JP3524278B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a display device using an electron source, and more particularly to the structure of an image forming apparatus having a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, two types of electron-emitting devices have been known, which are roughly classified into a thermoelectron-emitting device and a cold cathode electron-emitting device.

Cold cathode electron emission devices include field emission type (hereinafter referred to as "FE type"), metal / insulating layer / metal type (hereinafter referred to as "MIM type") and surface conduction type electron emission devices. is there.

As an example of the FE type, W. P. Dyke &
W. W. Dolan, "Fielddemissio
n ", Advance in Electron Ph
ysics, 8, 89 (1956) or C.I. A. S
pindt "PHYSICAL Properties"
of thin-film field emissi
on cathodes with mollybden
ium cones ”, J. Appl. Phys., 4
The one disclosed in 7, 5248 (1976) is known.

An example of the MIM type is C.I. A. Mead,
"Operation of Tunnel-Emis
sion Devices ", J. Apply. Phy
s. , 32,646 (1961) and the like are known.

As an example of the surface conduction electron-emitting device type,
M. I. Elinson, Radio Eng. Ele
ctron Phys. , 10, 1290 (1965)
Etc. have been disclosed.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes a phenomenon in which electron emission occurs when a current is passed through a thin film having a small area formed on a substrate in parallel with the film surface. As the surface conduction electron-emitting device, one using the SnO ₂ thin film by Erinson et al., One using the Au thin film [G. Dittmer: Thin Solid Fil
ms, 9, 317 (1972)], In ₂ O ₃ / SnO ₂
Thin film [M. Hartwell and C.I.
G. Fonstad: IEEE Trans. EDC
onf. , 519 (1975)], by a carbon thin film [Hiraki Araki et al .: Vacuum, Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 22 (1)
983)] and the like have been reported.

As typical examples of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, the above-mentioned M. Figure 16 shows the Hartwell device configuration.
Is schematically shown in. In the figure, reference numeral 1601 is a substrate.
Reference numeral 1604 denotes a conductive thin film, which is made of a metal oxide thin film or the like formed by sputtering in an H-shaped pattern.
05 is formed. The element electrode spacing L1 in the figure is 0.
5-1 mm and W'are set to 0.1 mm.

Conventionally, in these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, the electron-emitting portion 1605 has generally been formed in advance by conducting a current called a conductive forming process on the conductive thin film 1604 before emitting electrons. That is, the energization forming means a DC voltage or a very slow rising voltage across the conductive thin film 1604, for example, 1V.
This is to form an electron-emitting portion 1605 in which the conductive thin film is locally destroyed, deformed, or denatured by applying an electric current of about 1 / minute for making the electrically high resistance state. In the electron emitting portion 1605, a crack is generated in a part of the conductive thin film 1604, and electrons are emitted from the vicinity of the crack. In the surface conduction electron-emitting device that has been subjected to the energization forming process, a voltage is applied to the conductive thin film 1604 and a current is passed through the device to cause electrons to be emitted from the electron-emitting portion 1605.

After that, in order to improve the electron emission characteristics, a treatment called "activation" is performed as described later, and a film (carbon film) made of carbon / carbon compound is formed in the vicinity of the crack in the electron emission portion. There is a case.

In this step, in an atmosphere containing an organic substance,
In general, a pulse voltage is applied to the device to deposit carbon or a carbon compound around the electron emitting portion.

In order to obtain more stable electron emission characteristics, a step called "stabilization" described below is performed so that the deposition of the carbon / carbon compound does not proceed more than necessary.
It is practically useful.

Since the surface conduction electron-emitting device has a simple structure and is easy to manufacture, it has an advantage that many devices can be arrayed over a large area. Therefore, various applications that can make full use of this feature are being studied. Examples thereof include a charged beam source and a display device.

As an example in which a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are formed in an array, as will be described later, surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in parallel, and both ends of each device are wired (also called common wiring). An electron source is an array of many connected lines. (For example, JP-A-64-031332,
(Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 1-283749, 2-257552, etc.)
In particular, in image forming apparatuses such as display devices, in recent years, flat panel display devices using liquid crystal have become popular in place of CRTs, but there is a problem in that a backlight is required because they are not self-luminous. Therefore, development of a self-luminous display device has been desired.

The self-luminous display device is an image forming device which is a display device in which a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged and an electron source is combined with a phosphor that emits visible light by electrons emitted from the electron source. Can be given.
(For example, USP5066883)

[0016]

In the image forming apparatus described above, it is naturally desired that a stable, high-quality and high-definition image is obtained. However, when high voltage is applied to the anode, discharge may occur and the element may deteriorate.

[0017]

The present invention has been made through intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has the structure described below.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices and the plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices.
An electron source substrate having an electron source composed of a wiring for electrically connecting the
In addition, in an image forming apparatus having an electron source and a substrate having an anode electrode arranged at a position opposed to the electron source, an electric potential is applied to a means for applying a potential so that a high voltage applied to the anode electrode causes a current transmitted to a side wall to escape to the outside. Electrodes connected to each other , the electron source of the electron source substrate is arranged
It is characterized in that it is arranged outside the region and in the vicinity of the surface conduction electron-emitting device .

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the electrode
Are arranged around the area where the electron source is arranged .

[0020]

The display device of the present invention, using the image forming apparatus described above, television broadcasts, video conference system
Use, or, and characterized in that it is a Computer Display
To do.

[0022]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An image forming apparatus according to the present invention has an electron source substrate (hereinafter referred to as a rear plate) having an electron source to which a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are electrically connected. The substrate is not limited to a substrate including an electron source substrate), and an anode electrode arranged at a position facing the electron source through a rear plate and a side wall (hereinafter referred to as a support frame). In an image forming apparatus having a substrate (hereinafter referred to as a face plate), an electrode (hereinafter referred to as a shield line) is arranged in the vicinity of a region on the rear plate where a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged. It is characterized by. Further, the above-mentioned shield wire is arranged at a position facing the anode electrode.

It is characterized by having a means for applying a potential to the above-mentioned shield line.

