JPH1154038A - Electron emitting element, electron surface and manufacture of picture forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing method which is applicable to an electron source of a picture forming device to form an high grade picture and realizes uniform electron emitting characteristics for a long time. SOLUTION: In a manufacturing method of an electron emitting element which has a forming processing to form an electron emitting part 5 on conductive film 4 spanned between element electrodes 2, 3 on a base substance 1 and an activation process applying the voltage between the element electrodes 2, 3 under the atmosphere where an organic substance is present, a plasma cleaning process, which is carried out by applying a voltage between an electron emitting element and an anode electrode arranged in an airtight container to generate plasma, is carried out in either one or more of such periods as, before or after the forming process, or after an activating process.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, two types of electron-emitting devices are known, namely, a thermionic electron-emitting device and a cold cathode electron-emitting device. Field emission type (hereinafter, referred to as "FE")
Type ". ), Metal / insulating layer / metal type (hereinafter referred to as “MI
M type ". ) And surface conduction electron-emitting devices.

[0003] As an example of the FE type, W. P. Dyke
and W. W. Dolan, "Field Em
issue ", Advance in Elect
ron Physics, 8, 89 (1956) or C.I. A. Spindt, “Physical
Properties of thin-filmfi
eld emission cathodes wit
h molybdenum cones ", JA
ppl. Phys. , 47, 5248 (1976).
And the like are known.

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

As an example of the surface conduction electron-emitting device,
M. I. Elinson, Radio Eng.
Electron Phys. , 10, 1290 (1
965).

[0006] The surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes a phenomenon in which electron emission occurs when a current flows in a small-area thin film formed on a substrate in parallel with the film surface. As a typical configuration example of this surface conduction electron-emitting device,
The conductive film for forming an electron-emitting portion, which connects between a pair of device electrodes provided on a substrate, may be one in which an electron-emitting portion is formed in advance by an energization process called forming and a subsequent activation process.

[0007] Forming refers to a crack in which a voltage is applied to both ends of the thin film for forming an electron-emitting portion and the thin film for forming an electron-emitting portion is locally destroyed, deformed or deteriorated, and is brought into an electrically high-resistance state. Is a process of forming

The activation treatment is a treatment in which a voltage is applied to both ends of the electron-emitting-portion-forming thin film in a vacuum atmosphere containing an organic compound, and a carbon film is formed in the vicinity of the crack. The electron emission is performed from the vicinity of the crack.

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

As an example in which a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged and formed, an electron is formed by arranging surface conduction electron-emitting devices in parallel and arranging a large number of rows in which both ends of each device are connected by wiring. Sources (for example, JP-A-1-031332 of the present applicant).

In particular, in image forming apparatuses such as display apparatuses, in recent years, a flat panel display apparatus using liquid crystal has been
However, it is not a self-luminous type, so there is a problem that it must have a backlight etc.
It has been desired to develop a self-luminous display device. An image forming device, which is a display device that combines an electron source with a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices and a phosphor that emits visible light with electrons emitted from this electron source, can be compared even with a large-screen device. This is a self-luminous display device which can be easily manufactured and has excellent display quality (for example, US Pat. No. 5,066,883 of the present applicant).

[0012]

The surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the above-mentioned applications has good electron-emitting characteristics with respect to a practically applied voltage, and exhibits such characteristics over a long period of time. It is necessary to keep it. When a plurality of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices are used as an electron source of an image forming apparatus, each device has a uniform electron emission characteristic and keeps the characteristics uniform. It is necessary.

However, according to observations by the present inventors, an electron source in which a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged,
In an image forming apparatus manufactured by emitting visible light with electrons emitted from the electron source, it may not be possible to secure a sufficient number of emitted electrons for a long time to emit light from the phosphor, and further improvement is required. It turned out to be. In other words, if the time required for driving the surface conduction electron-emitting device by applying a voltage to drive the surface-emitting electron-emitting device to reduce the initial value of the emission current for causing the phosphor to be halved is defined as the half-life, the conventional device has a half-life as shown in FIG. In some cases, the half time is as short as tens of hours.

The present inventors have conducted intensive studies in pursuit of such causes. As a result, when a voltage is applied to the surface-conduction type electron-emitting device to drive it to emit electrons, the surface-conduction electron-emitting device is placed in a container in which the device is installed. it is accepted that _{H 2 0,0 2, CH 4,} CO ( or N ₂₎ gas molecules such increases. Therefore,
The present inventors believe that driving the element contaminates the atmosphere in the system and adversely affects electron emission, so that the number of emitted electrons decreases with time. Specifically, the temperature applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device increases due to the voltage applied to the surface-conduction electron-emitting device, and molecules previously adsorbed on the conductive film, the device electrode, and the substrate forming both are desorbed. That, when electrons emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device collide with the phosphor or the like, molecules previously adsorbed to the phosphor or the like are desorbed, thereby being generated in the system having the device. It is believed that the molecules or ions destroy or alter the part of the surface conduction electron-emitting device that contributes to electron emission, thereby promoting remarkable deterioration of the electron emission characteristics.

[0015] In order to prevent such deterioration of electron emission characteristics, a conductive film, the substrate to form the device electrodes, and both, or phosphor or the like emitted electrons are irradiated, H ₂ 0, which is adsorbed on, It is necessary to remove molecules such as O ₂ and hydrocarbons in advance. As a means for removing these contaminants, a method of heating a surface conduction electron-emitting device or the like in a vacuum (baking) is used. However, in order to desorb these contaminants such as H ₂ 0, 0 ₂ and hydrocarbons only by thermal energy in a short time, a considerably high temperature is required. There is a risk of deterioration.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device capable of maintaining electron emission characteristics for a long time,
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electron source and an image forming apparatus using the same.

[0017]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made by intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has the following arrangement.

That is, a first aspect of the present invention is a method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device having a pair of device electrodes formed on a base and a conductive film including an electron-emitting portion connected to the device electrodes. (A) a step of forming the element electrode and a conductive film on a substrate; (b) a forming step of forming an electron emission portion in the conductive film; and (c) a step of forming the pair of electrodes under an atmosphere in which an organic substance is present. An activation step of applying a voltage between the device electrodes of the electron emitting device.
The above-mentioned electron-emitting device is installed in an airtight container in which an anode electrode is installed, a gas is introduced into the airtight container, and a voltage is applied between the electron-emitting device and the anode electrode to generate plasma. The plasma cleaning step of evacuating the inside of the container is performed before or during the step (b), between the steps (b) and (c), or after the step (c). And a method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device.

