JP3062987B2 - Manufacturing method of electron source and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electron source using a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices, and a method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus such as a display device or an exposure device using the electron source.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, two types of electron emitting devices, a thermionic electron source and a cold cathode electron source, are known. The cold cathode electron source includes a field emission type (hereinafter referred to as an FE type) and a metal / insulating layer. /
There are a metal type (hereinafter referred to as an MIM type) and a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

[0003] As an example of the above-mentioned FE type, "Field Emission", Advanced in Electron Physics, written by AW Dyke and AW Dourin, 8, 89 (1956) (W.P.D.
yke & W. W. Dolan "Field emiss
ion ", Advance in electron
Physics) or C. Spindt “Physical Properties of Thin-Film Field Emissions Cathode with Molybdenum
Cornes "Journal of Applied Physics, 47, 5248 (1976) (CA Spind.
t "PHYSICAL Properties of
thin-film field emission
cathodes with molebdenium
cones "J. Appl. Phys.) and the like.

As an example of the MIM type, see FIG.
Mead "The Tunnel-Emissions Amplifier" Journal of Applied Physics, 3
2,646 (1961) (CA Mead "The"
tunnel-emission amplifier
r "J. Appl. Phys.) and the like are known.

As examples of surface conduction electron-emitting devices, MI Elinson, Radio Engineering Electron Physics, 10 (1965)
(MI Elinson, Radio Eng. El.
electron Phys. ).

[0006] The surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes a phenomenon in which an electron is emitted by passing a current through a conductive thin film formed on an insulating substrate in parallel with the film surface. Examples of the surface-driven electron-emitting device include a device using an SnO ₂ thin film by Elinson et al. And a device using an Au thin film [G. Dittmer “Sin Solid Films” (G. Dittmer “Thin Solid”).
Films ", 9,317 (1972)] , In 2 O
₃ / SnO ₂ thin film [M Hartwell and C.G.Fonstad “I.E.I.Trans.Ed.Conf” (M. Hartwe
ll and C.I. G. FIG. Fonstad “IEEE T
rans. ED Conf. 519 (197
5) By carbon thin film [Hiragashi Araki et al.
6, Vol. 1, No. 22, p. 22 (1983).

[0007] As a typical configuration example of a surface conduction electron-emitting device, a conductive thin film such as a metal oxide that connects a pair of device electrodes provided on an insulating substrate is referred to as forming in advance. An example of the above-mentioned M Heartwell in which an electron emission portion is formed by an energization treatment is given. The device electrode spacing of this surface conduction electron-emitting device is 0.5 to 1 mm,
The element electrode width is set at 0.1 mm.

Conventionally, in these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, an electron-emitting portion is generally formed by subjecting a conductive thin film to an energization process called forming before performing electron emission. In this forming, a direct current voltage or a very slowly increasing voltage, for example, about 1 V / min is applied to both ends of the conductive thin film and energized to locally destroy, deform or alter the conductive thin film to change the structure. This is a process for forming an electron emission portion in an electrically high resistance state. The electron emission is performed from the vicinity of a crack generated in the electron emission portion by applying a voltage to the conductive thin film on which the electron emission portion is formed and causing a current to flow.

The above-mentioned surface conduction type electron-emitting device has an advantage that a large number of arrays can be formed over a large area since it has a simple structure and is easy to manufacture. Therefore, various applications for utilizing this feature are being studied. For example, it can be used for an image forming apparatus such as a display device.

Conventionally, as an example in which a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arrayed, surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in parallel, and both ends (both device electrodes) of each surface conduction electron-emitting device are wired. (Also referred to as common wiring). An electron source in which rows each connected by a common line (also referred to as a common wiring) are arranged in a large number of rows (also referred to as a trapezoidal arrangement) (JP-A-1-31332, 1-22837).
No. 49, 1-257552). In particular, in the case of a display device, a flat panel display device similar to a display device using liquid crystal can be used, and a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are used as self-luminous display devices that do not require a backlight. There has been proposed a display device in which an arranged electron source is combined with a phosphor that emits visible light when irradiated with an electron beam from the electron source (US Pat. No. 5,066,606).
883).

[0011]

However, the conventional electron source using the surface conduction electron-emitting device has the following problems.

That is, the distribution of the forming voltage is apt to occur due to the variation in the resistance of the thin film before forming and the voltage drop due to the resistance of the wiring connecting a number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices. Is difficult to form under the same conditions. Accordingly, characteristics such as resistance and electron emission of the surface conduction electron-emitting device after forming vary. When the voltage-current characteristics vary, the amount of emitted electrons (emission luminance in the case of a display device) changes for each surface conduction electron-emitting device, and luminance unevenness occurs in the display device.

As a method of eliminating the variation in the light emission luminance, it is conceivable to store the characteristics of each surface conduction electron-emitting device in a memory and to make corrections when each surface conduction electron-emitting device is driven. However, in this case, a memory is required for each surface conduction type electron-emitting device, the driving circuit becomes complicated, and the device becomes expensive.

For these reasons, in an electron source using a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices, it is required that the electric characteristics of each surface conduction electron-emitting device be uniform and easy to control.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides an electron source using a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus which can make the electric characteristics of each surface conduction electron-emitting device uniform and easy to control, and which can easily adjust the brightness.

[0016]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides
Of electron source with surface conduction electron-emitting device
And carbon having carbon under a vacuum of 10 ^-6 Torr or more
Stabilization process to hold the surface conduction electron-emitting device of
Select from multiple surface conduction electron-emitting devices with silicon
A waveform larger than the driving waveform at the time of driving the element
To adjust the electron emission characteristics by applying a correction waveform
And a method for producing an electron source.

Further , a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are provided.
In the method of manufacturing the obtained electron source, multiple pairs of device electrodes
And form a conductive thin film between each pair of device electrodes.
And applying a pulse waveform between device electrodes
The forming process, which is a treatment,
An energizing process that applies a pulse waveform between device electrodes in an air atmosphere
Activation process, forming process and activation process
Holds each surface conduction electron-emitting device under a higher degree of vacuum
Stabilization process and selected surface conduction electron-emitting device
A correction waveform having a waveform larger than the drive waveform at the time of driving the element.
A correction process for adjusting the electron emission characteristics by applying a shape.
A method of manufacturing an electron source.

Also, a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are provided.
In the method of manufacturing the obtained electron source, multiple pairs of device electrodes
And form a conductive thin film between each pair of device electrodes.
And applying a pulse waveform between device electrodes
From the forming process, which is the processing, and the forming process
It is safe to hold each surface conduction electron-emitting device under a high vacuum.
Stabilization step and the selected surface conduction electron-emitting device
A correction waveform with a waveform larger than the drive waveform at the time of element drive is printed.
And a correction step for adjusting the electron emission characteristics by adding
This is a method for producing an electron source.

Further, according to the present invention, an electron source is manufactured by the above manufacturing method.
And the obtained electron source is irradiated with an electron beam from the electron source.
Combining with image forming members to form more images
This is a manufacturing method of an image forming apparatus which is a feature.

As described above, the present invention relates to a novel electron source using a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices, and to a method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus using the same. The structure and operation of each invention will be further described below together with examples of the emission element.

The surface conduction type electron-emitting device includes a flat type and a vertical type, and any surface conduction type electron-emitting device can be used in the present invention. First, a basic configuration of the flat surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are views showing a basic structure of a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a substrate, 2 is an electron emitting portion,
3 is a conductive thin film, and 4 and 5 are device electrodes.

As the substrate 1, for example, quartz glass, Na
And glass having reduced impurity content such as glass, blue plate glass, a laminate obtained by laminating SiO ₂ on a blue plate glass by a sputtering method or the like, and ceramics such as alumina.

The material of the opposing device electrodes 4 and 5 is as follows.
Common conductor materials are used, such as Ni, Cr, Au,
Metals or alloys such as Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu, Pd, and Pd, Ag, Au, RuO ₂ , Pd-Ag
Printed conductors composed of metals or metal oxides and glass and the like, transparent conductors such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ , and semiconductor conductor materials such as polysilicon are appropriately selected.

The element electrode interval L, the element electrode length W, the shape of the conductive thin film 3 and the like are designed depending on the form to be applied.

The distance L between the device electrodes is preferably several hundred nanometers to several hundred micrometers. More preferably, the distance L is several micrometers depending on the voltage applied between the device electrodes 4 and 5 and the intensity of the electric field capable of emitting electrons. Meters to tens of micrometers.

The device electrode length W is preferably several micrometers to several hundred micrometers in consideration of the resistance value and the electron emission characteristics of the electrode, and the device electrode thickness d is:
A few hundred angstroms to a few micrometers.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 1 is formed by laminating element electrodes 4 and 5 and a conductive thin film 3 on a substrate 1 in this order. The conductive thin film 3 and the device electrodes 4 and 5 may be stacked in this order.

In order to obtain good electron emission characteristics, the conductive thin film 3 is particularly preferably a fine particle film composed of fine particles. It is appropriately selected according to the resistance value between the electrodes 4 and 5 and the forming conditions described later. The thickness of the conductive thin film 3 is preferably from several angstroms to several thousand angstroms, particularly preferably from 10 angstroms to 500 angstroms, and its resistance value is a sheet of 10 3 to 10 7 ohm / □. It is a resistance value.