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to prevent unnecessary current from flowing through the electron-emitting device.

The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 101 is an electron source substrate, 102 is an X-direction wiring extraction portion, 103 is a Y-direction wiring extraction portion, 104 is a support frame, 105 is an anode electrode, and 106 is a shield wire having a potential applying means. The potential range is appropriately determined by the amode electrode and the shield wire, but is in the range of anode voltage Va to -Va.

As a result, the current A flowing through the support frame due to the high voltage applied to the anode electrode can be released to the outside through the shield wire, preventing unnecessary current from flowing through the electron-emitting device, and preventing the base substrate from flowing. It is also possible to prevent the surface potential from rising and causing an excessive current to flow into the device. Here, the arrangement position, shape, and size of the shield wire may be any desired one as long as it is within the range to achieve this object.

Embodiments The basic structure of a surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied is roughly classified into a planar type and a vertical type.

First, the planar surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described. 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams showing the structure of a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied. FIG. 2A is a plan view and FIG. 2B is a sectional view. In FIG. 2, 201 is a substrate, 202 and 203 are element electrodes, and 204
Is a conductive thin film, and 205 is an electron emitting portion.

As the substrate 201, quartz glass, glass with a reduced content of impurities such as Na, soda-lime glass, a glass substrate obtained by laminating SiO ₂ on soda-lime glass by a sputtering method, ceramics such as alumina, and a Si substrate are used. be able to.

As a material for the opposing device electrodes 202 and 203, a general conductor or semiconductor material can be used. This is, for example, Ni, Cr, Au, Mo, W, P
Metals or alloys such as t, Ti, Al, Cu, Pd and P
_{d, Ag, Au, RuO 2} , Pd-Ag or the like metal or metal oxide and printed conductor composed of glass or the like, In ₂ O ₃
It can be selected from a transparent conductor such as —SnO ₂ and a semiconductor conductor material such as polysilicon.

The element electrode interval L1, the element electrode length W2, the shape of the conductive thin film 204, etc. are designed in consideration of the applied form. The element electrode spacing L1 can be set preferably in the range of several thousand angstroms to several hundreds of micrometers, and more preferably in the range of several micrometers to several tens of micrometers. The device electrode length W2 can be set in the range of several micrometers to several hundred micrometers in consideration of the resistance value of the electrode and the electron emission characteristics. The film thickness d of the device electrodes 202 and 203 can be in the range of several hundred angstroms to several micrometers.

Not only the structure shown in FIG.
01, the conductive thin film 204 and the opposing device electrode 20.
It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which 2, 203 are laminated in this order.

For the conductive thin film 204, it is preferable to use a fine particle film composed of fine particles in order to obtain good electron emission characteristics. The film thickness is appropriately set in consideration of the step coverage to the element electrodes 202 and 203, the resistance value between the element electrodes 202 and 203, and the forming conditions described later, but normally, it is in the range of several angstroms to several thousand angstroms. Preferably, and more preferably 10
A range of 500 Angstroms is better than Angstroms. The resistance value is such that Rs is 10 ² to 10 ^7.
The value is Ω / □. Note that Rs is a resistance R measured in the length direction of a thin film having a thickness t, a width w, and a length l, and R = Rs
It is the amount that appears when (l / w) is set.

The material forming the conductive thin film 204 is P
d, Pt, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, In, Cu, C
Metals such as r, Fe, Zn, Sn, Ta, W, Pd, Pd
Oxides such as O, SnO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO and Sb ₂ O ₃ , HfB ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , CeB ₆ , YB ₄ , G
Borides such as dB ₄ , TiC, ZrC, HfC, TaC,
It is appropriately selected from carbides such as SiC and WC, nitrides such as TiN, ZrN, and HfN, semiconductors such as Si and Ge, and carbon.

The fine particle film described here is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated, and its fine structure has a state in which fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged, or a state in which fine particles are adjacent to each other or overlap each other (some fine particles are It also includes the case where they are aggregated to form an island structure as a whole). The particle size of the fine particles is in the range of several angstroms to several thousand angstroms, preferably in the range of 10 angstroms to 200 angstroms.

The term "fine particles" is frequently used in this specification, and the meaning thereof will be described.

Small particles are called "fine particles", and particles smaller than this are called "ultrafine particles". It is widely practiced to call a cluster that is smaller than the "ultrafine particles" and has a number of atoms of about several hundreds or less.

However, each boundary is not strict, and changes depending on what kind of property is considered and classified. In addition, "fine particles" and "ultrafine particles" may be collectively referred to as "fine particles", and the description in this specification is in accordance with this. In "Experimental physics course 14 Surfaces and fine particles" (edited by Yoshio Kinoshita, Kyoritsu Shuppan, published September 1, 1986), it is described as follows. "When we refer to fine particles in this article, their diameter is about 2-3 μm to 1
The particle size is up to about 0 nm, and particularly when referred to as ultrafine particles, it means that the particle size is from about 10 nm to about 2 to 3 nm. It is not a strict matter because both are collectively referred to as fine particles, but it is a rough guideline. When the number of atoms constituting a particle is from 2 to several tens to several hundreds, it is called a cluster. (Page 195, 22-26)
Line) In addition, the definition of "ultrafine particles" in the "Hayashi / Ultrafine particle project" of the New Technology Development Corporation had the following lower limit of particle size, and was as follows. "Creative Science and Technology Promotion System" Ultrafine Particle Project "(1981-198)
In 6), the particle size (diameter) is about 1 to 100 nm.
"Fine particles" (ultra fine)
I decided to call it "Particle)". Then, one ultrafine particle is an aggregate of about 100 to 10 ⁸ atoms. On an atomic scale, ultrafine particles are large to huge particles. ("Ultrafine Particles-Creative Science and Technology-" Takashi Hayashi, Ryoji Ueda, Akira Tasaki; Mita Publishing, 1988 2
(Pages 1st to 4th lines) "Those smaller than ultrafine particles,
That is, one particle composed of several to several hundred atoms is usually called a cluster ”(ibid., P. 12, page 12-).
(13th line) Based on the above general term, "fine particles" in the present specification are aggregates of a large number of atoms and molecules, and the lower limit of the particle size is about several angstroms to 10 angstroms and the upper limit is It is meant to be of the order of several μm.