The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to the first aspect of the present invention is further characterized in that the gas introduced into the hermetic container in the plasma cleaning step is He, Ne, H
₂₎ that the plasma cleaning step heats the electron-emitting device or the electron-emitting device and the hermetic container and the members installed therein after the step (c). "The plasma cleaning step is performed before and after the step (c), respectively."
That the voltage applied between the electron-emitting device and the anode electrode in the plasma cleaning step is 100 V to 10 k;
V DC voltage "and" the voltage applied between the electron-emitting device and the anode electrode in the plasma cleaning step is at a frequency of 10 MHz to 3 GHz ".

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of electron-emitting devices having a pair of device electrodes and a conductive film including an electron-emitting portion connected to the device electrodes are arranged on a substrate. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an electron source, characterized in that the method for manufacturing an electron source according to the first aspect of the present invention is applied to a method for manufacturing an electron source having a wiring connected to a plurality of electron-emitting devices.

Further, a third aspect of the present invention is to dispose a plurality of electron-emitting devices having a pair of device electrodes and a conductive film including an electron-emitting portion connected to the device electrodes on a substrate. An electron source having wiring connected to a plurality of electron-emitting devices, and an image forming member that forms an image by emitting light by irradiating an electron beam emitted from the electron source in an airtight container. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, wherein the method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to the first aspect of the present invention is applied.

According to the present invention, in order to sufficiently desorb adsorbed molecules in the process of manufacturing the surface conduction electron-emitting device, a voltage is applied to the gas introduced into the hermetic container to generate plasma, Desorption of adsorbed molecules by bombard is used. The use of plasma for desorption of adsorbed molecules can provide a large amount of energy as compared with the thermal energy of baking, so that effective desorption of adsorbed molecules can be achieved in a short time.

In the manufacturing process of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, as described later, there is an activation step of energizing under an atmosphere in an airtight container in which an organic substance exists. The presence of impurities (especially H ₂ O) in the atmosphere in the activation step may adversely affect the stability of the subsequent device. Therefore, by incorporating a plasma cleaning step before the activation step, The organic substance gas can be introduced after removing impurities such as ₂ O, which is effective in improving stability. Incorporating a plasma cleaning step after the activation step can remove organic substances used in the activation step and impurities such as H ₂ O, which is effective in improving stability.

Further, since the generated plasma spreads over a wide range, not only the part contributing to the electron emission but also the other substrate surface or the part to which the emitted electrons are directly irradiated as well as the other phosphor surface. Thus, the adsorbed molecules are desorbed uniformly. Further, in the plasma cleaning step according to the present invention, desorption of adsorbed molecules is promoted evenly in the electron source substrate and further in the image forming member such as the outer frame.

Further, by generating plasma, it is possible to remove even small projections such as burrs on the substrate generated in the process of manufacturing the element. If a high electric field is concentrated on such projections during the process, it is possible. There is also an effect of preventing deterioration and destruction of the electron-emitting device due to the considered discharge phenomenon.

The plasma cleaning step is preferably performed every time before and after each step of manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device, which will be described later. However, the plasma cleaning step is limited to this in consideration of shortening the processing time. Never. However, the contaminants in the hermetic container need to be sufficiently removed when the element is driven, and it is preferable to perform the plasma cleaning step in parallel with the baking processing after the activation processing. If the baking process cannot be performed in parallel, it is preferable to perform a plasma cleaning process after the activation process.

[0027]

Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described.

The basic structure of the electron-emitting device to which the manufacturing method of the present invention can be applied is roughly classified into a flat type and a vertical type. First, a flat-type electron-emitting device will be described.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic views showing an example of the configuration of a flat type electron-emitting device according to the present invention. FIG. 1A is a plan view and FIG. 1B is a longitudinal sectional view. In FIG. 1, 1 is a substrate,
2 and 3 are electrodes (device electrodes), 4 is a conductive film, and 5 is an electron emitting portion.

As the substrate 1, quartz glass, glass with a reduced impurity content such as Na, blue plate glass, a glass substrate on which SiO ₂ is laminated by a sputtering method or the like, ceramics such as alumina, and a Si substrate may be used. it can.

The materials of the opposing element electrodes 2 and 3 are as follows.
General conductor materials can be used, for example, Ni, C
Metals or alloys such as r, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu, Pd and Pd, Ag, Au, RuO ₂ , Pd
Metal or metal oxide and printed conductor composed of glass or the like, such as -ag, is appropriately selected from a semiconductor conductive materials such as transparent conductor and polysilicon or the like In ₂ O ₃ -SnO _2.

The element electrode interval L, the element electrode length W, the shape of the conductive film 4 and the like are designed in consideration of the applied form and the like. The element electrode interval L is preferably in the range of several hundred nm to several hundred μm, more preferably several μm to several tens μm.
m. The length W of the device electrode is from several μm to several hundred μ
m. Film thickness d of device electrodes 2 and 3
Can be in the range of several tens nm to several μm.

In addition to the configuration shown in FIG.
A configuration in which the conductive film 4 and the opposing element electrodes 2 and 3 are stacked in this order may be adopted.

The main materials constituting the conductive film 4 are Pd,
Pt, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, In, Cu, Cr, F
metals such as e, Zn, Sn, Ta, W, Pb, PdO, S
oxides such as nO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO, Sb ₂ O ₃ ,
HfB ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , CeB ₆ , YB ₄ , G
borides such as dB ₄ , TiC, ZrC, HfC, TaC,
The material is appropriately selected from carbides such as SiC and WC, nitrides such as TiN, ZrN and HfN, semiconductors such as Si and Ge, carbon, and the like. Not something.

As the conductive film 4, a fine particle film composed of fine particles is preferably used in order to obtain good electron emission characteristics. The film thickness is appropriately set in consideration of the step coverage to the device electrodes 2 and 3, the resistance value between the device electrodes 2 and 3, a forming condition described later, and the like. It is preferable that the angle be in the range, more preferably in the range of 10 ° to 500 °. As for the resistance value, Rs is preferably a value of 10 ² Ω / □ to 10 ⁷ Ω / □. Note that Rs is a value when the resistance R measured in the length direction of the thin film having the width w and the length 1 is set as R = Rs (l / w).

It should be noted that the term "fine particles" is frequently used in this specification, and its meaning will be described.

Small particles are called "fine particles", and smaller ones are called "ultra fine particles". Particles smaller than "ultrafine particles" and having a few hundred atoms or less are widely called "clusters".

