[0059] Generally, it is preferable to use red light as the illumination light, but by having a specific light having a wavelength shorter than that of red light, it becomes easier to recognize characters and symbols in the display area 10. In particular, the wavelength of the specific light is preferably equal to or shorter than the wavelength of green light (G), more preferably equal to or shorter than the wavelength of blue light (B), and particularly preferably UV light.

[0060] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.

[0061] For example, in the above-described embodiment, the display area 10 is formed on the top surface 4a of the element body 4, but it may also be formed on other outer surfaces (however, outer surfaces of the element body 4 on which the terminal electrodes 8, 8 are not formed), such as the side surfaces or bottom surfaces 4b of the element body 4.

[0062] Furthermore, the element body 4 does not need to incorporate the coil portion 6, and may be, for example, an FT type, ET type, EI type, UU type, EE type, EER type, UI type, drum type, toroidal type, pot type, or cup type core itself.

[0063] Furthermore, the electronic component according to the present invention is not limited to an inductor, but may be an electronic component such as a transformer, a choke coil, a common mode filter, or a capacitor, or a composite electronic component that combines an inductor element with another element such as a capacitor element. Furthermore, the metal particles in the metal particle dispersion that constitutes the element body are not limited to magnetic particles, and may be non-magnetic metal particles or non-metal particles such as ceramics (for example, sintered particles). EXAMPLES

[0064] The present invention will be described below with reference to more detailed examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[0065] Example 1

[0066] A number of samples of the element body 4 shown in Figures 1 and 2 were manufactured. The cross section of each element body 4 along the XZ axis was observed, and the particle size distribution of the metal particles 12 was determined by SEM in a cross-sectional photograph within an area of ​​80 x 80 µm. The average D50 of the 10 samples was 12.7 µm. Also, the D90 was 41.0 µm.

[0067] The upper surface 4a of the element body 4 was fabricated under the same conditions, and laser irradiation was performed under different conditions to fabricate samples 1 to 6 and 10 to 15 of two-dimensional barcode display areas 10 consisting of recesses 10a with mutually different depths D1 and different aspect ratios (AS ratios), and the read rates were measured. The results are shown in Figures 3 and 4.

[0068] In measuring the reading rate, a two-dimensional code reader was used to read information from the display area 10 5 to 20 times to confirm whether it matched the written data. For example, a reading rate of 100% means that the written data matched every time it was read.

[0069] 3 and 4, 100% power refers to the output of the laser light, with sample number 1 being taken as the standard, and the power of the other sample numbers is shown as a percentage of the laser light output of sample number 1. Also, in terms of the number of printings, 300% refers to the number of laser light shots being three with sample number 1 being taken as the standard, and 300% refers to the number of laser light shots along the recesses 10a of the same pattern being three.

[0070] 3 and 4, the speed indicates the speed at which the laser light is irradiated along the recesses 10a of the predetermined pattern, and the slower the irradiation speed, the deeper the predetermined depth D1 of the recesses 10a tends to be. From the data shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, a graph showing the relationship between the predetermined depth (digging depth) D1 and the reading rate is shown in Fig. 5, and a graph showing the relationship between the AS ratio and the reading rate is shown in Fig. 6.

[0071] As shown in Figure 5, the recess 10a It has been confirmed that the read rate is improved by setting the predetermined depth D1 to be preferably shallower than D90 of the metal particles 12 contained in the metal particle dispersion 15, and more preferably shallower than D80. 10a It was confirmed that the read rate is improved by making the predetermined depth D1 deeper than D50 of the metal particles 12 contained in the metal particle dispersion 15, and more preferably deeper than D60.

[0072] In this embodiment, the recess 10a The predetermined depth D1 is preferably smaller than 41 μm, more preferably smaller than 30 μm, preferably greater than 12.7 μm, and more preferably greater than 20 μm.

[0073] As shown in FIG. 6, the aspect ratio (AS ratio) of the recess 10a is preferably greater than 2 and less than 5.5, and more preferably 2.4 to 5.4. [Explanation of symbols]

[0074] 2 … Inductor 4 … Element body 4a…Top surface 4b … Bottom surface 4c,4d … End face 5 … Coil section 6 … Wire 6a … Lead section 8 … Terminal electrode 10...Display area 10a… Recess 12…metal particles 14…Resin 14a… Resin-rich area 15... Metal particle dispersion L…Reference surface

Claims

1. An electronic component having an element body, the element body has a metal particle dispersion in which metal particles are dispersed, The metal particle dispersion has an information display area on a surface thereof, the information display region has a recess having a predetermined depth from a reference surface of the metal particle dispersion, The electronic component, wherein the predetermined depth is shallower than D90 of the metal particles contained in the metal particle dispersion.

2. An electronic component having an element body, the element body has a metal particle dispersion in which metal particles are dispersed, The metal particle dispersion has an information display area on a surface thereof, the information display region has a recess having a predetermined depth from a reference surface of the metal particle dispersion, The electronic component, wherein the predetermined depth is deeper than D50 of the metal particles contained in the metal particle dispersion.

3. 3. The electronic component according to claim 1, wherein an aspect ratio of the recess, calculated by dividing an opening width of the recess by the predetermined depth, is greater than 2 and smaller than 5.

5.

4. 4. The electronic component according to claim 1, wherein a resin-rich portion exists on the inner surface of the recess.

5. An electronic component having an element body, the element body has a sintered particle dispersion in which sintered particles are dispersed, The sintered particle dispersion has an information display region on a surface thereof, the information display region has a recess having a predetermined depth from a reference surface of the sintered particle dispersion, The electronic component, wherein the predetermined depth is shallower than D90 of the sintered particles contained in the sintered particle dispersion.

Images