JPH0982247A - Linear thermal electron source-cold cathode electron source type residual molecule desorption acceleration device and image display device equipped with the device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate the desorption of an adsorbed residual molecule in an image display device by supplying power to a conductive wire extended in a vacuum vessel, and desorbing and discharging the adsorbed molecule via the irradiation of electrons to the inner wall of the vacuum vessel. SOLUTION: Power is fed under the application of voltage to a linear thermal electron source 105 mounted on a jig 106 as a source for forming a linear thermal electron source and cold cathode electron source type residual molecule desorption acceleration device and, then, thermal electron generated from the linear thermal electron source 105 are accelerated and caused to collide with a face plate 101 and a rear plate 103 with sufficient kinetic energy. Adsorbed molecule are thereby desorbed. As a result, the desorption of adsorbed residual molecule in a flat image display device can be facilitated without any high temperature baking at the time of exhausting the device and without any harm to an electron emission element for image display. At the same time, a degassing volume within the image display device can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for reducing gas generated from the inside of a vacuum container requiring high vacuum and residual molecules adsorbed on the inner wall of the vacuum container, and further, maintaining a high vacuum inside. The present invention relates to a flat image display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, flat panel image display devices include plasma displays, EL display devices, and flat panel image display devices using electron beams, and the demand for larger screens and higher definition is increasing. There is an increasing need for self-luminous flat panel image display devices. An image display device which mainly excites a phosphor to emit light, such as a display device using a fluorescent display tube as an image forming device, a field emission type and a surface conduction type electron-emitting device,
It has the advantages of being flat and bright and easy to see, and is actively applied and expected in industry.

There are various types of thin image display devices (for example, a surface conduction type element is used as an electron beam generation source, which accelerates an electron beam to irradiate a phosphor to emit light to display an image.
(See Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 3-261024).
3 and 4 are a perspective view and a cross-sectional view of an image display device as an example. In FIGS. 3 and 4, reference numeral 300 denotes an exhaust pipe for exhausting the inside of the image display device (the figure shows a state after sealing), 301 denotes a rear plate made of soda-lime glass that constitutes an electron-emitting device, and 302. Reference numeral 303 denotes an electrode installed at a fixed interval, and 304 denotes an electrode 30.
A thin film including an electron emitting portion provided between the second and the third electrodes 30
Reference numeral 8 is a face plate made of soda-lime glass on which a metal back 309 and a phosphor 310 are formed, 311 is an outer frame, and 314 is a getter material container. The getter material container 314 is fixed to a getter material container fixing jig 313 and accommodates a getter material for maintaining a vacuum in the panel inside. The evaporation type getter material is a face plate 308 or a rear plate 301. Is deposited on.

Now, a method of manufacturing the image display device will be described with reference to FIGS. The airtight container which is the main body of the image display device is evacuated through the exhaust pipe 300, and after degassing by baking, a part of the exhaust pipe is heated to melt and sealed (blocked, cut). Finally, the getter material container 314 installed inside the airtight container is heated, and the evaporation type getter material contained therein is vapor-deposited on the face plate 308 or the rear plate 301 to complete the image display device.

Now, the surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described. As such a surface conduction electron-emitting device,
Au thin film [G.Ditt]
mer: "Thin Solid Films", 9,317 (1972)], In ₂ O ₃
/ SnO ₂ thin film [M.Hartwell and CGFonst
ad: "IEEE Trans. ED Conf.", 519 (1975)], by carbon thin film [Haraki Araki et al .: Vacuum, Vol. 26, No. 1,
22 (1983)]. As a typical device configuration of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, the aforementioned M.S. The Hartwell device configuration is shown in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 501 denotes an insulating substrate. Reference numeral 502 denotes a thin film for forming an electron emitting portion, which is made of a metal oxide thin film or the like formed by sputtering on an H-shaped pattern, and the electron emitting portion 503 is formed by an energization process called forming described later.
Reference numeral 504 denotes a thin film including an electron-emitting portion. In addition, L in the figure is set to 0.5 to 1 mm, and W is set to 0.1 mm.

Conventionally, in these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, the electron-emitting portion forming thin film 5 is formed before electron emission.
In general, the electron-emitting portion 503 was previously formed by applying an energizing process called forming in advance. That is,
Forming refers to an electron emitting portion 503 in which a voltage is applied to both ends of the electron emitting portion forming thin film 502 and the electron emitting portion forming thin film is locally destroyed, deformed or deteriorated, and is in an electrically high-resistance state. Is to form In the electron emitting portion 503, a crack is generated in a part of the electron emitting portion forming thin film 502, and electrons are emitted from the vicinity of the crack. Hereinafter, the electron emitting portion forming thin film 502 including the electron emitting portion formed by forming will be referred to as a thin film 504 including an electron emitting portion. The surface conduction electron-emitting device that has undergone the forming process is a thin film 504 including the above-mentioned electron-emitting portion.
Electrons are emitted from the electron emitting portion 503 described above by applying a voltage to the element and passing a current through the element.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device described above has an advantage that a large number of devices can be arrayed over a large area because it has a simple structure and is easy to manufacture. Therefore, by utilizing this feature, various applications are possible, and as described above, it is also suitable for the image display device. That is, in recent years, flat panel display devices using liquid crystal have become popular in place of CRTs, but there are problems such as having to have a backlight because they are not self-luminous, and thus self-luminous display devices. Has been desired. On the other hand, an image display device, which is a display device combining a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices and a phosphor that emits visible light by electrons emitted from the electron source, is a large-screen device. Is a self-luminous display device that can be manufactured relatively easily and has excellent display quality (see, for example, US Pat. No. 5,066,883).

However, in the flat panel display device as described above, it is necessary to continuously and stably emit electrons from the display conduction type electron-emitting device portion for stable image display. The electron emission capacity of the surface conduction electron-emitting device driven by the residual molecules adsorbed on the surface may decrease, and the decrease of the electron emission capacity seems to depend on the adsorption amount of the residual molecules. Therefore, it is considered necessary to reduce the adsorption residual molecules on the device surface as much as possible.

Generally, a vacuum tube, a Braun tube, etc., which requires a vacuum atmosphere like the flat panel display device, undergoes a heating process during evacuation called baking, so
Decrease residual molecules on the container surface. In addition to this, by driving the built-in electron gun in a cathode ray tube and irradiating an electron beam into the vacuum container, the adsorption residual molecules are given enough energy to desorb them from the inner wall of the vacuum container. Introducing a process called aging that promotes exhaust.

[0010]

However, the above-mentioned residual molecule desorption means has the following problems. In the baking process, the baking temperature is high, and the longer the time, the greater the effect. In particular, high baking temperature is important. Therefore, the vacuum tube, the Braun tube, etc. should be baked at the highest temperature possible. However, the flat panel display device may not be able to reach a baking temperature equivalent to that of a vacuum tube or a cathode ray tube in order to protect its element portion and wiring portion from heat damage.

