JP3332906B2 - Method of manufacturing image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, an apparatus for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, and an image forming apparatus manufactured by the method.

[0002]

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

As an example of the FE type, W. P. Dyke
& W. W. Dolan, "Field Emissi
on ", Advance in Electron P
physics, 8, 89 (1956) or C.I.
A. Spindt, "PHYSICAL Proper
ties of thin-film field e
mission cathodes with mol
ybdenum cones ", J. Appl. Phys.
s. , 47, 5248 (1976).

As an example of the MIM type, C.I. A. Mea
d, “Operation of Tunnel-Em
issue Devices ", J. Appl. Ph.
ys. , 32, 646 (1961).

Examples of the surface conduction electron-emitting device type include:
M. I. Elinson, Radio Eng. Ele
ctron Phys. , 10, 1290 (1965)
And the like.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes a phenomenon in which electron emission occurs when a current flows in a small-area thin film formed on a substrate in parallel with the film surface. Examples of the surface conduction 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: "Thin Solis Fi
lms, "9,317 (1972)] , In 2 O 3 / Sn
O ₂ due to the thin film [M. Hartwell and
C. G. FIG. Fonstad: "IEEETrans.ED"
Conf. , 519 (1975)], using a carbon thin film [Hisashi Araki et al .: Vacuum, Vol. 26, No. 1, 2
2 (1983)].

[0007] A typical device configuration of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices is described in the aforementioned M.A. FIG. 7 schematically shows an element configuration of the Hartwell. In FIG. 7, 71 is a substrate, 7
Reference numerals 2 and 73 denote device electrodes, 74 denotes a conductive film, and is formed of a metal oxide thin film or the like formed by sputtering in an H-shaped pattern. The electron emission portion 75 is formed by an energization process called energization forming described later. Is done. In the drawing, the element electrode interval L is 0.5 to 1 mm, and W ′ is 0.1 mm
Is set with

Conventionally, in these surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices, before the electron emission, the conductive film 74 is subjected to an electron emission portion 7 by an energization process called energization forming.
It was common to form 5. That is, the energization forming means applying a DC voltage or a very slowly increasing voltage, for example, about 1 V / min, to both ends of the conductive thin film 74 and energizing the conductive thin film 74 to locally destroy, deform or deteriorate the conductive thin film. The purpose is to form the electron emitting portion 75 in a state of being electrically high in resistance.

In the electron emitting portion 75, a crack is generated in a part of the conductive film 74, and electrons are emitted from the vicinity of the crack. The surface conduction type electron-emitting device which has been subjected to the energization forming process is configured to apply a voltage to the conductive thin film 74 and cause a current to flow through the device, thereby causing the electron-emitting portion 75 to emit electrons.

In the above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device, the electron is formed by forming carbon and / or a compound thereof in the electron-emitting portion of the surface conduction electron-emitting device by a novel manufacturing method called an activation step. A proposal has been made to significantly improve the emission characteristics (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 7-235255).

Here, the activation step refers to the step of forming a pair of electrodes and a conductive film in a vacuum atmosphere and performing a forming step in the method of manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device. Thereafter, an organic material gas containing carbon is introduced into a vacuum atmosphere, and a pulse voltage appropriately selected is applied to the device for several minutes to several tens of minutes. In this step, the characteristics of the electron-emitting device, that is, the electron emission current I
This is a process in which e is significantly increased and improved while having a threshold value with respect to the voltage.

[0012]

However, in the image forming apparatus using the above-mentioned conventional electron-emitting device, the following problems may occur. (1) In a large-sized image forming apparatus, an electron source substrate (rear plate) on which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are formed and a face plate on which a phosphor or the like is formed are positioned so as to maintain a desired relative position, After a temporary fixing is performed by combining them at a predetermined distance of several mm or less, the temperature is raised to a temperature at which the adhesive member such as frit glass is softened, and the two members are pressed and bonded to form a vacuum envelope. However, since the distance between the electron source substrate and the face plate is small and the conductance with respect to gas is small, a sufficient vacuum is provided through an exhaust pipe in the exhaust step in the image forming apparatus following the sealing step. It takes a long time to exhaust the gas, or if the evacuation process is completed in a short time, the degree of vacuum in the device becomes poor or the pressure becomes uneven, resulting in a stable electron emission characteristic. In some cases, the degree of vacuum required for the properties could not be obtained.

The relative arrangement between the electron-emitting device and the phosphor requires high positional accuracy in order to prevent color misregistration.
In some cases, a required positional accuracy cannot be obtained due to a thermal expansion in a sealing step or a positional shift due to softening of frit glass used for sealing. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-19694 discloses a method in which low-melting rod glass is used as a material sealed in a vacuum and superposed and introduced into a vacuum apparatus. I can't.