Examples of the material constituting the conductive thin film 3 include Pd, Pt, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, In, and C.
metals such as u, Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, Ta, W and Pb, PdO, SnO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO and Sb ₂ O
Oxides such as ₃ , HfB ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , CeB
₆ , borides such as YB ₄ and GdB ₄ , TiC, ZrC, H
Carbides such as fC, TaC, SiC, WC, TiN, Zr
Examples include nitrides such as N and HfN, semiconductors such as Si and Ge, and carbon.

The fine particle film is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are gathered, and has a fine structure not only in a state in which the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged, but also in a state in which the fine particles are adjacent to each other or overlap each other (island shape). ). In the case of a fine particle film, the particle size of the fine particles is preferably from several angstroms to several thousand angstroms, and particularly preferably from 10 angstroms to 200 angstroms.

The electron emitting portion 2 contains a crack, and the electron emission is performed from the vicinity of the crack. The electron-emitting portion 2 including the crack and the crack itself are formed depending on the thickness, the film quality, the material of the conductive thin film 3 and the manufacturing method such as forming conditions described later. Therefore, the position and shape of the electron-emitting portion 2 are not limited to the position and shape as shown in FIG.

The crack may have conductive fine particles having a particle size of several Angstroms to several hundred Angstroms. The conductive fine particles are similar to some or all of the elements of the material constituting the conductive thin film 3. Further, the electron-emitting portion 2 including the crack and the conductive thin film 3 in the vicinity thereof may contain carbon .

Next, the basic structure of the vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the basic structure of a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 21 denotes a step forming member.
Other reference numerals the same as those in FIG. 1 indicate the same members.

The substrate 1, the electron-emitting portion 2, the conductive thin film 3, and the device electrodes 4 and 5 are made of the same material as that of the above-mentioned flat surface-conduction type electron-emitting device.

The step forming member 21 is formed, for example, by a vacuum evaporation method,
It is made of an insulating material such as SiO ₂ provided by a printing method, a sputtering method or the like. The thickness of the step forming member 21 corresponds to the element electrode interval L (see FIG. 1) of the flat surface conduction electron-emitting device described above. It is set by the voltage applied between the electrodes 5 and the electric field intensity capable of emitting electrons, but is preferably several hundred angstroms to several tens of micrometers, and particularly preferably several hundred angstroms to several micrometers.

Since the conductive thin film 3 is usually formed after the formation of the device electrodes 4 and 5, the conductive thin film 3 is laminated on the device electrodes 4 and 5. It is also possible to form such that the device electrodes 4 and 5 are laminated on the conductive thin film 3. Further, as described in the description of the planar surface conduction electron-emitting device, the formation of the electron-emitting portion 2 depends on the manufacturing method such as the film thickness, film quality, material, and forming conditions of the conductive thin film 3 described later. , The position and shape are not limited to the position and shape as shown in FIG.

The following description will be made of the above-mentioned planar surface conduction electron-emitting device and the vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device.
Although the plane type is described as an example, a vertical type surface conduction type electron-emitting device may be used instead of the plane type surface conduction type electron-emitting device.

Various methods are conceivable for producing the surface conduction electron-emitting device. One example will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 indicate the same members.

1) After sufficiently washing the substrate 1 with a detergent, pure water and an organic solvent, depositing an element electrode material by a vacuum deposition method, a sputtering method, or the like, and then depositing the element on the surface of the substrate 1 by photolithography. Electrodes 4 and 5 are formed (FIG. 3A).

2) An organic metal solution is applied on the substrate 1 provided with the device electrodes 4 and 5, and the substrate is allowed to stand.
And an element electrode 5 are connected to form an organic metal thin film.
The organic metal solution is a solution of an organic compound containing a metal as a constituent element of the conductive thin film 3 as a main element. Thereafter, the organic metal thin film is heated and baked to form a conductive thin film 3 patterned by lift-off, etching, or the like (FIG. 3B). Here, the description has been given of the method of applying the organic metal solution. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the organic metal solution may be formed by a vacuum deposition method, a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition method, a dispersion coating method, a dipping method, a spinner method, or the like. A film can also be formed.

3) Subsequently, an energization process called forming is performed. When electricity is supplied from a power supply (not shown) between the device electrodes 4 and 5, an electron-emitting portion 2 having a changed structure is formed at the portion of the conductive thin film 3 (FIG. 3C). The conductive thin film 3 is locally destroyed, deformed or deteriorated by this energization treatment, and the portion where the structure is changed is the electron emitting portion 3.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the voltage waveform of the energization forming.

The voltage waveform is particularly preferably a pulse waveform.
There are a case where a pulse with a constant pulse peak value is applied continuously (FIG. 4A) and a case where a voltage pulse is applied while increasing the pulse peak value (FIG. 4B).

First, the case where the pulse peak value is a constant voltage will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 4A, T1 and T2 are the pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform. For example, T1 is 1 microsecond to 10 milliseconds, and T2 is 10 microseconds to 100 milliseconds.
The peak value (peak voltage at the time of forming) is appropriately selected according to the form of the above-described surface conduction electron-emitting device, and is applied for several seconds to several tens of minutes in a vacuum atmosphere having an appropriate degree of vacuum. Note that the voltage waveform to be applied is not limited to the illustrated triangular wave, and a desired waveform such as a rectangular wave can be used.

Next, a case where a voltage pulse is applied while increasing the pulse peak value will be described with reference to FIG.

T1 and T2 in FIG.
As in (a), the peak value (peak voltage at the time of forming) is increased by, for example, about 0.1 V steps,
The voltage is applied in an appropriate vacuum atmosphere similar to that described with reference to FIG.

It is to be noted that the conductive thin film 3 is not provided during the pulse interval T2.
(See FIGS. 1 and 2) The element current was measured at a voltage that does not locally destroy, deform, or alter the element, for example, a voltage of about 0.1 V, and the resistance was obtained. For example, a resistance of 1 M ohm or more was shown. The energization forming is sometimes terminated.

4) Next, a process referred to as an activation process is preferably performed on the device after the energization forming.

The activation step is, for example, 10 −4 to 1
-5 power torr vacuum of about 0, similarly to the explanation in the forming process refers to a process of repeating the pulse application with the pulse peak value as a constant voltage, the carbon from the organic substance present in the vacuum atmosphere by depositing a process which can improve the device current, the state of the emission current significantly. This activation step is preferably performed while measuring, for example, the device current and the emission current, and is completed when, for example, the emission current is saturated, since it is effective and is preferable.
The pulse peak value in the activation step is preferably the peak value of the drive waveform.

The above-mentioned carbon is graphite (indicating both single crystal and polycrystal) and amorphous carbon (indicating amorphous carbon and a mixture thereof with polycrystalline graphite). The deposited film thickness is preferably 500
Angstrom or less, more preferably 300 angstrom or less.

The basic characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device thus obtained will be described below.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a measurement evaluation system for measuring the electron emission characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device. First, this measurement evaluation system will be described.

In FIG. 5, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 denote the same members. Reference numeral 51 denotes a power supply for applying a device voltage Vf to the device; 50, an ammeter for measuring a device current If flowing through the conductive thin film 3 between the device electrodes 4 and 5; An anode electrode for capturing the emission current Ie to be emitted; 53, a high-voltage power supply for applying a voltage to the anode electrode 54; 52, an ammeter for measuring the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission section 2; Is a vacuum device, and 56 is an exhaust pump.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device and the anode electrode 54 are installed in a vacuum device 55.
Is equipped with necessary equipment such as a vacuum gauge (not shown),
Measurement and evaluation of the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be performed under a desired vacuum.

The exhaust pump 56 is composed of a normal high vacuum system such as a turbo pump and a rotary pump, and an ultrahigh vacuum system such as an ion pump.
The entire vacuum device 55 and the substrate 1 of the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be heated to about 200 ° C. by a heater.

The characteristics are usually measured by setting the voltage of the anode electrode 54 of the above-mentioned measurement and evaluation system to 1 kV to 10 kV and setting the distance H between the anode electrode 54 and the surface conduction electron-emitting device to 2 kV.
８8 mm.

Next, the basic characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described.

First, the emission current Ie and the device current If,
FIG. 6 shows a typical example of the relationship with the element voltage Vf. still,
In FIG. 6, since the emission current Ie is significantly smaller than the element current If, it is shown in arbitrary units.

As apparent from FIG. 6, the surface conduction electron-emitting device has the following three characteristic characteristics with respect to the emission current Ie.

First, when a device voltage Vf higher than a certain voltage (referred to as a threshold voltage: Vth in FIG. 6) is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device, the emission current Ie sharply increases, whereas the emission current Ie increases. Below the threshold voltage Vth, the emission current Ie is hardly detected. That is, it is a nonlinear element having a clear threshold voltage Vth with respect to the emission current Ie.

Second, since the emission current Ie has a characteristic (referred to as MI characteristic) that monotonically increases with respect to the device voltage Vf, the emission current Ie can be controlled by the device voltage Vf.

Third, the emission charge captured by the anode electrode 54 (see FIG. 5) depends on the time during which the device voltage Vf is applied. That is, the amount of charge captured by the anode electrode 54 can be controlled by the time during which the device voltage Vf is applied.

When the emission current Ie is smaller than the device voltage Vf by MI
At the same time as having the characteristics, the device current If may also have the MI characteristics with respect to the device voltage Vf. An example of the characteristics of such a surface conduction electron-emitting device is a characteristic indicated by a solid line in FIG. On the other hand, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 6, the device current If is different from the device voltage Vf by the voltage control type negative resistance characteristic (VCN).
R characteristic). Which characteristic is exhibited depends on the manufacturing method of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, measurement conditions at the time of measurement, and the like. However, the element current If is equal to the element voltage Vf.
However, even in a surface conduction electron-emitting device having VCNR characteristics, the emission current Ie has MI characteristics with respect to the device voltage Vf.

