JP2000113804A - Image display and manufacture of spacer for the display - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the effect by a member to emission electrons in a case where the member such as a spacer is provided, by coating the front surface of a base material of the spacer with a high resistance film as a first layer and coating the first layer with a second layer having a secondary electron emission coefficient lower than that of the first layer except a partial region. SOLUTION: Spacers 1020 are provided for preventing an airtight container from being broken caused by atmospheric pressure or unexpected impact, and each spacer 1020 is provided with a high resistance film as a first layer for preventing charge on the front surface of an insulating member. A second layer 1021 having a lower secondary electron emission coefficient is formed on a specified region of the high resistance film. The first layer neutralizes and removes electric charge charged on the front surface of the spacer 1020 to prevent the spacer 1020 from being largely charged. The second layer 1020 is made of a material having lower secondary electron emission coefficient to prevent the front surface of the spacer from being positive-charged due to electron incidence to the front surface of the spacer, such as re-incidence of directly incident electrons, reflected electrons or secondary electrons.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electron beam apparatus and an image forming apparatus such as a display apparatus to which the apparatus is applied.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, two types of electron emitting devices, a hot cathode device and a cold cathode device, are known. Among them, as the cold cathode device, for example, a surface conduction type emission device, a field emission type device (hereinafter referred to as FE type), a metal / insulating layer / metal type emission device (hereinafter referred to as MIM type) and the like are known. I have.

[0003] As a surface conduction type emission element, for example,
MIElinson, Radio Eng. Electron Phys., 10, 1290, (196
5) and other examples described later are known.

[0004] A surface conduction electron-emitting device is formed on a substrate.
By passing a current through a small area thin film parallel to the film surface.
This utilizes the phenomenon that electron emission occurs. This surface
As the conduction type emission element, Sn described by Elinson et al.
O_TwoIn addition to those using thin films, those using Au thin films [G.D.
ittmer: “Thin Solid Films”, 9,317 (1972)] _Two
O_Three/ SnO_TwoBy thin film [M.Hartwell and C.G.Fo
nstad: “IEEE Trans.ED Conf.”, 519 (1975)]
By thin film [Hisashi Araki et al .: Vacuum, Vol. 26, No. 1
No. 22, 22 (1983)].

[0005] As a typical example of the element configuration of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, FIG. Hartwel
1 shows a plan view of an element according to the present invention. In FIG.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a substrate, and reference numeral 3004 denotes a conductive thin film made of a metal oxide formed by sputtering. The conductive thin film 3004 is formed in an H-shaped planar shape as shown. An electron emission portion 3005 is formed by performing an energization process called energization forming described later on the conductive thin film 3004. The interval L in the figure is 0.5 to 1 [mm], and W is
It is set at 0.1 [mm]. In addition, for convenience of illustration, the electron emitting portion 3005 is shown in a rectangular shape at the center of the conductive thin film 3004, but this is a schematic one, and the position and shape of the actual electron emitting portion are faithfully represented. Not necessarily.

[0006] M. In the above-described surface conduction electron-emitting device including the device by Hartwell et al., The electron-emitting portion 3005 is formed by subjecting the conductive thin film 3004 to an energization process called energization forming before electron emission.
It was common to form That is, the energization forming means energizing by applying a constant DC voltage to both ends of the conductive thin film 3004, or a DC voltage which is boosted at a very slow rate of, for example, about 1 V / min.
The electron emitting portion 30 in a state where the conductive thin film 3004 is locally destroyed, deformed or deteriorated, and is in an electrically high resistance state.
05 is formed. Note that a part of the conductive thin film 3004 that has been locally broken, deformed, or altered includes
Cracks occur. When an appropriate voltage is applied to the conductive thin film 3004 after the energization forming, electron emission is performed in the vicinity of the crack.

An example of the FE type is, for example, WPDyke
& W.W.Dolan, “Field Emission”, Advance in Electron
Physics, 8, 89 (1956) or CASpindt, “Physi
calProperties of Thin-Film Field Emission Cathodes
with Molybdenium Cones ”, J. Appl. Phys., 47, 5248 (197
6) are known.

As a typical example of the FE type device configuration, FIG. A. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a device by Spindt et al. In the figure, reference numeral 3010 denotes a substrate;
Is an emitter wiring made of a conductive material, 3012 is an emitter cone, 3013 is an insulating layer, and 3014 is a gate electrode. This device comprises an emitter cone 3012 and a gate electrode 3
By applying an appropriate voltage during 014, field emission is caused from the tip of the emitter cone 3012.

As another element structure of the FE type, FIG.
There is also an example in which the emitter and the gate electrode are arranged on the substrate almost in parallel with the plane of the substrate instead of the laminated structure as shown in FIG.

As an example of the MIM type, for example,
CAMead, “Operation of tunnel-emission Devices”,
J. Appl. Phys., 32, 646 (1961) and the like are known. MI
FIG. 27 shows a typical example of the M-type element configuration. The figure is a sectional view, in which 3020 is a substrate and 3021
Is a lower electrode made of a metal, 3022 is a thin insulating layer having a thickness of about 100 °, and 3023 is an upper electrode made of a metal having a thickness of about 80 to 300 °.

In the MIM type, by applying an appropriate voltage between the upper electrode 3023 and the lower electrode 3021,
Electrons are emitted from the surface of the upper electrode 3023.

The above-mentioned cold cathode device can obtain electrons at a lower temperature than the hot cathode device, and therefore does not require a heater for heating. Therefore, the structure is simpler than that of the hot cathode element, and a fine element can be produced. Also,
Even if a large number of elements are arranged on a substrate at a high density, problems such as thermal melting of the substrate hardly occur. In addition, unlike the hot cathode device, which operates by heating the heater, the response speed is slow, and the cold cathode device also has the advantage that the response speed is fast.

For this reason, research for applying the cold cathode device has been actively conducted.

For example, a surface conduction electron-emitting device has the advantage that a large number of devices can be formed over a large area because it has a particularly simple structure and is easy to manufacture among cold cathode devices. Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
As disclosed in JP-A-332-332, a method for arranging and driving a large number of elements has been studied.

As for the application of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, for example, an image forming apparatus such as an image display device and an image recording device, a charged beam source, and the like have been studied.

Particularly, as an application to an image display device, for example, US Pat. No. 5,066,883, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-257551, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-2813 by the present applicant.
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-107, an image display device using a combination of a surface conduction electron-emitting device and a phosphor that emits light by irradiation with an electron beam has been studied. An image display device using a combination of a surface conduction electron-emitting device and a phosphor is expected to have better characteristics than other conventional image display devices. For example, compared to a liquid crystal display device that has become widespread in recent years, it can be said that it is superior in that it does not require a backlight because it is a self-luminous type and that it has a wide viewing angle.

A method of driving a large number of FE types is disclosed in, for example, US Pat.
No. 895. Further, as an example in which the FE type is applied to an image display device, for example, R.F. The flat panel display reported by Meyer et al. Is known [R.
r: “Recent Development on Microtips Display at LET
I ”, Tech.Digest of 4th Int.Vacuum Microele-ctronic
s Conf., Nagahama, pp. 6-9 (1991)].

An example in which a number of MIM types are arranged and applied to an image display device is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
No. 5,557,838.

Among the image forming apparatuses using the above-described electron-emitting devices, a flat display device having a small depth has been attracting attention as a substitute for a cathode ray tube display device because it is space-saving and lightweight. .

FIG. 28 is a perspective view showing an example of a display panel portion forming a flat-panel image display device, in which a part of the panel is cut away to show the internal structure.

In the figure, reference numeral 3115 denotes a rear plate, 3116
Denotes a side wall, 3117 denotes a face plate, and a rear plate 3115, a side wall 3116, and a face plate 3
117 forms an envelope (airtight container) for maintaining the inside of the display panel in a vacuum.

A substrate 3111 is fixed to the rear plate 3115, and N × M cold cathode elements 3112 are formed on the substrate 3111. N and M are positive integers of 2 or more, and are appropriately set according to the target number of display pixels. The N × M cold cathode elements 3112
As shown in FIG. 28, are arranged by M row direction wirings 3113 and N column direction wirings 3114. These substrate 3111, cold cathode element 3112, row direction wiring 31
The portion constituted by the column 13 and the column direction wiring 3114 is called a multi-electron beam source. In addition, the row direction wiring 311
An insulating layer (not shown) is formed between the wiring 3 and the column-directional wiring 3114 at least at a portion where the wiring 3 intersects with the wiring 3114 to maintain electrical insulation.

On the lower surface of the face plate 3117, a phosphor film 3118 made of a phosphor is formed, and phosphors (not shown) of three primary colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are applied. Divided. A black body (not shown) is provided between the phosphors of the respective colors constituting the fluorescent film 3118, and a metal back 3119 made of Al or the like is formed on the surface of the fluorescent film 3118 on the rear plate 3115 side. ing.

Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn and Hv are electric connection terminals having an airtight structure provided for electrically connecting the display panel to an electric circuit (not shown). Dx1 to Dxm are electrically connected to the row direction wiring 3113 of the multi-electron beam source, Dy1 to Dyn are electrically connected to the column direction wiring 3114 of the multi-electron beam source, and Hv is electrically connected to the metal back 3119.

The inside of the airtight container is 10 ⁻⁶ [To
[rr], and as the display area of the image display device increases, means for preventing deformation or destruction of the rear plate 3115 and the face plate 3117 due to a pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the airtight container is required. Become. The method of increasing the thickness of the rear plate 3115 and the face plate 3116 not only increases the weight of the image display device, but also causes image distortion and parallax when viewed from an oblique direction. On the other hand, in FIG. 28, a structural support (called a spacer or a rib) 3 made of a relatively thin glass plate and supporting the atmospheric pressure is used.
120 are provided. In this way, the distance between the substrate 3111 on which the multi-beam electron source is formed and the face plate 3116 on which the fluorescent film 3118 is formed is usually maintained at a sub-millimeter to several millimeters, and the inside of the hermetic container is maintained at a high vacuum as described above. ing.

The image display apparatus using the display panel described above has terminals Dx1 to Dxm, Dy1 to Dy outside the container.
When a voltage is applied to each cold cathode element 3112 through n,
Electrons are emitted from each cold cathode element 3112. At the same time, a high voltage of several hundred [V] to several [kV] is applied to the metal back 3119 through the external terminal Hv to accelerate the emitted electrons and collide with the inner surface of the face plate 3117. As a result, the phosphors of each color forming the fluorescent film 3118 are excited and emit light, and an image is displayed.

[0027]

The above-described electron beam apparatus such as an image forming apparatus includes an envelope for maintaining a vacuum atmosphere inside the apparatus, an electron source arranged in the envelope, and an electron source. A target to be irradiated with the electron beam emitted from the electron source, an acceleration electrode for accelerating the electron beam toward the target, and the like, and further, to support the atmospheric pressure applied to the envelope from inside the envelope. May be arranged inside the envelope.

The display panel of such an image display device has the following problems.