Further, when the electron-emitting device used in the image forming apparatus is a surface-conduction electron-emitting device, when introducing the gas into the vacuum envelope in the step of activating the surface-conduction electron-emitting device, Since the gas is introduced through a gas exhaust pipe into a vacuum envelope that is bonded with the distance between the face plate and the rear plate kept at a few mm or less, the conductance of the gas in the exhaust pipe and the vacuum envelope with respect to the gas is performed. And it is difficult to obtain a constant pressure over the entire area of the container (vacuum envelope), and it takes a long time until the pressure becomes constant.

(2) In the surface conduction type electron-emitting device, after the activation step is performed, the substrate of the electron source or a member constituting the image forming apparatus, for example, a face plate having a phosphor is activated. The gas used in the process and water, oxygen, CO, CO ₂ , hydrogen, etc. are adsorbed,
In order to stabilize the electron emission characteristics, and to prevent discharge or the like due to the remaining gas, it is necessary to remove the adsorbed gas or the like, and for that purpose, after baking the vacuum envelope after the sealing step. A step of exhausting through an exhaust pipe was required.

However, in this step, since the conductance of the gas in the container and the exhaust pipe is small, the gas generated from the member cannot always be sufficiently exhausted, so that stable electron emission characteristics cannot be obtained, and uneven brightness and shortening of the life are required. May occur.

Further, it is desirable to solve these problems and to provide a consistent apparatus for manufacturing an image forming apparatus in which recontamination does not occur due to re-adsorption of water, oxygen, hydrogen, CO, CO _{2 and the} like to each degassed member. I was

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus, an apparatus of manufacturing an image forming apparatus, and an image forming apparatus manufactured by the manufacturing method, in which the above-mentioned problems have been solved.

[0019]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a first substrate on which phosphor excitation means is arranged.
And a phosphor that emits light by the phosphor excitation means is disposed.
Image formation in which the separated second substrate is sealed via a bonding material
It is a manufacturing method of an apparatus, (1) In a chamber, the 1st heating means and the 2nd
Sealing the first substrate and the second substrate between heating means
Hold the attachment part in a state where it does not contact, and
While evacuating the first substrate and the second substrate,
A heating step of heating the substrate and the bonding material to a sealing temperature; (2) in a state where the chamber is evacuated,
The sealing portion is brought into contact with the first substrate and the second substrate.
And a sealing step of sealing the board with the bonding material.
A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus .

[0020]

[0021]

[0022]

[0023]

[0024]

[0025]

[0026]

[0027]

[0028]

In the present invention, the temperature of the electron source substrate and the face plate are raised to the sealing temperature with an interval sufficient to obtain a sufficient conductance to the gas, and after the degassing from the member is sufficiently performed, the substrates are bonded. Thereby, a vacuum container with a high degree of vacuum can be formed, and stable electron emission characteristics can be obtained. When a surface conduction electron-emitting device is used, the electron source substrate and the face plate are easily activated by introducing an activating gas with a sufficient distance between the electron source substrate and the face plate to obtain sufficient conductance to the gas. The gas can be spread, and uniform activation can be performed.

Further, the temperature is raised to the sealing temperature with the space between the electron source substrate and the face plate kept apart, and exhaustion is performed for sealing to remove the activated gas or the like adsorbed on the member. Therefore, the degree of vacuum affecting the electron emission characteristics can be improved and the heat treatment step can be shortened.

[0031]

[0032]

In the above invention, an airtight space is formed by joining the first substrate and the second substrate. A frame or a spacer may be provided between the first substrate and the second substrate. The atmosphere in the airtight space reflects the atmosphere at the time of joining. Therefore, it is preferable that the atmosphere at the time of bonding be adjusted to an atmosphere that provides a required atmosphere in the hermetic space. At this time, by adjusting the atmosphere in a state in which the gap between the first substrate and the second substrate is larger than the gap after bonding, the adjusted atmosphere is more airtight space (airtight space after bonding). This is preferable because it is easily reflected in the atmosphere of the portion where

[0034]

[0035]

[0036]

[0037]

[0038]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below. FIG. 1 shows an example of the manufacturing method of the present invention and a manufacturing apparatus for a flat plate type image forming apparatus. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a vacuum chamber, 11 denotes a gas introduction pipe for introducing a gas or the like used in an activation step or the like into the vacuum chamber, 12 denotes an exhaust pipe for evacuation, and 141 denotes a face including an image display portion. Plate 145 is a rear plate on which an electron source is formed, 22 is a support frame, and 23 is a joining member for connecting 141, 145 and 22 and is a frit glass mainly made of low melting point glass.