However, each boundary is not strict and varies depending on what kind of property is focused on. Further, “fine particles” and “ultrafine particles” may be collectively referred to as “fine particles”, and the description in this specification is in line with this.

For example, in “Experimental Physics Course 14: Surfaces and Particles” (edited by Yoshio Kinoshita, published on September 1, 1986 by Kyoritsu Publishing Co., Ltd.), the term “particles” used in this article is about 2-3 μm to 10 nm. And especially when it is referred to as ultrafine particles, the particle size is about 10 nm to 2-3 n.
It means up to about m. 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 two to several tens to several hundreds, it is called a cluster. (Page 195, lines 22 to 26).

In addition, the definition of “ultrafine particles” in the “Hayashi / Ultrafine Particle Project” of the New Technology Development Corporation was that the lower limit of the particle size was even smaller, as follows.

In the "Ultra Fine Particle Project" of the Creative Science and Technology Promotion System (1981 to 1986), a particle having a size (diameter) in the range of about 1 to 100 nm is called an "ultra fine particle". Then, one ultrafine particle is about 100-
It is an aggregate of about 10 ⁸ atoms. Ultra-fine particles are large to giant particles on an atomic scale. ("Ultra Fine Particles-Creative Science and Technology" Hayashi Tax, Ryoji Ueda, Akira Tazaki
(Edited by Mita Publishing, 1988, page 2, lines 1 to 4) /
"A particle even smaller than an ultrafine particle, that is, a single particle composed of several to several hundred atoms, is usually called a cluster" (ibid., Page 2, lines 12 to 13).

[0042] Based on the general notation as described above,
In the present specification, “fine particles” are an aggregate of a large number of atoms and molecules, and the lower limit of the particle size is several Å to 10 Å and the upper limit is several μm
It refers to the degree.

The electron-emitting portion 5 includes a high-resistance crack formed in a part of the conductive film 4, and the electron is emitted from the vicinity of the crack. The electron-emitting portion including the crack and the crack itself are formed depending on the film thickness, the film quality, the material of the conductive film 4 and the manufacturing method such as forming conditions described later. Therefore, the position and shape of the electron-emitting portion 5 are the same as those in FIG.
It is not specified as shown in FIG.

In the crack of the electron emitting portion 5, several to several hundreds of
In some cases, conductive fine particles having a particle size in the range of (1) may be present. The conductive fine particles contain some or all of the elements of the material constituting the conductive film 4. Further, as a result of the activation process described later, the electron emitting portion 5 and the conductive film 4 in the vicinity thereof have carbon and / or a carbon compound.

Next, a vertical type electron-emitting device will be described.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an example of the configuration of the vertical type electron-emitting device of the present invention. The same portions as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. doing.
21 is a step forming part. The substrate 1, the device electrodes 2, 3, the conductive film 4, and the electron-emitting portion 5 can be made of the same material as that of the above-described flat-type electron-emitting device. 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 interval L of the flat type electron-emitting device described above, and is several hundred nm.
To several tens of μm.

The conductive film 4 is laminated on the device electrodes 2 and 3 after the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the step forming portion 21 are formed. Although the electron emitting section 5 is formed in the step forming section 21 in FIG. 2, the shape and the position are not limited to this.

Next, an example of a method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows a manufacturing process of the flat type electron-emitting device, and the same portions as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

1) Formation of Device Electrode The substrate 1 is sufficiently washed with a detergent, pure water, an organic solvent, or the like, and a device electrode material is deposited by a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method, or the like, and then, for example, by photolithography. Substrate 1
The device electrodes 2 and 3 are formed thereon (FIG. 3A).

2) Formation of Conductive Film On the substrate 1 on which the device electrodes 2 and 3 are provided, an organometallic solution is applied to form an organometallic film. As the organic metal solution, a solution of an organic compound containing the above-described metal of the conductive film as a main element can be used. This organic metal film is heated and baked, and is patterned by lift-off, etching, or the like to form a conductive film 4 (FIG. 3B). here,
The method of applying the organic metal solution has been described, but the conductive film 4
The method of forming is not limited to this.
Sputtering, chemical vapor deposition, dispersion coating, dipping, spinner, and the like can also be used.

3) Forming process 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 a current is applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 in a predetermined vacuum atmosphere,
An electron emitting portion 5 having a changed structure is formed at a portion of the conductive film 4 (FIG. 3C). According to energizing forming,
In the conductive film 4, a structural change such as destruction, deformation or alteration (generally, a crack is often formed) is formed locally. This portion constitutes the electron emission section 5.

The present forming step and the subsequent steps can be performed using, for example, a vacuum processing apparatus as shown in FIG. This vacuum processing device also has a function as a measurement evaluation device. Also in FIG. 5, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 55 denotes a vacuum container (airtight container). The substrate 1 on which the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the conductive film 4 have been formed by the above-described process is disposed in a vacuum vessel 55 so as to face an anode electrode 54 for capturing emitted electrons. Reference numeral 51 denotes a power supply for applying a device voltage _Vf between the device electrodes 2 and 3 of the electron-emitting device;
An ammeter for measuring an element current _If flowing between 3;
Reference numeral 3 denotes a high-voltage power supply for applying a voltage to the anode electrode 54; 52, an ammeter for measuring an emission current _Ie emitted from the electron emission section 5; 56, an exhaust pump; 57, a plasma cleaning step described later. A container 58 for holding the gas introduced into the vacuum container 55 is a needle valve provided for introducing the gas at an appropriate pressure.

Further, in the vacuum vessel 55, equipment necessary for measurement in a vacuum atmosphere such as a vacuum gauge (not shown) is provided so that measurement and evaluation can be performed in a desired vacuum atmosphere. I have. The exhaust pump 56 is composed of a normal high vacuum device system such as a turbo pump and a rotary pump, and an ultra-high vacuum device system such as an ion pump. The entire vacuum processing apparatus can be heated by a heater (not shown).

In the above vacuum processing apparatus, after the inside of the vacuum vessel 55 is evacuated to a predetermined degree of vacuum by the exhaust pump 56, the forming process can be performed by energizing the element electrodes 2 and 3 with the power supply 51.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the voltage waveform of the energization forming.

The voltage waveform of the energization forming is particularly preferably a pulse waveform. For this purpose, the method shown in FIG. 5A for continuously applying a pulse with a constant pulse peak value and the method shown in FIG. 5B for applying a pulse while increasing the pulse peak value are used. is there.