First, there is a possibility that the spacer is charged by a part of electrons emitted from the vicinity of the spacer hitting the spacer or ions ionized by the action of the emitted electrons adhere to the spacer. Further, there is a possibility that electrons reaching the face plate are partially reflected and scattered, and a part of the electrons hit the spacer, thereby causing spacer charging. The electrons emitted from the cold cathode device due to the charging of the spacer are bent in their trajectories, and reach when the position is different from the normal position on the phosphor,
The image near the spacer is distorted.

In order to solve this problem, a proposal has been made to remove a charge (hereinafter referred to as charge removal) by causing a minute current to flow through the spacer. There, a high-resistance film is formed on the surface of the insulating spacer so that a minute current flows on the surface of the spacer.

However, when the amount of electrons emitted from the cold cathode device increases, the charge elimination ability cannot be said to be sufficient, and the charge amount changes depending on the intensity of the electron beam. Accordingly, the deviation of the electron beam emitted from the element near the spacer from the normal position on the target differs depending on the intensity (luminance). So when you view a video,
There are drawbacks such as that the image appears to fluctuate.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-508846 discloses a method of forming a second layer having a small secondary electron emission coefficient on a part of the surface of a spacer to reduce spacer charging and reduce image distortion. Proposed.

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to reduce the influence of a member such as a spacer that affects electrons emitted from an electron source when the member is provided.

[0034]

The above object is achieved by an image forming apparatus having the following configuration. That is, an electron source substrate having an electron source composed of a plurality of cold cathode type electron-emitting devices, an acceleration electrode arranged to face the electron source substrate for accelerating electrons emitted from the electron source, and an electron beam emitted from the electron source. A target (phosphor) to be irradiated with an electron beam, an envelope having a sealed structure for maintaining the electron source substrate and the accelerating electrode in a vacuum, and a spacer (spacer) for supporting the envelope In the image forming apparatus, the spacer is coated on the surface of the base material with a high-resistance film as a first layer, and has a secondary electron emission coefficient smaller than that of the first layer except for a part of the divided region thereon. That is, the spacer is formed by coating the two layers.

By forming the second layer except for a part of the divided area on the surface of the spacer, the second layer is formed at the joint surface with the face plate or the rear plate in a state where the spacer is incorporated in the envelope when the second layer is formed. It is possible to hold not only a certain small area surface but also the largest area surface among the non-joining surfaces, and various holding methods become possible. As a holding method, a holding jig is used to hold the partitioned area where the second layer is not formed on both surfaces of the spacer, and the spacer is placed on the base plate 5003 and the second layer on the upper surface of the spacer is not formed. For example, a method of applying a weight to the divided area and fixing the divided area may be used.

At this time, when the second layer is made of an insulating material or a material close thereto, a change in the spacer resistance defined by the first layer of the spacer due to the second layer can be suppressed. Sheet resistance (sheet resistivit)
The value of y) differs depending on the acceleration voltage, driving conditions, element size, etc. of the image display device, but is generally at least one digit, more preferably at least two digits, greater than the value of the sheet resistance of the high-resistance film of the first layer. Is desirable. At this time, the sheet resistance is 10
^It is preferably ¹² Ω / □ or more.

Here, a description will be given of a phenomenon that the present inventors have found as a result of intensive studies that sufficient static elimination characteristics can be obtained even if the second layer is not formed on the entire surface of the spacer. At this time, although the effect of the charge suppression depends on the driving conditions and the formation position of the second layer, the area of the spacer surface region where the second layer is formed is generally about one third or more of the area of the spacer surface. The effect of suppression is recognized, and an effect substantially equivalent to the case where it is formed over the entire surface can be obtained by preferably 以上 or more, more preferably 、 ３ or more. It has been found that uniformity of static elimination characteristics can be obtained by providing a region where the second layer is formed in a direction substantially parallel to the acceleration voltage and the electron source. This is because the spacers can exhibit the same static elimination characteristics for each element by forming the second formation region at the same height in the direction in which the acceleration voltage is applied. As mentioned above,
By adopting a form in which the second layer of the present invention is formed except for a part of the spacer region, the selectivity of the spacer holding method and the like at the time of fabrication is dramatically increased, and a spacer having excellent mass productivity is obtained. Offering has become possible. The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned disadvantages of the conventional spacer, and to provide a spacer excellent in mass productivity and exhibiting high static elimination characteristics.

The electron beam apparatus of the present invention may have the following form.

The electron beam device is an accelerating electrode in which the electrode accelerates electrons emitted from the electron source. The electron beam device irradiates the target with the electrons emitted from the cold cathode device in response to an input signal, thereby forming an image. Forming an image forming apparatus. In particular, an image display device in which the target is a phosphor is provided.

The cold cathode device is a cold cathode device having a conductive film including an electron emission portion between a pair of electrodes, and is particularly preferably a surface conduction type emission device.

The electron source is an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement having a plurality of cold cathode devices arranged in a matrix with a plurality of row-direction wirings and a plurality of column-direction wirings.

The electron source is provided with a plurality of rows of cold cathode elements each having a plurality of cold cathode elements arranged in parallel and connected at both ends (referred to as a row direction), and arranged in a direction orthogonal to the wiring (column direction). A control electrode (also referred to as a grid) disposed above the cold cathode device along with the cold cathode device forms a ladder-shaped electron source for controlling electrons from the cold cathode device.

According to the concept of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to an image forming apparatus suitable for display, but may be used as an alternative light source such as a light emitting diode of an optical printer including a photosensitive drum and a light emitting diode. Alternatively, the above-described image forming apparatus can be used. At this time, by appropriately selecting the above-mentioned m row-directional wirings and n column-directional wirings,
The present invention can be applied not only to a linear light source but also to a two-dimensional light source. In this case, the image forming member is not limited to a substance that directly emits light, such as a phosphor used in the following embodiments, and a member that forms a latent image by electron charging can also be used.

Further, according to the concept of the present invention, the present invention is applicable to a case where a member to be irradiated with electrons emitted from an electron source is other than an image forming member such as a phosphor, as in an electron microscope. Is applicable. Therefore, the present invention can also take a form as a general electron beam apparatus that does not specify a member to be irradiated.

That is, the present invention includes the following inventions as inventions relating to a configuration capable of reducing the influence on the electrons emitted from the electron source. An electron beam device having an electron beam source and a first member, wherein the first member partially covers an easily charged region on a base with a low secondary electron emission coefficient material. Characteristic electron beam device. Here, the base may be a conductive material. Further, the conductive base may be a conductive layer provided on the base of the first member. In this case, the substrate may be insulating. Further, the low secondary electron emission coefficient material may be provided in a layer form as a second layer on the first layer.
According to the present invention, when the first member is provided at a position that substantially affects the trajectory of the electrons emitted by the electron source by the potential due to the charging of the first member,
Especially effective. More specifically, the low secondary electron emission coefficient material refers to an underlayer (the base, or a conductive underlayer, or both a base and a conductive layer).
It is a material having a secondary electron emission coefficient smaller than the secondary electron emission coefficient. More specifically, the conductivity of the conductive underlayer is more specifically higher than the conductivity of the low secondary electron emission coefficient material (the portion having the conductivity higher than the low secondary electron emission coefficient material). Is easier to move). Also, if there is no need for a large current to flow through the base,
Alternatively, when it is desired to suppress the current flowing through the base, the conductivity of the base may be made semiconductive. In particular, when this member is electrically connected to electrodes having different potentials (for example, the wiring electrode of the electron-emitting device and the accelerating electrode) and a current flows between the electrodes, the current flows when the conductivity is high. The current increases. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the power consumption by making the conductivity of the base semiconductive. in this case,
In particular, by using an insulating material as the base and providing a layer (first layer) having conductivity (semiconductivity) in a layered manner thereon, the conductivity of the entire first member can be suitably controlled. First
In order to suppress the conductivity of the layer, the resistance of the first layer may be increased, that is, the first layer may be a high-resistance film. The present application includes the following invention as a method for manufacturing a member in which charging is suppressed. A method of manufacturing a member in which electrification is suppressed, the method including a step of holding a part of a base and providing a material for suppressing electrification on the base, wherein the held part includes A method for producing a member, wherein the portion is hardly charged. Here, the material for suppressing the charging is preferably a material that imparts conductivity or a material having a lower secondary electron emission coefficient than that of the base. Further, the present invention is particularly effective in a configuration in which the material for suppressing the charge is applied to the base in a liquid state.

[0046]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the structure and manufacturing method of a display panel of an image display device to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to specific examples.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a display panel used in the present embodiment, in which a part of the panel is cut away to show the internal structure.

In the figure, 1015 is a rear plate, 1016
Is a side wall, 1017 is a face plate, and 1015
An airtight container for maintaining the inside of the display panel at a vacuum is formed by 1017 to 1017. When assembling an airtight container, it is necessary to seal the joints of each member to maintain sufficient strength and airtightness.For example, apply frit glass to the joints, and in air or nitrogen atmosphere, Sealing was achieved by baking at 400 to 500 degrees for 10 minutes or more. A method of evacuating the inside of the airtight container to a vacuum will be described later. The inside of the airtight container is 1
Since a vacuum of about 0 ^-6 [Torr] is maintained, a spacer 1020 is provided as an anti-atmospheric structure for the purpose of preventing the hermetic container from being destroyed by atmospheric pressure or unexpected impact. Reference numeral 1021 denotes a formation region of the second layer.

The rear plate 1015 has a substrate 1011
Is fixed, but the cold cathode element 1012 is provided on the substrate.
Are formed N × M. N and M are positive integers of 2 or more, and are appropriately set according to the target number of display pixels. For example, in a display device for displaying high-definition television, it is desirable to set N = 3000 and M = 1000 or more. The N × M cold cathode elements are arranged in a simple matrix by M row-directional wirings 1013 and N column-directional wirings 1014. Said,
The portion constituted by 1011 to 1014 is called a multi-electron beam source.

The material, shape, and manufacturing method of the cold cathode device are not limited as long as the multi-electron beam source used in the image display device of the present invention is an electron source in which cold cathode devices are arranged in a simple matrix. Therefore, for example, a cold cathode device such as a surface conduction type emission device, an FE type, or an MIM type can be used.

Next, the structure of a multi-electron beam source in which surface conduction electron-emitting devices (described later) as cold cathode devices are arranged on a substrate and wired in a simple matrix will be described.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the multi-electron beam source used for the display panel of FIG. Substrate 1011
On the upper side, surface conduction type emission elements similar to those shown in FIG. 10 described later are arranged.
03 and the column direction wiring electrodes 1004 are wired in a simple matrix. An insulating layer (not shown) is formed between the row-directional wiring electrodes 1013 and the column-directional wiring electrodes 1014 at the intersections of the electrodes to maintain electrical insulation.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG.
Shown in

Incidentally, the multi-electron source having such a structure is as follows.
After the row direction wiring electrode 1013, the column direction wiring electrode 1014, the interelectrode insulating layer (not shown), the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 of the surface conduction electron-emitting device and the conductive thin film 1104 are previously formed on the substrate, the row direction wiring is formed. It was manufactured by supplying power to each element via the electrode 1013 and the column-directional wiring electrode 1014 and performing an energization forming process (described later) and an energization activation process (described below).

In the present embodiment, the substrate 1011 of the multi-electron beam source is fixed to the rear plate 1015 of the airtight container.
When 11 has a sufficient strength, the substrate 10 of the multi-electron beam source is used as a rear plate of the hermetic container.
11 itself may be used.