Although the joining member 23 is formed in advance on the face plate and the rear plate in FIG. 1, it may be formed in advance on the joining surface of the support frame 22 to the face plate and the rear plate. It is desirable that the frit glass be preliminarily baked to remove organic substances.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a stage which is a position adjusting means for adjusting the position of the festival plate in the X, Y, and θ directions;
Reference numeral 1 denotes a heating plate as heating means for heating the face plate, and 32 denotes a Z-direction position adjusting means for the face plate, which also serves as a mechanism for pressing the face plate, the rear plate, and the support frame after contacting them. Reference numeral 33 denotes a stage as position adjusting means for adjusting the position of the rear plate in the X, Y, and θ directions, and reference numeral 34 denotes a heating plate as heating means for heating the rear plate.

In FIG. 1, the face plate is installed above the apparatus and the rear plate is installed below the apparatus. However, the installation place is not limited to this, and it may be appropriately selected which is installed above. The stages 30, 33, which are means for adjusting the position of the face plate and the rear plate in the X, Y, and θ directions, are not necessarily required for both the face plate and the rear plate. Further, it is preferable to have a heat insulating structure such as a heat insulating material between the heating plate and the stages 30 and 33.

The face plate 141 and the rear plate 145 are connected to the heating plates 31 and 34 by a fixing jig (not shown).
Respectively. At this time, if the electron source uses a surface conduction electron-emitting device, the above-described forming may be performed in advance, or may be performed in the vacuum chamber. Also, the rear plate 14 of the support frame 22
5 and a frit glass are previously arranged at a bonding position to the face plate 141.

When a large display panel is constructed, an anti-atmospheric structure called a spacer is bonded in advance to the face plate side or the electron source side. At this time, the support frame is simultaneously attached to the face plate side or the electron source side. It may be adhered to. Thus, the heating plates 31 and 3
4, a face plate and an electron source (rear plate) are fixed to each other, and evacuation is performed from the exhaust port 12 while increasing the temperature to near the softening point of the glass frit while maintaining a sufficient conductance for gas.

If the electron source uses a surface conduction electron-emitting device, conductance is ensured (in a state where the face plate and the rear plate are separated from each other by a height equal to or higher than the height of the support frame).
After introducing the activating gas while performing the above-described activation, it is preferable to perform exhaust while increasing the temperature to around the softening point of the glass frit in order to avoid the influence of the adsorption of the activating gas and the like. Further, it is preferable to heat in a state in which some gas remains, because the face plate, the rear plate, the support frame, and the like are uniformly heated (see FIG. 1A).

After sufficiently evacuating and confirming that degassing from members and water and oxygen generated from the glass frit have become equal to or less than desired values by a chamber atmosphere measuring device, a face plate and a rear plate are used. The relative position between the face plate and the rear plate using the X, Y, and θ direction adjustment stage 30 of the face plate and / or the X, Y, and θ direction adjustment stage 33 of the rear plate so as to maintain a predetermined positional relationship. While adjusting the relationship, the face plate and the rear plate are brought into contact with the support frame using the Z-direction adjusting mechanism of the face plate,
Pressurize.

After maintaining the temperature while applying pressure for a certain period of time and adjusting the relative position between the face plate and the rear plate, the temperature is lowered according to a predetermined temperature profile, and the glass frit is hardened and bonded. 1 (b)). The relative position between the face plate and the rear plate is adjusted to a desired temperature from the softening point of the glass frit to a state where the frit starts to harden but maintains some fluidity.

After the temperature is further lowered to completely cure the glass frit, the glass frit is gradually cooled to about room temperature and taken out of the vacuum chamber (see FIG. 1C). Here, a surface conduction electron-emitting device is used as the electron-emitting device, but the present invention is not limited to this. The electron-emitting device is preferably applied to the above-mentioned cold cathode electron-emitting device such as a field emission electron-emitting device.

Further, when a field emission type electron-emitting device is used as the electron-emitting device, hydrogen is introduced from the gas introduction tube 11 before sealing, and hydrogen is left in the sealed vacuum vessel. It is possible to suppress deterioration with time of the electron emission characteristics due to oxidation of the emitter. In addition, as the partial pressure of hydrogen,
It is preferably about 10 ^-7 to 10 ^-3 mbar.

Gas introduction pipe 1 used for introducing the activation gas
If 1 is used to introduce a gas for generating plasma, it can be applied to the manufacture of a plasma display panel (PDP). As described above, the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention can be flexibly adapted to any type of flat image forming apparatus.