In the present invention, the emission current Ie is equal to the device voltage Vf
Among the above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting devices having MI characteristics, a surface conduction electron-emitting device whose emission current Ie is almost uniquely determined is used. Further, a preferred surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present invention is an emission current Ie
And the device current If has MI characteristics that are almost uniquely determined with respect to the device voltage Vf.

Here, that the emission current Ie is uniquely determined is that the Ie-Vf characteristic when the emission current Ie is saturated by applying a certain device voltage Vf, and the device voltage Vf is a peak value (or a pulse width). ) Means that there is almost no change in the Ie′-Vf ′ characteristic when the emission current Ie ′ is saturated by applying a different device voltage Vf ′.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present invention, in which the emission current Ie is uniquely determined, completes the forming described in the above 3), and preferably, the 4).
After performing the processing in the activation step described in the above section, it can be obtained by performing a processing referred to as a stabilization step.

In the stabilizing step, the operation is carried out while being held in a vacuum atmosphere having a higher degree of vacuum than the forming step and the activating step. In addition, more preferably, in a vacuum atmosphere with this high degree of vacuum, operation is performed after heating at 80 ° C. to 150 ° C.

The degree of vacuum higher than the degree of vacuum in the forming step and the activation step is, for example, about 10 −6 torr.
r or higher, preferably an ultra-high vacuum system,
This is a degree of vacuum at which almost no new carbon is deposited.

That is, by holding the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the above-mentioned vacuum atmosphere, carbon
It is possible to suppress the deposition, whereby the emission current Ie is stable, the device voltage Vf against the emission current Ie
Can be determined as a surface conduction electron-emitting device. That is, the emission current Ie is obtained by the stabilization process.
Is a surface conduction electron-emitting device having MI characteristics with respect to the device voltage Vf.
Can be determined as a surface conduction electron-emitting device. Since the device current If is also stable, the surface conduction electron-emitting device having the device current If also having the MI characteristic with respect to the device voltage Vf is a surface conduction type electron emission device in which the increase in the device current If with respect to the device voltage Vf is almost uniquely determined. It can be an electron-emitting device.

The present inventors have found that the surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present invention having the above characteristics also has the following characteristics.

For example, the activation process is performed with a pulse having a peak value of 14 V (when the peak value is the same as or higher than the peak value of the forming), and the surface conduction type electron-emitting device which has been subjected to the stabilization step is subjected to the activation process. When driven by the drive voltage,
This surface conduction electron-emitting device exhibits the above-mentioned MI characteristic in which Ie is almost uniquely determined with respect to Vf (FIG. 7A).

However, thereafter, the voltage applied to each of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices in each of the above-described manufacturing steps and a voltage not less than the maximum voltage value Vmax of the pulse peak value of the driving voltage (in this case, a voltage not less than 14 V: By applying, for example, 16 V), Vf-Ie characteristics and Vf-If characteristics different from those before can be obtained (FIG. 7).
(B)). In addition, as shown in FIG.
Even after updating to V, when driving by applying a voltage equal to or lower than Vmax (voltage equal to or lower than 16 V), the MI characteristic in which Ie is almost uniquely determined with respect to Vf is maintained, and the surface conduction electron emission is performed. The element has a memory property of storing the electron emission characteristics obtained by Vmax until Vmax is updated again (broken line in FIG. 7B). In the present invention, this characteristic is referred to as Vmax dependency.

The width of the pulse to be applied is also Vm
It has the same characteristics as ax. That is, when a pulse having a pulse width PWmax equal to or larger than the maximum pulse width of the voltage and the driving voltage applied in each manufacturing process is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device, the electron emission characteristics differ from those before. When driven by a pulse having a pulse width equal to or less than PWmax, the electron emission characteristics do not vary with the pulse width.
This PWmax also has a memory property, and this characteristic will be referred to as PWmax dependency.

The electron source of the present invention is constituted by arranging a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices having the above-mentioned characteristics on a substrate.

However, the plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices arranged on the substrate, as they are, have variations in the electron emission characteristics due to various causes generated in the above-described respective manufacturing steps. Therefore, the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the electron source of the present invention has been subjected to a process for making the characteristics of each surface conduction electron-emitting device uniform. The correction process performs this process.

Hereinafter, a description will be given of a correction process which is the main feature of the present invention.

As described above, the correction step is a step of performing a process for making the characteristics of each surface conduction electron-emitting device uniform, and includes a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices formed for the electron source and the image forming apparatus. By examining the electron emission characteristics of the electron-emitting devices and applying a correction voltage to be described later to the selected surface-conduction electron-emitting devices, variations in the characteristics of each surface-conduction electron-emitting device are reduced.

More specifically, the electron emission characteristics of the selected surface conduction electron-emitting device are corrected using the Vmax dependency and the PWmax dependency described above.

First, each surface conduction electron-emitting device is operated at the voltage of the maximum peak value Vmax and the maximum pulse width PWmax of the driving voltage pulse when actually driving each surface conduction electron-emitting device. Is measured.

Next, for example, attention is paid to the electron emission characteristics of one surface conduction electron-emitting device, and the other surface conduction electron-emitting devices whose electron emission characteristics deviate from the noted surface conduction electron-emitting device are described below. A correction voltage having a waveform larger than the waveform of the voltage and the drive voltage applied in each of the manufacturing steps, specifically, a correction waveform having a peak value larger than the maximum peak value of the drive waveform (Vmax update) and / or the maximum of these A correction waveform (PWmax update) having a pulse width larger than the pulse width is applied. Thus, by changing the electron emission characteristics (Vf-Ie characteristics) of each surface conduction electron-emitting device, the same electron emission can be obtained from all the surface conduction electron-emitting devices during actual driving waveform driving. To As described above, since the characteristics of each surface conduction electron-emitting device have a memory property, a new Vmax or PWmax is required.
Unless is applied, once this correction step is performed, the electron emission characteristics of the plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are maintained substantially uniform.

Since the surface conduction electron-emitting device constituting the electron source of the present invention has Vmax dependency and PWmax dependency, Vmax and PWmax are affected by electric noise from inside or outside the device using the same. May be updated. Therefore, in order to improve the electrical noise resistance, it is preferable that the pulse peak value and the pulse width of the correction waveform are large. However, the correction is performed in consideration of the electron emission characteristics desired in the apparatus using the electron source of the present invention. Desired values are selected for the pulse crest value and pulse width of the application waveform.

As described above, in the electron source of the present invention, since the electron emission characteristics of each surface conduction electron-emitting device are uniform, it is not necessary to perform, for example, correction at the time of driving which is conventionally required.

Next, the arrangement of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices in the electron source of the present invention will be described.

The arrangement of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices in the electron source according to the present invention is not limited to the ladder arrangement as described in the section of the prior art, or to the arrangement of n Y-direction wirings on m X-direction wirings. There is an arrangement method in which directional wiring is provided via an interlayer insulating layer, and an X-directional wiring and a Y-directional wiring are connected to a pair of device electrodes of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, respectively. This is hereinafter referred to as a simple matrix arrangement. First, the simple matrix arrangement will be described in detail.

According to the above-described basic characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, the emitted electrons in the surface conduction electron-emitting device arranged in a simple matrix are arranged between the opposing device electrodes at a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage. It can be controlled by the peak value and pulse width of the pulsed voltage to be applied. On the other hand, below the threshold voltage, almost no electrons are emitted. Therefore, even when a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged, if the pulse-like voltage is appropriately applied to each of the devices, the surface conduction electron-emitting device is selected according to the input signal, and the electron emission amount is determined. , And individual surface conduction electron-emitting devices can be selected and driven independently with only a simple matrix wiring.

The simple matrix arrangement is based on such a principle, and the configuration of the electron source having the simple matrix arrangement, which is an example of the electron source of the present invention, will be further described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 8, the substrate 1 is a glass plate or the like as described above, and the number and shape of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104 arranged on the substrate 1 are appropriately set according to the application. is there.

The m X-direction wirings 102 have external terminals Dx1, Dx2,..., Dxm, respectively.
A conductive metal or the like formed thereon by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. In addition, the material and the material are so set that the voltage is supplied to the many surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104 almost uniformly.
The film thickness and the wiring width are set.

The n Y-directional wirings 103 have external terminals Dy1, Dy2,..., Dyn, respectively, and are formed in the same manner as the X-directional wiring 102.

These m X-direction wirings 102 and n Y wires
An interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is provided between the direction wirings 103, and is electrically separated to form a matrix wiring. Note that both m and n are positive integers.

The interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is, for example, SiO ₂ formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like, and has a desired shape on the entire surface or a part of the substrate 1 on which the X-directional wiring 102 is formed. In particular, the film thickness, material, and manufacturing method are appropriately set so as to withstand the potential difference at the intersection of the X-direction wiring 102 and the Y-direction wiring 103.

Further, the device electrodes (not shown) facing the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 are provided with m X-direction wirings 102.
, N Y-directional wirings 103, a vacuum deposition method, a printing method,
Connection 1 made of conductive metal or the like formed by sputtering or the like
05 are electrically connected.