A fluorescent film 1018 is formed on the lower surface of the face plate 1017. In the present embodiment, a color display device is used.
Phosphors of three primary colors of red, green and blue used in the field of RT are separately applied. The phosphor of each color is, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2A, black conductors 1010 are separately applied in stripes, and black phosphors 1010 are provided between the stripes of the phosphor. The purpose of providing the black conductor 1010 is to prevent the display color from being shifted even if the electron beam irradiation position is slightly shifted, and to prevent the reflection of external light to reduce the display cost last. And preventing charge-up of the fluorescent film by the electron beam. Although graphite is used as a main component for the black conductor 1010, any other material may be used as long as it is suitable for the above purpose.

The method of applying the three primary color phosphors is not limited to the stripe arrangement shown in FIG. 22A. For example, a delta arrangement as shown in FIG. Other arrangements may be used.

When a monochrome display panel is manufactured, a monochromatic phosphor material may be used for the phosphor film 1018, and a black conductive material may not be necessarily used.

A metal back 1019 known in the CRT field is provided on the surface of the fluorescent film 1018 on the rear plate side.
Is provided. The purpose of providing the metal back 1019 is
A part of the light emitted from the fluorescent film 1018 is specularly reflected to improve the light utilization rate, and the fluorescent film 101
8 to protect it, to act as an electrode for applying an electron beam acceleration voltage, and to act as a conductive path for excited electrons of the fluorescent film 1018. The metal back 1019 was formed by forming the fluorescent film 1018 on the face plate substrate 1017, smoothing the surface of the fluorescent film, and vacuum-depositing Al thereon.
Note that when a fluorescent material for low voltage is used for the fluorescent film 1018, the metal back 1019 may not be used.

Although not used in the present embodiment, for the purpose of applying an acceleration voltage and improving the conductivity of the fluorescent film, a transparent material made of, for example, ITO is provided between the face plate substrate 1017 and the fluorescent film 1018. Electrodes may be provided. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line AA ′ of FIG. 1, and the numbers of the respective parts correspond to those of FIG. 1. The spacer 1020 has a high resistance film 11 which is a first layer for the purpose of preventing static electricity on the surface of the insulating member 1. 1021 denotes the first layer 11
2 shows a second layer composed of a member having a low secondary electron emission coefficient partially formed thereon. Further, the inside of the face plate 1017 (eg, metal back 1019)
In addition, low resistance films 3a and 3b are provided on the contact surface and a part of the side surface of the spacer facing the surface (row direction wiring 1013 or column direction wiring 1014) of the substrate 1011.

The spacers 1020 are arranged in a necessary number and at a necessary interval to achieve the above-mentioned object.
It is fixed to the inside of the face plate and the surface of the substrate 1011 by a bonding material 1041.

The high resistance film 11 is formed on at least the surface of the insulating member 1 that is exposed to the vacuum in the hermetic container, and the low resistance films 3 a and 3 b on the spacer 1020 are formed. In addition, through the bonding material 1041, it is electrically connected to the inside of the face plate 1017 (such as the metal back 1019) and the surface of the substrate 1011 (the row wiring 1013 or the column wiring 1014). In the embodiment described here, the shape of the spacer 1020 is a thin plate, and the spacer 1020 is arranged parallel to the row wiring 1013 and is electrically connected to the row wiring 1013.

As the spacer 1020, the substrate 1011
It has an electrical resistance enough to withstand a high voltage applied between the upper row direction wiring 1013 and the column direction wiring 1014 and the metal back 1019 on the inner surface of the face plate 1017 and prevents the surface of the spacer substrate 1 from being charged. It is necessary to have a degree of conductivity. Examples of the insulating member of the spacer substrate 1 include quartz glass, glass having a reduced impurity content such as Na, soda lime glass, and ceramic members such as alumina. It is preferable that the insulating member 1 has a coefficient of thermal expansion close to that of the member forming the airtight container and the substrate 1011.

High resistance film 11 constituting spacer 1020
Is supplied with a current obtained by dividing the acceleration voltage Va applied to the face plate 1017 (such as the metal back 1019) on the high potential side by the resistance value Rs of the high resistance film 11 serving as the antistatic film. Therefore, the resistance value Rs of the spacer is set in a desirable range from the viewpoint of antistatic and power consumption. The area resistance R / □ is preferably 10 ¹² Ω / □ or less from the viewpoint of antistatic. In order to obtain a sufficient antistatic effect, 10
¹¹ Ω / □ or less is more preferable. Although the lower limit of the sheet resistance depends on the spacer shape and the voltage applied between the spacers, it is preferably at least 10 ⁵ Ω / □.

The thickness t of the antistatic film formed on the insulating material is preferably in the range of 10 nm to 1 μm. Although it depends on the surface energy of the material, the adhesion to the substrate, and the substrate temperature, a thin film of 10 nm or less is generally formed in the shape of an island, and has an unstable resistance and poor reproducibility. On the other hand, when the film thickness t is 1
If it is more than μm, the film stress increases and the risk of film peeling increases, and the film formation time becomes longer, resulting in poor productivity. Therefore, the film thickness is desirably 50 to 500 nm.

The sheet resistance R / □ is ρ / t. From the above-mentioned preferred ranges of the sheet resistance R / □ and the film thickness t, the specific resistance ρ of the antistatic film is 0.1 [Ωcm] to 10 [Ωcm]. ⁸ [Ωc
m] is preferred. Further, in order to realize a more preferable range of the sheet resistance and the film thickness, ρ is preferably set to 10 ^{2 to} 10 ⁶ Ωcm. As described above, the temperature of the spacer is increased by current flowing through the antistatic film formed thereon or by heat generation during operation of the entire display. If the resistance temperature coefficient of the antistatic film is a large negative value, the resistance value decreases when the temperature increases, the current flowing through the spacer increases, and the temperature further increases. And the current continues to increase until the power supply limit is exceeded. The value of the temperature coefficient of resistance at which such a runaway of current occurs is empirically a negative value and the absolute value is 1% or more. That is, the resistance temperature coefficient of the antistatic film is desirably less than -1%.

As a material of the high resistance film 11 having antistatic properties, for example, metal oxides such as tin oxide and nickel oxide can be used.

As another material of the high resistance film 11 having antistatic properties, the nitride of aluminum and a transition metal alloy can adjust the resistance of a wide range from a good conductor to an insulator by adjusting the composition of the transition metal. It is a suitable material because it can be controlled.
Further, it is a stable material with little change in resistance value in a manufacturing process of a display device described later. Further, the material has a temperature coefficient of resistance of less than -1% and is practically easy to use. Examples of the transition metal element include Ti, Cr, and Ta.

The alloy nitride film is formed on the insulating member by thin film forming means such as sputtering, reactive sputtering in a nitrogen gas atmosphere, electron beam evaporation, ion plating, and ion assisted evaporation. The metal oxide film can be formed by the same thin film formation method, but in this case, oxygen gas is used instead of nitrogen gas. In addition, a metal oxide film can be formed by a CVD method or an alkoxide coating method. The carbon film is formed by a vapor deposition method, a sputtering method, a CVD method, or a plasma CVD method. In particular, when forming amorphous carbon, make sure that the atmosphere during the film formation contains hydrogen or the film formation gas is used. Use hydrocarbon gas.

Here, the second layer having a low secondary electron emission coefficient, which is formed in a certain region on the high resistance layer, which is the first layer, will be described.

As the second layer, Cr ₂ O ₃ , Nb ₂ O
₅ , an oxide layer with a low secondary electron emission efficiency such as Y ₂ O ₃ can be used. Further, another material such as an oxide having a low secondary electron emission efficiency such as carbon nitride can be used. At this time, by using the insulating material, the spacer resistance defined by the first high-resistance layer is not disturbed, and the resistance reduction of the spacer can be prevented. In addition, when an oxide is used, a characteristic change in which a state change such as surface oxidation due to heat treatment hardly occurs is small, so that there is an effect that conditions at the time of panel assembly can be selected from a wide range.

The first layer neutralizes and removes the electric charge on the charged spacer surface of the spacer by electric current so as to prevent the spacer from being largely charged, while the second layer is made of a material having a small secondary electron emission efficiency. This allows direct incident electrons,
There is a function of suppressing the spacer surface from being positively charged due to the incidence of electrons on the spacer surface such as the re-incident of reflected electrons or secondary electrons from the face plate.

According to the present invention, it has been found that a sufficient charge suppression effect can be obtained even when the formation region of the second layer 1021 is a part of the spacer. Method, CVD method, screen printing,
Various film forming methods such as spraying and dipping can be applied. In particular, the present invention can be applied to various methods which are extremely selective and excellent in mass productivity with respect to a method of holding a spacer substrate which is a problem when forming the second layer 1021 on the entire surface.

Low resistance film 21 constituting spacer 1020
A high-resistance side face plate 101
7 (metal back 1019 etc.) and substrate 10 on the low potential side
11 (wirings 1013, 1014, etc.), and is hereinafter referred to as an intermediate electrode layer (intermediate layer). The intermediate electrode layer (intermediate layer) can have a plurality of functions listed below.

The high-resistance film 11 is attached to the face plate 10
17 and the substrate 1011.

As described above, the high resistance film 11 is provided for the purpose of preventing electrification on the surface of the spacer 1020.
7 (metal back 1019, etc.) and the substrate 1011 (wirings 1013, 1014, etc.) directly or via the bonding material 1041, a large contact resistance is generated at the interface of the connection portion, and the charge generated on the spacer surface is quickly removed. It may not be possible to remove it. In order to avoid this, a low-resistance intermediate layer is provided on the contact surface or side surface of the spacer 1020 which comes into contact with the face plate 1017, the substrate 1011 and the bonding material 1041.

The potential distribution of the high resistance film 11 is made uniform.

Electrons emitted from the cold cathode element 1012 form electron orbits in accordance with a potential distribution formed between the face plate 1017 and the substrate 1011. Spacer 1
In order to prevent the electron orbit from being disturbed near 020, it is necessary to control the potential distribution of the high resistance film 11 over the entire region. The high resistance film 11 is applied to the face plate 101
7 (metal back 1019, etc.) and the substrate 1011 (wirings 1013, 1014, etc.) directly or via a bonding material 1041, unevenness in the connection state occurs due to contact resistance at the interface of the connection portion, and a high-resistance film is formed. There is a possibility that the potential distribution of 11 may deviate from a desired value. In order to avoid this, a low-resistance intermediate layer is provided in the entire length region of the spacer end (contact surface 3 or side surface 5) where the spacer 1020 contacts the face plate 1017 and the substrate 1011. By applying a potential, the high-resistance film 1
1 was made controllable.

The trajectory of the emitted electrons is controlled.

Electrons emitted from the cold cathode device 1012 form electron orbits in accordance with the potential distribution formed between the face plate 1017 and the substrate 1011. Regarding the electrons emitted from the cold cathode devices near the spacers, there may be restrictions (such as changes in wiring and device positions) associated with the installation of the spacers. In such a case, in order to form an image without distortion or unevenness, it is necessary to control the trajectory of the emitted electrons to irradiate a desired position on the face plate 1017 with the electrons. By providing a low-resistance intermediate layer on the side surface portion 5 of the surface in contact with the face plate 1017 and the substrate 1011, the potential distribution near the spacer 1020 can have desired characteristics and the trajectory of emitted electrons can be controlled. I can do it.

