Compared with metal film resistors,thick film chip resistors are of thicker film which is usually 4um and use new manufacturing process. There are some main directions for development of thick film chip resistor.
1,Miniaturization
Currently, the 0402 and 0603 chip resistors are the main types in market,but as electronic products, especially digital products are smaller and lighter,the demand of 0201 and 01005 is increasing, especially the 01005, it is 0.4 mm* 0.2mm *0.125 mm,and only 0.04 grams, only some Japanese and Taiwan companies can produce.In order to solve production of such small items,we must upgrade on the base of the traditional manufacturing process.For example,screen printing technology has used advanced CCD (electric coupling devices) automatic digital printing technology.
2,Green
EU "Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act" (WEEE) and RoHS have been carried out. Although the glass enamel film of chip components are the scope of exemptions, but to minimize use of glass is not only to reduce non-environmentally friendly materials, but also is good to save cost.According to statistics, end sputter coated base metal can help low cost about 90%.The polymer resin is not only good to lower raw material costs, but also improve the resistance.
3,High resistance
Chip resistors with high resistances are mainly used in high-performance electronic communication modules, special high-precision electronic instruments and military products.The highest resistance is 1TΩ and the highest operating voltage is10kV, the main technical specifications of these products are precision resistance, working voltage, temperature coefficient, voltage coefficient, stability, etc.To ensure that these indicators meet users’ requirements, we must have technological breakthroughs, including the choice of slurry, trimming method,the printing of encapsulation material,etc.only the breakthrough of technologies is maken, the mass production and supply of chip resistors with high resistance can be ensured.