[0050]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

Embodiment 1 In the first embodiment of the present invention, an image forming apparatus having the structure shown in FIG. 6 was manufactured. In the present embodiment, a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices, which are cold cathode electron-emitting devices, are formed on the rear plate as electron-emitting devices. A color image forming apparatus having an aspect ratio of 3: 4 was prepared. First, the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 6, and then the manufacturing method will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus used in the embodiment, in which a part of the panel is cut away to show the internal structure. In the figure, 65 is a rear plate, 66 is a support frame, 67 is a face plate, and 65-67 form an airtight container for maintaining the inside of the display panel at a vacuum. In assembling the airtight container, it is necessary to seal each member so as to maintain sufficient strength and airtightness for joining.

On the rear plate 65, N × M surface conduction electron-emitting devices 62 are formed. (N and M are positive integers of 2 or more and are set as appropriate according to the target number of display pixels. For example, in a display device for displaying high-definition television, N = 3000 and M = 1000. It is desirable to set the above number, and in this embodiment, N = 333 and M = 250).

The N × M surface conduction electron-emitting devices are M
Simple matrix wiring is performed by the row wirings 63 (also called lower wirings) and the N column wirings 64 (also called upper wirings). Next, description will be made with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the surface conduction electron-emitting device.
7A is a plan view, and FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view. 7, reference numeral 71 denotes a substrate, 72 and 73 denote device electrodes, 74 denotes a conductive thin film, and 75 denotes an electron-emitting portion.

By subjecting the conductive thin film 74 to a forming process through the device electrodes 72 and 73, the conductive thin film is locally destroyed, deformed or deteriorated, and the electron-emitting portion 75 in an electrically high-resistance state is formed. An activation step of forming and further improving the emission current is performed by applying a voltage to the conductive thin film 74 of the surface conduction electron-emitting device and passing a current through the device, thereby causing the electron emission portion 75 to emit electrons. (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-235255 described in the prior art).
(Similar to the disclosure example of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H10-26095).

On the lower surface of the face plate 67,
A fluorescent film 68 is formed. Since the present embodiment is a color display device, phosphors of three primary colors of red, green, and blue used in the field of CRT are separately applied to a portion of the fluorescent film 68. The phosphors of each color are separately applied in stripes as shown in FIG. 8A, for example, and black conductors 81 are provided between the stripes of the phosphors.

The purpose of providing the black conductor 81 is to prevent the display color from being shifted even if the electron beam irradiation position is slightly shifted, and to prevent the reflection of external light to improve the display contrast. It is to prevent the phosphor film from being lowered and to prevent the fluorescent film from being charged up by the electron beam. Although graphite is used as a main component for the black conductor 81, any other material may be used as long as it is suitable for the above purpose.

The method of applying the three primary color phosphors is not limited to the stripe arrangement shown in FIG. 8A, but may be, for example, a delta arrangement as shown in FIG. Other arrangements may be used. When a monochrome display panel is formed, a monochromatic phosphor material may be used for the phosphor film 68, and a black conductive material may not be necessarily used.

A metal back 69 known in the field of CRTs is provided on the surface of the fluorescent film 68 on the rear plate side. The purpose of providing the metal back 69 is to improve the light utilization rate by mirror-reflecting a part of the light emitted from the fluorescent film 68, to protect the fluorescent film 68 from the collision of negative ions, and to increase the electron beam acceleration voltage. To act as an electrode for applying an electric field, and to act as a conductive path for the excited electrons of the fluorescent film 68. After forming the fluorescent film 69 on the face plate substrate 67, the metal back 69
The surface of the phosphor film was smoothed, and Al was formed thereon by vacuum deposition. When a fluorescent material for low voltage is used for the fluorescent film 68, the metal back 69 is not used.

Although not used in this embodiment, for the purpose of applying an acceleration voltage and improving the conductivity of the fluorescent film, for example, an I
A transparent electrode made of TO may be provided.

Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dy
n / and Hv are electric connection terminals of an airtight structure provided for electrically connecting the display panel to an electric circuit (not shown). Dx1 to Dxm are electrically connected to the row direction wiring 63 of the multi-electron beam source, Dy1 to Dyn are electrically connected to the column direction wiring 64 of the multi-electron beam source, and Hv is electrically connected to the metal back 69 of the face plate.

The basic configuration of the image forming apparatus to which the manufacturing method of the present invention has been applied has been described. Next, a method for manufacturing the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Preparation of Rear Plate) (R-1) The blue plate glass was washed, and a lower wiring was formed by screen printing on a rear plate on which a silicon oxide film was formed by a sputtering method. Next, an interlayer insulating layer is formed between the lower wiring and the upper wiring. Further, an upper wiring was formed. Next, device electrodes connected to the lower wiring and the upper wiring were formed.