First, the case where the pulse peak value is a constant voltage will be described. T ₁ and T ₂ in FIG. 5 (a) is a pulse width and the pulse interval of the voltage waveform. Normal T ₁ is 1μ
sec. -10 msec. , T ₂ is 10 μsec. ~ 1
00 msec. Is set in the range. The peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage during energization forming) is appropriately selected according to the form of the 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, but is shown in FIG.
A desired waveform such as a rectangular wave shown in FIG.

Next, a case where a voltage pulse is applied while increasing the pulse peak value will be described. T ₁ and T ₂ in FIG. 5B can be the same as those shown in FIG. 5A. 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 can be determined by applying a low voltage during the pause period of the pulse and measuring the current to detect the resistance value. For example, when an element current _If flowing by applying a voltage of about 0.1 V is measured by an ammeter 50, and a resistance value is obtained, and a resistance of 1 MΩ or more is indicated,
The energization forming is terminated.

4) Activation Process The device after the forming is subjected to a process called an activation process. By this step, the device current _If and the emission current _Ie
Can be varied significantly.

The activation step can be performed, for example, by repeatedly applying a pulse between the device electrodes 2 and 3 in an atmosphere containing an organic substance gas, 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 55 is evacuated using, for example, an oil diffusion pump or a rotary pump, or once sufficiently evacuated 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 is:
Since it differs depending on the form of the above-described element, the shape of the vacuum vessel 55, the type of the organic substance, and the like, it is appropriately set according to the case. Suitable organic substances include aliphatic hydrocarbons of alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes, aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, amines, and organic acids such as phenols, carboxylic acids, and sulfonic acids. And specifically, C, methane, ethane, propane, etc.
saturated hydrocarbons represented by _n H _{2n + 2} , unsaturated hydrocarbons represented by a composition formula such as C _n H _2n such as ethylene and propylene,
Benzene, toluene, methanol, ethanol, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methylamine, 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 _Ie change remarkably.

The carbon or carbon compound includes, for example, graphite (so-called HOPG, PG, GC), and HOPG has an almost perfect graphite crystal structure, P
G indicates that the crystal grain is about 200 ° and the crystal structure is slightly disordered, and GC indicates that the crystal grain is about 20 ° and the disorder of the crystal structure is further increased. ), Amorphous carbon (refers to amorphous carbon and a mixture of amorphous carbon and the microcrystals of graphite);
The film thickness is preferably within a range of 500 ° or less,
It is more preferable to set the range to 300 ° or less.

The termination of the activation step can be appropriately determined 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.

5) Plasma Cleaning Step The device after the activation process is subjected to plasma cleaning. First, after the vacuum container 55 is sufficiently evacuated using the exhaust pump 56, gas for generating plasma is supplied from the container 57 to the valve 5.
Introduce via 8. The pressure to be introduced varies depending on the type of gas. For example, in the case of He, several tens to several hundreds mTorr are used.
r. Next, the device electrodes 2 and 3 are set at the same potential, and a voltage is applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 using the power supply 59. In the case of a DC power supply, several tens V to several tens kV,
Preferably, a voltage of 100 V to 10 kV is applied,
In the case of a high frequency power supply, the voltage is several hundred V and the frequency is several MHz.
A high-frequency voltage in the range of 10 to 3 GHz, preferably 10 MHz to 3 GHz is applied. As the power source 59, a power source of 13.56 MHz and 2.45 GHz widely used particularly as a power source for high frequency and microwave heating is preferably used.

By generating plasma between the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the anode electrode 54 in this manner, the surface can be cleaned. Hereinafter, this point will be described.

Since the conductive film 4 of the electron-emitting device is usually formed in the air or exposed to the air after forming the thin film, various molecules existing in the air are adsorbed on the surface. . In particular, it is considered that molecules are easily adsorbed on the surface of the conductive film 4 composed of fine particles. However, when the conductive film 4 is formed on portions other than the conductive film 4, for example, the element electrodes 2 and 3 and the substrate 1. Various molecules are adsorbed on the surface. These surface-adsorbed molecules form a surface layer consisting of several to several tens of molecular layers on the surface of the device, and these surface layers significantly reduce the work function of the electron emission site in the electron emission process. Because of the non-uniformity, stable electron emission cannot be guaranteed.

Therefore, the device is driven in a vacuum,
Conventionally, the adsorbed surface layer is desorbed in advance by baking or the like. The temperature and time of the baking treatment are determined by the magnitude of the adsorption energy between the molecules forming the surface layer and the substrate surface. From the viewpoint of preventing the molecules once desorbed from being re-adsorbed, the temperature and time are as high as possible. It is desirable to be processed for a long time. However, keeping the substrate including the element at a high temperature for a long time requires
Since the conductive film 4, the substrate 1, and the device electrodes 2, 3 themselves are also deteriorated, sufficient values may not be applied to both the baking temperature and the time.

On the other hand, in the present invention, a small amount of gas is introduced into an airtight container having an element, and a plasma is generated by applying a voltage. The surface layer can be effectively detached in a short time.

Here, the plasma will be briefly described. Plasma is a kind of ionized gas, in which electrons (or negative ions) and positive ions are present at the same density, and as a whole, are electrically neutral. In the present invention, discharge ionization is used for ionizing a gas that generates plasma.Discharge ionization is a method in which a strong electric field is applied to a gas to cause dielectric breakdown to obtain plasma. Most are due to collisions with electrons accelerated by. In such a plasma, electrons and ions have kinetic energy and repeatedly collide constantly, and disappear by recombination with ions. Therefore, the electron density (or ion density) in the plasma is determined by subtracting the number of electrons (or ions) generated by ionization per unit time from the number of electrons (or ions) that disappear by recombination.

According to the present invention, as described above, the surface layer remaining on the element and the inner wall of the airtight container is removed by the collision of the electrons (or ions) generated by ionization with the molecules adsorbed on the surface. The greater the kinetic energy it has, the greater the energy at the time of the collision and the more quickly it can be cleaned. However, kinetic energy is too large,
It is not preferable that the reactivity is high and that the substrate or the like is deteriorated, and that the material constituting the electrode is sputtered on the opposite side.

Therefore, the gas used as the plasma is preferably an inactive monoatomic molecule in order to prevent the conductive film 4 and the device electrodes 2 and 3 from being deteriorated. Among them, He gas having a small mass and therefore a small kinetic energy is preferred. , Ne
Are preferred. It is not preferable to use Ar, Xe, or the like having a higher molecular weight because the conductive film 4 and the device electrodes 2 and 3 may be deteriorated. Although H ₂ has high reducibility, it may not be particularly affected depending on the material constituting the device, and may be preferably used because it has a small molecular weight.