Here, the m X-directional wirings 102, the n Y-directional wirings 103, the connection 105, and the opposing element electrodes may have the same or some of the same constituent elements, Further, they may be different from each other, and are appropriately selected from the above-described materials of the device electrodes and the like. The wires to these device electrodes may be collectively referred to as device electrodes when the material is the same as the device electrodes. Further, the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104
May be formed on the substrate 1 or on an interlayer insulating layer (not shown).

As will be described later in detail, a scanning signal is applied to the X-direction wiring 102 in order to scan a row of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104 arranged in the X-direction according to an input signal. A scanning signal applying unit (not shown) is electrically connected.

On the other hand, a modulation signal (not shown) for applying a modulation signal is applied to the Y direction wiring 103 in order to modulate each of the rows of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104 arranged in the Y direction in accordance with an input signal. The signal generating means is electrically connected. Further, the driving voltage applied to each surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 is supplied as a difference voltage between a scanning signal and a modulation signal applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104.

Next, an example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention using the electron source of the present invention having the simple matrix arrangement as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 9 is a basic configuration diagram of the display panel 201, and FIG.
FIG. 11 shows the display panel 201 of FIG.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a driving circuit for performing television display in accordance with an NTSC television signal.

In FIG. 9, reference numeral 1 denotes a substrate of an electron source on which the surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged as described above, 111 denotes a rear plate to which the substrate 1 is fixed, and 116 denotes a glass substrate.
13 is a face plate in which a fluorescent film 114 and a metal back 115 are formed on the inner surface. Reference numeral 112 denotes a support frame, and frit glass or the like is applied to the rear plate 111, the support frame 112, and the face plate 116, and is applied in the air or in nitrogen. Then, the envelope 118 is formed by baking at 400 to 500 ° C. for 10 minutes or more for sealing.

In FIG. 9, reference numeral 2 corresponds to the electron-emitting portion in FIG. Reference numerals 102 and 103 denote X-direction wirings and Y-direction wirings connected to a pair of device electrodes 4 and 5 of the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104, respectively, and external terminals Dx1 to Dx, respectively.
m, Dy1 to Dyn.

The envelope 118 includes the face-plate 116, the support frame 112, and the rear plate 111 as described above. However, the rear plate 111 is provided mainly for the purpose of reinforcing the strength of the substrate 1. If the substrate 1 itself has sufficient strength, the separate rear plate 111 is unnecessary, and the support frame is directly attached to the substrate 1. Seal 112,
The envelope 118 may be constituted by the face plate 116, the support frame 112, and the substrate 1. Further, by further providing a support (not shown) called a spacer between the face plate 116 and the rear plate 111, the envelope 118 having sufficient strength against atmospheric pressure can be obtained.

The fluorescent film 114 is composed of only the phosphor 122 in the case of monochrome, but in the case of the color fluorescent film 114, depending on the arrangement of the phosphor 122, a black stripe (FIG. 10A) or a black matrix (FIG. 10
(B)) a black conductive material 121 and a phosphor 122 called
It is composed of The purpose of providing the black stripes and the black matrix is to make the mixed portions between the phosphors 122 of the three primary colors necessary for color display black so that mixed colors and the like are not noticeable, and to reflect external light on the fluorescent film 114. Is to suppress a decrease in contrast due to As a material of the black conductive material 121, not only a material mainly containing graphite, which is often used, but also a material having conductivity and low light transmission and reflection may be used. it can.

As a method of applying the phosphor 122 to the glass substrate 113, a precipitation method or a printing method is used regardless of monochrome or color.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A metal back 115 is usually provided on the inner surface side of 4.
The purpose of the metal back 115 is to convert the light emitted from the phosphor 122 (see FIG. 10) toward the inner surface into the face plate 11.
Improving the brightness by specular reflection to the 6 side, acting as an electrode for applying an electron beam acceleration voltage, and protecting the phosphor 122 from damage due to collision of negative ions generated in the envelope 118 And so on. The metal back 115 can be manufactured by performing a smoothing process (usually called filming) on the inner surface of the fluorescent film 114 after the fluorescent film 114 is manufactured, and then depositing Al by vacuum evaporation or the like.

The face plate 116 may be provided with a transparent electrode (not shown) on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 114 in order to further enhance the conductivity of the fluorescent film 114.

When the above-described sealing is performed, in the case of color, since the phosphors 122 of each color must correspond to the surface-conduction electron-emitting devices 104, it is necessary to perform sufficient alignment.

The inside of the envelope 118 is evacuated to a degree of vacuum of about 10 −7 torr through an exhaust pipe (not shown) and sealed. Also, a getter process may be performed immediately before or after sealing the envelope 118. This is a getter (not shown) arranged at a predetermined position in the envelope 118.
Is a process of forming a vapor-deposited film by heating. The getter is usually composed mainly of Ba or the like, and by the adsorption action of the deposited film,
For example, 1 × 10 −5 or 1 × 10 −7 to
This is for maintaining the vacuum degree of rr.

The above-described forming and the subsequent manufacturing steps of the surface conduction electron-emitting device are usually performed immediately before or after sealing of the envelope 118, and the contents are as described above. is there.

The display panel 201 described above is, for example, shown in FIG.
Can be driven by a driving circuit as shown in FIG.
In FIG. 11, reference numeral 201 denotes a display panel, 202 denotes a scanning circuit, 203 denotes a control circuit, 204 denotes a shift register,
205 is a line memory, 206 is a synchronization signal separation circuit, 2
07 is a modulation signal generator, and Vx and Va are DC voltage sources.

As shown in FIG. 11, the display panel 20
1 is connected to an external electric circuit via external terminals Dx1 to Dxm, external terminals Dy1 to Dyn, and a high voltage terminal Hv. Of these, the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm
The surface conduction electron-emitting devices provided in the display panel 201, that is, a group of surface conduction electron-emitting devices arranged in a matrix of m rows and n columns are sequentially driven by one row (each n element). The scanning signal for going forward is applied.

On the other hand, a modulation signal for controlling the output electron beam of each surface conduction electron-emitting device in one row selected by the scanning signal is applied to the terminal Dy1 to the external terminal Dyn. Further, a DC voltage of, for example, 10 kV is supplied to the high voltage terminal Hv from the DC voltage source Va. This is an accelerating voltage for applying sufficient energy to the electron beam output from the surface conduction electron-emitting device to excite the phosphor.

The scanning circuit 202 includes m switching elements (indicated schematically by S1 to Sm in FIG. 11). Each of the switching elements S1 to Sm outputs the output voltage of the DC voltage power supply Vx or 0V. (Ground level) to be electrically connected to the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm of the display panel 201. Each of the switching elements S1 to Sm includes a control circuit 203
Operates on the basis of the control signal Tscan output by the device, and in fact, it can be easily configured by combining elements having a switching function such as an FET, for example.

In the present embodiment, the DC voltage source Vx has a drive voltage applied to the unscanned surface conduction electron-emitting device based on the characteristics (threshold voltage) of the surface conduction electron-emitting device. It is set to output a constant voltage that is equal to or lower than the value voltage.

The control circuit 203 has a function of coordinating the operation of each part so that an appropriate display is performed based on an externally input image signal. A synchronization signal Tsyn sent from a synchronization signal separation circuit 206 described below.
Based on c, each control signal of Tscan, Tsft, and Tmry is generated for each unit.

The synchronizing signal separating circuit 206 is a circuit for separating a synchronizing signal component and a luminance signal component from an NTSC television signal input from the outside. As is well known, a frequency separating (filter) is used. With the circuit,
It can be easily configured. Sync signal separation circuit 206
The sync signal separated by is composed of a vertical sync signal and a horizontal sync signal, as is well known. here,
It is illustrated as Tsync for convenience of explanation. On the other hand, the luminance signal component of the image separated from the television signal is referred to as D for convenience.
This is illustrated as an ATA signal. This DATA signal is input to the shift register 204.

The shift register 204 is for serially / parallel-converting the DATA signal input serially in time series for each line of an image, and based on a control signal Tsft sent from the control circuit 203. Operate. This control signal Tsft is supplied to the shift register 20
4 may be rephrased as the shift clock. Also,
One line of serial / parallel converted image (equivalent to drive data for n elements of surface conduction electron-emitting device)
Are output from the shift register 204 as n parallel signals of Id1 to Idn.

The line memory 205 is a storage device for storing data for one line of an image for a required time.
The contents of Id1 to Idn are stored as appropriate according to the control signal Tmry sent from the control circuit 203. The stored contents are output as Id′1 to Id′n and input to the modulation signal generator 207.

The modulation signal generator 207 is a signal source for appropriately driving and modulating each of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices in accordance with each of the image data Id'1 to Id'n. Are applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting devices in the display panel 201 through the terminals Doy1 to Doyn.

As described above, the surface conduction electron-emitting device has a clear threshold voltage for electron emission, and electron emission occurs only when a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage is applied. Also, for a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage, the emission current also changes according to the change in the voltage applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device. Materials for surface conduction electron-emitting devices,
By changing the configuration and the manufacturing method, the value of the threshold voltage and the degree of change of the emission current with respect to the applied voltage may change, but in any case, the following can be said.

That is, when a pulsed voltage is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device, for example, even if a voltage lower than the threshold voltage is applied, electron emission does not occur, but a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage is applied. In this case, electron emission occurs. At that time, first, it is possible to control the intensity of the output electron beam by changing the peak value of the voltage pulse. Second, by changing the width of the voltage pulse, it is possible to control the total amount of charges of the output electron beam.