Further, in the aging process, the device is damaged in a considerable amount by driving the device in the presence of a large amount of residual molecules, and the electron emission capability inherent in the surface conduction electron-emitting device is obtained. I can't fully demonstrate. Further, there is a problem that the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the flat panel display device has to have a higher vacuum than that of a vacuum tube or a cathode ray tube.

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems found in the above-mentioned conventional examples, without performing high temperature baking at the time of exhausting the flat panel image display device, and also damaging the electron-emitting device for image display. In addition, it promotes desorption of adsorbed residual molecules in the image display device and can reduce the amount of degassing in the image display device. Acceleration of desorption of residual molecules using linear thermionic and cold cathode electron sources. An object of the present invention is to provide an image display apparatus including the apparatus and the promotion apparatus.

[0013]

[Means and Actions for Solving the Problems]
This is achieved by the present invention described below. That is, the present invention relates to a vacuum container equipped with a linear thermoelectron source / cold cathode electron source utilization type residual molecule desorption promoting device, in which a conductive wire is stretched from one end to the other end in the vacuum container, A vacuum container and a linear thermoelectron source / cold cathode electron source type residual that is characterized by deactivating and adsorbing adsorbed molecules on the inner wall by energizing by applying voltage to the wire and irradiating electrons to the inner wall of the vacuum container. A molecular desorption promoting device is disclosed.

Further, according to the present invention, in an image display device comprising a linear thermoelectron source / cold cathode electron source utilization type residual molecule desorption promoting device, a conductive wire is extended from one end to the other end of the image display device. And energize by applying a voltage to the conductive wire,
Disclosed is an image display device and a linear thermoelectron source / cold cathode electron source utilization type residual molecule desorption promoting device, characterized in that an inner wall of the image display device is irradiated with electrons to desorb and discharge adsorbed molecules on the inner wall. It is a thing. Furthermore, the present invention provides a flat-panel image display device equipped with a linear thermoelectron source / cold-cathode electron source utilization type residual molecule desorption promoting device, wherein the flat-panel image display device has a phosphor surface and an element substrate surface. A linear thermoelectron source that extends a conductive wire from one end to the other end, energizes it by applying a voltage to the conductive wire, and desorbs and exhausts adsorbed molecules by irradiating the phosphor surface and the element substrate surface with electrons. The present invention also discloses a flat image display device and a linear thermoelectron source / cold cathode electron source utilization type residual molecule desorption promoting device characterized by being installed and used separately from the image display electron source. is there.

The present invention has been completed as a result of repeated research by the present inventors to solve various problems in the residual molecule desorbing means of a flat image display device. The means for desorbing residual molecules and the structure thereof according to the present invention are as follows.

One or a plurality of linear electron sources attached to the frame or the inner column of the image display device so as not to obstruct the electron beam for image display in the image display device, and the image in the space inside the image display device. The thermoelectrons can be emitted by extending in parallel with the display surface. The linear thermionic electron source is electrically insulated from the rear plate with the surface conduction electron-emitting device and the face plate with the phosphor, and between the linear thermionic source and the face plate or rear plate. By applying a high potential, it is possible to irradiate the inside of the image display device with high-energy thermoelectrons to promote desorption of adsorbed residual molecules.

According to the present invention, a linear thermoelectron source extending from one end to the other end is provided in the image display device, and when the gas is exhausted, thermions are emitted to irradiate the inside of the vacuum container to remove adsorbed residual molecules on the inner wall of the vacuum container. It is characterized by separating. The present invention also includes an image display device having a structure for performing the above method.

The above-described adsorption residual molecule desorption device of the present invention and the image display device equipped with the adsorption residual molecule desorption device emit thermoelectrons in the vacuum container and irradiate the inner wall of the container to increase the baking temperature. Even at a lower temperature than conventionally required, it is possible to sufficiently desorb adsorbed residual molecules after baking and exhaust them. Further, since irradiation with an electron beam in the vacuum container, that is, aging can be performed without driving the image display electron-emitting device of the image display device, the electron emission capability of the device may be impaired by the adsorbed residual molecules. Absent.

As described above, according to the present invention, the thermal damage due to the baking of the image display device is reduced, the electron-emitting device portion is prevented from being damaged during the aging, the life of the image display device is prolonged, the stability is improved, and the characteristics are improved. Can be achieved.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an exhaust mode embodiment of an image display device will be described in detail with reference to the drawings with respect to a configuration and a use method according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a linear thermoelectron source utilization type adsorption residual molecule desorption promoting apparatus of the present invention and a flat image display apparatus having the apparatus in its structure. The above device will be described below with reference to FIG. In the figure, 101 is a face plate having a phosphor surface and a metal back, 102 is an outer frame, 103 is a rear plate on which a surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 is installed, and 108 is an exhaust pipe. Reference numeral 105 is a linear thermoelectron source.

The linear thermoelectron source 105 is attached to the jig 106 to form an adsorption residual molecule desorption promoting device.
Reference numeral 106 is attached to the outer frame 102, and is electrically insulated from the face plate 101, the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104, and the rear plate 103. Jig 106 is outer frame 1
Power can be supplied to the linear thermoelectron source 105 from outside the image display device through 02, and when the linear thermoelectron source 105 emits thermoelectrons, the electric power is supplied to the heat or the linear thermoelectron source. The outer frame 102, rear plate 1
03, it serves to insulate the face plate 101.

The jig 106 has a linear thermoelectron source 105.
Is a metal fitting 1 having the role of relaxing the slack of a wire due to thermal expansion and the tension at the time of contraction during energization heating for thermionic emission.
07 is connected. The material of the linear thermoelectron source 105 is
A material suitable for satisfying conditions such as excellent durability at a temperature for releasing a required amount of thermoelectrons, a small amount of gas released from a linear thermoelectron source, and resistance to mechanical stress is selected.

2 (a) and 2 (b) are schematic side views of a linear thermoelectron source utilization type adsorption residual molecule desorption promoting apparatus of the present invention in a flat plate image display apparatus. In the figure,
The linear thermoelectron source 205 is energized and heated to emit thermoelectrons. At this time, a positive voltage is applied to the linear thermoelectron source 205 to one or both of the face plate 201 and the rear plate 203. In principle, the applied positive voltage can be increased to the withstand voltage limit of the linear thermoelectron source 205, the outer frame 202 that insulates the mounting member 208 from the face plate 201, and the rear plate 203, and the jig 206.

In actual operation, it is necessary to determine the applied voltage to an appropriate value in consideration of damage to the surface conduction electron-emitting device 204 and the phosphor surface 207 of the face plate. The thermoelectrons generated from the linear thermoelectron source 205 are accelerated by the electric field in the image display device generated by the applied voltage, collide with the face plate 201 and the rear plate 203 with sufficient kinetic energy, and desorb the adsorbed molecules. At this time, the kinetic energy of the thermoelectrons corresponds to a temperature of about 10,000 degrees Celsius or more per volt. Since the desorption of the residual adsorbed molecules can be performed up to several hundred degrees, this kinetic energy is large enough to desorb the residual adsorbed molecules. Therefore, it is possible to sufficiently reduce the residual molecules adsorbed in the flat image display device by generating and colliding a sufficient amount of thermoelectrons.

