JPS5964372A - Manufacturing method of thermal recording head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain to enhance the productivity of a heat sensitive recording head having a stable heat generating resistance body with long life, by a method wherein chromium and silicon are mixed in a time constant ratio and the obtained mixture is sintered to form a sintered body which is, in turn, used as a target to be subjected to sputtering. CONSTITUTION:A sintered body containing chromium and silicon and having a chromium ratio of 19-50atomic%, especialy pref., 22-45atomic% is used as a target and subjected to sputtering in an Argon atmosphere to obtain a thin film heat generaging resistance body. By this method, a homogenous thin film heat generating resistance body. By this method, a homogenous thin film having no irregularity in the compositional ratio of chromium and silicon can be prepared in good efficiency.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a thermal recording head, and in particular to a method for manufacturing a thermal recording head for a recording device such as a facsimile, particularly for forming a thin film heating resistor. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a head.

[Prior art]

In a thermal recording head, the stability of the resistance value of the heat generating resistor is one of the factors that determines the lifespan, and the head life requires that the change in resistance value of the heat generating resistor be 10% or less compared to when it was first used. .

Among the conventional thin film heating resistor materials, T is considered to be stable.
a2N (tantalum nitride) is known.

However, the specific resistance of this Ta2N is about 300 μΩ, and increasing the resistance value requires a very thin film.
There is a limit to the need to make the entire shape long and thin.

For example, if Ta2N is to have an elongated shape with a length-to-width ratio of 2:1 and a resistance value of 200Ω, the film thickness must be kept at 200 angstroms.

If the film is made thinner in this way, in actual manufacturing, there will be large variations, it will be difficult to control the film thickness, the reproducibility of the resistance will be poor, and in terms of characteristics, the power density per unit area will increase, making it difficult to prevent destruction. It gets cheaper.

In order to overcome all of these drawbacks, it is necessary to change the shape of a normal resistor shown in FIG. 1(a), which shows an example of the heating resistor pattern of a thermal recording head, to the shape shown in FIG. 1(b) of the same example. There has been an attempt to increase the resistance value by changing the shape of the heating resistor to a meander shape, that is, by narrowing the overall width and increasing the length of the heating resistor portion of a single electrode.

In the figure, 1 and 1' are thin film heating resistors, 2 is a common electrode, and 3 is an individual electrode.

However, compared to a normal resistor like the one shown in Figure (a),
The pattern (b) requires a more advanced patterning technique as the resolution of the thermal recording head increases, which causes a decrease in yield.

As another example, what about tantalum and silicon oxide? ,
Others have been proposed for use in thin film resistors. This is made by mixing silicon oxide into a tantalum thin film to increase the resistivity, and by controlling the amount of silicon oxide, the resistivity can be freely selected.

However, since this heating resistor is made of two components, tantalum and silicon oxide, and contains silicon oxide, uneven etching occurs when patterning it into the desired shape, causing variations in resistance value and a decrease in yield. It has the following drawbacks.

Furthermore, in order to address the above problems, a chromium-silicon alloy film is used as a thin film heating resistor, and as a method for making a thin film heating resistor based on the alloy film, a rectangular silicon body is entirely embedded on a chromium substrate. We have developed a method for sputtering using a fixed target that has been placed or placed on a surface.

However, even in this case, due to the structure of the target body, a thin film sound may be produced due to variations in the composition of chromium and silicon, and a stable sound could not be obtained.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention provides a high-quality thermal recording head having a stable and long-life heating resistor for thermal recording heads for line printers such as facsimiles and those related to high-speed recording.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a thermal recording head that can be supplied with high productivity.

[Summary of the invention]

The structure of the method for manufacturing a thermal recording head according to the present invention is that in the method for manufacturing a thermal recording head in which the entire thin film heating resistor is formed by sputtering a target containing chromium and silicon in an argon gas atmosphere, the target includes chromium and silicon. The sintered body is a sintered body made by completely mixing and firing 1L and silicon, and the chromium ratio is in the range of 1L9at% to 50at%.

2. In short, the present invention provides a method for adjusting the chromium ratio f l
9at%~50at%, especially 22at%~45a
Using a sintered body containing two elements, chromium and silicon, as a sputtering target, a thin film resistor is attached by sputtering in an argon gas atmosphere, and this is used as a heating resistor. ,
Uniform and stable high quality thermal recording head? It was made to come true.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Embodiments of the method for manufacturing a thermal recording head according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

Here, FIG. 2 shows sample numbers related to each example.
FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing the results of a step stress test, and FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram showing the results of a continuous current test.

Hereinafter, materials, conditions, and method steps related to each example of the present invention will be explained.

Example 1 (Sample Al) First, chromium (Cr) powder and silicon (Si) powder were mixed at a ratio of 19at (atomic)%/81at (atomic)%, and the mixture was fired by hot pressing.

In this example, the shape of the fired target has dimensions of approximately 100 x φX 51i1η1.

This sintered body was sputtered with a target of 3×10-'f.
After evacuation to 'orr, Ar gas was introduced until the pressure reached 65 μHg, and
Interelectrode distance 60mm, Ar partial pressure 4~6\1 -2'f'
Sputtering was performed under the conditions of 100 W and 100 W of power.