Therefore, as a method of modulating the surface conduction electron-emitting device according to an input signal, there are a voltage modulation method and a pulse width modulation method. In the case of performing the voltage modulation method, the modulation signal generator 207 generates a voltage pulse having a fixed length, and uses a voltage modulation circuit capable of appropriately modulating the pulse peak value according to input data. In the case of performing the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 207 generates a voltage pulse having a constant peak value, but a pulse width modulation method circuit capable of appropriately modulating the pulse width according to input data. Used.

The shift register 204 and the line memory 20
Reference numeral 5 may be a digital signal type or an analog signal type, as long as it can perform serial / parallel conversion and storage of an image signal at a predetermined speed.

In the case of using the digital signal system, it is necessary to convert the output signal DATA of the synchronization signal separation circuit 206 into a digital signal. This can be achieved by providing an A / D converter at the output of the synchronization signal separation circuit 206.

In connection with this, the line memory 20
5 depends on whether the output signal is a digital signal or an analog signal.
The circuit provided in modulation signal generator 207 is slightly different.

That is, in the case of a voltage modulation method using a digital signal, for example, a well-known D / A conversion circuit may be used as the modulation signal generator 207, and an amplification circuit or the like may be added as necessary. In the case of a pulse width modulation method using a digital signal, the modulation signal generator 207 includes, for example, a high-speed oscillator, a counter (counter) for counting the number of waves output from the oscillator, and an output value of the counter and an output value of the memory. It can be easily configured by using a circuit in which comparators for comparison are combined. Further, if necessary, an amplifier may be added for amplifying the voltage of the pulse-width-modulated signal output from the comparator to the drive voltage of the surface-conduction electron-emitting device.

On the other hand, in the case of a voltage modulation method using an analog signal, an amplification circuit using a well-known operational amplifier or the like may be used as the modulation signal generator 207, and a level shift circuit or the like may be added if necessary. You may. In the case of a pulse width modulation method using an analog signal, for example, a well-known voltage-controlled oscillation circuit (VCO) may be used, and a voltage is amplified to a drive voltage of a surface conduction electron-emitting device as necessary. May be added.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention having the display panel 201 and the driving circuit as described above has terminals Dx1 to Dx
By applying a voltage from m and Dy1 to Dyn,
Electrons can be emitted from the required surface conduction electron-emitting device, and the metal back 115 can be emitted through the high voltage terminal Hv.
Alternatively, a high voltage is applied to a transparent electrode (not shown) to accelerate the electron beam, and the excited electron beam collides with the fluorescent film 114 to generate and emit light. Is what you can do.

The configuration described above is a schematic configuration necessary for obtaining the image forming apparatus of the present invention used for display or the like. For example, detailed portions such as materials of each member are limited to those described above. Instead, it is appropriately selected so as to be suitable for the use of the image forming apparatus. Although the NTSC system has been described as an input signal, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to this, and may employ another system such as a PAL or SECAM system. For example, a high-definition TV system such as a MUSE system may be used.

Next, an example of the above-described ladder-shaped electron source and an image forming apparatus of the present invention using the same will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. FIG.

In FIG. 12, reference numeral 1 denotes a substrate, 104 denotes a surface conduction electron-emitting device, and 304 denotes ten common wirings for connecting the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104, each having external terminals D1 to D10. doing.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 is
A plurality is arranged in parallel above. This is called an element row. These element rows are arranged in a plurality of rows to constitute an electron source.

By applying an appropriate drive voltage between the common wiring 304 of each element row (for example, the common wiring 304 of the external terminals D1 and D2), each element row can be driven independently. That is, a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage may be applied to an element row where electron beams are to be emitted, and a voltage lower than the threshold voltage may be applied to an element row where electron beams are not desired to be emitted. The application of such a drive voltage is performed by applying common lines 304 adjacent to each other between the element rows, that is, common lines 304 adjacent to each other, that is, external terminals D2 and D3 and D4 and D5 and D6 and D7 and D8 respectively adjacent to each other. The common wiring 304 of D9 and D9 can be formed as a single integrated wiring.

FIG. 13 is a view showing the structure of a display panel 301 provided with the above-described trapezoidal arrangement of electron sources, which is another example of the electron source of the present invention.

In FIG. 13, reference numeral 302 denotes a grid electrode; 303, an opening through which electrons pass; D1 to Dm, external terminals for applying a voltage to each surface conduction electron-emitting device;
Gn is an external terminal connected to the grid electrode 302. Further, the common wiring 304 between each element row is formed on the substrate 1 as an integral same wiring.

In FIG. 13, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 9 denote the same members, and the major difference between the display panel 201 using the electron sources in the simple matrix arrangement shown in FIG. The point is that a grid electrode 302 is provided between the electrodes 116.

The grid electrode 302 is provided between the substrate 1 and the face plate 116 as described above. The grid electrode 302 is capable of modulating the electron beam emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104, and applies the electron beam to a stripe-shaped electrode provided orthogonal to the ladder-shaped device row. In order to pass
One circular opening 303 is provided for each surface conduction electron-emitting device 104.

The shape and arrangement position of the grid electrode 302
13, the openings 303 may be provided in a large number in the form of a mesh. The grid electrodes 302 may be provided, for example, around or near the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104. Good.

The external terminals D1 to Dm and G1 to Gn are connected to a drive circuit (not shown). Then, by applying a modulation signal for one image line to the column of the grid electrode 302 in synchronization with sequentially driving (scanning) the element rows one by one, each electron beam is irradiated on the fluorescent film 114. And images can be displayed line by line.

As described above, the image forming apparatus of the present invention
It can be obtained by using any of the electron sources of the present invention in a simple matrix arrangement or a trapezoidal arrangement, and is suitable not only for the above-described television broadcast display device, but also as a video conference system and a display device such as a computer. A device is obtained. Furthermore, the present invention can be used as an exposure device of an optical printer including a photosensitive drum.

[0142]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples.

Embodiment 1 The configuration of the surface conduction electron-emitting device used in this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b). In the electron source of this embodiment, five surface conduction electron-emitting devices having the same shape are formed on the substrate 1. This is shown in FIG. 1 denote the same members.

The method of manufacturing the surface conduction electron-emitting device is basically the same as the method described with reference to FIG. Hereinafter, a basic configuration and a manufacturing method of the surface conduction electron-emitting device used in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a substrate, 4 and 5 are device electrodes, 2 is an electron emitting portion, and 3 is a thin film including the electron emitting portion 2.

Hereinafter, a manufacturing procedure will be described with reference to FIGS.

Step-a On a substrate 1 in which a 0.5 μm thick silicon oxide film was formed on a cleaned blue plate glass by a sputtering method,
A pattern having a desired electrode shape opening is formed with a photoresist (RD-2000N-41, manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.),
Ti having a thickness of 50 A and Ni having a thickness of 1000 Å were sequentially deposited by a vacuum evaporation method. The photoresist pattern was dissolved with an organic solvent, and the Ni / Ti deposited film was lifted off to form device electrodes 4 and 5 having a device electrode interval L1 of 3 μm methol and a width W1 of 300 μm.

Step-b Next, in order to pattern the conductive thin film 3 for forming the electron-emitting portion 2 into a predetermined shape, a deposition mask which is usually used is disposed on the device electrodes 4 and 5. Thickness 100
A 0 Angstrom Cr film is deposited and patterned by vacuum evaporation, and organic Pd (ccp4230 manufactured by Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) is spin-coated thereon with a spinner,
A heating and baking treatment was performed at 0 ° C. for 10 minutes. The thus formed conductive thin film 3 composed of fine particles whose main element is Pd has a thickness of 100 Å and a sheet resistance of 2 Å.
× 10 4 Ω / □. The fine particle film described here is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated, as described above, and has a fine structure not only in a state where the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged, but also when the fine particles are adjacent to each other or overlap each other. The particle size refers to the diameter of the fine particles whose particle shape can be recognized in this state.

Next, the Cr film and the fired thin film 3 were etched with an acid etchant to form a desired pattern.

Through the above steps, the device electrodes 4, 5 and the conductive thin film 3 were formed on the substrate 1.

Step-c Next, the substrate 1 on which the device electrodes 4 and 5 and the conductive thin film 3 were formed was set in the measurement and evaluation system shown in FIG. 3, evacuated by a vacuum pump, and evacuated by 2 × 10 −5. After reaching a degree of vacuum of torr, a voltage was applied between each of the element electrodes 4 and 5 from a power supply 31 for applying the element voltage Vf, and an energization process (forming process) was performed. The voltage waveform of the forming process was a waveform as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4B, T1 and T2 are the pulse width and the pulse interval of the voltage waveform. In this embodiment, T1 is 1 millisecond, T2 is 10 milliseconds, and the peak value of the triangular wave (at the time of forming). The peak voltage was raised in 0.1 V steps to perform the forming process. During the forming process, a resistance measurement pulse was simultaneously inserted between T2 at a voltage of 0.1 V to measure the resistance. The forming process was terminated when the measured value of the resistance measurement pulse became about 1 M ohm or more, and at the same time, the application of the voltage to the surface conduction electron-emitting device was terminated. The surface conduction electron-emitting devices have a forming voltage VF of 5.0 V and a forming voltage VF of 5.1 V.
Things existed.

Step-d Subsequently, a rectangular wave having a peak value of 14 V was applied to the surface-conduction type electron-emitting device that had been subjected to the forming treatment to perform an activation treatment. As described above, the activation processing is performed between the device electrodes 4 and 5 in the measurement evaluation system of FIG.
The measurement was performed by applying the pulse voltage while measuring e. At this time, the degree of vacuum in the measurement and evaluation apparatus shown in FIG.
It was 0 × 10 −5 torr. The activation process was completed in about 20 minutes.