As a precaution of this detaching step, the linear thermoelectron source 205 is thermally insulated from the face plate 201, the outer frame 202, and the rear plate 203 by the vacuum in the flat plate image display device and the jig 206. However, due to the radiant heat from the thermoelectron source and the heat conduction of the jig, the face plate 201,
The outer frame 202 and the rear plate 203 may be heated, and distortion or the like due to thermal expansion may occur. Therefore, when the apparatus of the present invention is used, it is necessary to constantly check the temperature rise of a portion where the temperature may rise, and to control the current value of the linear thermoelectron source 205 and the acceleration applied voltage of the thermoelectrons.

Further, the linear thermoelectron source 205 is the actual element 2
04 is driven, the rear plate 203 is considered in consideration of the potential difference between the rear plate 203 and the face plate 201.
If no potential is applied to the element, the electron emission trajectory from the element 204 may be distorted, which may hinder the image display. This voltage application prevents the image display from being disturbed by thermionic emission from the linear thermionic electron source 205. Therefore, both ends of the linear thermionic electron source must be at the same potential so that no current flows in the linear thermionic electron source. Is. It is desirable that the installation position of the linear thermoelectron source 205 is also set at a position that does not hinder image display as much as possible.
Further, it is also possible to make the shape a net structure through which the electron beam from the element can pass.

It is desirable that the above-mentioned device for promoting adsorption / desorption of residual molecules using a linear thermoelectron source is operated during exhaust, but even if the device is operated after sealing the image display device, it is similar to a getter or the like in the image display device. If installed, it is effective in reducing pressure.

The basic configuration of the surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied is roughly classified into two types: a planar type and a vertical type. First, the planar surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described. FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied, in which (a) is a plan view,
(B) is a sectional view.

In FIG. 6, $ 1 is a substrate, $ 2 and $ 3 are element electrodes, $ 4 is a conductive thin film, and $ 5 is an electron emitting portion.
As the substrate $ 1, use is made of quartz glass, glass having a reduced content of impurities such as Na, soda-lime glass, a glass substrate in which SiO ₂ formed on the soda-lime glass by sputtering or the like is laminated, ceramics such as alumina, and a Si substrate. be able to.

As a material for the opposing element electrodes $ 2 and $ 3, a general conductor material can be used. This is, for example, Ni, Cr, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al,
Metals or alloys such as Cu, Pd and Pd, Ag, Au, R
Select appropriately from a printed conductor composed of a metal such as uO ₂ , Pd-Ag or the like and a metal oxide and glass, a transparent conductor such as In ₂ O ₃ -SnO ₂ and a semiconductor conductor material such as polysilicon. You can

The element electrode interval L, the element electrode length W, the shape of the conductive thin film $ 4, etc. are designed in consideration of the applied form. The element electrode spacing L can be preferably in the range of several thousand angstroms to several hundreds of micrometers, and more preferably several micrometers to several tens of micrometers in consideration of the voltage applied between the device electrodes. It can be a range.

The device electrode length W can be set in the range of several micrometers to several hundred micrometers in consideration of the resistance value of the electrodes and the electron emission characteristics. Element electrode $ 2,
A film thickness d of $ 3 can range from a few hundred Angstroms to a few micrometers. In addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 6, the conductive thin film $ 4, the opposing element electrodes $ 2, and $ 3 may be stacked in this order on the substrate $ 1.

For the conductive thin film $ 4, 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 $ 2 and $ 3, the resistance value between the element electrodes $ 2 and $ 3, and the forming conditions described later, but usually from several angstroms. It is preferably in the range of several thousand angstroms, more preferably in the range of 10 angstroms to 500 angstroms. The resistance value is such that R _s is 10 ² to 10 ⁷ Ω
/ □ value. Note that R _s appears when the resistance R of a thin film having a thickness t, a width w, and a length l is R = R _s (l / w). In the specification of the present application, the forming process will be described by taking an energization process as an example, but the forming process is not limited to this, and includes a process of causing a crack in a film to form a high resistance state. Is.

The material forming the conductive thin film $ 4 is Pd,
Pt, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, In, Cu, Cr, F
e, Zn, Sn, Ta, W, Pb and other metals, PdO, S
nO ₂ , In₂ O_Three , PbO, Sb₂ O_Three Oxides such as
HfB₂ , ZrB₂ , LaB ₆ , CeB₆ , YB_Four , G
dB_Four Boride such as TiC, ZrC, HfC, TaC,
Carbides such as SiC, WC, TiN, ZrN, HfN, etc.
Suitable from nitrides, semiconductors such as Si and Ge, carbon, etc.
It is selected as appropriate. The fine particle film described here refers to a plurality of fine particles.
It is a membrane in which particles are aggregated, and its fine structure is such that fine particles are individual.
In a state of being dispersedly arranged in or close to each other
Or overlapping state (some fine particles are aggregated,
(Including the case where an island-shaped structure is formed as the body)
I have. The size of the fine particles ranges from a few angstroms to thousands of angstroms.
Range of ngstroms, preferably 10 angstroms
Range from 200 angstroms to 200 angstroms.

In the present specification, the term "fine particles" is frequently used, and its meaning will be described. Small particles are called "fine particles" and smaller ones are called "ultra fine particles". It is widely practiced to call a “cluster” smaller than “ultrafine particles” and having a few hundred atoms or less. However, each boundary is not strict, and changes depending on what kind of property is considered and classified. Also, "fine particles" and "ultrafine particles"
May be collectively referred to as “fine particles”, and the description in this specification is in accordance with this.

"Experimental physics course 14 Surface / fine particles (edited by Yoshio Kinoshita, Kyoritsu Shuppan, published on September 1, 1986)" is described as follows. "In this paper, the diameter is about 2 to 3 μm to about 10 nm when referred to as fine particles.
About from about 2 to about 3 nm. It is not exactly strict because both are collectively written as fine particles, but it is a rough guide. When the number of atoms constituting a particle is from 2 to several tens to several hundreds, it is called a cluster. (Page 195, lines 22-26) ".

In addition, the definition of "ultra-fine particles" in the "Hayashi / Ultra-fine Particle Project" of the New Technology Development Corporation has a lower limit of the particle size, which is as follows. "Creative Science and Technology Promotion System" Ultrafine Particle Project "(19
81-1986), the particle size (diameter) is about 1
Those having a range of 範 囲 100 nm are referred to as “ultrafine particles” (ultra fine particles).
fine particle). Then, one ultrafine particle is an aggregate of about 100 to 10 ⁸ atoms. Ultra-fine particles are large to giant particles on an atomic scale. (Ultrafine Particles-Creative Science and Technology-Kayashi Hayashi, Ryoji Ueda, Akira Tasaki ed .; Mita Publishing 1988
(Page 2, lines 1-4). "Even smaller than ultrafine particles, that is, composed of several to several hundred atoms 1
Individual particles are usually called clusters (ibid, page 2, lines 12 to 13). " 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 several angstroms.
The thickness is about 10 Å, and the upper limit is about several μm.