(R-2) Next, a conductive thin film made of PdO was formed by a sputtering method and then patterned to obtain a desired form.

(R-3) Frit glass for fixing the support frame was formed at a desired position by printing. Through the above steps, a rear plate on which a surface conduction electron-emitting device having a simple matrix wiring, an adhesive for a support frame, and the like were formed.

(Preparation of Face Plate) (F-1) A phosphor and a black conductor were formed on a blue plate glass substrate by a printing method. A smoothing treatment was performed on the inner surface of the fluorescent film, and then Al was deposited using vacuum evaporation or the like to form a metal back.

(F-2) Frit glass for fixing the support frame was formed at a desired position by printing. Through the above steps, the phosphor in which the phosphors of the three primary colors are arranged in a stripe shape, an adhesive for the support frame, and the like were formed on the face plate.

(FR-1) Next, the face plate, the rear plate, and the support frame prepared in the above steps were introduced into a vacuum chamber, which is a manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, and fixed to heating plates 31, 34, respectively. Thereafter, evacuation was performed (see FIG. 1A).

(FR-2) After reaching a sufficient degree of vacuum, the external terminals Dxo1 to Doxm and Doy1 to Doy
A voltage was applied to the electron-emitting device through n, and a forming process was performed on the conductive thin film 4. Thereafter, acetone was introduced as an activating gas at 10 ^-4 Torr to perform activation.

(FR-3) The temperature is raised with a predetermined profile while evacuating, and sealing is performed while degassing activated water, water, oxygen, carbon monoxide and the like adsorbed on the face plate and the rear plate. The temperature was raised to the deposition temperature. The sealing temperature at this time is determined by the frit glass used for bonding, and in this case, it was set to 410 ° C.

(FR-4) After evacuation to a degree of vacuum of about 10 ^-7 Torr, 30 and 33 were maintained while maintaining the sealing temperature.
After the electron source, the face plate, and the support frame are brought into contact with each other while the electron source and the face plate are aligned on the X, Y, and θ adjustment stages shown in FIG. The temperature was lowered at 10 ° C., and when the sealing temperature was lowered by 10 ° C., the alignment was stopped, the stages 30 and 33 were set free, and the temperature was gradually cooled to room temperature (see FIG. 1B).

(FR-5) After cooling to room temperature, it was taken out of the vacuum chamber and subjected to a getter treatment by a high-frequency heating method to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing (FIG. 1).
(C)).

In the image display device manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention completed as described above, each electron-emitting device has external terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dy.
n, a scanning signal and a modulation signal are applied from signal generation means (not shown) to emit electrons, and a high voltage of several kV or more is applied to the metal back 69 through the high voltage terminal Hv to accelerate the electron beam. An image was displayed by colliding with the fluorescent film 68 to excite and emit light. As a result, there was no misalignment of the electron-emitting device and the phosphor, and no luminance variation or color mixing due to the misalignment was observed.

[Embodiment 2] A second embodiment of the present invention is an image forming apparatus in which an electron-emitting device is a field emission device which is a kind of cold cathode electron-emitting device. In this case, a spacer is provided as an anti-atmospheric pressure member.

First, the field emission device will be described with reference to FIG. 9, and then, an image forming apparatus using the field emission device will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG.
131 is a rear plate, 132 is a face pile,
133 is a cathode, 134 is a gate electrode, 135 is a gate /
An insulating layer between the cathodes, 138 is an insulating layer between the gate and the focusing electrode, and 136 is a focusing electrode. In FIG.
Is a face plate, 143 is a support frame, 145 is a rear plate, and 147 is a spacer.

The size of the effective display area of the image forming apparatus is such that the aspect ratio is 3: 4 and the diagonal is 10 inches. The gap between the face plate 141 and the rear plate 145 is 1.5 mm. Next, a method for manufacturing the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to a process diagram 2 and a conceptual diagram 1 of production.

(Preparation of Rear Plate) (R-1) A blue plate glass was used as a substrate for washing, and a cathode (emitter), a gate electrode, wiring and the like shown in FIG. 9 were prepared by a known method. The cathode material was Mo.

(R-2) Frit glass for fixing the support frame was formed at a desired position by printing.

Through the above steps, an adhesive for the field emission type emission device and the support frame, which was wired in a simple matrix on the rear plate, was formed.

(Formation of Face Plate) (F-1) A transparent conductor, a phosphor and a black conductor were formed on a blue glass substrate by a printing method. A smoothing treatment was performed on the inner surface of the fluorescent film, and then Al was deposited using vacuum evaporation or the like to form a metal back.