In the above description, the case where the plasma cleaning step is performed after the activation step is performed. However, as described above, the plasma cleaning step can be appropriately performed before and after each of the other manufacturing steps. Specifically, it can be performed between the conductive film forming step and the forming step. Even before the activation substance is introduced into the hermetic container, molecules that are difficult to exhaust such as H ₂ O are adsorbed on the electron-emitting device or the inner wall of the hermetic container as described above, and the plasma cleaning process is performed. By removing these in advance, the inside of the airtight container can be relatively easily evacuated after the activation step.

When the plasma cleaning step is performed after the activation step, it is not always necessary to perform the following stabilization step, but the plasma cleaning step is performed before the forming step or before the activation step. If the plasma cleaning step is not performed after the activation step, the following stabilization step is preferably performed.

6) Stabilization Step In the stabilization step, the organic substance and other adsorbed substances introduced in the activation step are exhausted by heating and exhausting the electron-emitting device and an airtight container (vacuum container) containing the same. This is the step of removing. It is preferable to use an oil-free device for the vacuum exhaust device that exhausts the inside of the airtight container so that an oil component generated from the device does not affect the characteristics of the element. Specifically, a vacuum evacuation device including a sorption pump and 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 device 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 component in the vacuum vessel is preferably 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁶ Pa or less, more preferably 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁸ Pa or less at a partial pressure at which the carbon and / or carbon compound is not newly deposited. Is particularly preferred. Further, when evacuating the inside of the vacuum vessel, it is preferable to heat the entire vacuum vessel to facilitate evacuating the organic substance molecules adsorbed on the inner wall of the vacuum vessel and the electron-emitting device. The heating conditions at this time are 80 to 250 ° C., preferably 15 to 250 ° C.
It is desirable to carry out the treatment at 0 ° C. or higher for as long as possible, but the treatment is not particularly limited to this condition, and the treatment is carried out under conditions appropriately selected according to various conditions such as the size and shape of the vacuum vessel and the configuration of the electron-emitting device. In the present invention, since the plasma cleaning is performed in advance, a certain effect can be obtained even in a shorter processing time than the conventional stabilization processing. The pressure inside the vacuum vessel needs to be as low as possible.
It is preferably 10 ⁻⁵ Pa or less, more preferably 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁶ P
a or less is particularly preferable.

It is preferable that the atmosphere at the time of driving after the stabilization step is performed is the same as that at the end of the stabilization treatment, but the present invention is not limited to this. Even if the pressure itself increases somewhat, it is possible to maintain sufficiently stable characteristics. By adopting such a vacuum atmosphere, the deposition of new carbon or a carbon compound can be suppressed, and as a result, the device current _If and the emission current _Ie can be suppressed.
But it stabilizes.

The basic characteristics of the electron-emitting device obtained by the above-described manufacturing method of the present invention can be measured by using the vacuum processing apparatus shown in FIG. As an example, the voltage of the anode electrode 54 is in the range of 1 kV to 10 kV, and the distance H between the anode electrode 54 and the electron-emitting device is 2 mm to 8 mm.
Can be measured as the range of

[0081] Figure 6, the emission current I _e and device current I _f of the measured the electron emitting device using the vacuum processing apparatus
FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a relationship between the element voltage and an element voltage _Vf .
In FIG. 6, since the emission current _Ie is significantly 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. 6, the electron-emitting device according to the present invention has the following three characteristic properties with respect to the emission current _Ie .

That is, first, when an element voltage higher than a certain voltage (referred to as threshold voltage; V _{th in} FIG. 6) is applied to the present element, the emission current _Ie rapidly increases, while the threshold voltage V _{th is} lower. , The emission current _Ie is hardly detected. That is, it is a non-linear element having a clear threshold voltage V _th with respect to the emission current I _e .

Second, since the emission current _Ie depends monotonically on the device voltage _Vf , the emission current _Ie can be controlled by the device voltage _Vf .

Thirdly, the amount of charge emitted by the anode electrode 54 (see FIG. 4) depends on the time during which the device voltage _Vf is applied. That is, the amount of charge captured by the anode electrode 54 can be controlled by the time during which the device voltage _Vf is applied.

As understood from the above description, the electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied can easily control the electron-emitting characteristics according to the input signal. Using this property, an electron source composed of a plurality of electron-emitting devices,
It can be applied to various fields such as an image forming apparatus.

[0087] In Figure 6, the device current I _f showed (MI characteristic) Example monotonically increasing with respect to the device voltage V _f,
The element current _If may exhibit a voltage-controlled negative resistance characteristic (VCNR characteristic) with respect to the element voltage _Vf (not shown).
These properties can be controlled by controlling the steps described above.

Next, application examples of the electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied will be described. By arranging a plurality of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices to which the above-described present invention can be applied on a substrate, an electron source or an image forming apparatus can be configured.

Various arrangements of the electron-emitting devices can be adopted. As an example, each of a large number of electron-emitting devices arranged in parallel is connected at both ends, a large number of rows of electron-emitting devices are arranged (referred to as a row direction), and a direction perpendicular to the wiring (referred to as a column direction). There is a ladder-type arrangement in which electrons from the electron-emitting devices are controlled and driven by control electrodes (also referred to as grids) disposed above the electron-emitting devices. 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 three characteristics as described above. That is,
Above the threshold voltage, the electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device can be controlled by the peak value and the width of the pulse-like voltage applied between the opposing device electrodes. On the other hand, below the threshold voltage, almost no emission occurs. According to this characteristic, even when a large number of electron-emitting devices are arranged, if a pulse-like voltage is appropriately applied to each of the devices, an arbitrary electron-emitting device can be selected according to an input signal to reduce the amount of electron emission. Can control.

Hereinafter, based on this principle, the configuration of an electron source substrate obtained by disposing a plurality of electron-emitting devices to which the present invention can be applied will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 71 denotes an electron source substrate, 72 denotes an X-direction wiring, and 73 denotes a Y-direction wiring. 74 is an electron-emitting device, and 75 is a connection.

[0093] The m X-directional wirings 72 are D _x1 , D _x2,.
, _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. Y-direction wiring _{73, D y1, D y2, ......} , it consists n wirings of D _yn, is formed in the same manner as the X-direction wiring 72. An interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is provided between the m X-directional wirings 72 and the n Y-directional wirings 73 to electrically separate them (m and n are both Positive integer).