The electron-emitting portion 205 is composed of a crack having a high resistance formed in a part of the conductive thin film 204, and depends on the film thickness, film quality, material of the conductive thin film 204, and a method such as energization forming described later. It will be what you did. Electron emission part 2
In some cases, the conductive fine particles having a particle size in the range of several angstroms to several hundred angstroms may be present inside 05. The conductive fine particles contain some or all of the elements of the material forming the conductive thin film 204. The electron emitting portion 205 and the conductive thin film 204 in the vicinity thereof may contain carbon and a carbon compound.

Next, the vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present invention can be applied.

In FIG. 3, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG.
301 is a step forming part. Substrate 201, element electrode 2
02 and 203, the conductive thin film 204, and the electron emitting portion 205.
Can be made of the same material as in the case of the planar surface conduction electron-emitting device described above. Step forming part 301
Is an S formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like.
It can be composed of an insulating material iO _2, and the like.

The film thickness of the step forming portion 301 corresponds to the device electrode interval L1 of the flat surface conduction electron-emitting device described above, and can be set in the range of several thousand angstroms to several tens of micrometers. This film thickness is set in consideration of the manufacturing method of the step forming portion and the voltage applied between the device electrodes, but is preferably in the range of several hundred angstroms to several micrometers.

The conductive thin film 204 is formed on the device electrode 20 after the device electrodes 202 and 203 and the step forming portion 301 are formed.
It is laminated on 2, 203. Although the electron emitting portion 205 is formed in the step forming portion 301 in FIG. 3,
The shape and position are not limited to these, depending on the preparation conditions, forming conditions, and the like. There are various methods for manufacturing the above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device, and one example thereof is schematically shown in FIG.

An example of the manufacturing method will be described below with reference to FIGS. Also in FIG. 4, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals as the end of the reference numerals given in FIG.

1) The substrate 401 is thoroughly washed with a detergent, pure water, an organic solvent and the like, and after the element electrode material is deposited by the vacuum deposition method, the sputtering method or the like, the substrate 401 is deposited on the substrate 401 by, for example, the photolithography technique. Element electrodes 402, 40
3 is formed (FIG. 4A).

2) An organic metal compound solution is applied to the substrate 401 provided with the device electrodes 402 and 403 to form an organic metal compound thin film. As the organometallic compound solution, a solution of an organometallic compound containing a metal of the above-described material of the conductive film 404 as a main element can be used. After the organic metal thin film is heated and baked to form a metal or metal oxide, lift-off,
The conductive thin film 404 is patterned by etching or the like.
Are formed (FIG. 4B). Although the coating method of the organic metal solution has been described here, the method of forming the conductive thin film 004 is not limited to this, and a vacuum deposition method, a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition method, a dispersion coating method, Dipping method,
A spinner method or the like can also be used.

3) Subsequently, a forming process is performed.
As an example of this method, a method based on energization processing will be described.

A voltage is applied between the device electrodes 402 and 403 by a power source (not shown) to carry out energization, and the conductive thin film 4 is formed.
An electron emitting portion 405 having a changed structure is formed at the region 04 (FIG. 4C). According to the energization forming, a site having a structural change such as local destruction, deformation or alteration is formed in the conductive thin film 404. This portion constitutes the electron emitting portion 405. An example of the voltage waveform of energization forming is shown in FIG. The voltage waveform is preferably a pulse waveform. For this, there are a method shown in FIG. 5a in which a pulse having a pulse peak value of a constant voltage is continuously applied, and a method shown in FIG. 5b in which a voltage pulse is applied while increasing the pulse peak value.

T1 and T2 in FIG. 5a are the pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform. Usually, T1 is set in the range of 1 microsecond to 10 milliseconds, and T2 is set in the range of 10 microseconds to 100 milliseconds. The peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage during energization forming) is appropriately selected according to the form of the surface conduction electron-emitting device. Under such conditions, for example, a voltage is applied for several seconds to several tens of minutes. The pulse waveform is not limited to the triangular wave, and a desired waveform such as a rectangular wave can be adopted.

T1 and T2 in FIG. 5b can be similar to those shown in FIG. 5a. The peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage during energization forming) is, for example, 0.1.
It can be increased by V steps.

The end of the energization forming process can be determined by applying a voltage that does not locally break or deform the conductive thin film 404 during the pulse interval T2, measure the current, and detect the resistance value. it can. For example, by measuring the element current flowing by applying a voltage of about 0.1 V, obtain the resistance value,
When the resistance is 1 M ohm or more, the energization forming is terminated.

4) It is preferable to perform a process called an activation process on the element which has finished forming. The activation process means that the device current If and the emission current Ie are
This is a process that changes significantly.

The activation step can be carried out, for example, by repeating the application of the pulse in the atmosphere containing the gas of the organic substance, similarly to the energization forming. This atmosphere can be formed by using the organic gas remaining in the atmosphere when the inside of the vacuum container is evacuated by using, for example, an oil diffusion pump or a rotary pump, but once exhausted sufficiently by an ion pump or the like. It can also be obtained by introducing a gas of a suitable organic substance into a vacuum.

At this time, the preferable gas pressure of the organic substance is
Since it depends on the form of application, the shape of the vacuum container, the type of the organic substance, etc., it is appropriately set depending on the case. Suitable organic substances include alkanes, alkenes, alkyne aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols,
Aldehydes, ketones, amino acids, phenols, carboxylic acids, can be mentioned organic acids such as sulfonic acid or the like, specifically, methane, ethane, propane C _n H
Saturated hydrocarbon represented by _{2n + 2,} ethylene, propylene C _n H _2n such unsaturated hydrocarbon represented by composition formula such as benzene, toluene, methanol, ethanol, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl amine , Ethylamine, phenol, formic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid and the like can be used. By this treatment, carbon or a carbon compound is deposited on the device from the organic substance existing in the atmosphere, and the device current If and the emission current I
e changes significantly.

