Patent ID: 7126090

Claim:
A ceramic heater comprising a ceramic sintered body and a heat resistor in contact with said sintered body; wherein said heat resistor contains a metal comprising one or more metal elements selected from the group consisting of Group IVa, Group Va and Group VIa elements of the Periodic Table and a carbide of said metal; wherein a ratio (Ic/Im) of a total (Ic) of a main peak strength of said metal carbide to a total (Im) of a main peak strength of said metal is not larger than 0.2, measured by means of X-ray diffraction; and wherein said sintered body is produced by sintering a shaped body of ceramic powder in contact with said heat resistor and a dummy member composed of a metal comprising one or more metal elements selected from the group consisting of Group IVa, Group Va and Group VIa elements of the Periodic Table, wherein said dummy member is not connected to a power source such that said dummy member is electrically neutral and wherein said dummy member is not operative when said ceramic heater is operated, and wherein said dummy member is electrically isolated from said heat resistor.