(F-2) Using blue plate glass as a substrate, frit glass for fixing a support frame is printed by
Formed at desired locations. Further, the spacer was bonded to the black conductor with a frit. Through the above steps, the phosphor in which the phosphors of the three primary colors are arranged in stripes, the adhesive for the support frame, the spacer, and the like were formed on the face plate.

(FR-1) Next, as in the first embodiment,
The face plate, the rear plate, and the support frame were introduced into a vacuum chamber and evacuated.

(FR-2) The temperature was raised with a predetermined profile while evacuating, and the temperature was raised to the sealing temperature while degassing water, oxygen, carbon monoxide and the like. The sealing temperature at this time is determined by the frit glass used for bonding, and in this case, it was set at 410 ° C. (FIG. 1).
(A)).

(FR-3) After evacuating to a degree of vacuum of about 10 ^-7 Torr and sealing the vacuum vessel, the partial pressure of hydrogen was introduced from the introduction pipe 11 into the vacuum chamber so that hydrogen remained in the vessel. Was introduced so as to be 10 ^-5 mbar. Thereafter, the electron source, the face plate, and the support frame were brought into contact with each other while adjusting the positions of the electron source and the face plate on the X, Y, and θ adjustment stages 30 and 33 while maintaining the sealing temperature, and pressurized. After maintaining the state for 10 minutes, the temperature is lowered at 3 ° C.
When the temperature was lowered by 0 ° C, the alignment was stopped.
The stage 3 was set free and cooled to room temperature (Fig. 1
(B)).

(FR-4) After cooling to room temperature, it was taken out of the vacuum chamber and subjected to a getter treatment by a high-frequency heating method to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing (FIG. 1).
(C)).

In the image display device shown in FIG. 10 which is completed by the manufacturing method of the present invention as described above, each of the electron-emitting devices is applied with a signal from a signal generating means (not shown) through a terminal outside the container. By doing so, electrons are emitted, a high voltage of 2 kV is applied to the metal back through the high voltage terminal Hv, and the electron beam is accelerated to collide with the fluorescent film,
An image was displayed by excitation and light emission. As a result, there was no misalignment of the electron-emitting device and the phosphor, and no luminance variation or color mixing due to the misalignment was observed.

[Embodiment 3] This embodiment is an example of an apparatus for manufacturing an image forming apparatus using a surface conduction electron-emitting device.
Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to the process flow chart of FIG. 4 and the schematic diagram of the apparatus of FIG. First, the device will be described.

In the manufacturing apparatus of this embodiment, 10 is a load lock type vacuum chamber, 42 is an oil-free vacuum exhaust device, 39 is a gas cylinder used in the activation step, 37
Is a voltage source used for forming and activating steps, 34
Is a rear plate heating device, 34 'is a face plate heating device, 30 and 33 are mechanisms for finely adjusting the position of the rear plate or face plate, 32 is a mechanism for moving the face plate or rear plate in the Z-axis direction. A mechanism for pressing the plate, 36 is a CCD which is a detection means for observing the position of a positioning pattern (alignment mark) formed on the face plate and the rear plate, and 35 is a positioning means formed on the rear plate. Pattern (alignment mark)
And a light source for illuminating a pattern formed on the face plate, 40 is an image recognition / arithmetic device which receives a signal from 36 and calculates a relative positional relationship between the face plate and the rear plate, and 41 is based on information from 40 This is a position control device that applies feedback to the X, Y, and θ adjustment stages of the face plate.

The same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 indicate the same as those in FIG. The CCD 36 has observation holes 201, 20 formed in the position adjustment stages 30, 33 and the heating plates 34, 34 '.
1 to observe the alignment patterns formed on the face plate and the rear plate.

The image recognition / arithmetic device 40 is provided with the CCD 36
And synthesizes the corresponding positioning pattern on one screen, and calculates the relative positional relationship.
The position control device 41 controls the X, Y, θ adjustment stage so that the relative positional relationship becomes a predetermined positional relationship. Thus, the face plate 141 and the rear plate 14
5 can be maintained in a predetermined positional relationship.

The voltage source 37 for applying the activation voltage can be used for forming. In this embodiment, the adjustment of the relative position between the face plate and the rear plate was performed using only the X, Y, and θ adjustment stages 30 of the face plate. Next, the manufacturing method will be described.

(Face Plate Forming Step) (F-1) A phosphor and a black conductor were formed on a blue plate glass substrate by a printing method. A smoothing treatment was performed on the inner surface of the fluorescent film, and then Al was deposited using vacuum evaporation or the like to form a metal back.