Further, the surface conduction electron-emitting device produced in the above-described process is evacuated using the ultra-high vacuum evacuation device not using vacuum oil in the measurement and evaluation system shown in FIG.
The surface conduction electron-emitting devices were baked at 120 ° C. for about 10 hours to perform a stabilization process, and then the electron emission characteristics of each surface conduction electron-emitting device were measured.

The distance between the anode electrode 54 and the surface conduction electron-emitting device in FIG.
Was set to 1 kV, and the degree of vacuum in the vacuum apparatus at the time of measuring the electron emission characteristics was set to about 1 × 10 −6.5 torr (partial pressure of organic substance: 1 × 10 −7.5 torr or less). .
The driving waveform pulse applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device has a pulse width of 100 microseconds and a peak value of 14 μm.
V.

Table 1 shows the measurement results of the emission current characteristics of each surface conduction electron-emitting device.

Emission current-device voltage characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device of this embodiment (saturation value as described in the embodiment)
Is measured with a triangular wave having an element voltage (peak value) of 14 V and a pulse width of 100 microseconds, and shows a monotonically increasing characteristic in which the emission current is almost uniquely determined with respect to the element voltage. It was below. In addition, the device current of the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present example also showed a monotonically increasing characteristic that was almost uniquely determined with respect to the device voltage.

As shown in Table 1, the surface conduction electron-emitting devices # 1 to # 1
Focusing on the emission current up to # 4, the emission current of the surface conduction electron-emitting device # 5 is changed to the other surface conduction electron-emitting devices # 1 to
A pulse (correction waveform) having a peak value of 14 V or more is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device # 5 to correct the emission current amount of # 4, and Vmax is updated to update the Vmax. The device characteristics of No. 5 were changed. Specifically, the peak value of the correction waveform is stepped up in steps of 0.1 V with reference to 14 V, and the actual drive voltage is 14 V, 30 V each time.
The characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device # 5 are measured by applying a microsecond pulse, and the emission current of the surface conduction electron-emitting device # 5 is set to 0.
By increasing the peak value of the correction waveform until it substantially coincides with 9 μA, a correction process was performed on the surface conduction electron-emitting device # 5.

As a result, the peak value of the correction waveform is 14.3.
At V, the amount of emitted electrons of the surface conduction electron-emitting device # 5 becomes substantially equal to 0.9 μA of the other surface conduction electron-emitting devices # 1 to # 4. Almost the same amount of emitted electrons could be obtained.

As described above, in the electron source of the present invention, the correction step of applying a correction waveform different from the drive waveform to the selected surface conduction electron-emitting device in advance is performed, whereby each surface conduction electron-emitting device Since variations in element characteristics can be eliminated, an electron source having uniform electron emission characteristics can be obtained.

[0161]

[Table 1]

Example 2 Five surface conduction electron-emitting devices were formed on a substrate in exactly the same manner as in Example 1, and a forming step, an activation step, and a stabilization step were performed to form an electron source.

When the electron emission characteristics of this electron source were measured under the same measurement and evaluation system and the same conditions as in Example 1, the emission current of only one of the five surface conduction electron-emitting devices was 1.
0 μA, and the other four surface conduction electron-emitting devices had 0.9 μA. In addition, like Example 1,
Each surface conduction electron-emitting device had MI characteristics.

Therefore, a pulse (correction waveform) having a pulse width of 100 microseconds or more is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device having an emission current of 1.0 microA, whereby P
Wmax was updated to change device characteristics. Specifically, the pulse width of the correction waveform is increased in steps of 10 microseconds based on 100 microseconds, and each time a pulse of 100 V, which is the actual drive voltage, is applied to measure the element characteristics. The correction step was performed on the surface-conduction electron-emitting device by increasing the pulse width of the correction waveform until the emission current almost coincided with the emission current of 0.9 μA of the other surface-conduction electron-emitting device. As a result, the emission current of each surface conduction electron-emitting device was approximately 0.9 μA, and substantially the same emission current was obtained from all surface conduction electron-emitting devices.

As described above, in the electron source of the present invention, the correction process of applying a correction waveform different from the driving waveform to the selected surface conduction electron-emitting device in advance is performed, so that each surface conduction electron-emitting device has Since variations in element characteristics can be eliminated, an electron source having uniform electron emission characteristics can be obtained.

Embodiment 3 This embodiment is an example of an image forming apparatus using an electron source in which a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in a simple matrix.

FIG. 15 is a plan view of a part of the electron source. FIG. 16 is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ in FIG.
7 and FIG. However, the same reference numerals in FIGS. 15, 16, 17, and 18 denote the same members.

Here, 1 is a substrate, 102 is an X-direction wiring (also referred to as a lower wiring), 103 is a Y-direction wiring (also referred to as an upper wiring), 3 is a thin film including an electron emitting portion, 4 and 5 are device electrodes,
151 is an interlayer insulating layer, 152 is an element electrode 5 and lower wiring 10
2 and a contact hole for electrical connection.

Next, the manufacturing method will be specifically described in the order of steps with reference to FIGS. The following steps a to h correspond to (a) to (h) in FIGS. 17 and 18.

Step-a A 50 angstrom thick Cr film and a 600 angstrom thick film were formed on a substrate 1 having a 0.5 micron thick silicon oxide film formed on a cleaned blue plate glass by a sputtering method.
After sequentially depositing Au of 0 Å, a photoresist (AZ1370, manufactured by Hoechst) is spin-coated with a spinner, baked, and then exposed and developed with a photomask image to form a resist pattern of the lower wiring 102.
The u / Cr deposited film was wet-etched to form the lower wiring 102 having a desired shape.

Step-b Next, an interlayer insulating layer 151 made of a silicon oxide film having a thickness of 1.0 μm was deposited by RF sputtering.

Step-c Contact hole 1 was formed in the silicon oxide film deposited in step b.
A photoresist pattern for forming 52 was formed, and using this as a mask, the interlayer insulating layer 151 was etched to form a contact hole 152. Etching is CF ₄
(Reactive Ion) using H2 and H ₂ gas
Etching) method.

Step-d After that, a pattern to be a gap G between the device electrode 5 and the device electrode is formed by photoresist (RD-2000N-41, manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.), and a 50 Å thick Ti is formed by vacuum evaporation. And a 1000 Å thick Ni were sequentially deposited. The photoresist pattern was dissolved with an organic solvent, and the Ni / Ti deposited film was lifted off to form device electrodes 4 and 5 having a device electrode interval L1 of 3 μm and a width W1 of 300 μm.

Step-e After forming a photoresist pattern of the upper wiring 103 on the device electrodes 4 and 5, a 50 angstrom thick Ti,
5000 Å thick Au is sequentially deposited by vacuum evaporation, and unnecessary portions are removed by lift-off,
The upper wiring 103 having a desired shape was formed.

Step-f Next, a Cr film 121 having a thickness of 1000 Å is deposited and patterned by vacuum evaporation, and an organic P film is formed thereon.
d (ccp4230, manufactured by Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) was spin-coated with a spinner and heated and baked at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes. The thin film 3 formed of fine particles of Pd as the main element thus formed has a thickness of 100 Å.
The sheet resistance was 5 × 10 4 Ω / □. The fine particle film described here is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated, as described above, and has a fine structure not only in a state where the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged, but also in a state where the fine particles are adjacent to each other or overlap each other. The particle diameter refers to the diameter of the fine particles whose particle shape can be recognized in the above state.

Step-g The Cr film 153 and the fired thin film 3 were etched with an acid etchant to form a desired pattern.

Step-h A resist was applied to portions other than the contact hole 152 to form a pattern, and 50 Å thick Ti and 5000 Å thick Au were sequentially deposited by vacuum evaporation. Unnecessary portions were removed by lift-off to bury the contact holes 152.

By the above steps, the lower wiring 10 is formed on the substrate 1.
2, interlayer insulating layer 151, upper wiring 103, device electrode 4,
5. The conductive thin film 3 and the like were formed.

Next, an example in which a display device is configured by using the electron sources created as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. FIG.

After fixing the substrate 1 provided with a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104 on the rear plate 111 as described above, a face plate 116 (fluorescent light is applied to the inner surface of the glass substrate 113) is placed 5 mm above the substrate 1. The film 114 and the metal back 115 are formed).
2, the face plate 116, the support frame 1
12. Frit glass was applied to the joint of the rear plate 111 and sealed by baking at 400 ° C. to 500 ° C. for 10 minutes or more in air or nitrogen atmosphere. The fixing of the substrate 1 to the rear plate 111 was also performed using frit glass.

In FIG. 9, reference numerals 102 and 103 denote wirings in the X and Y directions, respectively.

The fluorescent film 114 is composed of only the phosphor 122 in the case of monochrome, but in this embodiment, the phosphor 122 is used.
Adopts a stripe shape (FIG. 10A), a black stripe is formed first, and each color phosphor 12
2 was applied to form a fluorescent film 114. As a material of the black stripe, a material mainly containing graphite, which is generally used, was used.

As a method of applying the phosphor 122 to the glass substrate 113, a slurry method was used. Also, the fluorescent film 11
4 was provided with a metal back 115 on the inner surface side. The metal back 115 was manufactured by performing a smoothing process (usually called filming) on the inner surface of the fluorescent film 114 after the fluorescent film 114 was manufactured, and then performing vacuum deposition of Al.