The termination of the activation process is appropriately determined while measuring the device current If and the emission current Ie. The pulse width, pulse interval, pulse peak value, etc. are set appropriately.

Carbon and carbon compounds include, for example, graphite (so-called HOPG, PG, PG, GC). HOPG is a nearly complete crystal structure of graphite, P
G indicates that the crystal grains were about 200 angstroms and the crystal structure was slightly disturbed, and GC indicates that the crystal grains were about 20 angstroms and the crystal structure was further disturbed. ), And amorphous carbon (referring to amorphous carbon and a mixture of amorphous carbon and fine crystals of the graphite), and its film thickness is preferably in the range of 500 angstroms or less, and in the range of 300 angstroms or less. Is more preferable.

5) It is preferable that the electron-emitting device obtained through these steps is subjected to a stabilizing step. This step is a step of exhausting the organic substance in the vacuum container. It is preferable to use a vacuum evacuation device that evacuates the vacuum container without using oil so that the oil generated from the device does not affect the characteristics of the element. Specifically, a vacuum exhaust device such as a sorption pump or an ion pump can be used.

When an oil diffusion pump or a rotary pump is used as an exhaust device in the activation step and an acid gas derived from an oil component generated from this is used, it is necessary to keep the partial pressure of this component as low as possible. is there. The partial pressure of the organic substance in the vacuum container is preferably 1 × 10 ⁻⁸ Torr or less, more preferably 1 × 10 ⁻¹⁰ Torr or less, in terms of the partial pressure at which the above carbon and carbon compound are not newly deposited. Further, when the inside of the vacuum container is evacuated, it is preferable to heat the entire vacuum container so that the organic substance molecules adsorbed on the inner wall of the vacuum container or the electron-emitting device can be easily exhausted. The heating condition at this time is 80 to 200 ° C., preferably 150 ° C.
As described above, it is desirable to perform the treatment as long as possible. However, the condition is not particularly limited to this condition, and the condition is appropriately selected depending on various conditions such as the size and shape of the vacuum container and the configuration of the electron-emitting device. It is necessary to make the pressure in the vacuum container as low as possible, preferably 1 to 3 × 10 ^-7 Torr or less,
Further, 1 × 10 ⁻⁸ Torr or less is particularly preferable.

It is preferable that the atmosphere at the time of driving after the stabilization process is maintained at the atmosphere at the end of the stabilization process, but it is not limited to this and if the organic substance is sufficiently removed. Even if the degree of vacuum itself is lowered to some extent, it is possible to maintain sufficiently stable characteristics. By adopting such a vacuum atmosphere, deposition of new carbon or carbon compound can be suppressed, and as a result, the device currents If and Ie are stabilized.

Basic characteristics of the electron-emitting device to which the present invention is applicable obtained through the above steps will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a vacuum processing apparatus, and this vacuum processing apparatus also has a function as a measurement / evaluation apparatus. Also in FIG. 6, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those given in FIG.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 605 is a vacuum container.
An electron emitting element is arranged in the vacuum container 605. That is, 201 is a substrate that constitutes an electron-emitting device, and 20
2 and 203 are element electrodes, 204 is a conductive thin film, and 205
Is an electron emitting portion. 601 is a power source for applying the device voltage Vf to the electron-emitting device, and 600 is the device electrode 202.
An ammeter for measuring the device current If flowing through the conductive thin film 204 between 203, and 604 is an anode electrode for capturing the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission portion of the device. Reference numeral 603 is a high voltage power supply for applying a voltage to the anode electrode 604, and 602 is an ammeter for measuring the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission portion 205 of the device. As an example, the voltage of the anode electrode is 1 kV to 10 k
V range, distance H between anode electrode and electron-emitting device
Can be measured in the range of 2 mm to 8 mm.

The vacuum container 605 is provided with equipment necessary for measurement in a vacuum atmosphere, such as a vacuum gauge (not shown), so that measurement and evaluation can be performed in a desired vacuum atmosphere. Further, the vacuum container is equipped with an exhaust pump 606. The exhaust pump is composed of a normal high vacuum system including a turbo pump and a rotary pump, and an ultra high vacuum system including an ion pump.
The entire vacuum processing apparatus provided with the electron source substrate shown here can be heated by a heater (not shown). Therefore, by using this vacuum processing apparatus, the steps after the above-described energization forming can be performed.

FIG. 7 shows the emission current Ie, the device current If, and the device voltage V measured by using the vacuum processing apparatus shown in FIG.
It is the figure which showed the relationship of f typically. In FIG. 7,
Since the emission current Ie is extremely smaller than the device current If, it is shown in arbitrary units. The vertical and horizontal axes are linear scales.

As is clear from FIG. 7, the surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention is applicable has three characteristic properties with respect to the emission current Ie. That is, (i) this element has a certain voltage (called threshold voltage, Vth in FIG. 7)
When the above device voltage is applied, the emission current Ie rapidly increases, while at the threshold voltage Vth or less, the emission current Ie is hardly detected. That is, it is a non-linear element having a clear threshold voltage Vth with respect to the emission current Ie. (Ii) Since the emission current Ie is monotonically increasing dependent on the element voltage Vf, the emission current Ie can be controlled by the element voltage Vf. (Iii) The emission charge captured by the anode electrode 604 is
It depends on the time for which the device voltage Vf is applied. That is, the amount of charges captured by the anode electrode 604 can be controlled by the time for which the device voltage Vf is applied.

As can be understood from the above description, the surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied can easily control the electron emission characteristics according to the input signal. By utilizing this property, it is possible to apply to various fields such as an electron source and an image forming apparatus configured by arranging a plurality of electron emitting elements.

In FIG. 7, an example in which the element current If monotonically increases with respect to the element voltage Vf (hereinafter referred to as “MI characteristic”) is shown by a solid line. Device current If is device voltage Vf
In some cases, a voltage control type negative resistance characteristic (hereinafter, referred to as "VCNR characteristic") is shown (not shown). These characteristics can be controlled by controlling the above process.