(F-2) A support frame having a height (the distance between the face plate and the rear plate) of 2 mm was bonded to the periphery of the face plate with frit glass. In addition, frit glass was disposed by a dispenser method at a bonding portion between the support frame and the rear plate.

(Preparation of Rear Plate) (R-1) In the same manner as in Example 1, the blue plate glass was washed, and the lower wiring was formed by screen printing on the rear plate on which a silicon oxide film was formed by sputtering. Next, an interlayer insulating layer is formed between the lower wiring and the upper wiring. Further, an upper wiring was formed. Next, device electrodes connected to the lower wiring and the upper wiring were formed.

(R-2) Next, a conductive thin film made of PdO was formed by sputtering, and then patterned to obtain a desired form.

(R-3) Forming was performed by applying a voltage to the conductive thin film formed between the device electrodes through the upper wiring and the lower wiring. Through the above steps, a rear plate was prepared.

(FR-1) The face plate and the rear plate prepared in the above steps were introduced into a vacuum chamber, fixed to the heating devices 34 and 34 ', respectively, and then evacuated.

(FR-2) With the distance between the face plate and the rear plate being 10 cm, acetone was introduced as an activating gas at 10 ^-4 Torr through a gas flow rate control device (not shown), and the voltage for activation was increased. A voltage was applied by the source 37 to activate the device.

(FR-3) The temperature was raised with a predetermined profile while performing vacuum evacuation, and the temperature was raised to the sealing temperature while performing degassing of the adsorbed activated gas, water, oxygen, carbon monoxide and the like. . The sealing temperature at this time is determined by the frit glass used for the bonding.
It was set to 0 ° C.

(FR-4) After evacuating to a degree of vacuum of about 10 ^-7 Torr, X, 30 shown at 30 was maintained while maintaining the sealing temperature.
While adjusting the position of the rear plate and the face plate on the Y and θ adjustment stages, the face plate 141 is lowered by the pressurizing and Z-axis moving mechanism, and the rear plate, the face plate, and the support frame are brought into contact with each other and pressurized. After maintaining the state for 10 minutes, the temperature is lowered at 3 ° C. per minute, the positioning is stopped when the temperature is lowered by 10 ° C. from the sealing temperature, and the fixing of the rear plate fixed to the heating plate 34 is released. It can move freely in the X and Y directions. Subsequently, it was gradually cooled to room temperature.

(FR-5) After cooling to about room temperature,
After being taken out of the vacuum chamber, getter processing was performed by a high-frequency heating method in order to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing.

In the image display device shown in FIG. 6 manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention completed as described above, each electron-emitting device has external terminals Dx1 to Dxm, Dy1 to Dy1.
By applying scanning signals and modulation signals from a signal generation means (not shown) through Dyn, electrons are emitted, and 4 kV is applied to the metal back 69 through the high voltage terminal Hv.
The high voltage was applied to accelerate the electron beam, collided with the fluorescent film 68, and excited and emitted light to display an image.
As a result, there was no misalignment of the electron-emitting device and the phosphor, and no luminance variation or color mixing due to the misalignment was observed.

[Embodiment 4] In this embodiment, an example is shown in which an image signal is input to the image forming apparatus created in Embodiment 1 and an image is displayed. First, a scanning signal and a modulation signal were created from the input image signal. While sequentially scanning the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm according to the scanning signal, Dy1 to Dy1
Modulated signals were input through yn. In this embodiment, an accurate image could be displayed. It is considered that this is because the emitted electrons are applied to a predetermined position.

[0104]

As described above, according to the method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus of the present invention, a vacuum envelope is formed by bonding members while maintaining a predetermined positional relationship between an electron source and an image forming member near a sealing temperature. Therefore, it is possible to correct the relative position shift due to thermal expansion or softening of the frit glass, etc.
The electron source substrate and the face plate can be bonded with high positional accuracy, and a high-quality image forming apparatus free from uneven brightness and color mixture due to positional displacement can be manufactured.

Also, the temperature of the electron source substrate and the face plate are raised to the sealing temperature with an interval sufficient to obtain a sufficient conductance to the gas, and after the degassing from the member has been sufficiently performed, the substrates are bonded to each other. A vacuum container having a high degree of vacuum can be formed, and stable electron emission characteristics can be obtained.

When a surface conduction electron-emitting device is used, the electron source substrate and the face plate are separated from each other by a distance enough to obtain a sufficient conductance to the gas, and the activation gas is introduced so that electrons can be easily emitted. Since the activation gas can be spread over the source substrate, uniform activation can be performed, and the characteristics of each electron-emitting device are uniform, so that when an image forming apparatus is formed, a display without uneven brightness can be obtained. A high-quality image forming apparatus is manufactured.