The electron emitting portion $ 5 is composed of a crack having a high resistance formed in a part of the conductive thin film $ 4, and the film thickness, film quality, material of the conductive thin film $ 4 and a method such as energization forming which will be described later. Etc. Conductive fine particles having a particle size in the range of several angstroms to several hundred angstroms may be present inside the electron emitting portion $ 5. The conductive fine particles contain some or all of the elements of the material forming the conductive thin film $ 4.
The electron emitting portion $ 5 and the conductive thin film $ 4 in the vicinity thereof may contain carbon or a carbon compound.

Next, the vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described. FIG. 7 is a schematic view 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. 7, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG.
$ 21 is a step forming part. Substrate $ 1, Element electrode $ 2
And $ 3, the conductive thin film $ 4, and the electron emitting portion $ 5 can be made of the same materials as in the case of the planar surface conduction electron emitting device described above. The step forming portion $ 21 can be made of an insulating material such as SiO ₂ formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. The film thickness of the step forming portion $ 21 corresponds to the device electrode distance L 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 $ 4 includes device electrodes $ 2 and $ 3.
After the step forming portion $ 21 is formed, it is laminated on the device electrodes $ 2 and $ 3. The electron emitting portion $ 5 is shown in FIG.
Although it is formed in the step forming portion $ 21, the shape and position are not limited to this, depending on the forming 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. Hereinafter, an example of the manufacturing method will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 8. In FIG. 8 also, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG.

1) The substrate $ 1 is thoroughly washed with a detergent, pure water, an organic solvent, etc., and after the element electrode material is deposited by the vacuum deposition method, the sputtering method, etc., the substrate $ 1 is formed by using, for example, the photolithography technique. Element electrodes $ 2 and $ 3 are formed on the top (FIG. 8A).

2) Substrate $ 1 provided with element electrodes $ 2 and $ 3
Then, an organometallic solution is applied to form an organometallic thin film. As the organic metal solution, a solution of an organic metal compound containing a metal of the material of the conductive film $ 4 as a main element can be used. The organometallic thin film is heated and baked, lifted off,
Patterning is performed by etching or the like to form the conductive thin film $ 4 (FIG. 8B). Although the coating method of the organic metal solution has been described here, the method of forming the conductive thin film $ 4 is not limited to this, and the vacuum deposition method, the sputtering method, the chemical vapor deposition method, the dispersion coating method are used. It is also possible to use a dipping method, a spinner method, or the like.

3) Subsequently, a forming process is performed.
As an example of a method of the forming step, a method by an energization process will be described. When electricity is applied between the element electrodes $ 2 and $ 3 by using a power source (not shown), an electron emitting portion $ 5 having a changed structure is formed in the conductive thin film $ 4 (see FIG. 8).
(C)). According to the energization forming, a site having a structural change such as destruction, deformation or alteration is locally formed on the conductive thin film $ 4. This portion constitutes the electron emitting portion $ 5.
FIG. 9 shows an example of the voltage waveform of energization forming.

The voltage waveform is preferably a pulse waveform. For this, the method shown in FIG. 9 (a) in which a pulse having a constant pulse peak value is continuously applied and the method shown in FIG. 9 (b) in which a voltage pulse is applied while increasing the pulse peak value There is. In FIG. 9A, T1 and T2 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 at the time of 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 minutes. The pulse waveform is not limited to a triangular wave, and a desired waveform such as a rectangular wave can be adopted.

T1 and T2 in FIG. 9 (b) are shown in FIG.
It can be similar to that shown in FIG. The peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage during energization forming) can be increased, for example, by about 0.1 V steps.
The end of the energization forming process is performed during the pulse interval T2.
It is possible to detect the current by applying a voltage that does not locally break or deform the conductive thin film $ 4 and measure the current. For example, the device current flowing by applying a voltage of about 0.1 V is measured, the resistance value is obtained, and when the resistance is 1 MΩ 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 performed, 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 an organic gas remaining in the atmosphere when the inside of the vacuum vessel is evacuated using, for example, an oil diffusion pump or a rotary pump, or is sufficiently evacuated once by an ion pump or the like. It can also be obtained by introducing a gas of an appropriate organic substance into a vacuum. The preferable gas pressure of the organic substance at this time varies depending on the above-described application form, the shape of the vacuum vessel, the type of the organic substance, and the like, and is appropriately set according to the case. Suitable organic substances include alkanes, alkenes, alkyne aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, amines, phenols, carboxylic acids, organic acids such as sulfonic acids, and the like. Specific examples include methane, ethane, propane and the like, C _n H _{2n + 2} saturated hydrocarbons, ethylene, propylene and the like, C _n
Unsaturated hydrocarbons represented by composition formulas such as H _2n , benzene,
Toluene, methanol, ethanol, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methylamine, ethylamine, phenol, formic acid,
Acetic acid, propionic acid, etc. can be used. With this process,
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 Ie are generated.
Changes significantly.

The end of the activation step is determined as appropriate while measuring the device current If and the emission current Ie. The pulse width, pulse interval, pulse crest value, and the like are set as appropriate.
(In some cases, it may be better to apply a higher voltage than that during driving.) Carbon and carbon compounds are, for example, graphite (so-called HOPG including HOPG, PG, and GC, HOPG).
(HOPG: High Oriented Pyrol
ytic Graphite is a crystal structure of almost perfect graphite, PG (PG: Pyrolytic Gr)
Aphite pyrolysis carbon) has a crystal grain of about 200 angstroms and has a slightly disordered crystal structure.
“Ssy Carbon amorphous carbon” refers to a crystal grain having a grain size of about 20 angstroms and further disordered crystal structure. ), Amorphous carbon (referring to amorphous carbon and a mixture of amorphous carbon and fine crystals of graphite), and its film thickness is 50
It is preferably in the range of 0 angstrom or less, and 3
It is more preferable to set it in the range of not more than 00 angstrom.

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 exhaust device that does not use 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. In the activation step, when an oil diffusion pump or a rotary pump is used as an exhaust device and an organic gas derived from an oil component generated from the oil diffusion pump or the rotary pump is used, the partial pressure of this component needs to be suppressed as low as possible. The partial pressure of the organic components in the vacuum container is preferably 1 × 10 ⁻⁸ Torr or less, and more preferably 1 × 10 ⁻¹⁰ Torr or less, in terms of the partial pressure at which the carbon and carbon compound are not newly deposited.

Further, when evacuating the inside of the vacuum container, it is preferable to heat the entire vacuum container so that 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 preferably 80 to 200 ° C. for 5 hours or more, but is not particularly limited to this condition and may be appropriately selected depending on various conditions such as the size and shape of the vacuum container and the configuration of the electron-emitting device. To do. Considering only the desorption of the adsorbed gas, the higher the temperature is, the more preferable temperature is 80 to 200 ° C in consideration of heat damage to the electron source. However, if the heat resistance of the electron source is increased, naturally the temperature should be higher. May be. It is necessary to make the pressure in the vacuum container as low as possible, preferably 1 to 3 × 10 ^-7 Torr or less, and further 1
It is particularly preferably not more than × 10 ^-8 Torr.