The face plate 116 may be provided with a transparent electrode (not shown) on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 114 in order to further enhance the conductivity of the fluorescent film 114. In this embodiment, however, a metal back 115 is provided. Was omitted because only sufficient conductivity was obtained.

At the time of performing the above-mentioned sealing, in the case of color, since the phosphors 122 of each color must correspond to the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104, sufficient alignment was performed.

The atmosphere in the glass container completed as described above is exhausted by a vacuum pump through an exhaust pipe (not shown), and after reaching a sufficient degree of vacuum, the external terminals Dx1 to Dx1
A voltage is applied between the device electrodes 4 and 5 of the surface-conduction electron-emitting device 104 through xm and Dy1 to Dyn, and the conductive thin film 3 is subjected to a forming process to thereby form the electron-emitting portion 2.
It was created.

The voltage waveform of the forming process is shown in FIG.
Same as (b). In this embodiment, T1 is 1 millisecond, T2 is 10 milliseconds, and about 1 × 10 −5 tor.
r under a vacuum atmosphere.

The electron-emitting portion 2 thus created
Was in a state where fine particles mainly composed of palladium element were dispersed and arranged, and the average particle diameter of the fine particles was 30 angstroms.

Next, the activation step was performed while measuring the device current If and the emission current Ie at a peak value of 14 V, a pulse width of 30 microseconds, and a vacuum degree of 2 × 10 −5 -5 power.

As described above, the forming step and the activation step were performed, and an electro-surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 having the electron-emitting portion 2 was manufactured.

After that, the pump was switched to a pump-type ultrahigh-vacuum evacuation apparatus that does not use oil such as an ion pump.
For a sufficient time to perform a stabilization step. The degree of vacuum after baking is 1 × 10 −6.5 torr.
r, the organic substance partial pressure is 1 × 10 −7.5 t
orr.

Next, the exhaust pipe (not shown) is welded by heating with a gas burner, and the envelope is sealed. Further, in order to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing, getter processing is performed by a high-frequency heating method. Was done.

Each surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 is driven by a driving waveform, the electron emission characteristics of each surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 are examined, and a correction waveform is selected in the same manner as in the first embodiment. A correction step was applied to the surface-emitting type electron-emitting devices 104 to make the electron emission characteristics of all the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104 almost equal. As a result, all the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104 can obtain substantially the same amount of electron emission with the same driving waveform, and a uniform electron source can be obtained.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention completed as described above, the scanning signal and the modulation signal are supplied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 from the signal generating means (not shown) through the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn. Electrons are emitted by applying the voltage, and a metal back 114 or a transparent electrode (not shown) is applied through a high voltage terminal Hv.
To apply a high voltage of several kV or more to accelerate the electron beam,
An image was displayed by colliding with the fluorescent film 115 to excite and emit light.

The image forming apparatus of this embodiment can obtain an extremely stable image having a small luminance distribution. Also,
High-contrast display excellent in gradation characteristics and full-color display characteristics was obtained.

Example 4 Five surface conduction electron-emitting devices were formed on a substrate in exactly the same manner as in Example 1. Thereafter, forming was performed by applying the voltage waveform shown in FIG. 4A between the device electrodes using the same measurement and evaluation system as in Example 1. At this time, T1 in FIG. 4A was 1 millisecond, T2 was 10 milliseconds, and the peak value of the triangular wave was constant at 14V. After this,
A stabilization process was performed in exactly the same manner as in Example 1 to produce an electron source.

The electron emission characteristics of the obtained electron source were measured using the same measurement and evaluation system and the same conditions as in Example 1. As a result, only one of the five surface conduction electron-emitting devices had an emission current of 1.0. It was 0 microA and the other four were 0.9 microA. Incidentally, as in Example 1, each surface conduction electron-emitting device had MI characteristics.

Therefore, in the same manner as in Example 1, a voltage pulse (correction voltage) having a peak value of 14 V or more is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device having the emission current of 1.0 μA. Thus, a correction process for updating Vmax and changing element characteristics was performed. As a result, the emission current amount of each surface conduction electron-emitting device is approximately 0.9 microA.
Thus, almost the same emission current could be obtained from all the surface conduction electron-emitting devices.

Embodiment 5 FIG. 19 shows that a display panel using the above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron source can display image information provided from various image information sources such as television broadcasting. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus of the present invention configured as described above.

In the figure, reference numeral 16100 denotes a display panel, 1
Reference numeral 6101 denotes a display panel driving circuit;
Is a display controller, 16103 is a multiplexer, 16104 is a decoder, 16105 is an input / output interface circuit, 16106 is a CPU, 16107 is an image generation circuit, 16108, 16109 and 1611
0 is an image memory interface circuit, 16111 is an image input interface circuit, 16112 and 161
13 is a TV signal receiving circuit, and 16114 is an input unit.

When the present image forming apparatus receives a signal including both video information and audio information, such as a television signal, it naturally reproduces the audio simultaneously with the display of the video. Descriptions of circuits, speakers, and the like related to reception, separation, reproduction, processing, storage, and the like of audio information that are not directly related to the features of the present invention are omitted.

Hereinafter, the function of each unit will be described along the flow of the image signal.

First, the TV signal receiving circuit 16113 is a circuit for receiving a TV signal transmitted using a wireless transmission system such as radio waves or spatial optical communication.

[0204] The format of the received TV signal is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, the NTSC system, the PAL system, or the SEC.
Any method such as the AM method may be used. Further, a TV signal comprising a larger number of scanning lines than these, for example, a so-called high-definition TV including the MUSE system is a signal suitable for taking advantage of the display panel suitable for a large area and a large number of pixels. Source.

[0205] The TV signal received by TV signal receiving circuit 16113 is output to decoder 16104.

The TV signal receiving circuit 16112 is a circuit for receiving a TV signal transmitted using a wired transmission system such as a coaxial cable or an optical fiber. Similarly to the TV signal receiving circuit 16113, the TV
The signal system is not particularly limited, and the TV signal received by this circuit is also output to the decoder 16104.

Image input interface circuit 16111
Is a circuit for capturing an image signal supplied from an image input device such as a TV camera or an image reading scanner. The captured image signal is output to the decoder 16104.

Image memory interface circuit 161
10 is a video tape recorder (hereinafter abbreviated as VTR)
Is a circuit for capturing the image signal stored in the decoder 1610, and the captured image signal is output to the decoder 16104.

Image memory interface circuit 161
Reference numeral 09 denotes a circuit for capturing an image signal stored in the video disk, and the captured image signal is output to the decoder 16104.

Image memory interface circuit 161
08 is a circuit for taking in an image signal from a device storing still image data, such as a still image disk,
The captured still image data is input to the decoder 16104.

Input / output interface circuit 16105
Is a circuit for connecting the present display device to an external computer or an output device such as a computer network or a printer. In addition to inputting and outputting image data and character / graphic information, control signals and numerical data can be input and output between the CPU 16106 provided in the image forming apparatus and the outside in some cases. .

The image generation circuit 16107 is provided with image data, character / graphic information input from the outside via the input / output interface circuit 16105, or the CPU 1
A circuit for generating display image data based on the image data and character / graphic information output from 6106. Inside this circuit, for example, a rewritable memory for storing image data and character / graphic information, a read-only memory storing an image pattern corresponding to a character code, a processor for performing image processing, etc. And other circuits necessary for generating an image.

The display image data generated by this circuit is output to the decoder 16104, but may be output to an external computer network or printer via the input / output interface circuit 16105 in some cases.

The CPU 16106 mainly performs operations related to operation control of the display device and generation, selection, and editing of a display image.

For example, a control signal is output to the multiplexer 16103, and image signals to be displayed on the display panel are appropriately selected or combined. In that case, a control signal is generated to the display panel controller 16102 in accordance with the image signal to be displayed, and the display device controls the display device such as the screen display frequency, the scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced), and the number of scanning lines per screen. The operation is appropriately controlled. In addition, image data and character / graphic information are directly output to the image generation circuit 16107, or an external computer or memory is accessed via the input / output interface circuit 16105 to output image data or character / graphic information. input.

[0216] The CPU 16106 may be involved in work for other purposes. For example, it may directly relate to a function of generating and processing information, such as a personal computer or a word processor. Alternatively, as described above, the input / output interface circuit 161
The computer may be connected to an external computer network via the external computer 05 to perform operations such as numerical calculations in cooperation with external devices.

The input unit 16114 is connected to the CPU 1610
6 is for the user to input commands, programs, data, and the like. For example, in addition to a keyboard and a mouse, various input devices such as a joystick, a barcode reader, and a voice recognition device can be used. .

The decoder 16104 is a circuit for inversely converting various image signals input from the above 16107 to 16113 into three primary color signals or a luminance signal, an I signal, and a Q signal. As shown by a dotted line in the figure, it is desirable that the decoder 16104 includes an image memory therein. This is for handling a television signal that requires an image memory when performing inverse conversion, such as the MUSE method.

The provision of the image memory facilitates the display of a still image. Alternatively, the image generation circuit 1610
7 and the CPU 16106, an advantage is obtained in that image processing and editing including image thinning, interpolation, enlargement, reduction, and synthesis are facilitated.

The multiplexer 16103 is connected to the CPU
A display image is appropriately selected based on a control signal input from 16106. That is, the multiplexer 16
103 selects a desired image signal from the inversely converted image signals input from the decoder 16104 and outputs the selected image signal to the drive circuit 16101. In that case, by switching and selecting an image signal within one screen display time, it is also possible to divide one screen into a plurality of areas and display different images depending on the areas, as in a so-called multi-screen television. .

