NICKEL PARTICLES AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING SAME, AND ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE PASTE

摘要

Nickel particles contain element nickel as the main component and also contain element copper, and have the following characteristic properties: (a) the average particle diameter of the nickel particles falls within the range from 40 to 150 nm inclusive as observed with a scanning electron microscope; (b) the content of element copper in the nickel particles falls within the range from 0.01 to 2% by weight inclusive; and (c) 20 to 60% inclusive of the counts of detected copper element exist within a radius of 5 nm from the center of each of the nickel particles as determined by a radiation analysis with a scanning electron microscope coupled to an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (STEM-EDX) under the condition where the electron beam spot diameter is 1 nm or less.