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. This interlayer insulating layer is formed in a desired shape on the entire surface or a part of the substrate 71 on which the X-directional wiring 72 is formed, for example, and can withstand a potential difference at the intersection of the X-directional wiring 72 and the Y-directional wiring 73. As described above, the film thickness, material, and manufacturing method are appropriately set. The X-direction wiring 72 and the Y-direction wiring 73 are respectively drawn out as external terminals.

A pair of device electrodes (not shown) constituting the electron-emitting device 74 are electrically connected to m X-directional wires 72 and n Y-directional wires 73 by a connection 75 made of a conductive metal or the like. It is connected.

The material forming the wiring 72 and the wiring 73, the material forming the connection 75, and the material forming the pair of element electrodes may have the same or some of the constituent elements that are the same or different from each other. For example, the material is appropriately selected from, for example, the above-described materials of the element 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.

The electron-emitting device may be formed directly on the insulating substrate 71 or on an interlayer insulating layer (not shown).

As will be described in detail later, the X-direction wiring 7
2 is connected to a scanning signal applying unit (not shown) for applying a scanning signal for scanning a row of the electron-emitting devices 74 arranged in the X direction according to an input signal. On the other hand, a modulation signal generating means (not shown) for modulating each column of the electron-emitting devices 74 arranged in the Y direction according to an input signal is connected to the Y-direction wiring 73. The driving voltage applied to each electron-emitting device is supplied as a difference voltage between a scanning signal and a modulation signal applied to the device.

In the above configuration, individual elements can be selected and driven independently using simple matrix wiring.

An image forming apparatus constructed using such an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement will be described with reference to FIGS. 8, 9 and 10. FIG. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a display panel of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a fluorescent film used for the display panel of FIG. FIG.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a drive circuit for performing display on the display panel of FIG. 8 in accordance with an NTSC television signal.

In FIG. 8, reference numeral 71 denotes an electron source substrate on which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged; 81, a rear plate on which the electron source substrate 71 is fixed; 86, a fluorescent film 84 on the inner surface of a glass substrate 83;
And a face plate on which a metal back 85 and the like are formed,
82 is a support frame. Frit glass or the like is applied to the connection surfaces of the rear plate 81, the support frame 82, and the face plate 86, for example, in the air or in a nitrogen atmosphere.
By baking at 0 ° C. for 10 minutes or more, sealing is performed to form the envelope 88.

Reference numeral 74 denotes an electron-emitting device as shown in FIG. Reference numerals 72 and 73 denote an X-direction wiring and a Y-direction wiring connected to a pair of device electrodes (not shown) of the electron-emitting device 74.

The envelope 88 includes 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 is unnecessary, and
1, a supporting frame 82 is directly sealed, and a face plate 86,
The envelope 88 may be constituted by the support frame 82 and the substrate 71. On the other hand, the face plate 86 is
By installing a support (not shown) called a spacer between them, the envelope 8 having sufficient strength against the atmospheric pressure is provided.
8 can also be configured.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a fluorescent film. The fluorescent film 84 can be composed of only a phosphor in the case of monochrome. In the case of a color fluorescent film, a black conductive material 91 called a black stripe (FIG. 9A) or a black matrix (FIG. 9B) or the like and a fluorescent material 92 may be used depending on the arrangement of the fluorescent materials. it can. The purpose of providing a black stripe and black matrix is
In the case of color display, the color separation between the phosphors 92 of the necessary three primary color phosphors is made black so that color mixing and the like become inconspicuous, and the reduction in contrast due to reflection of external light on the phosphor film 84 is suppressed. It is in. Black conductive material 91
As the material of, other than a commonly used material containing graphite as a main component, a material having conductivity and low light transmission and reflection can be used.

The method of applying the fluorescent substance to the glass substrate 83 can employ a precipitation method or a printing method irrespective of monochrome or color. Usually, a metal back 85 is provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 84. The purpose of providing a metal back is
The light emitted from the phosphor toward the inner surface is converted into a face plate 8.
Improving the brightness by specular reflection on the 6 side,
The purpose is to function as an electrode for applying an electron beam acceleration voltage, and 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 evaporation or the like.

The face plate 86 further has the fluorescent film 8
A transparent electrode (not shown) may be provided on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 84 in order to increase the conductivity of the phosphor film 84.

When the above-mentioned sealing is performed, 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. 8 is manufactured, for example, as follows.

The envelope 88 is evacuated through an exhaust pipe (not shown) using an oil-free exhaust device such as an ion pump or a sorption pump while appropriately heating the envelope 88 in the same manner as in the above-described stabilization step. An atmosphere with a vacuum degree of about × 10 ⁻⁵ Pa and a sufficiently small amount of organic substances is used. Then, in order to further perform surface cleaning and prevent degassing during electron emission,
He gas at an appropriate partial pressure is introduced, and face plate 86 is introduced.
A DC voltage or a high-frequency voltage is applied between the electrode and the rear plate 81 having the same potential, thereby generating plasma. In order to remove the adsorbed substance remaining on the surface, it is desired to perform plasma treatment for several tens minutes to several hours.
After the plasma processing is sufficiently performed, the voltage application is terminated, and the introduced gas is exhausted using the above-described exhaust device, and then the envelope 88 is sealed.

Further, in order to maintain the degree of vacuum after the envelope 88 is sealed, a getter process may be performed. This is because a getter (not shown) disposed at a predetermined position in the envelope 88 by heating using resistance heating, high-frequency heating, or the like immediately before or after the envelope 88 is sealed.
Is a process of forming a vapor-deposited film by heating. The getter is usually composed mainly of Ba, etc.,
For example, a vacuum degree of 1.3 × 10 ⁻³ Pa to 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁵ Pa is maintained. Here, steps after the forming process of the electron-emitting device can be set as appropriate.

Next, an example of the configuration of a driving circuit for performing television display based on NTSC television signals on a display panel configured using electron sources arranged in a simple matrix will be described with reference to FIG. . In FIG.
101 the image display panel, 102 a scanning circuit, a control circuit 103, 104 is a shift register, 105 a line memory, a synchronous signal separating circuit 106, 107 is a modulation signal generator, V _x and V _a is a DC voltage source is there.