Application examples of the electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied will be described below. The surface conduction electron-emitting devices to which the present invention is applicable can be arranged on a plurality of substrates to form, for example, an electron source or an image forming apparatus.

Various arrangements of electron-emitting devices can be adopted. As an example, a large number of electron-emitting devices arranged in parallel are connected at both ends, and a large number of rows of electron-emitting devices are arranged (referred to as a row direction), and in a direction orthogonal to this wiring (referred to as a column direction). There is a ladder-like arrangement in which a control electrode (also referred to as a grid) arranged above the electron-emitting device controls and drives electrons from the electron-emitting device. Separately, a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix in the X and Y directions, and one of electrodes of the plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in the same row is commonly connected to a wiring in the X direction. For example, the other of the electrodes of the plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in the same column is commonly connected to the wiring in the Y direction. This is a so-called simple matrix arrangement. First, the simple matrix arrangement will be described in detail below.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied has the characteristics (i) to (iii) as described above. That is, the emitted electrons from the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be controlled by the peak value and width of the pulse voltage applied between the opposing device electrodes at the threshold voltage or higher. On the other hand, below the threshold voltage, it is hardly emitted. According to this characteristic, even when a large number of electron-emitting devices are arranged, if a pulsed voltage is appropriately applied to each device,
The electron emission amount can be controlled by selecting the surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the input signal.

Based on this principle, an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to FIG. In FIG. 8, 801 is an electron source substrate, 802 is an X-direction wiring, 8
Reference numeral 03 is a Y-direction wiring. Reference numeral 804 is a surface conduction electron-emitting device, 805 is a wire connection, and 806 is a shield wire. still,
The surface conduction electron-emitting device 804 may be either the flat type or the vertical type described above.

The m X-direction wirings 802 are Dx1 and Dx.
2 ,. ． ． It is made of Dxm and can be made of a conductive metal or the like formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. The wiring material, film thickness, and width are appropriately designed. The Y-direction wiring 803 includes DY1, DY2 ,. ． ． DY
It is composed of n wirings of n and is formed similarly to the X-direction wiring 802. The shield wire 806 is also formed in the same manner. An interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is provided between the m X-direction wirings 802 and the n Y-direction wirings 803 to electrically separate the two (m and n are both positive). Integer).

The interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is composed of SiO ₂ or the like formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method or the like. For example, the substrate 80 on which the X-direction wiring 802 is formed
A film having a desired shape is formed on the entire surface or a part of No. 1 and 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 802 and the Y-direction wiring 803. X
The direction wiring 802 and the Y direction wiring 803 are drawn out as external terminals. Also, the shield wire is connected to the ground. Here, it is not necessary to connect the shield wire to the ground, and a desired voltage may be applied.

The pair of electrodes (not shown) forming the surface-conduction type electron-emitting device 804 include m X-direction wirings 802 and n.
Book Y direction wiring 803 and connection 80 made of conductive metal or the like
It is electrically connected by 5.

Materials for forming the wirings 802 and 803,
The material forming the connection 805 and the material forming the pair of device electrodes may be the same or different in some or all of the constituent elements. These materials are
For example, it is appropriately selected from the above-mentioned material of the device electrode. If the material forming the device electrodes and the wiring material are the same,
The wiring connected to the device electrode can also be called a device electrode.

A scanning signal applying means (not shown) for applying a scanning signal for selecting a row of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 804 arranged in the X direction is connected to the X-direction wiring 802. On the other hand, the Y-direction wiring 803 is connected to a modulation signal generating means (not shown) for modulating each column of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 804 arranged in the Y direction according to an input signal. The driving voltage applied to each electron-emitting device is supplied as a difference voltage between the scanning signal and the modulation signal applied to the device. In the above structure, individual elements can be selected and driven independently by using simple matrix wiring.

An image forming apparatus constructed by using an electron source having such a simple matrix arrangement will be described with reference to FIGS. 9, 10 and 11. 9 is a schematic view showing an example of a display panel of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a fluorescent film used in the image forming apparatus of FIG. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of a drive circuit for displaying according to an NTSC television signal.

In FIG. 9, reference numeral 901 denotes an electron source substrate on which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged, 902 a rear plate to which the electron source substrate 901 is fixed, and 903 a fluorescent film 905, a metal back 906 and the like formed on the inner surface of a glass substrate 904. It is a face plate. Reference numeral 907 denotes a support frame, and the support frame 9
07 includes a rear plate 902 and a face plate 90.
3 are connected using frit glass or the like. 908
Is an envelope, for example, in air or nitrogen, 4
It is formed by sealing by firing at a temperature range of 00 to 500 ° C. for 10 minutes or more.

Reference numeral 909 corresponds to the electron emitting portion in FIG. Reference numerals 910 and 911 denote an X-direction wiring and a Y-direction wiring connected to the pair of device electrodes of the surface conduction electron-emitting device. Further, reference numeral 912 is a shield wire.

The envelope 908 is composed of the face plate 903, the support frame 907, and the rear plate 902 as described above. Since the rear plate 902 is provided mainly for the purpose of reinforcing the strength of the substrate 901, if the substrate 901 itself has a sufficient strength, the separate rear plate 902 can be omitted. That is, the support frame 9 is directly attached to the substrate 901.
07 is sealed, and the face plate 903 and the support frame 907 are attached.
Alternatively, the substrate 901 may form the envelope 908. On the other hand, by installing a support body (not shown) called a spacer between the face plate 903 and the rear plate 902, the envelope 90 having sufficient strength against atmospheric pressure is provided.
8 can also be configured. Further, S is a shield wire terminal.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the fluorescent film 905 of FIG. In the case of monochrome, the fluorescent film 905 can be composed of only a fluorescent material. In the case of a color phosphor film, a black conductive material 1001 called a black stripe or a black matrix depending on the arrangement of phosphors.
And a phosphor 1002. The purpose of providing the black stripes and the black matrix is to display each of the three primary color phosphors 1 required for color display.
The purpose is to make the mixed-colored portions between 002 black so as to make the color mixture inconspicuous and to suppress the deterioration of the contrast due to the reflection of external light on the fluorescent film 905. As the material of the black stripe, in addition to a commonly used material containing graphite as a main component, a material having conductivity and having little light transmission and reflection can be used.

