ESD PROTECTION DEVICE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAME

摘要

Provided is an ESD protection device having high insulation reliability and good discharge properties. An ESD protection device comprises: first and second discharge electrodes which are positioned to face one another; a discharge assistance electrode which is formed to bridge the gap between the first and second discharge electrodes; and an insulation body substrate which retains the first and second discharge electrodes and the discharge assistance electrode. The discharge assistance electrode is configured from an aggregate of a plurality of metal particles (24) which are covered by a semiconductor film (23) which is formed from silicon carbide. To obtain the discharge assistance electrode, firing of a semiconductor composite metal powder in which semiconductor powder formed from silicon carbide is anchored in a metal particle obverse face is carried out. With the semiconductor composite metal powder, the relation between the degree of coverage (Q) (mass%) of the semiconductor powder and the specific surface area (S) (m2/g) of the metal powder is chosen to be Q/S>=8.