The display panel 101 has terminals D _ox1 through D _ox
oxm , terminals _{Doy1 to Doyn} and a high voltage terminal 87 are connected to an external electric circuit. Terminals D _{ox1 to} D _oxm
Is applied to the electron source provided in the display panel 101, that is, a scanning signal for sequentially driving one row (n elements) of electron emission element groups arranged in a matrix of m rows and n columns. Is done. The terminal D _Oy1 to _D oyn, modulation signals for controlling the output electron beam of each of the electron-emitting devices of one row selected by a scan signal. The high-voltage terminal 87, the DC voltage source V _a, for example, a DC voltage of 10kV is applied, which the electron beams emitted from the electron-emitting device, to impart sufficient energy to excite the phosphor Is the acceleration voltage for

Next, the scanning circuit 102 will be described. The circuit includes m switching elements (S _{1 to} S
_m is schematically shown). Each switching device selects either the output voltage of the DC voltage source V _x or 0 [V] (ground level),
To terminal D _ox1 of the display panel 101 is connected to D _oxm and electrically. Each switching element S ₁ to S _m, the control circuit 103 operates based on a control signal T _scan that outputs can be configured by combining switching elements such as FET.

[0114] DC voltage source V _x is based on characteristics of the electron-emitting device in the case of this example (electron emission threshold voltage), so that the driving voltage applied to the elements not being scanned is less electron emission threshold voltage It is set to output a constant 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 103 in accordance with the synchronization signal T _sync sent from the synchronous signal separation circuit 106, T _scan, generating a respective control signal T _sft and T _mry to each unit.

The synchronizing signal separating circuit 106 is a circuit for separating a synchronizing signal component and a luminance signal component from an NTSC television signal input from the outside, and uses a general frequency separating (filter) circuit or the like. Can be configured. The synchronizing signal separated by the synchronizing signal separating circuit 106 includes a vertical synchronizing signal and a horizontal synchronizing signal, but is illustrated here as a _Tsync signal for convenience of explanation. The luminance signal component of the image separated from the television signal is represented as a DATA signal for convenience. This DATA signal is input to the shift register 104.

The shift register 104 is for serially / parallel-converting the DATA signal input serially in time series for each line of an image. The shift register 104 converts the DATA signal into a control signal _Tsft sent from the control circuit 103. (Ie, the control signal T _sft is applied to the shift register 10
4 may be rephrased as the shift clock. ). The data for one line of the serial / parallel-converted image (corresponding to the drive data for n electron-emitting devices) is I _d1
To _{Idn as} the n parallel signals.
04.

[0118] The line memory 105 is a storage device for storing only of data for one line, stores the contents of appropriate I _d1 to I _dn according to the control signal T _mry sent from the control circuit 103 I do. The stored contents are output as I _{d′ 1 to} I _{d′ n} and input to the modulation signal generator 107.

Modulation signal generator 107 outputs image data I
_d'1 to according to each of the I _d'n, a signal source for appropriately driving modulating each of the electron-emitting device, the output signal, the electronic display panel 101 through the terminals D _Oy1 to D _Oyn Applied to the emitting element.

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, electron emission has a clear threshold voltage _Vth , and electron emission occurs only when a voltage equal to or higher than _Vth is applied. For a voltage equal to or higher than 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 this element, for example, when a voltage lower than the electron emission threshold voltage is applied, electron emission does not occur, but when a voltage higher than the electron emission threshold voltage is applied, electrons are not emitted. A beam is output. At this time, the pulse peak value V
By changing _m , the intensity of the output electron beam can be controlled. Further, by changing the width P _w of pulse, it is possible to control the total amount of the outputted electron beam charge.

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 implementing the voltage modulation method, the modulation signal generator 107 generates a voltage pulse of a fixed length, and a voltage modulation circuit capable of appropriately modulating the peak value of the voltage pulse according to input data. Can be used. When performing the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 107 generates a voltage pulse having a constant peak value, and modulates the width of the voltage pulse appropriately according to input data. A circuit can be used.

The shift register 104 and the line memory 10
5 can be a digital signal type or an 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 synchronization signal separation circuit 106 into a digital signal. For this purpose, an A / D converter is provided at the output of the synchronization signal separation circuit 106. Just do it. In this connection, 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 includes:
For example, a D / A conversion circuit is used, and an amplification circuit and the like are added as necessary. In the case of the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 107 includes, for example, 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. (Comparator) is used. If necessary, an amplifier for amplifying the pulse width modulated signal output from the comparator to the drive voltage of the electron-emitting device can be added.

In the case of the voltage modulation method using an analog signal, for example, an amplification circuit using an operational amplifier or the like can be used as the modulation signal generator 107, and a level shift circuit or the like can be added as necessary. In the case of the pulse width modulation method, for example, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) can be employed, and an amplifier for amplifying the voltage up to the driving voltage of the electron-emitting device can be added as necessary.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention which can have such a configuration, each of the electron-emitting devices is provided with an external terminal D
_ox1 to D _oxm, by applying a voltage via the D _Oy1 to _D oyn, electron emission occurs. A high voltage is applied to the metal back 85 or a transparent electrode (not shown) via the high voltage terminal 87 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 an 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. The input signal has been described in the NTSC system. However, the input signal is not limited to this. In addition to the PAL and SECAM systems,
A TV signal composed of more scanning lines than these (for example,
A high-definition TV system such as the MUSE system can also be adopted.

Next, the electron source and the image forming apparatus having the ladder-type arrangement will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12. FIG.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a ladder type electron source. In FIG. 11, reference numeral 110 denotes an electron source substrate, and 111 denotes an electron-emitting device. Reference numeral 112 denotes common wirings D _{x1 to} D _x10 for connecting the electron-emitting devices 111, and these are drawn out as external terminals. A plurality of electron-emitting devices 111 are arranged on the substrate 110 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, a voltage equal to or higher than the electron emission threshold is applied to an element row in which an electron beam is to be emitted, and a voltage equal to or lower than the electron emission threshold is applied to an element row in which an electron beam is not desired to be emitted. The common wirings D _{x2 to} D _x9 located between the element rows are, for example, D _x2 and D _x3 , D _x4 and D _x5 ,
D _x6 and D _x7 , and D _x8 and D _x9 , can also be formed as one and the same wiring.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a panel structure in an image forming apparatus provided with a ladder-type electron source. 120 is a grid electrode, 121 is an opening through which electrons pass, D _{ox1 to} D _oxm are terminals outside the container, and G _{1 to} G
_n is an external terminal connected to the grid electrode 120. Reference numeral 110 denotes an electron source substrate in which the common wiring between each element row is the same wiring. In FIG. 12, the same portions as those shown in FIGS. 8 and 11 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those shown in these drawings. A major difference between the image forming apparatus shown here and the image forming apparatus having the simple matrix arrangement shown in FIG. 8 is whether or not the grid electrode 120 is provided between the electron source substrate 110 and the face plate 86.