As a method for applying the phosphor to the glass substrate 904, a precipitation method, a printing method or the like can be adopted regardless of monochrome or color. A metal back 906 is usually provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 905. The purpose of providing the metal back is to improve the brightness by specularly reflecting the light to the inner surface side of the light emission of the phosphor to the face plate 903 side, and to act as an electrode for applying an electron beam acceleration voltage, This is to protect the phosphor from damage due to collision of negative ions generated in the envelope. The metal back can be manufactured by performing a smoothing process (usually called “filming”) on the inner surface of the fluorescent film after manufacturing the fluorescent film, and then depositing Al using vacuum deposition or the like.

The face plate 903 may be provided with a transparent electrode (not shown) on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 905 in order to further enhance the conductivity of the fluorescent film 905.

When performing the above-mentioned sealing, in the case of color, it is necessary to associate each color phosphor with the electron-emitting device.
Sufficient alignment is essential.

The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 9 is manufactured, for example, as follows. Envelope 908 similar to the aforementioned stabilization step, while being heated appropriately, an ion pump, and exhausted through an exhaust pipe (not shown) by an exhaust device not using oil, such as a sorption pump, of about 10 ^-7 Torr After making the atmosphere of the organic material having a vacuum degree sufficiently small, sealing is performed. A getter process can be performed in order to maintain a vacuum after the envelope 908 is sealed. This is done by heating using resistance heating or high frequency heating immediately before or after sealing the envelope 908.
It is a process of heating a getter arranged at a predetermined position (not shown) in 08 to form a vapor deposition film. The getter usually contains Ba or the like as a main component, and maintains a vacuum degree of, for example, 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ or 1 × 10 ⁻⁷ Torr by the adsorption action of the vapor deposition film. Here, the process after the forming process of the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be set appropriately.

Next, a configuration example of a drive circuit for performing television display based on a television signal of the NTSC system on a display panel constructed by using an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement will be described with reference to FIG. .

In FIG. 11, 1101 is an image display panel, 1102 is a scanning circuit, 1103 is a control circuit, 1
Reference numeral 104 is a shift register. 1105 is a line memory, 1106 is a synchronizing signal separation circuit, 1107 is a modulation signal generator, and Vx and Va are DC voltage sources. Further, a shield wire terminal (not shown) is connected to the ground.

The display panel 1101 includes terminals Dox1 to Doxm, terminals Doy1 to Doyn, and a high voltage terminal H.
It is connected to an external electric circuit via v. Terminal Dox
1 to Doxm are provided for sequentially driving the electron sources provided in the display panel, that is, the surface conduction electron-emitting device groups which are matrix-wired in a matrix of M rows and N columns row by row (N elements). A scanning signal is applied.

A modulation signal for controlling the output electron beam of each element of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices of one row selected by the scanning signal is applied to the terminals Dy1 to Dyn. The high-voltage terminal Hv is supplied with a DC voltage of, for example, 10 K [V] from the DC voltage source Va, which is sufficient to excite the phosphor into the electron beam emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device. It is an accelerating voltage for applying energy. The scanning circuit 102 will be described. The circuit is
It has M switching elements inside (in the figure,
(S1 to Sm are schematically shown). Each switching element is the output voltage of the DC voltage source Vx or 0.
One of [V] (ground level) is selected and electrically connected to the terminals Dx1 to Dxm of the display panel 1101. Each of the switching elements S1 to Sm operates based on the control signal Tscan output by the control circuit 1103, and can be configured by combining switching elements such as FETs.

In the case of the present example, the DC voltage source Vx is an electron emission threshold value which is a drive voltage applied to an element which is not scanned based on the characteristics (electron emission threshold voltage) of the surface conduction electron-emitting element. It is set to output a constant voltage that is less than or equal to the voltage.

The control circuit 1103 has a function of matching the operation of each unit so that an appropriate display is performed based on an image signal input from the outside. The control circuit 1103 is
Sync signal Tsy sent from sync signal separation circuit 1106
Tscan and Tsf for each part based on nc
Generate t and Tmry control signals.

The sync signal separation circuit 1106 is a circuit for separating the sync signal component and the luminance signal component from the NTSC system television signal input from the outside, and uses a general frequency separation (filter) circuit or the like. Can be configured. The sync signal separated by the sync signal separation circuit 1106 includes a vertical sync signal and a horizontal sync signal, but it is shown here as a Tsync signal for convenience of description. The luminance signal component of the image separated from the television signal is represented as a DATA signal for convenience. The DATA signal is input to the shift register 1104.

The shift register 1104 is for serial / parallel conversion of the DATA signals serially input in time series for each line of the image, and is based on the control signal Tsft sent from the control circuit 1103. The control signal Tsft can be said to be a shift lock of the shift register 1104. The serial / parallel converted image data for one line (corresponding to drive data for N electron emission elements) is output from the shift register 1104 as N parallel signals Id1 to Idn.

The line memory 1105 is a storage device for storing data for one line of an image for a required time, and stores the contents of Id1 to Idn as appropriate in accordance with the control signal Tmry sent from the control circuit 1103. The stored contents are output as I′d1 to I′dn and input to the modulation signal generator 1107.

The modulation signal generator 1107 is a signal source for appropriately driving-modulating each of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices according to each of the image data I'd1 to I'dn, and the output signal thereof is It is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the display panel 1101 through the terminals Doy1 to Doyn.

As described above, the electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied has the following basic characteristics with respect to the emission current Ie. That is, a clear threshold voltage Vth is required for electron emission.
Therefore, electron emission occurs only when a voltage higher than Vth is applied. For voltages above the electron emission threshold,
The emission current also changes according to the change in the voltage applied to the element.
Therefore, when a pulsed voltage is applied to this element, for example, electron emission does not occur even if a voltage below the electron emission threshold is applied, but when a voltage above the electron emission threshold is applied, an electron beam is emitted. Is output. At that time, the intensity of the output electron beam can be controlled by changing the peak value Vm of the pulse. Further, it is possible to control the total amount of charges of the electron beam output by changing the pulse width Pw.