For the low resistance film 21, a material having a sufficiently lower resistance value than the high resistance film 11 may be selected.
metals or alloys such as r, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu, Pd, and Pd, Ag, Au, RuO
₂ , a printed conductor composed of a metal such as Pd-Ag or a metal oxide and glass, or a transparent conductor such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ and a semiconductor material such as polysilicon.

The bonding material 1041 having conductivity is formed by the spacer 1020 serving as the row wiring 1013 and the metal back 1013.
It is necessary to have conductivity so as to be electrically connected to the device 19. That is, frit glass to which a conductive adhesive, metal particles, or a conductive filler is added is preferable.

In FIG. 1, Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn and Hv are electric connection terminals having an airtight structure provided for electrically connecting the display panel to an electric circuit (not shown). Dx1 to Dxm are electrically connected to the row wiring 1013 of the multi-electron beam source, Dy1 to Dyn are electrically connected to the column wiring 1014 of the multi-electron beam source, and Hv is electrically connected to the metal back 1019 of the face plate.

In order to evacuate the inside of the hermetic container, after assembling the hermetic container, an exhaust pipe (not shown) and a vacuum pump are connected, and the inside of the hermetic container is evacuated to a degree of vacuum of about 10 ^-7 [Torr]. Exhaust until After that, the exhaust pipe is sealed,
In order to maintain the degree of vacuum in the airtight container, a getter film (not shown) is formed at a predetermined position in the airtight container immediately before or after sealing. The getter film is, for example, a film formed by heating and depositing a getter material containing Ba as a main component by a heater or high-frequency heating, and the inside of the hermetic container is 1 × 10 ^{−5 to} 1 × due to the adsorbing action of the getter film. 10
^-7 [Torr] is maintained at a vacuum degree.

The image display device using the above-described display panel includes terminals Dx1 to Dxm, Dy1 to Dy outside the container.
When a voltage is applied to each cold cathode element 1012 through n
Electrons are emitted from each cold cathode element 1012. At the same time, a high voltage of several hundred [V] to several [kV] is applied to the metal back 1019 through the external terminal Hv to accelerate the emitted electrons and collide with the inner surface of the face plate 1017. As a result, the phosphor of each color forming the fluorescent film 1018 is excited and emits light, and an image is displayed.

Normally, the voltage applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device 1012 of the present invention, which is a cold cathode device, is about 12 to 16 [V], and the distance d between the metal back 1019 and the cold cathode device 1012 is 0.1 [mm]. ] To about 8 [mm], and a voltage of 0.1 [k] between the metal back 1019 and the cold cathode element 1012.
V] to about 10 [kV].

The basic configuration and manufacturing method of the display panel according to the embodiment of the present invention and the outline of the image display device have been described above.

Next, a method of manufacturing the multi-electron beam source used for the display panel of the above embodiment will be described. The material, shape, and manufacturing method of the cold cathode device are not limited as long as the multi-electron beam source used for the image display device of the present invention is an electron source in which cold cathode devices are arranged in a simple matrix. Therefore, for example, a cold cathode device such as a surface conduction type emission device, an FE type, or an MIM type can be used.

However, under the circumstances where a display device having a large display screen and an inexpensive display device is required, among these cold cathode devices, a display conduction type emission device is particularly preferable. That is, in the FE type, since the relative position and shape of the emitter cone and the gate electrode greatly affect the electron emission characteristics, extremely high-precision manufacturing technology is required, but this achieves a large area and a reduction in manufacturing cost. Is a disadvantageous factor. In the case of the MIM type, it is necessary to make the thicknesses of the insulating layer and the upper electrode thin and uniform, which is also a disadvantageous factor in achieving a large area and a reduction in manufacturing cost. On the other hand, since the surface conduction electron-emitting device has a relatively simple manufacturing method, it is easy to increase the area and reduce the manufacturing cost. In addition, the inventors have found that among the surface conduction electron-emitting devices, those in which the electron-emitting portion or its peripheral portion is formed of a fine particle film have particularly excellent electron-emitting characteristics and can be easily manufactured. Therefore, it can be said that it is most suitable for use in a multi-electron beam source of a high-luminance, large-screen image display device. Therefore, in the display panel of the above embodiment, a surface conduction electron-emitting device in which the electron-emitting portion or its peripheral portion is formed of a fine particle film is used. Therefore, the basic configuration, manufacturing method and characteristics of a suitable surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described first, and then the structure of a multi-electron beam source in which many devices are arranged in a simple matrix will be described.

[Suitable Device Configuration and Manufacturing Method of Surface Conduction Emission Device] A typical configuration of a surface conduction electron-emitting device in which an electron-emitting portion or its peripheral portion is formed of a fine particle film is a flat type or a vertical type. Kinds are given.

[Flat-type surface conduction electron-emitting device] First, the structure and manufacturing method of a flat-surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described.

FIG. 10 is a plan view (a) and a cross-sectional view (b) for explaining the structure of a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device. In the figure, 1011 is a substrate, 1102 and 1
103, a device electrode; 1104, a conductive thin film; 1105, an electron-emitting portion formed by an energization forming process;
Reference numeral 13 denotes a thin film formed by the activation process.

As the substrate 1011, for example, various glass substrates such as quartz glass and blue plate glass, various ceramics substrates such as alumina, or an insulating layer made of, for example, SiO ₂ is formed on the various substrates described above. A stacked substrate or the like can be used.

The element electrodes 1102 and 1103 provided on the substrate 1011 so as to be parallel to the substrate surface are formed of a conductive material. For example, N
i, Cr, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Cu, Pd,
A material such as Ag or the like, an alloy of these metals, a metal oxide such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ , or a semiconductor such as polysilicon may be appropriately selected and used. . An electrode can be easily formed by using a combination of a film forming technique such as vacuum evaporation and a patterning technique such as photolithography and etching. However, the electrode can be formed by other methods (for example, printing technique). I can't wait.

The shapes of the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 are appropriately designed according to the application purpose of the electron-emitting device.
Generally, the electrode interval L is usually designed by selecting an appropriate numerical value from the range of several hundreds of squares to several hundreds of μm.
m. Further, regarding the thickness d of the device electrode,
Usually, an appropriate numerical value is selected from the range of several hundreds of .mu.m to several .mu.m.

A fine particle film is used for the conductive thin film 1104. The fine particle film mentioned here is a film containing many fine particles as a constituent element (including an island-shaped aggregate).
I mean If you examine the microparticle film microscopically, usually
A structure in which the individual fine particles are spaced apart, a structure in which the fine particles are adjacent to each other, or a structure in which the fine particles overlap each other is observed.

The particle diameter of the fine particles used in the fine particle film is in the range of several to several thousand degrees, and preferably in the range of 10 to 200 degrees. Further, the thickness of the fine particle film is appropriately set in consideration of various conditions described below. That is, the conditions necessary for good electrical connection to the element electrode 1102 or 1103, the conditions necessary for good energization forming described below, and the electric resistance of the fine particle film itself to an appropriate value described later. Necessary conditions, etc. Specifically, it is set in the range of several to several thousand degrees, but the most preferable one is between 10 and 500 degrees.

Materials that can be used to form the fine particle film include, for example, Pd, Pt, Ru, Ag,
Au, Ti, In, Cu, Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, T
a, W, Pb, and other metals, PdO, S
Oxides such as nO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO, Sb ₂ O ₃ , etc .; HfB ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , C
Borides such as eB ₆ , YB ₄ , GdB ₄ , etc., TiC, ZrC, HfC, TaC, SiC, WC,
And other carbides, TiN, ZrN, Hf
Nitrides such as N, etc., semiconductors such as Si, Ge, etc., carbon, and the like are listed, and are appropriately selected from these.

As described above, the conductive thin film 1104 is formed of a fine particle film.
0 ³ 10 ⁷ to be included within the scope of [Ω / □] was set.

Note that the conductive thin film 1104 and the device electrode 11
Since it is desirable that the wires 02 and 1103 be electrically connected well, they have a structure in which a part of each overlaps with the other. In the example of FIG.
Although the substrate, the device electrode, and the conductive thin film are stacked in this order from the bottom, in some cases, the substrate, the conductive thin film, and the device electrode may be stacked in this order from the bottom.

The electron-emitting portion 1105 is a crack-like portion formed in a part of the conductive thin film 1104, and has an electrically higher resistance property than the surrounding conductive thin film. The crack is formed by performing a later-described energization forming process on the conductive thin film 1104. Fine particles having a particle size of several to several hundreds of mm may be arranged in the crack. Since it is difficult to accurately and accurately show the actual position and shape of the electron-emitting portion, they are schematically shown in FIG.

Further, the thin film 1113 is a thin film made of carbon or a carbon compound, and covers the electron emitting portion 1105 and its vicinity. The thin film 1113 is formed by performing an energization activation process described later after the energization forming process.

The thin film 1113 is made of any one of single-crystal graphite, polycrystalline graphite, and amorphous carbon, or a mixture thereof, and has a thickness of 500 [以下] or less but 300 [Å] or less. Is more preferred. Since it is difficult to accurately show the actual position and shape of the thin film 1113, it is schematically shown in FIG. Further, in the plan view (a), a part (1
The element from which (a part on 105) is removed is shown.

The basic structure of the preferred element has been described above. In the embodiment, the following element is used.

That is, blue glass was used for the substrate 1011, and Ni thin films were used for the device electrodes 1102 and 1103. The thickness d of the device electrode was 1000 [Å], and the electrode interval L was 2 [μm].

As a main material of the fine particle film, Pd or P
The thickness of the fine particle film was about 100 [膜], and the width W was 100 [μm] using dO.

Next, a description will be given of a preferred method of manufacturing a planar type surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIGS. 15A to 15E are cross-sectional views for explaining the manufacturing process of the surface conduction electron-emitting device. The notation of each member is the same as in FIG.

1) First, as shown in FIG. 15A, device electrodes 1102 and 1103 are formed on a substrate 1011.

When forming, the substrate 1
After fully washing 011 with a detergent, pure water and an organic solvent,
The material of the device electrode is deposited. (As a deposition method, for example, a vacuum film forming technique such as a vapor deposition method or a sputtering method may be used.) Thereafter, the deposited electrode material is patterned by using a photolithography / etching technique, and as shown in FIG. The illustrated pair of device electrodes (1102 and 110)
Form 3).

2) Next, a conductive thin film 1104 is formed as shown in FIG.

In the formation, first, an organic metal solution is applied to the substrate (a), dried, heated and baked to form a fine particle film, and then patterned into a predetermined shape by photolithography and etching. . here,
The organic metal solution is a solution of an organic metal compound containing a material of fine particles used for the conductive thin film as a main element. (Specifically, in this embodiment, Pd is used as a main element. In this embodiment, a dipping method is used as a coating method, but other methods such as a spinner method and a spray method may be used. In addition, as a method of forming a conductive thin film formed of a fine particle film, other than the method of applying the organometallic solution used in the present embodiment, for example, a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition method, or the like. May be used.

