Surface-mountable coil element

1. A coil element, comprising:

an insulator body made of an insulating material and having a mounting surface and an upper surface opposed to said mounting surface;

a coil conductor embedded in the insulator body;

an external electrode electrically connected to the coil conductor and disposed on the mounting surface of the insulator body;

a shield layer provided on the upper surface of the insulator body and having a larger magnetic permeability than the insulator body; and

a plating layer formed to cover a surface of the external electrode and having a larger magnetic permeability than the insulator body,

wherein the plating layer is formed to be thicker than the shield layer,

wherein the coil element is configured to have a dimension in a length direction thereof larger than its dimension in a width direction thereof,

the external electrode is provided with a first external electrode component electrically connected to one end portion of the coil conductor and a second external electrode component electrically connected to the other end portion of the coil conductor,

the first external electrode component and the second external electrode component are disposed away from each other in the length direction of the coil element, and

a distance in the length direction is provided between a first end surface of the first external electrode and a second end surface of the second external electrode, and wherein the distance accounts for greater than zero but less than 30% of a length dimension of the coil element in the length direction.

2. The coil element according to claim 1 , wherein the plating layer is made of plated nickel.

3. The coil element according to claim 1 , wherein the shield layer is configured so as not to cover side surfaces of the insulator body.

4. The coil element according to claim 1 , wherein the shield layer has a magnetic permeability five or more times as high as a magnetic permeability of the insulator body.

5. The coil element according to claim 1 , wherein the coil element has a length of 0.8 mm or less in a thickness direction thereof.

6. The coil element according to claim 1 , wherein the coil conductor is configured and disposed so that the coil axis of the coil conductor is perpendicular to the mounting surface of the insulator body.

7. The coil element according to claim 1 , wherein at least part of the external electrode is embedded in the insulator body.

8. The coil element according to claim 1 , wherein

the external electrode is provided with a first external electrode component electrically connected to one end portion of the coil conductor and a second external electrode component electrically connected to the other end portion of the coil conductor, and

the coil element further comprises an insulator provided between the first external electrode component and the second external electrode component.

9. The coil element according to claim 8 , wherein the insulator is a solder resist.

10. The coil element according to claim 1 , wherein the shield layer has a thickness of 2 μm or less.

11. The coil element according to claim 1 , wherein the shield layer is formed to have a magnetic permeability that exhibits an anisotropy.

12. The coil element according to claim 11 , wherein the shield layer is formed so that a magnetic permeability thereof in a direction perpendicular to a direction of a coil axis of the coil conductor is larger than a magnetic permeability thereof in a direction parallel to the coil axis.

13. The coil element according to claim 11 , wherein the shield layer has a plurality of flat-shaped metal particles.

14. The coil element according to claim 13 , wherein the flat-shaped metal particles have a thickness of 2 μm or less in a shortest axis direction thereof.

15. The coil element according to claim 13 , wherein the flat-shaped metal particles have an aspect ratio of 4 or more, the aspect ratio being a ratio of a length of the flat-shaped metal particles in a longest axis direction thereof with respect to a length thereof in the shortest axis direction.

16. The coil element according to claim 13 , wherein the flat-shaped metal particles assume such a posture that a short axis direction thereof is parallel to the direction of the coil axis of the coil conductor.

17. A coil element, comprising:

an insulator body made of a magnetic material;

a coil conductor embedded in the insulator body; and

an external electrode electrically connected to the coil conductor,

wherein the external electrode has an upper portion covering at least part of an upper surface of the insulator body and a lower portion covering at least part of a mounting surface of the insulator body, and

a plating layer having a larger magnetic permeability than the insulator body is provided on each of an upper surface of the upper portion of the external electrode and a lower surface of the lower portion of the external electrode, wherein

the external electrode is provided with a first external electrode component electrically connected to one end portion of the coil conductor and a second external electrode component electrically connected to the other end portion of the coil conductor,

the first external electrode component and the second external electrode component are disposed away from each other in a length direction of the coil element, and

a distance in the length direction is provided between a first end surface of the first external electrode and a second end surface of the second external electrode, and wherein the distance accounts for greater than zero but less than 30% of a length dimension of the coil element in the length direction.