This is used as a heating resistor to form a thermal recording head.
ST (step stress test) was conducted.

As a result, it was found that it had characteristics similar to those of sample A1 in FIG.

Based on this result, a continuous energization test was conducted in which power was continuously applied at the power used (maximum total power applied to the thermal paper density), and the results for sample A1 in FIG. 4 were obtained.

In other words, as shown in Fig. 3, even if the applied power is increased to 6 to 8 W/rrrm2 or more during normal use, the resistance value change is within ±10%. It is.

In Figure 4, when the number of applied pulses is 10 x 107 to 108, the resistance change rate is about 7%, and the allowable resistance change value is 1.
Since it is ±10% for 08 pulses, sample A1 passes.

If the material is less than 19 at % chromium and more than 81 at % silicon, its resistance is too high, and its power consumption is unsuitable when used as a heat generating resistor.

Example 2 (Sample A2) Chromium powder, silicon powder and i, 22 at%/78
The mixture was mixed at a ratio of at% and fired using a hot press. The shape is the same as in Example 1.

-tL, this sintered body was used as a sputtering target, and sputtering was performed in the same manner and under the same conditions as in Example 1.

A heat-sensitive recording head was formed as the heat-generating resistor, and the same test as in Example 1 was conducted.
The results shown in 2 were obtained.

As a result, sample A2 passes the test like sample A1.

Example 3 (Sample A3) Chromium powder, silicon powder and t, 31a 1%/6
They were mixed at a ratio of 9 at % and fired by hot pressing. The shape is the same as in Example 1.

Then, using this sintered body as a sonic ivy target, it was subjected to snotting in the same manner and under the same conditions as in Example 1. Using this as a heating resistor, the entire thermal recording head was formed, and the same test as in Example 1 was carried out. (Do 5 lines and
The results shown in Figure 3 were obtained.

As a result, sample A3 passed the test as well as sample A2.

Example 4 (Sample A4) Chromium powder, silicon powder and 'r, 45at%/5
The mixture was mixed at a ratio of 5 at% and fired using a hot press. The shape is the same as in Example 1.

Then, a thermal recording head k7+ is used as the same as in Example 1.
'- was made and tested in the same manner, and the results shown in A4 in Figs. 3 and 4 were obtained.

Accordingly, sample A4 was also passed.

Example 5 (Sample A.5) Chromium powder, silicon powder and i, 5Qat%/5
The mixture was mixed at a ratio of 0 at% and fired using a hot press. The shape is the same as in Example 1.

Then, a thermal recording head was formed in the same manner as in Example 1 and tested in the same manner, and the results shown in A5 in FIG. 3.4 were obtained.

Accordingly, sample A5 was also passed.

Therefore, chromium 5Qat% or more, silicon 50at%
The following ones have low resistance values and require a large amount of power to generate heat, which is also inappropriate.

According to each of the above examples, the usable range of the sputter target is such that the chromium (Cr)/silicon (Sl) composition ratio is
A mixture and sintered mixture having a concentration of at (atomic) % in the range of 19/81 to 50,150 is suitable as a sputter target for a heat-generating resistive film.

From the results shown in Figures 3 and 4, it can be concluded that, within the above range, a chromium (Cr)/silicon (Si) composition ratio in the range of 2 2/7 8 to 45155 is optimal. be.

According to each of the embodiments described above, in particular,
In order to increase the resistance value, it is not necessary to have a special shape as shown in Figure 1 (b), but a simple shape as shown in Figure 1 (a) is sufficient, resulting in good productivity. This improves the uniformity of the mixture ratio and specific resistance when the thin film of chromium and silicon is used for the heat generating resistor, and therefore the resistance value of the heat generating resistor can be controlled by selecting all the composition ratios. In use, it is possible to achieve high speeds by achieving high heat, and it is possible to provide an external thermal recording head that is stable even under high voltage and high heat, has a long life, and has high reliability.

In addition, in each of the above embodiments, the shape and size of the firing target was approximately 100 m + nφ x 5 cylinders, but the 5 dimensions are not limited to this, and may be other than cylindrical. Each shape can have the above-mentioned dimensions and sizes.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, a high-quality thermal recording head with a stable and long-life heating resistor metal can be used even in line printers such as facsimile machines. It can be supplied with high productivity and can be said to be an invention with excellent effects.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1(a) and (b) are illustrations of heating resistor patterns of a thermal recording head, and FIG. 2 is a composition ratio showing the ZAMBLE NO and its sintered target composition ratio according to each example. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing the results of a step stress test, and FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram showing the results of a continuous energization test. 1.1'...heating resistor, 2...common electrode, 3...
Alone, ″,・−゛( (1 other person)−”” House 1 Figure 57 Rabbit ω mouth

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing a thermal recording head in which the entire thin film heating resistor is formed by sputtering a target containing chromium and silicon in an argon gas atmosphere, wherein the target is a mixture of chromium and silicon. A method for manufacturing a thermal recording head, characterized in that a fired sintered body having a chromium ratio in the range of 19 at% to 50 at% is used. 2. A method of manufacturing a thermal recording head according to claim 1, wherein a chromium ratio is in the range of 22 at% to 45 at%.