3) Next, as shown in FIG. 11C, a forming power supply 1110 supplies the device electrodes 1102 and 1102 with each other.
3, an appropriate voltage is applied, and an energization forming process is performed to form the electron-emitting portion 1105.

[0114] The energization forming treatment is to energize the conductive thin film 1104 made of a fine particle film, to appropriately break, deform, or alter a part of the conductive thin film 1104 to change the structure to a structure suitable for emitting electrons. This is the process that causes A portion of the conductive thin film made of a fine particle film that has been changed to a structure suitable for emitting electrons (that is, the electron emitting portion 110
In 5), an appropriate crack is formed in the thin film.
Note that the electrical resistance measured between the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 is significantly increased after the formation of the electron emission portions 1105 as compared to before the formation.

FIG. 16 shows an example of an appropriate voltage waveform applied from the forming power supply 1110 in order to explain the energization method in more detail. When forming a conductive thin film made of a fine particle film, a pulse-like voltage is preferable. In the case of this embodiment, a triangular wave pulse having a pulse width T1 is continuously generated at a pulse interval T2 as shown in FIG. Was applied. At that time, the peak value Vpf of the triangular wave pulse was sequentially increased. In addition, monitor pulses Pm for monitoring the state of formation of the electron-emitting portion 1105 were inserted at appropriate intervals between the triangular-wave pulses, and the current flowing at that time was measured by the ammeter 1111.

In this embodiment, for example, 10
^In a vacuum atmosphere of about ^-5 [torr], for example, the pulse width T1 is 1 [msec], and the pulse interval T2 is 10
[Msec], and the peak value Vpf is set to 0.
The pressure was increased by 1 [V]. Then, the monitor pulse Pm was inserted once every five pulses of the triangular wave were applied. The monitor pulse voltage Vpm was set to 0.1 [V] so as not to adversely affect the forming process. Then, when the electric resistance between the element electrodes 1102 and 1103 becomes 1 × 10 ⁶ [Ω], that is, the current measured by the ammeter 1111 when the monitor pulse is applied becomes 1 × 10 ⁻⁷ [A] or less. At this stage, the energization related to the forming process was terminated.

The above method is a preferable method for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present embodiment. For example, the design of the surface conduction electron-emitting device such as the material and film thickness of the fine particle film or the element electrode interval L is changed. In such a case, it is desirable to appropriately change the energization conditions accordingly.

4) Next, as shown in FIG. 15D, an appropriate voltage is applied between the element electrodes 1102 and 1103 from the activating power supply 1112, and an energization activating process is performed. Make improvements.

The energization activation process is a process of energizing the electron emitting portion 1105 formed by the energization forming process under appropriate conditions to deposit carbon or a carbon compound in the vicinity thereof. (In the figure, a deposit made of carbon or a carbon compound is schematically shown as a member 1113.) By performing the activation process, the emission current at the same applied voltage is typically smaller than that before the activation. Specifically, it can be increased by 100 times or more.

Specifically, 10 ^{−4 to} 10 ⁻⁵ [Torr
r], a voltage pulse is periodically applied in a vacuum atmosphere to deposit carbon or a carbon compound originating from an organic compound existing in the vacuum atmosphere.
The deposit 1113 is any one of single-crystal graphite, polycrystalline graphite, and amorphous carbon, or a mixture thereof, and has a thickness of 500 [Å] or less, more preferably 300 [Å] or less.

FIG. 17A shows an example of an appropriate voltage waveform applied from the activation power supply 1112 in order to describe the energization method in more detail. In the present embodiment, the energization activation process is performed by applying a rectangular wave of a constant voltage periodically. Specifically, the voltage Vac of the rectangular wave is 14 [V],
The pulse width T3 is 1 [msec], and the pulse interval T4 is 10
[Msec]. Note that the above-described energization conditions are preferable conditions for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present embodiment, and when the design of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is changed, it is desirable to appropriately change the conditions accordingly.

An anode electrode 1114 shown in FIG. 15D is for capturing an emission current Ie emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device, and is connected to a DC high voltage power supply 1115 and an ammeter 1116. (Note that the substrate 1011
When the activation process is performed after the display panel is incorporated into the display panel, the phosphor screen of the display panel is connected to the anode electrode 1114.
Used as While the voltage is applied from the activation power supply 1112, the emission current Ie is measured by the ammeter 1116 to monitor the progress of the energization activation process.
12 is controlled. FIG. 17B shows an example of the emission current Ie measured by the ammeter 1116. When the pulse voltage is started to be applied from the activation power supply 1112, the emission current Ie increases with the passage of time, but eventually saturates. And hardly increase. As described above, when the emission current Ie is substantially saturated, the application of the voltage from the activation power supply 1112 is stopped, and the energization activation process ends.

The above-mentioned energization conditions are preferable conditions for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present embodiment, and when the design of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is changed, the conditions should be changed accordingly. desirable.

As described above, the planar surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 15E was manufactured.

[Vertical Surface Conduction Emitting Element] Next, another typical structure of a surface conduction electron emitting element in which the electron-emitting portion or its periphery is formed of a fine particle film, that is, a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device. The configuration of the element will be described.

FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the basic structure of the vertical type. In FIG.
202 and 1203 are device electrodes, 1206 is a step forming member, 1204 is a conductive thin film using a fine particle film, 1205
Are electron-emitting portions formed by an energization forming process;
213 is a thin film formed by the activation process.

The difference between the vertical type and the flat type described above is that one of the element electrodes (1202) is provided on the step forming member 1206, and the conductive thin film 1204 is provided on the side surface of the step forming member 1206. It is in the point of coating. Therefore, the element electrode interval L in the planar type shown in FIG.
Is the step height L of the step forming member 1206 in the vertical type.
s. In addition, the substrate 1201, the element electrode 1
202 and 1203, conductive thin film 1 using fine particle film
204, the materials listed in the description of the planar type can be used in the same manner. For the step forming member 1206, an electrically insulating material such as SiO ₂ is used.

Next, a method for manufacturing a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described. FIGS. 18A to 18F are cross-sectional views for explaining a manufacturing process.
Is the same as

1) First, as shown in FIG. 18A, an element electrode 1203 is formed on a substrate 1201.

2) Next, as shown in FIG. 13B, an insulating layer for forming a step forming member is laminated. The insulating layer may be formed by stacking, for example, SiO ₂ by a sputtering method, but another film forming method such as a vacuum evaporation method or a printing method may be used.

3) Next, as shown in FIG. 13C, an element electrode 1202 is formed on the insulating layer.

4) Next, as shown in FIG. 14D, a part of the insulating layer is removed by using, for example, an etching method to expose the element electrode 1203.

5) Next, as shown in FIG. 14E, a conductive thin film 1204 using a fine particle film is formed. For the formation, as in the case of the flat type, a film forming technique such as a coating method may be used.

6) Next, as in the case of the flat type, an energization forming process is performed to form an electron-emitting portion.
(A process similar to the planar type energization forming process described with reference to FIG. 15C may be performed.) 7) Next, as in the case of the planar type, an energization activation process is performed, and the electron emission section is performed. Carbon or a carbon compound is deposited in the vicinity. (A process similar to the planar energization activation process described with reference to FIG. 15D may be performed.) As described above, FIG.
A vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in (f) was manufactured.

[Characteristics of Surface Conduction Emission Device Used in Display Device] The element configuration and manufacturing method of the planar and vertical surface conduction electron-emitting devices have been described above. Is described.

FIG. 14 shows typical examples of (emission current Ie) vs. (device applied voltage Vf) characteristics and (device current If) vs. (device applied voltage Vf) characteristics of the device used in the display device. . Note that the emission current Ie is significantly smaller than the element current If, and it is difficult to show the same current on the same scale.
Since these characteristics are changed by changing design parameters such as the size and shape of the element, the two characteristics are shown in arbitrary units.

The element used for the display device has the following three characteristics regarding the emission current Ie.

First, a certain voltage (this is referred to as a threshold voltage Vth
When a voltage of the above magnitude is applied to the element, the emission current Ie sharply increases. On the other hand, at a voltage lower than the threshold voltage Vth, the emission current Ie is hardly detected.

That is, the non-linear element has a clear threshold voltage Vth with respect to the emission current Ie.

Secondly, since the emission current Ie changes depending on the voltage Vf applied to the element, the emission current Ie varies with the voltage Vf.
The magnitude of e can be controlled.

Third, since the response speed of the current Ie emitted from the element is faster with respect to the voltage Vf applied to the element, the amount of charge of the electrons emitted from the element depends on the length of time during which the voltage Vf is applied. Can control.

Because of the above characteristics, the surface conduction electron-emitting device could be suitably used for a display device. For example, in a display device in which a large number of elements are provided corresponding to pixels of a display screen, if the first characteristic is used, display can be performed by sequentially scanning the display screen. That is,
The driving element has a threshold voltage Vt according to a desired light emission luminance.
h or higher, and a voltage lower than the threshold voltage Vth is applied to the non-selected elements. By sequentially switching the elements to be driven, the display screen can be sequentially scanned and displayed.

Further, since the emission luminance can be controlled by using the second characteristic or the third characteristic, gradation display can be performed.

[Structure of a multi-electron beam source in which a large number of elements are arranged in a simple matrix wiring] Next, a structure of a multi-electron beam source in which the above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting elements are arranged on a substrate and arranged in a simple matrix wiring will be described.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the multi-electron beam source used for the display panel of FIG. On the substrate, surface conduction electron-emitting devices similar to those shown in FIG. 10 are arranged.
And the column-directional wiring electrodes 1004 are arranged in a simple matrix. An insulating layer (not shown) is formed between the row-directional wiring electrodes 1003 and the column-directional wiring electrodes 1004 where they intersect, so that electrical insulation is maintained.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line BB ′ in FIG.
Shown in

The multi-electron source having such a structure is as follows.
After previously forming a row direction wiring electrode 1013, a column direction wiring electrode 1014, an inter-electrode insulating layer (not shown), a device electrode of a surface conduction type emission device, and a conductive thin film on a substrate,
Row direction wiring electrode 1013 and column direction wiring electrode 1014
As described above, each element was supplied with power to perform an energization forming process and an energization activation process.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a driving circuit for performing television display based on an NTSC television signal. In the figure, a display panel 1701 corresponds to the above-described display panel, and is manufactured and operates as described above. In addition, the scanning circuit 1702
Scans the display line, and the control circuit 1703 generates a signal to be input to the scanning circuit. The shift register 1704 shifts data for each line, and stores the data in a line memory 1705.
Inputs one line of data from the shift register 1704 to the modulation signal generator 1707. The synchronization signal separation circuit 1706 separates the synchronization signal from the NTSC signal.

Hereinafter, the function of each unit of the apparatus shown in FIG. 19 will be described in detail.

First, the display panel 1701 is connected to an external electric circuit via terminals Dx1 to Dxm, terminals Dy1 to Dyn, and a high voltage terminal Hv. Among them, the terminals Dx1 to Dxm are connected to the multi-electron beam sources provided in the display panel 1701, ie, m rows and n rows.
A scanning signal is applied to sequentially drive the cold cathode devices arranged in a matrix of columns one by one (n elements). On the other hand, to the terminals Dy1 to Dyn, a modulation signal for controlling the output electron beams of the n elements for one row selected by the scanning signal is applied. The high voltage terminal Hv is connected to the DC voltage source Va by, for example, 5 kV.
This is an accelerating voltage for applying sufficient energy to the electron beam output from the multi-electron beam source to excite the phosphor.