It is preferable that the atmosphere at the time of driving after the stabilization step is maintained at the atmosphere at the end of the above-mentioned 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, the deposition of new carbon or carbon compound can be suppressed, and as a result, the device current If and the emission current Ie can be suppressed.
But it stabilizes. Basic characteristics of the electron-emitting device to which the present invention is applicable obtained through the above-described steps are shown in FIGS.
1 will be described.

FIG. 10 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. 10, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. In FIG. 10, $ 55 is a vacuum container and $ 56 is an exhaust pump. An electron emitting device is arranged in the vacuum container $ 55. That is, $ 1 is a substrate that constitutes an electron-emitting device, $ 2 and $ 3 are device electrodes, and $ 2.
Reference numeral 4 is a conductive thin film, and $ 5 is an electron emitting portion. $ 51 is a power supply for applying the device voltage Vf to the electron-emitting device, $ 5
0 is an ammeter for measuring the device current If flowing through the conductive thin film $ 4 between the device electrodes $ 2 and $ 3, and $ 54 is an anode for capturing the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission portion of the device. It is an electrode. $ 53 is a high voltage power supply for applying a voltage to the anode electrode $ 54, and $ 52 is an ammeter for measuring the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission portion $ 5 of the device. As an example, the voltage of the anode electrode is 1 kV
The measurement can be performed in the range of 10 kV and the distance H between the anode electrode and the electron-emitting device in the range of 2 mm to 8 mm.

The vacuum container $ 55 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. . The exhaust pump $ 56 is composed of a normal high vacuum device system including a turbo pump and a rotary pump, and an ultra-high vacuum device system including an ion pump. The entire vacuum processing apparatus provided with the electron source substrate shown here can be heated to 200 ° C. by a heater (not shown). Therefore, by using this vacuum processing apparatus, the steps after the above-described energization forming can be performed.

FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically showing the relationship between the emission current Ie, the device current If, and the device voltage Vf measured using the vacuum processing apparatus shown in FIG. In FIG. 11, 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. 11, the surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention is applicable has the emission current I
It has three characteristic properties with respect to e.

That is, (i) When a device voltage of a certain voltage (called a threshold voltage, Vth in FIG. 11) or more is applied to this device, the emission current Ie rapidly increases, while the threshold voltage Vth or less is applied. Emission current Ie is hardly detected in
That is, a clear threshold voltage Vt with respect to the emission current Ie
It is a non-linear element having h. (Ii) Since the emission current Ie depends monotonically on the device voltage Vf, the emission current Ie can be controlled by the device voltage Vf. (Iii) The emission charge captured by the anode electrode $ 54 depends on the time for applying the device voltage Vf. That is,
The amount of charge captured by the anode electrode $ 54 is the device voltage V
It can be controlled by the time for applying f.

As will 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 having a plurality of electron-emitting devices.

In FIG. 11, 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. The element current If is compared with the element voltage Vf by a voltage control type negative resistance characteristic (hereinafter referred to as “VCNR characteristic”).
(Not shown) in some cases. These characteristics are
It can be controlled by controlling the above steps.

Application examples of the electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied will be described below. By arranging a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices to which the present invention is applicable on a substrate, for example, an electron source or an image forming apparatus can be configured. Various arrangements of electron-emitting devices can be adopted.

As an example, a large number of electron-emitting devices arranged in parallel are individually connected at both ends, and a large number of rows of electron-emitting devices are arranged (referred to as a row direction). There is a ladder-shaped arrangement in which the control electrode (also referred to as a grid) arranged above the electron-emitting device controls and drives the 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 the electrodes of the plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in the same row is commonly connected to a wiring in the X direction. One example is one in which the other of the electrodes of a plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in the same column is commonly connected to a 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, when the voltage is equal to or lower than 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 electron source substrate obtained by arranging a plurality of electron-emitting devices to which the present invention can be applied will be described below with reference to FIG. In FIG. 12, $ 71
Is an electron source substrate, $ 72 is an X-direction wiring, and $ 73 is a Y-direction wiring. $ 74 is a surface conduction electron-emitting device, and $ 75 is a connection. The surface conduction electron-emitting device $ 74 is
Any of the above-mentioned flat type and vertical type may be used.

The m pieces of X-direction wiring $ 72 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 material, thickness, and width of the wiring are appropriately designed.
The Y-direction wiring $ 73 includes DY1, DY2 ,. . DYn n
It is composed of a book wire and is formed similarly to the X-direction wire $ 72. An interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is provided between the m X-direction wirings $ 72 and the n Y-direction wirings $ 73 to electrically separate the two (m and n are , Both positive integers).

The interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is made of SiO ₂ or the like formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. For example, a board $ 7 on which the X-direction wiring $ 72 is formed
1 is formed in a desired shape on the entire surface or a part thereof, 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 $ 72 and the Y-direction wiring $ 73. . X
The direction wiring $ 72 and the Y direction wiring $ 73 are drawn out as external terminals.

A pair of electrodes (not shown) constituting the surface conduction electron-emitting device $ 74 are composed of m X-direction wirings $ 72, n Y-direction wirings $ 73, and a connection $ 75 made of a conductive metal or the like. It is electrically connected. Wiring $ 72 and Wiring $ 7
The material forming 3, the material forming the wire connection $ 75, 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 appropriately selected, for example, from the above-described materials for the device electrodes. When the material forming the element electrode is the same as the wiring material, the wiring connected to the element electrode can also be called an element electrode.

A scanning signal applying means (not shown) for applying a scanning signal for selecting a row of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices $ 74 arranged in the X direction is connected to the X-direction wiring $ 72. On the other hand, the Y direction wiring $ 73 is connected with a modulation signal generating means (not shown) for modulating each column of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices $ 74 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 configuration, individual elements can be selected and driven independently using a simple matrix wiring.

FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 show an image forming apparatus constructed by using an electron source having such a simple matrix arrangement.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a display panel of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a fluorescent film used in the image forming apparatus of FIG. FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing an example of a drive circuit for displaying according to an NTSC television signal.

In FIG. 13, $ 71 is an electron source substrate on which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged, $ 81 is a rear plate to which the electron source substrate $ 71 is fixed, $ 86 is a fluorescent film $ 84 on the inner surface of the glass substrate $ 83. It is a face plate on which a metal back $ 85 or the like is formed. $ 82 is a support frame, and a rear plate $ 81 and a face plate $ 86 are connected to the support frame $ 82 by using frit glass or the like. $
Reference numeral 88 denotes an envelope, which is sealed and formed by firing in the temperature range of 400 to 500 ° C. for 10 minutes or more in the atmosphere or nitrogen.