Therefore, as a method of modulating the electron-emitting device according to the input signal, a voltage modulation method, a pulse width modulation method or the like can be adopted. When carrying out the voltage modulation method, as the modulation signal generator 1107, a circuit of a voltage modulation method that generates a voltage pulse of a fixed length and appropriately modulates the peak value of the pulse according to the input data is used. be able to.

When implementing the pulse width modulation method,
As the modulation signal generator 1107, a pulse width modulation type circuit that generates a voltage pulse having a constant crest value and appropriately modulates the width of the voltage pulse according to input data can be used.

The shift register 1104 and the line memory 1
The digital signal type 105 and the analog signal type can be adopted as 105. This is because the serial / parallel conversion and storage of the image signal may be performed at a predetermined speed.

When the digital signal type is used, it is necessary to convert the output signal DATA of the sync signal separation circuit 1106 into a digital signal.
A D converter may be provided. In relation to this, the circuit used for the modulation signal generator 1107 is slightly different depending on whether the output signal of the line memory 1105 is a digital signal or an analog signal. That is, in the case of the voltage modulation method using a digital signal, for example, a D / A conversion circuit is used for the modulation signal generator 1107, and an amplification circuit or the like is added if necessary. In the case of the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 11
For 07, for example, a circuit in which a high-speed oscillator, a counter for counting the number of waves output from the oscillator, and a comparator for comparing the output value of the counter with the output value of the memory are used. If necessary, an amplifier for voltage-amplifying the pulse-width-modulated modulation signal output from the comparator to the drive voltage of the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be added.

In the case of the voltage modulation method using an analog signal, the modulation signal generator 1107 can employ an amplifier circuit using, for example, an operational amplifier, and a level shift circuit or the like can be added if necessary. In the case of the pulse width modulation method, for example, a voltage control type oscillation circuit (VCO)
Can be adopted, and an amplifier for amplifying the voltage up to the driving voltage of the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be added if necessary.

In the image display device to which the present invention having such a structure can be applied, the electron emission element is electron-emitting by applying a voltage to each electron-emitting element through the terminals Dox1 to Doxm and Doy1 to Doyn. Occurs.
A high voltage is applied to the metal back 906 or a transparent electrode (not shown) via the high voltage terminal Hv to accelerate the electron beam. The accelerated electrons collide with the fluorescent film 905 and emit light to form an image.

The configuration of the image forming apparatus described here is an example of the image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention. As for the input signal, the NTSC system has been mentioned, but the input signal is not limited to these, and the PAL, SECAM system, etc., and a TV signal composed of a larger number of scanning lines (for example, the MUSE system, etc.). High-definition TV) system can also be adopted.

Next, a ladder type electron source and an image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. Figure 1
2 is a schematic view showing an example of a ladder-type electron source. In FIG. 12, 1201 is an electron source substrate, 1202
Is an electron-emitting device. 1203, Dx1 to Dx10
Is a common wiring for connecting the electron-emitting devices 1202. The electron-emitting device 1202 is formed on the substrate 1201 by X
A plurality of elements are arranged in parallel in the direction (this is called an element row). A plurality of such element rows are arranged to form an electron source. 1204 is a shield wire.

By applying a drive voltage between the common lines of each element row, each element row can be driven independently.
That is, a voltage equal to or higher than the electron emission threshold value is applied to the element row where the electron beam is desired to be emitted, and a voltage equal to or lower than the electron emission threshold value is applied to the element row which does not emit the electron beam. The common wirings Dx2 to Dx9 between the element rows are, for example, Dx2 and Dx.
3 can be the same wiring.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing an example of a panel structure in an image forming apparatus provided with a ladder-type electron source. 1301 is a grid electrode, 1302 is a hole for passing electrons, and 1303 are Dox1, Dox2 ,. ． ．
It is a terminal outside the container made of Doxm. 1304 are G1, G2 ,. ． ． Gn
1305 is an electron source substrate in which the common wiring between each element row is the same wiring, and 1306 is a shield wire. In FIG. 13, the same parts as those shown in FIGS. 9 and 12 are designated by the same reference numerals as those shown in these figures.

A major difference between the image forming apparatus shown here and the image forming apparatus having the simple matrix arrangement shown in FIG. 9 is whether or not the grid electrode 1301 is provided between the electron source substrate 1305 and the face plate 903. Is.

In FIG. 13, a grid electrode 1301 is provided between the substrate 1305 and the face plate 903. The grid electrode 1301 is for modulating the electron beam emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device, and is for passing the electron beam through a striped electrode provided orthogonally to the ladder-shaped element rows. ,
A circular opening 1302 is provided for each element. The shape and installation position of the grid are not limited to those shown in FIG. For example, it is possible to provide a large number of passage openings in a mesh shape as openings, and it is also possible to provide a grid around or near the surface conduction electron-emitting device.

The outside-container terminal 1303 and the grid outside-container terminal 1304 are electrically connected to a control circuit (not shown).

In the image forming apparatus of this example, the modulation signals for one image line are simultaneously applied to the grid electrode columns in synchronization with the sequential driving (scanning) of the element rows column by column. This makes it possible to control the irradiation of the phosphor with each electron beam and display the image line by line.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention may be used as a display apparatus for television broadcasting, a display apparatus such as a TV conference system or a computer, and also as an image forming apparatus as an optical printer constituted by using a photosensitive drum or the like. Can be used.

[0111]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to specific examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples, and each element within the range in which the object of the present invention is achieved. It also includes those that have been replaced or the design changed.

Embodiment 1 An embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 14
, 1401 is a rear plate, 1402 is an X-direction wiring take-out portion, 1403 is a Y-direction wiring take-out portion, 1
404 is a support frame, 1405 is an anode electrode take-out portion,
Reference numerals 1406 and 1407 denote shield wires, and 1408 denotes an anode electrode. For comparison, an image forming apparatus having no shielded wire was used. Here, the height of the support frame is 3 mm
Is.