Next, the scanning circuit 1702 will be described. This circuit has m switching elements inside (in the figure,
S1 to Sm), each switching element selects either the output voltage of the DC voltage source Vx or 0 [V] (ground level), and the display panel 1701 It is electrically connected to the terminals Dx1 to Dxm. Each of the switching elements S1 to Sm outputs a control signal T output from the control circuit 1703.
Although it operates based on scan, in practice, it can be easily configured by combining switching elements such as FETs. The DC voltage source Vx outputs a constant voltage so that the driving voltage applied to the unscanned element is equal to or lower than the electron emission threshold voltage Vth based on the characteristics of the electron emission element illustrated in FIG. Is set to

The control circuit 1703 has a function of coordinating the operation of each unit so that appropriate display is performed based on an image signal input from the outside. Based on a synchronizing signal Tsync sent from a synchronizing signal separating circuit 1706, which will be described next, each control signal Tscan, Tsft, and Tmry is generated for each unit. The synchronizing signal separation circuit 1706 is provided with an externally input NTSC
This is a circuit for separating a synchronizing signal component and a luminance signal component from a television signal of a system. Synchronous signal separation circuit 1706
The sync signal separated by is composed of a vertical sync signal and a horizontal sync signal, as is well known, but is shown here as a Tsync signal for convenience of explanation. On the other hand, the luminance signal component of the image separated from the television signal is referred to as DA for convenience.
This signal is indicated as a TA signal, which is input to the shift register 1704.

A shift register 1704 is for serially / parallel-converting the DATA signal input serially in time series for each line of an image, and is based on a control signal Tsft sent from the control circuit 1703. Works. That is, the control signal Tsft can be rephrased as a shift clock of the shift register 1704. The data for one line of the image subjected to the serial / parallel conversion (corresponding to the drive data for n electron-emitting devices) is output from the shift register 1704 as n signals Id1 to Idn.

The line memory 1705 is a storage device for storing data for one line of an image for a required time, and stores the contents of Id1 to Idn as appropriate according to a control signal Tmry sent from the control circuit 1703. The stored contents are output as I'd1 to I'dn and input to the modulation signal generator 1707.

A modulation signal generator 1707 is a signal source for appropriately driving and modulating each of the electron-emitting devices 1012 in accordance with each of the image data I'd1 to I'dn. The voltage is applied to the electron-emitting devices 1012 in the display panel 1701 through Doy1 to Doyn.

As described with reference to FIG. 14, the surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention has the following basic characteristics with respect to the emission current Ie. That is, electron emission has a clear threshold voltage Vth (8 [V] in a surface conduction electron-emitting device of an embodiment described later), and electron emission occurs only when a voltage equal to or higher than the threshold Vth is applied. For a voltage equal to or higher than the electron emission threshold, the emission current Ie also changes according to the change in the voltage as shown in the graph of FIG. For this reason, when a pulse-like voltage is applied to the device, for example, when a voltage equal to or lower than the electron emission threshold Vth is applied, no electron emission occurs. An electron beam is output from the conduction type emission device. At this time, the intensity of the output electron beam can be controlled by changing the pulse peak value Vm. Also,
By changing the pulse width Pw, it is possible to control the total amount of charges of the output electron beam.

Therefore, as a method of modulating the electron-emitting device in accordance with the input signal, a voltage modulation method, a pulse width modulation method, or the like can be adopted. When performing the voltage modulation method, a circuit of the voltage modulation method that generates a voltage pulse of a fixed length and modulates the peak value of the pulse appropriately according to input data is used as the modulation signal generator 1707. be able to. When implementing the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 1707 generates a voltage pulse having a constant peak value and modulates the width of the voltage pulse appropriately according to input data. Circuit can be used.

The shift register 1704 and the line memory 1
Reference numeral 705 may be a digital signal type or an analog signal type. That is, the serial /
This is because parallel conversion and storage may be performed at a predetermined speed.

When the digital signal type is used, the output signal DATA of the synchronization signal separation circuit 1706 needs to be converted into a digital signal.
An A / D converter may be provided at the output unit 6. In this connection, the circuit used for the modulation signal generator differs slightly depending on whether the output signal of the line memory 1705 is a digital signal or an analog signal. That is, in the case of the voltage modulation method using a digital signal, the modulation signal generator 1707
For example, a D / A conversion circuit is used, and an amplification circuit and the like are added as necessary. In the case of the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 1707 includes, for example, a high-speed oscillator, a counter (counter) for counting the number of waves output from the oscillator, and a comparator for comparing the output value of the counter with the output value of the memory. (Comparator) is used. If necessary, an amplifier for amplifying the pulse width modulated signal output from the comparator to the drive voltage of the electron-emitting device can be added.

In the case of the voltage modulation method using an analog signal, the modulation signal generator 1707 can employ, for example, an amplifier circuit using an operational amplifier or the like, and can add a shift level circuit or the like as necessary. In the case of the pulse width modulation method, for example, a voltage controlled oscillator (VOC)
And, if necessary, an amplifier for amplifying the voltage up to the drive voltage of the electron-emitting device can be added.

In the image display device to which the present invention can be applied in such a configuration, by applying a voltage to each of the electron-emitting devices via the external terminals Dox1 to Doxm and Doy1 to Doyn, the electron-emitting device can emit electrons. Occurs.
A high voltage is applied to the metal back 1019 or a transparent electrode (not shown) via the high voltage terminal Hv to accelerate the electron beam. The accelerated electrons collide with the fluorescent film 1018 and emit light to form an image.

Next, the above-mentioned ladder-type arrangement electron source substrate and an image display device using the same will be described with reference to FIGS.
1 will be described.

In FIG. 20, reference numeral 1011 denotes an electron source substrate;
Reference numeral 1012 denotes an electron-emitting device, and Dx1 to Dx10 of 1126
Is a common wiring connected to the electron-emitting device. A plurality of electron-emitting devices 1012 are arranged on the substrate 1011 in parallel in the X direction (this is called an element row). A plurality of such element rows are arranged on a substrate to form a ladder-type electron source substrate.
By appropriately applying a drive voltage between the common wires of each element row, each element row can be driven independently. That is, an electron beam having a voltage equal to or higher than the electron emission threshold may be applied to an element row that emits an electron beam, and a voltage equal to or lower than the electron emission threshold may be applied to an element row that does not emit an electron beam. Further, the common wirings Dx2 to Dx9 between the element rows are, for example, Dx2, Dx2
x3 may be the same wiring.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing the structure of an image forming apparatus provided with a ladder-type electron source. 1120 is a grid electrode, 1211 is a hole through which electrons pass, 112
Vessel terminals 2 consisting of _{D ox 1, D ox 2 ...} D ox, 112
3 are G1, G2... G connected to the grid electrode 1120.
The external terminal 1011 made of n is an electron source substrate in which the common wiring between the element rows is the same as described above. 20 and 21 indicate the same members.
The difference from the image forming apparatus having the simple matrix arrangement (FIG. 1) is that the electron source substrate 1011 and the face plate 101
7, a grid electrode 1120 is provided.

In the above-described panel structure, a spacer 120 is provided between the face plate 1017 and the rear plate 1015 as required in the atmospheric pressure structure, regardless of whether the electron source arrangement is a matrix wiring or a ladder arrangement. Can be.

The substrate 1011 and the face plate 1017
A grid electrode 1120 is provided in the middle of.
The grid electrode 1120 is connected to the surface conduction electron-emitting device 10.
12 can modulate the electron beam emitted from the ladder-type device. In order to allow the electron beam to pass through the stripe-shaped electrodes provided orthogonally to the ladder-shaped element rows, one for each element. A circular opening 1121 is provided. The shape and installation position of the grid need not always be as shown in FIG. 21, and a large number of passage openings may be provided in the form of a mesh as openings. For example, the openings may be provided around or near the surface conduction electron-emitting device. Good.

The external terminal 1122 and grid external terminal 1123 are electrically connected to the drive circuit shown in FIG.

In the present image forming apparatus, the modulation signals for one line of the image are simultaneously applied to the grid electrode rows in synchronization with the sequential driving (scanning) of the element rows one by one (one line). By controlling the irradiation of each electron beam to the phosphor, an image can be displayed line by line.

The configuration of the above two image display apparatuses is an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied, and various modifications can be made based on the concept of the present invention. Although the NTSC method has been described as the input signal, the input signal is not limited to this, and a TV signal (high-definition TV) method including a larger number of scanning lines, such as the PAL and SECAM methods, can be adopted.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus suitable not only for a television broadcast display device but also for a display device such as a video conference system and a computer. Further, it can be used as an image forming apparatus as an optical printer including a photosensitive drum or the like.

[0171]

EXAMPLES The structure of the spacer which is a feature of the present invention will be further described below with reference to examples.

In each of the embodiments described below, as the multi-electron beam source, N × M (M = 307) of the above-described type having an electron emission portion in the conductive fine particle film between the electrodes is used.
A multi-electron beam source was used in which the surface conduction electron-emitting devices (2, M = 1024) were matrix-wired (see FIGS. 1 and 12) by M row-directional wirings and N column-directional wirings.

[Embodiment 1] In this embodiment, FIG.
The display panel in which the spacer 1020 shown in FIG. Hereinafter, this will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. First, a substrate 1011 on which a row direction wiring electrode 1013, a column direction wiring electrode 1014, an inter-electrode insulating layer (not shown), a device electrode of the surface conduction electron-emitting device 1012, and a conductive thin film are formed in advance is placed on a rear plate. It was fixed to 1015.
Next, among the surfaces of the insulating member 1 made of soda lime glass, four surfaces exposed in the hermetic container are coated with a high-resistance film 1 described later.
1 and a low-resistance film 3 (3a, 3b) formed on the contact surface with a spacer 1020 (height: 4 mm, plate thickness: 0.2 mm,
(Length: 1 mm) were fixed on the row direction wiring 1013 of the substrate 1011 at equal intervals in parallel with the row direction wiring 1013. Thereafter, the fluorescent film 10 is formed on the inner surface 10 mm above the substrate 1011.
18 and a metal plate 1019 are attached via a side wall 1016 to a rear plate 1015, a face plate 1017, and a side wall 1016.
And the respective joints of the spacer 1020 were fixed. Substrate 1
Frit glass (not shown) is applied to the joint between the rear plate 1015 and the rear plate 1015, the joint between the rear plate 1015 and the side wall 1016, and the joint between the face plate 1017 and the side wall 1016.
For 10 minutes or more for sealing.