$ 74 corresponds to the electron emitting portion in FIG. $ 72 and $ 73 are an X-direction wiring and a Y-direction wiring connected to a pair of device electrodes of the surface conduction electron-emitting device. Reference numeral 914 denotes an evaporation type getter material container containing an evaporation type getter material. The evaporation type getter material container 914 is fixed to the evaporation type getter material container fixing jig 913.
A metal plate 934 supports the non-evaporable getters 935 and 936. 943 is a heat insulating plate.

The envelope $ 88 is composed of the face plate $ 86, the support frame $ 82, and the rear plate $ 81 as described above. Since the rear plate $ 81 is provided mainly for the purpose of reinforcing the strength of the substrate $ 71, if the substrate $ 71 itself has sufficient strength, the separate rear plate $ 81 can be unnecessary. That is, the support frame $ directly on the board $ 71
82 is sealed, face plate $ 86, support frame $ 82
Alternatively, the board $ 71 may form the envelope $ 88. On the other hand, by installing a support (not shown) called a spacer between the face plate $ 86 and the rear plate $ 81, the envelope $ 8 having sufficient strength against atmospheric pressure.
8 can also be configured.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a fluorescent film. In the case of monochrome, the fluorescent film $ 84 can be composed of only the phosphor. In the case of a color phosphor film, a black conductive material $ 91 called a black stripe or a black matrix and a phosphor $ 92 depending on the arrangement of the phosphors.
And can be composed of The purpose of providing the black stripes and the black matrix is to make the mixed colors and the like inconspicuous by blackening the coating portions between the phosphors $ 92 of the three primary color phosphors required for color display, and the phosphor film $ 84. It is to suppress the decrease in contrast due to the reflection of external light. As a material for the black stripe, other than a material mainly containing graphite which is usually used,
It is possible to use a material having conductivity and low transmission and reflection of light.

As a method for applying the phosphor to the glass substrate $ 93, a precipitation method, a printing method or the like can be adopted regardless of monochrome or color. A metal back $ 85 is usually provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film $ 84. 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 $ 86 side, and to act as an electrode for applying an electron beam acceleration voltage. , Protecting the phosphor from damage caused by 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 evaporation or the like. The face plate $ 86 may be provided with a transparent electrode (not shown) on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film $ 84 in order to further enhance the conductivity of the fluorescent film $ 84.

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. When performing the above-described sealing, in the case of color, it is necessary to make each color phosphor correspond to the electron-emitting device, and sufficient alignment is indispensable. The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 13 is manufactured as follows, for example.

[0074] The envelope $ 88, similar to the aforementioned stabilization step, while being heated appropriately, ion pump, by an exhaust device not using oil, such as a sorption pump evacuated through an exhaust pipe (not shown), 10 ^- Sealing is performed after an atmosphere with a vacuum degree of about ⁷ Torr with a sufficiently small amount of organic substances.

Here, in order to maintain the degree of vacuum after the envelope $ 88 is sealed, a getter process is usually performed. The getter includes an evaporative type and a non-evaporable type, and either one or both can be used. Note that FIG. 13 shows an example in which both the evaporation type getter and the non-evaporation type getter are arranged. The evaporation type getter process is performed by heating using resistance heating, high frequency heating, or the like immediately before or after sealing the envelope $ 88, and the getter 914 arranged at a predetermined position inside the envelope $ 88. Is a process for forming a vapor-deposited film by heating. The evaporative getter usually has Ba as a main component, and maintains the degree of vacuum by the adsorption action of the vapor deposition film.

The non-evaporable getters 935 and 936 have a gas adsorbing ability after being activated in vacuum at a high temperature for a certain period of time. As the non-evaporable getter materials, Zr-Al alloy and Zr-Fe alloy are used. , Zr-Ni alloy, Zr-Nb-F
e alloy, Zr-Ti-Fe alloy, Zr-V-Fe alloy and the like. Among these, Zr-V that can be activated at relatively low temperatures
-Fe alloys are common. The heat activation of the non-evaporable getter is generally performed immediately before sealing the envelope $ 88 by resistance heating, high frequency heating, direct heating using laser light or infrared rays, or the like. Of these, activation by direct heating using laser light or infrared light is preferable. Here, steps after the forming process of the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be appropriately set.

Next, a configuration example of a drive circuit for performing television display based on an NTSC system television signal on a display panel configured by using an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG.
$ 101 is an image display panel, $ 102 is a scanning circuit, $ 1
Reference numeral 03 is a control circuit, and $ 104 is a shift register. $
105 is a line memory, $ 106 is a sync signal separation circuit,
$ 107 is a modulation signal generator and Vx and Va are DC voltage sources.

The display panel $ 101 is connected to an external electric circuit via the terminals Dox1 to Doxm, the terminals Doy1 to Doyn, and the high voltage terminal Hv. Terminal Do
x1 to Doxm are used to sequentially drive electron sources provided in the display panel, that is, a group of surface conduction electron-emitting devices that 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 an output electron beam of each element of the surface conduction type terminal emitting element of one row selected by the scanning signal is applied to the terminals Dy1 to Dyn. The high-voltage terminal Hv is connected to the DC voltage source Va, for example, by one.
A direct current voltage of 0 K [V] is supplied, which is an accelerating voltage for giving enough energy to excite the phosphor to the electron beam emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device.

The scanning circuit $ 102 will be described. This circuit includes M switching elements inside (in the drawing, S1 to Sm are schematically shown). Each switching element selects either the output voltage of the DC voltage source Vx or 0 [V] (ground level), and is electrically connected to the terminals Dx1 to Dxm of the display panel $ 101. Each of the switching elements S1 to Sm operates based on the control signal Tscan output from the control circuit $ 103, 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 equal to or lower than the voltage. The control circuit $ 103 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. Control circuit $ 1
Reference numeral 03 generates Tscan, Tsft, and Tmry control signals for each unit based on the synchronization signal Tsync sent from the synchronization signal separation circuit $ 106.

The synchronizing signal separating circuit $ 106 is a circuit for separating the synchronizing signal component and the luminance signal component from the NTSC system television signal inputted from the outside, and uses a general frequency separating (filter) circuit or the like. Can be configured. The sync signal separated by the sync signal separating circuit $ 106 is composed of 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 D angstrom TA signal for convenience. The DATA signal is input to the shift register $ 104.

The shift register $ 104 is for converting the DATA signals serially input in time series into serial / parallel conversion for each line of the image, and the control signal Tsft sent from the control circuit $ 103. (Ie, the control signal Tsft can be said to be the shift clock of the shift register $ 104). The serial / parallel converted image data for one line (corresponding to drive data for N electron emission elements) is output from the shift register $ 104 as N parallel signals Id1 to Idn.

The line memory $ 105 is a storage device for storing the data for one line of the image only for the required time, and the control signal Tmry sent from the control circuit $ 103.
, The contents of Id1 to Idn are stored as appropriate. The stored contents are output as I'd1 to I'dn,
It is input to the modulation signal generator $ 107. The modulation signal generator $ 107 is a signal source for appropriately driving and 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 a terminal Doy.
1 to Doyn are applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the display panel $ 101.