Display panel controller 1610
Reference numeral 2 denotes a circuit for controlling the operation of the driving circuit 16101 based on a control signal input from the CPU 16106.

As a signal related to the basic operation of the display panel, for example, a signal for controlling an operation sequence of a display panel driving power supply (not shown) is output to the driving circuit 16101. As a driving method of the display panel, for example, a signal for controlling a screen display frequency or a scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced) is supplied to the driving circuit 16101.
Output to In some cases, a control signal related to image quality adjustment such as luminance, contrast, color tone, and sharpness of a display image may be output to the driving circuit 16101.

The driving circuit 16101 is a circuit for generating a driving signal to be applied to the display panel 16100. The driving circuit 16101 is a circuit for generating an image signal input from the multiplexer 16103 and the display panel controller 16100.
The operation is based on a control signal input from 102.

The function of each section has been described above. With the configuration illustrated in FIG. 19, in the present image forming apparatus, image information input from various image information sources can be displayed on the display panel 16100. . That is, various image signals such as television broadcasts are inversely converted by a decoder 16104, and then converted by a multiplexer 16104.
The signal is appropriately selected at 103 and input to the driving circuit 16101. On the other hand, the display controller 16102
Generates a control signal for controlling the operation of the driving circuit 16101 in accordance with an image signal to be displayed. Drive circuit 16
101 applies a drive signal to the display panel 16100 based on the image signal and the control signal. Thus, an image is displayed on display panel 16100. These series of operations are totally controlled by the CPU 16106.

In the present image forming apparatus, the image memory incorporated in the decoder 16104, the image generation circuit 16
107 and information selected from the information, as well as image information to be displayed, for example, enlargement, reduction,
Image processing such as rotation, movement, edge enhancement, thinning, interpolation, color conversion, image aspect ratio conversion, etc.
It is also possible to perform image editing including connection, replacement, fitting, and the like. Although not specifically mentioned in the description of the present embodiment, a dedicated circuit for processing and editing audio information may be provided as in the above-described image processing and image editing.

Therefore, the present image forming apparatus can be used as a television broadcast display device, a video conference terminal device, an image editing device that handles still images and moving images, a computer terminal device,
It can be equipped with the functions of a word processor and other office terminal equipment, game machines, and the like, and has a very wide range of applications for industrial or consumer use.

FIG. 19 shows only an example of the configuration of an image forming apparatus using a display panel using a surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron beam source. It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this.

For example, among the components shown in FIG. 19, circuits relating to functions that are unnecessary for the purpose of use may be omitted.
Conversely, additional components may be added depending on the purpose of use. For example, when this display device is applied as a video phone, a TV camera, a voice microphone,
It is preferable to add an illuminator, a transmitting / receiving circuit including a modem, and the like to the components.

In the present image forming apparatus, in particular, since the surface conduction electron-emitting device is used as the electron source, the display panel can be easily thinned, and the depth of the image forming apparatus can be reduced. In addition, a display panel using a surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron beam source is easy to enlarge the screen, has high brightness, and has excellent viewing angle characteristics, so that the image forming apparatus is full of a sense of reality and has a powerful image. Can be displayed with good visibility.

[0230]

As described above, the present invention has the following advantages.
The reduced electron source can reduce the variation in the electron emission characteristics of each surface conduction electron-emitting device itself, and can improve the uniformity of the amount of emitted electrons. Further, according to the present invention ,
Being use an electron source obtained Ri, the image forming apparatus such as a display device is very small image of the luminance distribution obtained, the provision of the correction memory and a complicated correction circuit during conventional were required drive And the structure of the device can be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a forming waveform.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of a measurement evaluation device used in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing typical IV characteristics at a degree of vacuum of about 1 × 10 −6 Torr.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing emission current-device voltage characteristics (IV characteristics) of the surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of the electron source of the present invention in a simple matrix arrangement.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of a display panel used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention using an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a fluorescent film in the display panel of FIG. 9;

11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a drive circuit that drives the display panel of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a schematic plan view of a trapezoidal arrangement of electron sources.

FIG. 13 is a schematic configuration diagram of a display panel used in an image forming apparatus of the present invention using a trapezoidal arrangement of electron sources.

FIG. 14 is a schematic plan view showing an electron source according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a schematic plan view showing an electron source according to a fourth embodiment.

16 is a sectional view taken along line A-A 'in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for manufacturing the electron source according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a manufacturing procedure of the electron source according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to a fifth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2 Electron emission part 3 Thin film 4, 5 element electrode 21 Step forming member 50 Ammeter for measuring element current If 51 Power supply 52 Ammeter for measuring emission current Ie 53 High voltage power supply 54 Anode electrode 55 Vacuum device 56 Exhaust pump 102 X-direction wiring (lower wiring) 103 Y-direction wiring (upper wiring) 104 Surface conduction electron-emitting device 105 connection 111 rear plate 112 support frame 113 glass substrate 114 fluorescent film 115 metal back 116 face plate 118 envelope 121 Black conductive material 122 Phosphor 151 Interlayer insulating layer 152 Contact hole 153 Cr layer 201 Display panel 202 Scanning circuit 203 Control circuit 204 Shift register 205 Line memory 206 Synchronous signal separation circuit 207 Modulation signal generator 301 Display panel 302 G Lid electrode 303 Opening 304 Common wiring 16100 Display panel 16101 Driving circuit 16102 Display controller 16103 Multiplexer 16104 Decoder 16105 Input / output interface circuit 16106 CPU 16107 Image generation circuit 16108 Image memory interface circuit 16109 Image memory interface circuit 16110 Image memory interface circuit 16111 Image input interface Circuit 16112 TV signal receiving circuit 16113 TV signal receiving circuit 16114 Input section

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-1-309242 (JP, A) JP-A-1-292728 (JP, A) JP-A-8-7749 (JP, A) European Patent Application Publication 605881 (EP, A1) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01J 9/02

Claims (15)

(57) [Claims] 1. A semiconductor device comprising a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices.
In the method of manufacturing an electron source, a plurality of tables having carbon under a vacuum degree of 10 ^-6 Torr or more
A stabilizing step for holding the surface conduction electron-emitting device, and selecting from a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices having carbon.
Waves larger than the drive waveform at the time of driving the selected element
To adjust the electron emission characteristics by applying a shape correction waveform
And a process for producing an electron source. 2. A method of manufacturing an electron source having a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices, comprising: forming a plurality of pairs of device electrodes on a substrate; and forming a conductive thin film between each pair of device electrodes. , A forming process, which is an energization process of applying a pulse waveform between device electrodes, and applying a pulse
An activation step, which is an energization process for applying a waveform ; a forming step and a stabilization step of holding each surface conduction electron-emitting device under a higher degree of vacuum than the activation step; A correction step of applying a correction waveform having a waveform larger than the drive waveform at the time of driving the element to adjust the electron emission characteristics. 3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the peak value of the correction waveform is larger than the peak values of the pulse waveform applied in the forming step and the pulse waveform applied in the activation step. 4. The pulse width of the correction waveform is larger than the pulse width of the pulse waveform applied in the forming step and the pulse width applied in the activation step.
2 or 3 electron source production method. 5. A method of manufacturing an electron source having a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices, comprising: forming a plurality of pairs of device electrodes on a substrate; and forming a conductive thin film between each pair of device electrodes. A forming step as an energizing process of applying a pulse waveform between the device electrodes , a stabilizing step of holding each surface conduction electron-emitting device under a higher degree of vacuum than the forming step, and a selected surface conduction electron-emitting device Correcting the electron emission characteristics by applying a correction waveform having a waveform larger than the drive waveform at the time of driving the element. 6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the peak value of the correction waveform is larger than the peak value of the pulse waveform applied in the forming step. 7. A pulse width of the correction waveform, manufacturing method for an electron-source according to claim 5 or 6, wherein greater than the pulse width of the pulse waveforms applied in the forming process. Peak value of 8. correction waveform, claims 1 to 7 either method of the electron source being greater than the peak value of the drive waveform. 9. pulse width of the correction waveform, claims 1 to 8 or of the process of the electron source being greater than the pulse width of the drive waveform. 10. A stabilization step, claims 1, characterized in that a step of monotonically increasing characteristic determined almost uniquely the emission current and the device current of the surface conduction electron-emitting device with respect to the device voltage 9. Manufacturing method of any one of the electron sources. 11. The stabilization process, claims 1 to 10 or a method of the electron source, characterized in that heating the <br/> surface conduction electron-emitting devices in a vacuum atmosphere. 12. An electron source in which an electron source has at least one element row in which a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged, and wirings for driving each surface conduction electron-emitting element are arranged in a matrix. Source.
A method for producing an electron source according to any one of 1 to 11 . 13. The electron source has at least one element row in which a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged, and wiring for driving each surface conduction electron-emitting element is arranged in a ladder shape. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the source is an electron source.
To any one of the eleventh to eleventh electron sources. 14. An electron source is manufactured by the method according to claim 12 ,
A method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus, comprising combining the obtained electron source with an image forming member that forms an image by irradiating an electron beam from the electron source. 15. An electron source is manufactured by the method according to claim 13 ,
The obtained electron source is combined with a modulating means for modulating an electron beam emitted from the electron source in accordance with an information signal, and an image forming member for forming an image by irradiation of the electron beam from the electron source. Manufacturing method of an image forming apparatus.