The spacer 1020 is provided on the substrate 1011.
On the side, on the row direction wiring 1013 (line width 0.3 mm), on the face plate 1017 side, on the surface of the metal back 1019, a paste material made of a conductive paste and an insulating paste and containing PdO as a main component is plated with Au plating. By disposing via a conductive paste (not shown) formed by dispersing the applied granular glass filler, and baking at 400 ° C. to 500 ° C. for 10 minutes or more in the air at the same time as sealing the airtight container. , Adhesive and electrical connections were also made. In addition,
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 23, the fluorescent film 1018 adopts a stripe shape in which each color phosphor 1301 extends in the column direction (Y direction), and the black conductor 1010 is each of the color phosphors (R, G). , B) A fluorescent film arranged so as to separate not only between the pixels 1301 but also between the pixels in the Y direction is used, and the spacer 1020 is a region parallel to the row direction (X direction) of the black conductor 1010. (Line width: 300 [μm]) was disposed via a metal back 1019. When the above-described sealing is performed, each color phosphor 1301 and the substrate 10
11 must be associated with each element arranged on the rear plate 1015 and the face plate 10
17 and the spacer 1020 were sufficiently aligned.

The inside of the airtight container completed as described above is evacuated by a vacuum pump through an exhaust pipe (not shown), and after reaching a sufficient degree of vacuum, the outer terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dy1.
A multi-electron beam source was manufactured by supplying power to each element through the Dyn through the row direction wiring electrode 1013 and the column direction wiring electrode 1014 to perform the above-described energization forming process and energization activation process.

Next, at a degree of vacuum of about 10 ^-6 [Torr], an exhaust pipe (not shown) was welded by heating with a gas burner to seal the envelope (airtight container).

Finally, a getter process was performed to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing.

In this embodiment, the formation region 10 of the second layer
21 is 3/5 of the spacer surface area on the face plate side
Area.

First, the first layer serving as the underlayer of the second layer will be described.

In this example, the high resistance film 11 as the first layer was manufactured as follows.

A Ti—Al alloy nitride film was formed on the spacer 112 made of soda lime glass by simultaneously sputtering the Ti and Al targets with a high frequency power supply.
The sputtering gas is a mixed gas of Ar: N2 of 1: 2, and the total pressure is 1 mTorr. At this time, it is possible to adjust the specific resistance of the alloy nitride film by adjusting the high frequency power applied to the Ti and Al targets. In this embodiment, the sheet resistance of the high resistance film is 8 × 10 ⁹ [Ω
/ □].

Here, the method of forming the second layer, which is the most characteristic part of the present invention, will be described. In this example, yttrium oxide was formed as the second layer by a dipping method. FIGS. 4A and 4B are views for explaining the present embodiment, and FIGS. 4A and 4B are views showing a method of holding the spacer. FIG. 2B is a view showing a cross section taken along the line AA ′ in FIG. 4, reference numeral 101 denotes a spacer substrate on which a first-layer high-resistance film (not shown) and a low-resistance portion (not shown) are formed, 102 denotes a second formation region in the spacer substrate 101, and 103 denotes a spacer. The holding unit, 104 indicates a drive transmission unit, and L indicates the length of the spacer substrate pressing unit.

In this embodiment, the drive transmitting section 104 is connected to a drive mechanism that can move in the vertical direction, and drives the spacer substrate 101 in the direction of the arrow. The length of the holding portion L was 1.2 mm. In this example, SYM-Y01 (manufactured by Kojundo Chemical Laboratory Co., Ltd.), which is a carboxylate solution of yttrium oxide, was used as a coating solution for dipping.

The spacer substrate 101 is connected to the above-mentioned driving mechanism, immersed in the coating solution to the upper end of the second layer forming portion 102, and then the spacer is pulled up at a pulling speed of 10 mm / mim to apply the coating liquid to a part of the spacer. did. Next, 12
After drying at 0 ° C. for 10 minutes, the second yttrium oxide layer was formed in the region of 102 while maintaining the temperature at 450 ° C. for 2 hours.

In the image display device using the display panel as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 completed as described above, each cold cathode device (surface conduction type emission device) 1012 has terminals outside the container Dx1 to Dx1. A scanning signal and a modulation signal are applied from Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn by a signal generation unit (not shown) to emit electrons, and an emitted electron beam is applied to the metal back 1019 by applying a high voltage through a high voltage terminal Hv. Accelerates the fluorescent film 1018
To each color phosphor 1301 (R, R in FIG. 23).
G and B) were excited and emitted to display an image. The applied voltage Va to the high voltage terminal Hv is 5 [kV] to 3 [kV].
0 [kV], and the applied voltage Vf between the wirings 1013 and 1014 was 14 [V].

At this time, a two-dimensional array of light-emitting spots including light-emitting spots generated by electrons emitted from the cold cathode elements 1012 located close to the spacer 1020 is formed at two-dimensional intervals, so that a clear color image with good color reproducibility can be obtained. Display was possible, and even if the spacer 1020 was installed, it was possible to obtain a high-quality image without beam deviation.

[Example 2] Blue plate glass was used as the material of the spacer, and Al formed by sputtering was used as the low resistance film.

The method for forming the low resistance film will be described.
A as low-resistance film material on both sides (widest surface of spacer)
After l was formed by a sputtering method, a part was removed except for both ends by using sand blasting.

In this embodiment, the high resistance film as the first layer is the same as that of the first embodiment, and was formed by the same method as that of the first embodiment.

In this example, the second layer was formed by sputtering while holding the spacer. This method will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a view for explaining a spacer holding method, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the spacer holding portion in FIG. In the figure, 20
1 is a spacer, 202 is a second layer forming portion, 203 is a holding spacer member, 204 is a base plate, and 205 is a fixing holding portion.

In this embodiment, the holding spacer member 203 and the spacer 201 are sandwiched and held on the base plate 204 by the fixing pressing portion 205, so that the spacer is sandwiched between the second layer forming portion 202 and the holding portion during sputtering. And the separated non-formed portion. In this example, the second layer was formed by sputtering a chromium oxide target in Ar to a thickness of about 5 nm. In addition,
The area where the second layer was formed was about half the area on the face plate side.

The height of the spacer is 2.5 mm, the length of the spacer is 60 mm, and the thickness of the spacer is about 0.2 mm.
And

Further, similarly to the first embodiment, the spacer 1020
Indicates that the row direction wiring 1013 (line width 0.
3 mm), on the face plate 1017 side, on the metal back 1019 surface, on a paste material composed of a conductive paste and an insulating paste and containing PdO as a main component, and on the surface with Au.
It is arranged via a conductive paste (not shown) formed by dispersing a plated glass filler and is sealed at 400 ° C. to 500 ° C. in the air simultaneously with the sealing of the airtight container.
By baking for 10 minutes or more, bonding and electrical connection were also performed.

When an accelerating voltage of 6 kV was applied to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, it was possible to obtain a high-quality image without beam deviation even in the vicinity of the spacer.

As described above, also in this embodiment, it is possible to obtain an image forming apparatus having a spacer in which the second layer is partially formed by a method excellent in mass productivity.

[Embodiment 3] In this embodiment, the second layer is formed by a sputtering method using a mask, and the region where the second layer is formed is the center of the spacer.

Referring to FIG. 7, reference numeral 301 denotes a spacer,
Numeral 02 denotes a mask at the time of sputtering, and numeral 303 denotes a mask opening. In this embodiment, the width L of the opening is 2 m.
m.

By using the mask 302, a second layer was formed on the surface of the spacer 301 in the mask opening 303. In this example, niobium oxide was used as a sputtering target, and a niobium oxide layer was formed to a thickness of 5 nm by sputtering in an argon atmosphere.

Prior to the formation of the second layer, the high resistance film of the first layer was formed to a thickness of 100 nm by sputtering in a Ar atmosphere using a nickel oxide target.
Note that the first layer was coated on the entire surface, and the mask 302 was not used when forming the first layer.

An image display device similar to that of Example 1 was manufactured using the spacers manufactured as described above.
Even in the vicinity of the spacer, it is possible to obtain a high-quality image without a beam shift.

As described above, also in this embodiment, it is possible to obtain an image forming apparatus having a spacer in which the second layer is partially formed by a method excellent in mass productivity.

[Embodiment 4] This embodiment shows an example in which a plane field emission (FE) type electron-emitting device is used as the electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a top view of a flat FE type electron emission electron source.
Reference numeral 04 denotes a pair of element electrodes for applying a potential to the electron-emitting portion 3101, and reference numeral 3113 denotes a row wiring. Reference numeral 3114 denotes a column direction wiring, and reference numeral 1020 denotes a spacer.

When a voltage is applied between the device electrodes 3103 and 3104, electrons are emitted from a sharp tip in the electron emission portion 3101, and the electrons are applied to an acceleration voltage (not shown) provided opposite to the electron source. Are attracted to collide with a phosphor (not shown) to cause the phosphor to emit light. In this embodiment, an image display device is formed by forming and arranging spacers in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and is driven in the same manner using the same spacers as in the first embodiment. It has become possible to obtain a high-quality image with suppressed displacement.

As described above, also in this embodiment, it is possible to obtain an image forming apparatus having a spacer in which the second layer is partially formed by a method excellent in mass productivity.

[Embodiment 5] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an image display device with a part cut out for explaining Embodiment 5. In this embodiment, the formation region of the second layer is located on the electron source substrate side of the spacer.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1501 denotes a second layer non-forming region, 1502 denotes a second layer forming region, and other reference numerals are the same as those in the first embodiment.

The method of forming the second layer and the method of manufacturing the image forming apparatus of this embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment. The difference from the first embodiment is that the length of the spacer in the direction between the face plate and the rear plate is 3.6 mm, and the length of the holding portion L in FIG. 4 is 1.1 mm.

Also in the image display device of this embodiment, it is possible to obtain a high-quality image without a beam shift near the spacer.

As described above, also in this embodiment, it is possible to obtain an image forming apparatus having a spacer in which the second layer is partially formed by a method excellent in mass productivity.

[Embodiment 6] In the embodiment 6, the spacer extends not only in the display area of the image display device but also outside the display area, and the second layer is formed in the display area of the image display device. And is not disposed outside the display area of the image display device. 8 and 9 are diagrams for explaining the present embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the image forming unit and the spacer arrangement in the image forming apparatus. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the holding method of the spacer at the time of forming method.

In the figure, reference numeral 601 denotes an image forming area; 101, a high resistance film (not shown) of a first layer and a low resistance portion (not shown);
Is formed on the spacer substrate, and 102 is the spacer substrate 10
1, a formation region of a second layer; 103, a spacer holding portion;
Reference numeral 04 denotes a drive transmission unit.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the spacer substrate 101 is disposed in a panel to realize an anti-atmospheric pressure structure. Only the area is set. The size of one spacer is 4 mmH × 200 mmL × 0.2 mmW, of which the second layer is formed at a length of 180 mmL.

By using this method, the second layer is formed in the image forming area 601 where a large number of electrons fly into the space, thereby suppressing the disturbance of the electron trajectory in the image forming section and covering the entire surface of the spacer substrate. As in the case where the second layer is formed, a high-quality image forming apparatus can be provided.

Note that the first layer and the second layer were manufactured by using the same method as in Example 1. At this time, as shown in FIG.
It was manufactured by changing the pulling direction of the substrate only when forming the second layer 102. In FIG. 9, the surface on the paper is the surface having the maximum area of the spacer, and in this embodiment, the spacer is held by using the back surface and the surface on the paper.