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.
And electron emission occurs only when a voltage equal to or 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 device.
From this, when a pulse-like voltage is applied to the element, for example, when a voltage lower than the electron emission threshold is applied, electron emission does not occur, but when a voltage higher than the electron emission threshold is applied. Outputs an electron beam. At this time, the intensity of the output electron beam can be controlled by changing the pulse peak value Vm. In addition, it is possible to control the total amount of charges of the output electron beam 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 employed. When carrying out the voltage modulation method, as the modulation signal generator $ 107, a circuit of the 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. Can be used.

When implementing the pulse width modulation method,
As the modulation signal generator $ 107, it is possible to use a pulse width modulation type circuit that generates a voltage pulse having a constant peak value and appropriately modulates the width of the voltage pulse according to the input data. The shift register $ 104 and the line memory $ 105 may be of digital signal type or analog signal type. 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 $ 106 into a digital signal.
A D converter may be provided. In connection with this, the circuit used for the modulation signal generator $ 107 is slightly different depending on whether the output signal of the line memory $ 105 is a digital signal or an analog signal. That is, in the case of the voltage modulation method using a digital signal, the modulation signal generator $ 107 is
A / A converter circuit is used, and an amplifier circuit and the like are added as necessary. Modulation signal generator $ 107 for pulse width modulation
Include, for example, a high-speed oscillator, a counter (counter) for counting the number of waves output from the oscillator, and a comparator (comparator) for comparing the output value of the counter with the output value of the memory.
Use a circuit that is a combination of. If necessary, an amplifier for amplifying the voltage of the pulse width modulated signal output from the comparator to the drive voltage of the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be added.

In the case of the voltage modulation method using an analog signal, the modulation signal generator $ 107 may be, for example, an amplifier circuit using an operational amplifier or the like, and a level shift circuit or the like may be added if necessary. In the case of the pulse width modulation method, for example, a voltage controlled oscillation circuit (VCO) can be adopted, and an amplifier for voltage amplification up to the drive 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-emitted by applying a voltage to each electron-emission element through the terminals Dox1 to Doxm and Doy1 to Doyn. Occurs.
A high voltage is applied to the metal back 85 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 84 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 is applicable,
Various modifications are possible 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 this, and the PAL, SECOM system, etc., and a TV signal including a larger number of scanning lines than this (for example, the MUSE system is included. High-definition TV) system can also be adopted.

Next, the ladder-type electron source and the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17.
FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a ladder-type electron source. In FIG. 16, $ 110 is an electron source substrate, $ 11
1 is an electron-emitting device. $ 112, Dx1 to Dx1
Reference numeral 0 is a common wiring for connecting the electron-emitting device $ 111. The electron emitting element $ 111 is on the substrate $ 110,
A plurality of elements are arranged in parallel in the X direction (this is called an element row). A plurality of the element rows are arranged to constitute an electron source. By applying a drive voltage between the common wires of each element row, each element row can be driven independently. That is,
For a device row that wants to emit an electron beam, a voltage equal to or higher than the electron emission threshold value is set.
A voltage below the electron emission threshold is applied. For the common wirings Dx2 to Dx9 between the element rows, for example, Dx2 and Dx3 may be the same wiring.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a panel structure in an image forming apparatus provided with a ladder-type electron source. In FIG. 17, the evaporation type getter and / or the non-evaporation type getter and the heat insulating plate are omitted. $ 1
20 is a grid electrode, $ 121 is a hole for passing electrons, and $ 122 is Dox1, Dox2, ..., Doxm.
This is an external terminal made of a container. $ 123 is an outside-container terminal composed of G1, G2, ..., Gn connected to the grid electrode $ 120, and $ 124 is an electron source substrate in which the common wiring between each element row is the same wiring. In FIG. 17, FIG.
3, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 16 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. 13 is whether or not the grid electrode $ 120 is provided between the electron source substrate $ 110 and the face plate $ 86. Is.

In FIG. 17, a grid electrode $ 120 is provided between the substrate $ 110 and the face plate $ 86. The grid electrode $ 120 is for modulating the electron beam emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device, and for passing the electron beam through the stripe-shaped electrode provided orthogonal to the ladder-shaped element rows. A circular opening $ 121 is provided for each element. The shape and installation position of the grid are not limited to those shown in FIG. For example, a large number of passage openings may be provided in a mesh shape as openings, and a grid may be provided around or near the surface conduction electron-emitting device.

The external terminal $ 122 and the grid external terminal $ 123 are electrically connected to a control circuit (not shown). In the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, a modulation signal for one line of an image is simultaneously applied to the grid electrode columns in synchronization with sequentially driving (scanning) the element rows one by one. This controls the irradiation of each electron beam on the phosphor, and
Can be displayed line by line.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention is used not only as a display apparatus for television broadcasting, a display apparatus such as a TV conference system or a computer, but also as an image forming apparatus as an optical printer constituted by using a photosensitive drum or the like. Can be used. The outline of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention has been described above.

[0096]

EXAMPLES The present invention will now be described in detail by way of examples based on the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to these.

[Example 1] A flat image display device having the linear thermoelectron source utilization type adsorption residual molecule desorption promoting device of the present invention installed therein was prepared, and after preliminary evacuation of the image display device, After baking, a linear thermoelectron source-based adsorption residual molecule desorption promoting device was activated. The flat image display device uses a trial product with an internal volume of 220 × 246 × 4 (mm), and four linear thermoelectron sources with a length of 230 mm and a thickness of 0.1 mm are provided in this panel by a jig. I stretched out.
In order to prevent the image display from being obstructed, two stretched portions were arranged outside the image display unit at a distance of 8 mm and 16 mm from the frame.

As the material for the linear thermoelectron source, a filament made of thoriacoat iridium was used in consideration of conditions such as low degassing amount during heating, durability, and strength against mechanical stress. The jig is made of soda lime glass, and the external introduction terminal portion for energizing the filament is made of Dumet alloy. The connection fitting is made of Cu. The linear thermoelectron source is used under the following conditions: filament voltage 7V, filament current
0.17A (60Hz, AC), emission current is 3
0 mA, filament-substrate voltage is 500V.
In the detachment process, in order to prevent distortion of the image display device due to heat generated from the filament, it is driven for 5 minutes, and then the
The operation for stopping for 1 minute was once, and the operation was performed 4 times in total.

Confirm the adsorption residual molecule desorption of the image display device.
Therefore, a vacuum is attached to the exhaust attachment part of the exhaust pipe of the image display device.
A gauge was attached and the change in pressure gauge display was measured. Desorption promotion
The indicated value of the pressure gauge before driving the device is 6 x 10^-8At Torr
there were. When the desorption accelerator is driven, the pressure gauge reading is 8 x 1
0^-6It rose to Torr. After that, driving 2 × 10^-6
Pressure dropped to Torr but not below
Was. 5 × 10 while driving is stopped^-7Pressure drops to Torr
However, it did not reach below that level. After driving 4 times, 5 o'clock
After a period of time, the pressure becomes lower than that before driving, and then 5 × 10 ^-9To
The pressure drops to rr, which is effective in desorbing adsorbed residual molecules.
It was confirmed that it was.