Further, a step of raising the temperature to the sealing temperature while leaving the gap between the electron source substrate and the face plate, and performing the sealing by performing the exhaust to remove the activated gas or the like adsorbed on the member. Since it can also serve as an improvement, the improvement of the degree of vacuum affecting the electron emission characteristics and the shortening of the heat treatment step are realized, and remarkable effects such as the production of a high-quality and stable image forming apparatus are achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a manufacturing process conceptually showing a manufacturing method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a manufacturing process flow of the method for manufacturing the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a manufacturing process flow of a method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a manufacturing process flow of a method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an example of a manufacturing apparatus of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the image forming apparatus manufactured in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a cold cathode surface conduction electron-emitting device used in Example 1.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a fluorescent film used in Example 1.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a field emission device used in the image forming apparatus manufactured in Example 2.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating the image forming apparatus manufactured in the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vacuum chamber 11 Gas introduction pipe 12 Vacuum exhaust exhaust pipe 22, 66, 143 Support frame 23 Joining member between face plate, rear plate and support frame 30 X, Y, θ adjustment stage for face plate 31 Heating plate for face plate 32 Z adjustment mechanism for face plate 33 X, Y, θ adjustment stage for rear plate 34 Heating plate for rear plate 35 CC for observing alignment pattern on rear plate side
D 36 CCD for observing alignment pattern on face plate side 37 Voltage source for activation process 39 Gas cylinder for activation process 40 Image recognition / arithmetic device 41 Position adjustment stage control device 42 Oil-free vacuum exhaust device 62 Surface conduction type emission element 65 , 131, 145 Rear plate 67, 132, 141 Face plate 68 Fluorescent film 69 Metal back 71 Substrate 72, 73 Device electrode 74 Conductive thin film 75 Electron emission section 81 Black conductor 91 Face plate side alignment pattern 92 Rear plate Side alignment pattern 133 Cathode 134 Gate electrode 135 Insulating layer between gate / cathode 136 Focusing electrode 147 Spacer 201 Observation hole for rear plate side alignment pattern 202 Observation hole for face plate side alignment pattern

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shinya Koyama 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Examiner in Canon Inc. Masayoshi Watado (56) References JP-A-61-42837 (JP, A) European Patent Application Publication 788130 (EP, A2) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01J 9/26

Claims (11)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus comprising: a first substrate on which phosphor exciting means is arranged; and a second substrate on which phosphors emitting light by the phosphor exciting means are arranged, via a bonding material. A method of manufacturing an apparatus, comprising: (1) in a chamber, a state in which a sealing portion is not brought into contact between a first substrate and a second substrate between a first heating unit and a second heating unit; A heating step of holding and heating the first substrate, the second substrate, and the bonding material to a sealing temperature while evacuating the chamber, and (2) evacuating the chamber. In the state
A method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus, comprising: a sealing step of contacting the sealing portion to seal the first substrate and the second substrate via the bonding material. 2. A sealing between the first substrate and the second substrate, method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 1 which is carried out through the support frame and the bonding material. 3. The method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the heating step is performed in a state where the first substrate and the second substrate are arranged to face each other at an interval larger than the height of the support frame. . 4. The method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said phosphor exciting means is an electron-emitting device. Wherein said electron-emitting device, method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 4 is a surface conduction electron-emitting device. Wherein said electron-emitting device, method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 4 is a field emission type electron-emitting device. 7. The method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a forming step of said surface conduction electron-emitting device before said sealing step. After wherein said forming step and before the sealing step, the manufacturing method of the image forming apparatus according to claim 7 having an activation process of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices. 9. The method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said bonding material is a low melting point glass frit. 10. A semiconductor device comprising a first substrate and a second substrate, wherein the first substrate and the second substrate are arranged to face each other, and between the first substrate and the second substrate. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, which has an airtight space with respect to the outside, and has a phosphor and means for exciting the phosphor in the airtight space, wherein: The first substrate and the second substrate are held between the heating means and the second heating means in a state where the sealing portion is not in contact with the first heating means and the second heating means, and the first chamber is evacuated while the chamber is evacuated. A heating step of heating the substrate, the second substrate, and the bonding material to a sealing temperature; and (2) after the heating step, in a state in which hydrogen or a gas for generating plasma is introduced into the chamber. Contacting the sealing portion and bonding the first substrate and the second substrate to the bonding material; Method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus characterized by having a sealing step of sealing with. 11. The first substrate is provided with a first heating means.
The second substrate is provided to the second heating means, respectively.
The image according to any one of claims 1 to 10, which is fixed.
Manufacturing method of forming apparatus.