A desired voltage was applied to the X-direction wiring and the Y-direction wiring to drive the device, and a high voltage was gradually applied to the anode electrode. In the image forming apparatus used as a comparative example, discharge was generated at an anode voltage of 4.7 kV, and the elements arranged in the vicinity of the anode electrode extraction portion were deteriorated. On the other hand, in the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment in which the shield electrode is arranged, deterioration of the element due to discharge was not observed even at the anode voltage of 6.5 kV. Here, shielded wire 14
No. 06 has a width of 1 mm and is arranged with a space of 50 μm from the element formation region. In addition, the shield wire 1407 has a width of 2
The distance from the shielded wire 1406 is 100 mm and the distance is 100 μm. Then, each shield wire was connected to the ground.

Embodiment 2 An embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Figure 15
, 1501 is a rear plate, 1502 is an X-direction wiring take-out portion, 1503 is a Y-direction wiring take-out portion,
504 is a support frame, 1505 is an anode electrode take-out portion,
1506 is a shield wire and 1508 is an anode electrode. For comparison, an image forming apparatus having no shielded wire was used. Here, the height of the support frame is 3 mm.

A desired voltage was applied to the X-direction wiring and the Y-direction wiring to drive the device, and a high voltage was gradually applied to the anode electrode. In the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment in which the shield electrode is arranged, deterioration of the element due to discharge was not observed even at the anode voltage of 6.5 kV. Here, the shield wire 1506 has a width of 5 mm, and the distance from the element formation region is 20 μm.
It was arranged in a space of m. And 100 for the shielded wire
V was applied. Here, although a simple matrix structure has been described in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and the same effect can be obtained also for a ladder-type electron source.

[0116]

【The invention's effect】

(I) It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing element deterioration due to discharge and having few defects due to discharge deterioration. (Ii) Even if a high voltage is applied to the anode, element deterioration due to discharge does not occur, so that a high voltage can be applied and a high-luminance image forming apparatus can be provided. (Iii) Even if a high voltage is applied to the anode, element deterioration due to discharge does not occur, so that a high voltage can be applied and a highly efficient image forming apparatus can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view and a sectional view showing the configuration of a surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an example of a method of manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a voltage waveform in an energization forming process that can be adopted when manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a vacuum processing apparatus having a measurement / evaluation function.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing an example of a relationship between an emission current Ie, a device current If, and a device voltage Vf for a surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing an example of a matrix-arranged electron source to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing an example of a display panel of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing an example of a fluorescent film.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of a drive circuit for displaying an image according to an NTSC television signal on the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a ladder-arranged electron source to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a display panel of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a schematic view showing an example of a conventional surface conduction electron-emitting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 101 electron source substrate 102 X-direction wiring extraction portion 103 Y-direction wiring extraction portion 104 support frame 105 anode electrode 106 shield wire 201 substrates 202, 203 element electrode 204 conductive thin film 205 electron emission portion 301 step forming portion 401 substrates 402, 403 Element electrode 404 Conductive thin film 405 Electron emission portion 600 Ammeter 601 for measuring an element current If flowing through the conductive thin film 204 between the element electrodes 202 and 203 Power source 602 for applying an element voltage Vf to the electron emission element Ammeter 603 for measuring the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission part 205 of the device, the high voltage power supply 604, the anode electrode 605 for capturing the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission part of the device, the vacuum device 606, the exhaust pump 801 the electron Source board 802 X-direction wiring 803 Y-direction wiring 804 Surface conduction electron-emitting device 805 Connection 806 Shield line 901 Electron source substrate 902 Rear plate 903 Face plate 904 Glass substrate 905 Fluorescent film 906 Metal back 907 Support frame 908 Envelope 909 Electron emission part 910 X direction wiring 911 Y direction Wiring 912 Shielded wire 1001 Black conductive material 1002 Phosphor 1101 Image display display panel 1102 Scanning circuit 1103 Control circuit 1104 Shift register 1105 Line memory 1106 Synchronous signal separation circuit 1107 Modulation signal generator Vx, Va DC voltage source 1201 Electron source substrate 1202 Electron Emissive elements 1203 Dx1 to Dx10 have holes 1303 Dox1, Dox2 ,. ． ． Do
xm terminal outside the container 1304 G1, G2 ,. ． ． Outer terminal 1305 made of Gn Electron source substrate 1306 Shield wire 1401 Rear plate 1402 X-direction wiring extraction portion 1403 Y-direction wiring extraction portion 1404 Support frame 1405 Anode electrode extraction portions 1406, 1407 Shield wire 1408 Anode electrode 1501 Rear plate 1502 X direction Wiring extraction portion 1503 Y direction wiring extraction portion 1504 Support frame 1505 Anode electrode extraction portion 1506 Shield wire 1508 Anode electrode 1601 Substrate 1604 Conductive thin film 1605 Electron emission portion

Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP-A-1-283735 (JP, A) JP-A-8-180801 (JP, A) JP-A-2-257552 (JP, A) JP-A-7-320667 (JP , A) JP 3-250543 (JP, A) JP 7-235257 (JP, A) JP 5-120990 (JP, A) JP 8-321254 (JP, A) JP 52-11756 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/44 H01J 1/316 H01J 31/12

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices, and
Wiring for electrically connecting a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices
In an image forming apparatus having an electron source substrate having an electron source composed of , and a substrate having an anode electrode arranged at a position facing the electron source substrate through a side wall and facing the electron source, An electrode electrically connected to a means for applying a potential is arranged on the electron source substrate by the electron source so that the current transmitted to the side wall due to the high voltage applied to the anode electrode escapes to the outside.
Image forming apparatus characterized by a location area outside is disposed in the vicinity <br/> of the surface conduction electron-emitting device. Wherein said electrode is the electron source is arranged Ryo
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is arranged around the area . 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.
Video conferencing system for television broadcasting using
Or for computer display
Display device.