After desorption of adsorbed residual molecules, the life of the image display device was measured. As a result, the time taken for the observed value of electron emission immediately after driving the electron-emitting device to be reduced by half was about 1.7 times that of the conventional image display device. Extended.

[Example 2] A flat image display device having the linear thermoelectron source utilization type adsorption residual molecule desorption promoting device of the present invention installed therein was prepared, and baking was performed after preliminary evacuation of the image display device. After that, a device for promoting desorption of adsorbed residual molecules using a linear thermoelectron source was operated. In contrast to the first embodiment, the second embodiment has two linear thermoelectron sources and is installed at a position where it does not hang on the image display unit. Other conditions of filament use are the same as in Example 1.

The desorption process was the same as in Example 1, and the pressure before the process and the life of the image display device after the process were measured. The indicated value of the pressure gauge before driving the desorption promoting device is 6 × 10 ^-8 Tor
r. When the desorption promoting device is driven, the pressure gauge reading is 9
It rose to × 10 ^-7 Torr. After that, driving 3 × 1
The pressure dropped to 0 ^-7 Torr but did not show less. While the drive was stopped, the pressure dropped to 9 × 10 ^-8 Torr, but did not reach below that.

After driving 4 times, the pressure became lower than that before driving 3 hours later, then dropped to 1 × 10 ⁻⁸ Torr, and after desorption of adsorbed residual molecules, the life of the image display device was measured. Compared to the display device, the time taken for the observed value of electron emission immediately after driving the electron-emitting device to be reduced by half was extended about 1.3 times.

[0104]

As described above, according to the present invention, the high temperature baking is not performed at the time of exhausting the flat image display device.
Further, it is possible to accelerate desorption of adsorbed residual molecules in the image display device and reduce the amount of degassing in the image display device without damaging the electron-emitting device for image display. Further, according to the present invention, remarkable effects such as an image display device having a stable and uniform image and a longer life can be obtained. As the cold cathode electron source, the surface conduction electron-emitting device is mentioned, but the invention is not limited to this.
It goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to an image forming apparatus using a known semiconductor electron source using a p / n semiconductor, a field electron emission element, and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an outline of a flat image display device.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing an outline of a flat image display device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing an outline of a conventional thin image display device.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing an outline of a conventional thin image display device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing a typical device configuration of a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied, where a is a plan view and b is a cross-sectional view.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a method of manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a voltage waveform in energization forming that can be adopted when manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied, and a diagram in which pulses whose pulse peak value is a constant voltage are continuously applied. 9A is a diagram of the technique shown in FIG. 9A and a technique of FIG. 9B in which a voltage pulse is applied while increasing the pulse crest value.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a vacuum processing apparatus having a measurement / evaluation function.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing the relationship between the emission current Ie, the device current If, and the device voltage Vf for the surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an electron source to which the present invention is applicable and which is arranged in a simple matrix.

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

FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing an example of a fluorescent film.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing an example of a drive circuit for performing display according to an NTSC television signal on the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a ladder-arranged electron source to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a display panel of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

101, 201, 308 Face plate 102, 202, 311 Outer frame 103, 203 Rear plate 104, 204 Surface conduction electron-emitting device 105, 205 Linear thermoelectron source 106, 206 Jig 107 Connection metal fitting 207 Phosphor surface 208 Mounting metal fitting 300 Exhaust pipe 301 Back plate 302, 303, 502 Electrode 304 Thin film 306 Electron passage hole 307 Grid 309 Metal back 310 Phosphor 311 Outer frame 313 Getter material container fixing jig 314 Getter material container 501 Substrate 503 Electron emission part 504 Conductive thin film $ 1 Substrate $ 2, $ 3 Element electrode $ 4 Conductive film $ 5 Electron emission part $ 21 Step emission part $ 50 Element current If flowing through the conductive film $ 4 between the element electrodes $ 2 and $ 3 is measured. Ammeter for $ 51 Device voltage on electron-emitting device Power supply for adding f $ 53 High voltage power supply for applying voltage to the anode electrode $ 54 $ 54 Anode electrode for supplementing the emission current Ie emitted from the emission part of the device $ 55 Ammeter for measuring the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission part $ 5 $ 56 Vacuum device $ 57 Exhaust pump $ 71 Electron source substrate $ 72 X direction wiring $ 73 Y direction wiring $ 74 Surface conduction electron-emitting device $ 75 Wiring $ 81 Rear plate $ 82 Support frame $ 83 Glass substrate $ 84 Fluorescent film $ 85 Metal back $ 86 Face plate $ 87 High voltage terminal $ 88 Enclosure $ 91 Black conductive material $ 92 Phosphor $ 93 Glass substrate $ 101 display panel $ 102 scanning circuit $ 103 control circuit $ 104 shift register $ 105 line memory $ 106 synchronization signal separation times Path $ 107 Modulation signal generator Vx and Va DC voltage source $ 110 Electron source substrate $ 111 Electron emission element $ 112 Dx1 to Dx10 are common wiring for wiring the electron emission element $ 120 Grit electrode $ 121 Electrons pass Holes for: $ 122 Dox1, Dox2 ... Outer container terminal made of Doxm $ 123 G1, connected to grit electrode $ 120
G2

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. In a vacuum container equipped with a linear thermoelectron source / cold cathode electron source utilization type residual molecule desorption promoting device, a conductive wire is stretched from one end to the other end in the vacuum container, A residual molecule using a vacuum container and a linear thermionic electron source / cold cathode electron source, which is characterized in that it is energized by applying a voltage to it Desorption promotion device. 2. An image display device comprising a linear thermoelectron source / cold cathode electron source utilization type residual molecule desorption promoting device, wherein a conductive wire is extended from one end to the other end of the image display device, Use of an image display device and a linear thermoelectron source / cold-cathode electron source characterized by energizing a line by applying a voltage to irradiate electrons on the inner wall of the image display device to desorb and discharge adsorbed molecules on the inner wall. Type residual molecule desorption promoting device. 3. A flat image display device comprising a linear thermoelectron source / cold cathode electron source utilization type residual molecule desorption promoting device, wherein one end is provided between the phosphor surface and the element substrate surface of the flat image display device. From the to the other end, a conductive wire is stretched, a current is applied by applying a voltage to the conductive wire, and a linear thermoelectron source that desorbs and exhausts adsorbed molecules by irradiating electrons to the phosphor surface and the element substrate surface, A flat image display device and a linear thermoelectron source / cold cathode electron source utilization type residual molecule desorption promoting device characterized by being installed and used separately from the image display electron source. 4. The linear thermoelectron source / cold cathode electron source utilization type residual molecule according to claim 1, wherein the cold cathode electron source is a surface conduction electron source. Desorption promotion device.