As described above, also in this embodiment, it is possible to obtain an image forming apparatus having a spacer in which the second layer is partially formed by a method excellent in mass productivity.

Further, as described above, by partially forming the layer, the restriction on the holding portion can be relaxed, the spacer can be prevented from dropping from the holding jig, and the time and effort for setting can be reduced. Decrease. In addition, the yield is thereby improved. In particular, in the case of forming the first layer and the second layer, the application of the present invention, which can improve the yield, is effective because the number of film forming steps increases.

Here, FIGS. 29A and 29B show the structure of a spacer holding jig when forming a film by using the sputtering method. FIG. 29A is an enlarged view of the spacer holding portion, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view along the line AA ′. 50
01 is a spacer, 5002 is a spacer holder, 5003
Is a base plate. In the invention according to the present application, it is not necessary to use a holding jig for this purpose.

[Other Embodiments] The present invention also relates to a surface conduction type electron-emitting device (SCE).
ectron Emitter)
It can be applied to any of the electron-emitting devices. As a specific example, there is a field emission type electron-emitting device in which a pair of opposing electrodes are formed along a substrate surface forming an electron source as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-27447 by the present applicant.

The present invention can be applied to an image forming apparatus using an electron source other than the simple matrix type. For example, in an image forming apparatus for selecting an SCE using a control electrode as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 2-257551 by the present applicant, the spacer of the present invention is used between an electron source and a control electrode. Can be.

Further, according to the concept of the present invention, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to a display device, but a light emitting diode or the like for an optical printer comprising a photosensitive drum and a light emitting diode. The image forming apparatus of the present invention can also be used as a source. In this case, by appropriately selecting the above-mentioned m row-directional wirings and n column-directional wirings, the present invention can be applied not only to a linear light emitting source but also to a two-dimensional light emitting source.

Further, according to the concept of the present invention, the present invention can be applied to a case where a member to be irradiated with electrons emitted from an electron source is a member other than an image forming member, such as an electron microscope. . Therefore, the present invention can be embodied as an electron beam device that does not specify a member to be irradiated.

[0223]

As described above, according to the present invention, the second layer having a small secondary electron emission coefficient is partially provided on the spacer surface by using a method excellent in mass productivity, so that the spacer is formed near the spacer. Of the electron beam is reduced, and the non-uniformity of the image near the spacer is reduced.
Therefore, an image forming apparatus in which the non-uniformity of the image near the spacer is reduced can be provided at low cost.

Further, at the time of forming the second layer, the surface having the largest area among the surfaces exposed in the space in the device is used as the surface for holding the spacer substrate, and the holding jig is brought into contact with the surface and held. By doing so, the holding force of the spacer substrate during fabrication can be increased. For this reason, it is possible to significantly suppress a decrease in yield due to a drop of the spacer or the like.

The same effect can be obtained in an electron generating device which forms a multi-plane electron source such as a device for forming a latent image or an electron microscope without specifying the electron irradiation object.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a part of a display panel is cut away.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA ′ of the display panel according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a fifth embodiment of the present invention, and is a perspective view in which a part of a display panel is cut away.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the first embodiment of the present invention, and is an explanatory view of a method for forming a second layer.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining a second embodiment of the present invention, and is an explanatory view of a method for forming a second layer.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining a second embodiment of the present invention, and is an explanatory view of a method for forming a second layer.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a third embodiment of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram of a method for forming a second layer.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a sixth embodiment of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram of a relationship between an image forming unit and a spacer arrangement in an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining a sixth embodiment of the present invention, and is an explanatory view of a method of holding a spacer when forming a second layer on the spacer.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view, respectively, of a planar type surface conduction electron-emitting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional view of a substrate of a multi-electron beam source according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a substrate of a multi-electron beam source according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a graph showing typical characteristics of a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing a step of manufacturing the planar surface-conduction emission type electron-emitting device of FIG.

FIG. 16 shows an applied voltage waveform in the energization forming process.

FIG. 17 shows an applied voltage waveform (a) at the time of the activation process.
Change in emission current Ie (b).

FIG. 18 is a sectional view showing a manufacturing process of the vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device of FIG. 7;

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a drive circuit of the image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a schematic plan view of a ladder-type electron source according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a flat display device having a ladder-type array of electron sources according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a plan view illustrating a phosphor array of a face plate of the display panel.

FIG. 23 is a plan view illustrating a phosphor array of a face plate of the display panel.

FIG. 24 is a view for explaining a fourth embodiment of the present invention, and is an explanatory view of an electron source.

FIG. 25 shows a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to a conventional example.

FIG. 26 shows an FE element according to a conventional example.

FIG. 27 shows a conventional MIM type element.

FIG. 28 is a perspective view of a display panel of an image display device according to a conventional example with a part thereof cut away.

FIG. 29 is an explanatory diagram of a spacer fixing method during film formation for comparison.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Insulating member 2 High resistance film 3a, 3b Low resistance part 12, 3104, 3105 X direction wiring 13, 3106, 3107 Y direction wiring 14 Interlayer insulating layer 15 Electron emission element 18 Thin film for electron emission formation (including an electron emission part 20 Mask 20a Opening 23, 3101 Electron emission section 30, 32 Ammeter 31, 33 Power supply 34 Anode electrode 57, 151 Concave section 58 Conductive connection section 101 Spacer substrate 102 Forming region of second layer in spacer substrate 103 Spacer holding Unit 104 Drive transmitting unit 140, 150 Insulating substrate 201 Spacer 202 Second layer forming unit 203 Holding spacer member 204 Base plate 205 Fixing suppressing unit 301, 5001 Spacer 302 Mask during sputtering 303 Mask opening 500 Display panel 501 Drive Circuit 502 D Play panel controller 503 Multiplexer 504 Decoder 505 Input / output interface circuit 506 CPU 507 Image generation circuit 508, 509, 510 Image memory interface circuit 511 Image input interface circuit 512, 513 TV signal reception circuit 514 Input unit 1020 Spacer 1021, 1502 Second layer Forming area 1501 Second layer non-forming area 1701 Display panel 1702 Scanning circuit 1703 Control circuit 1704 Shift register 1705 Line memory 1706 Synchronous signal separation circuit 1707 Modulation signal generator 3001 Insulating substrate 3002 Thin film for forming electron emission portion 3003, 3101 Electron emission Unit 3004 thin film including an electron emitting unit 3102, 3103 a pair of device electrodes 3113 for applying a potential to the electron emitting unit 3101 Row direction wiring 3114 Column direction wiring L Length of spacer board holding part

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5C012 AA09 BB07 5C032 AA07 CC05 CD06 5C036 EE09 EF01 EF06 EF09 EG02 EG31 EH04 EH08

Claims (26)

[Claims] 1. An electron beam apparatus comprising an electron source substrate, a plate, and a spacer disposed between the electron source substrate and the plate, wherein the spacer covers a spacer substrate and a cover that covers the spacer substrate. A high-resistance film, which is one layer, and a spacer substrate coated with the first layer, except for a part of the maximum area surface of the spacer substrate except for a part of the divided area, and smaller than the first layer. And a second layer having a secondary electron emission coefficient. 2. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
An electron beam device, wherein the second layer is made of an insulating material. 3. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the partial area has a boundary in a direction parallel to a surface of the electron source substrate. 4. The electron beam device according to claim 1, wherein the spacer extends outside a display area.
The electron beam apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the partial area is outside the display area. 5. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an area of the partial area is not more than two thirds of an area of the maximum area surface. Electron beam device. 6. The electron beam device according to claim 1, wherein the spacer has a first intermediate electrode layer, and the first intermediate electrode layer is electrically connected to the high resistance layer. An electron beam device, wherein the electron beam device is electrically connected to a wiring portion provided on the electron source substrate. 7. The electron beam device according to claim 1, wherein the spacer has a second intermediate electrode layer, and the second intermediate electrode layer is electrically connected to the high resistance layer. An electron beam device, wherein the electron beam device is electrically connected to the wiring portion provided on the face plate substrate. 8. The electron beam device according to claim 1, wherein said electron-emitting device comprises a pair of opposing device electrodes and a thin film including an electron-emitting portion extending between said device electrodes. An electron beam device, characterized in that the electron beam device is a surface conduction electron-emitting device. 9. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 8, wherein
An electron beam apparatus, wherein the thin film is a film composed of conductive fine particles. 10. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of row-direction wirings and a plurality of column-direction wirings for supplying a current to the electron-emitting device on the electron source substrate are insulated. The plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged via a layer, and the plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix on the electron source substrate, and each of the plurality of electron-emitting devices is each of the row wiring and the column wiring. An electron beam device, which is connected to a device. 11. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of row-directional wirings are arranged on the electron source substrate, and the plurality of electron-emitting devices are the electron source. An electron beam apparatus, wherein the plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix on a substrate, and each of the plurality of electron-emitting devices is connected to a pair of row-direction wirings of the plurality of row-direction wirings. 12. The electron beam device according to claim 1, wherein the image forming member on which an image is formed by collision of an electron beam accelerated by an acceleration voltage by the acceleration electrode is formed by the face plate. An image forming apparatus, wherein: 13. The method of manufacturing a spacer used in an electron beam apparatus comprising an electron source substrate, a plate, and a spacer disposed between the electron source substrate and the plate, wherein the substrate is a first substrate. A step of coating with a high-resistance film, which is a layer of the first layer, the substrate covered with the first layer is smaller than the first layer except for the divided region while holding a part of the divided region by a jig. Coating a second layer having a secondary electron emission coefficient. 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the second layer is made of an insulating material. 15. The method for manufacturing a spacer according to claim 13, wherein the partial area has a boundary in a direction parallel to a surface of the electron source substrate. . 16. The method for manufacturing a spacer according to claim 13, wherein the spacer extends outside a display area, and the partial area is only outside the display area. Manufacturing method of the spacer. 17. The method for manufacturing a spacer according to claim 13, wherein an area of the partial region is not more than two thirds of an area of a maximum area surface. Manufacturing method of the spacer. 18. An electron beam apparatus comprising an electron beam source and a first member, wherein the first member partially covers an easily charged region on a base with a low secondary electron emission coefficient material. An electron beam device characterized in that: 19. The substrate according to claim 18, wherein the base has conductivity.
An electron beam apparatus according to claim 1. 20. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the conductive base is a conductive first layer. 21. The conductivity of the conductive underlayer is:
The electron beam device according to claim 19 or 20, which is semiconductive. 22. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said low secondary electron emission coefficient material is provided in a layered manner. 23. The first member is provided at a position where the trajectory of electrons emitted by the electron beam source is substantially affected by a potential caused by charging of the first member. 23. The electron beam apparatus according to any one of claims to 22. 24. A method for manufacturing a member in which electrification is suppressed, the method comprising a step of holding a part of a base and providing a material for suppressing electrification on the base, wherein the holding is performed. The method of manufacturing a member, wherein the portion is a portion where charging is unlikely to occur in the member. 25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the material for suppressing the charge is a material that imparts conductivity or a material having a lower secondary electron emission coefficient than that of the substrate. 26. The material according to claim 24, wherein the material for suppressing charging is applied to the substrate in a liquid state.
The method for producing a member according to the above.