In FIG. 12, 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 electron-emitting device 111,
In order to allow an electron beam to pass through stripe-shaped electrodes provided orthogonally to the ladder-type element rows, one circular opening 121 is provided for each element. The shapes and arrangement positions of the grid electrodes are not limited to those shown in FIG. For example, a large number of passage openings can be provided in a mesh shape as openings, and a grid electrode can be provided around or near the electron-emitting device.

The outer terminals D _{ox1 to} D _oxm and the outer terminals G _{1 to} G _n of the grid are electrically connected to a control circuit (not shown).

In the image forming apparatus of this embodiment, a modulation signal for one line of an image is simultaneously applied to the grid electrode rows in synchronization with sequentially driving (scanning) the element rows one by one. This makes it possible to control the irradiation of each electron beam to the phosphor and display an image one line at a time.

The image forming apparatus to which the present invention described above can be applied is not only a display device for a television broadcast, a display device such as a video conference system or a computer, but also an optical printer including a photosensitive drum. It can also be used as an image forming apparatus or the like.

[0134]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below with reference to specific examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples, and each element within a range in which the object of the present invention is achieved. This also includes those in which substitutions or design changes have been made.

[Embodiment 1] The basic structure of an electron-emitting device according to this embodiment is the same as that of FIG. In FIG. 1, 1 is a substrate, 2 and 3 are device electrodes, 4 is a conductive film, and 5 is an electron emitting portion.

The method for manufacturing the electron-emitting device according to this embodiment is as follows.
This is basically the same as FIG. 3, and the method of manufacturing the element in this embodiment will be described step by step with reference to FIGS.

Step-a A photoresist (RD-20 having an opening corresponding to an electrode pattern) was formed on a substrate 1 in which a silicon oxide film having a thickness of 0.5 μm was formed on a cleaned blue plate glass by a sputtering method.
00N-41 / manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.).
0% Ni was sequentially deposited. Next, the photoresist was dissolved with an organic solvent, and the Ni / Ti film was lifted off to form device electrodes 2 and 3 (FIG. 3A). Element electrode spacing L
Is 3 μm, and the element electrode width W is 300 μm.

Step-b A Cr film having a thickness of 1000 に is formed on the above-mentioned element by a vacuum deposition method, an opening corresponding to the pattern of the conductive film is provided by photolithography, and a Cr mask for forming the conductive film is formed. Was formed. A Pd amine complex solution (ccp4230 / Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) was applied thereon using a spinner, and heated and baked at 300 ° C. for 12 minutes to form a conductive film containing PdO as a main component. The thickness of this conductive film was 100 °. Subsequently, the Cr mask was removed by wet etching, and the PdO fine particle film was lifted off to form a conductive film 6 having a desired pattern (FIG. 3B). The resistance value of the conductive film 4 was R _s = 2 × 10 ⁴ Ω / □.

Through the above steps, the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the conductive film 4 were formed on the substrate 1.

Step-c Next, the substrate 1 is placed in the vacuum container 55 of the vacuum processing apparatus shown in FIG.
Installed in a sample holder (not shown)
The inside of the vacuum vessel 55 was evacuated to a degree of vacuum of about 2.6 × 10 ⁻³ Pa. Thereafter, a voltage is applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 of the device from a power supply 51 for applying a device voltage _Vf to the device, and energization forming is performed to form an electron emission portion 5 (FIG. 3C). ).

In this embodiment, the pulse width T ₁ is set to ₁ ms.
c. , The pulse interval T ₂ is 10 msec. The peak value (peak voltage at the time of forming) of the rectangular wave was raised in steps of 0.1 V, and the forming process was performed. During the forming process, a resistance measuring pulse of 0.1 V is inserted within the pause time of the forming pulse, and the resistance value becomes about 1
When the voltage became MΩ or more, the application of the voltage to the device was terminated. The forming power at this time was about 70 mW.

Step-d Thereafter, the device was annealed at 150 ° C. while keeping the device in a vacuum to reduce the conductive film 4. Subsequently, n-hexane was introduced into the vacuum vessel 55 through a slow leak valve to maintain 1.3 × 10 ⁻³ Pa. Next, a pulse voltage having a peak value of 14 V of a rectangular wave was applied to the element subjected to the forming process, and an activation process was performed. Under this condition, the efficiency η (I
_(e / I _f × 100%) reached a maximum in about 30 minutes by preliminary examination. Therefore, after 30 minutes, the power supply was stopped, the slow leak valve was closed, and the activation process was terminated.

Step-e Subsequently, about 6.5 × 10 ³ Pa of He was introduced into the vacuum vessel 55 through a needle valve, and the potential between the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the anode electrode 54 at the same potential was introduced. 13.56MH
A high frequency voltage of 500 W was applied to generate plasma, and voltage application was continued for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, the application of the high-frequency voltage was stopped, and the introduced He gas was exhausted.

Step-f Subsequently, the electron emission characteristics were evaluated. The distance H between the anode electrode 54 and the electron-emitting device was 4 mm, the potential of the anode electrode 54 was 1000 V, and the degree of vacuum in the vacuum vessel 55 at the time of measuring the electron emission characteristics was 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁶ Pa. An element voltage of 14 V was applied between 2 and 3.

Comparative Example 1 An electron-emitting device was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1, except that baking was performed at 200 ° C. for 30 minutes without generating plasma in step-e of Example 1. Was evaluated.

When the devices manufactured in Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 were evaluated, the device manufactured in Example 1 retained sufficient electron emission characteristics for a longer time than the device in Comparative Example 1. In comparison with the device of Comparative Example 1, the stability of the electron emission characteristics of the device of Example 1 was greatly improved.

The partial pressure of the gas released into the hermetic container (vacuum container 55) during the operation of the device of the first embodiment was determined by the residual gas analyzer arranged in the hermetic container. It was found that the pressure was significantly lower than the partial pressure of the gas released during operation. Further, when the device of Example 1 was observed with a scanning electron microscope, it was found that the number of protrusions and the like seen on the device was significantly smaller than that of the device of Comparative Example 1.

The same effect was obtained by various combinations using sputtered films of Pd, Ni, Pt, Au, etc. in addition to the above-mentioned PdO as the material of the conductive film 4 of the first embodiment.

Example 2 An electron-emitting device was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the step-e of Example 1 was changed to the following step-e, and the electron emission characteristics were evaluated.

Step-e Approximately 1.3 × 1 in the vacuum vessel 55 through a needle valve.
A H ₂ gas of 0 ⁴ Pa was introduced, and 13.56 MHz was applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the anode electrode 54 at the same potential.
A high-frequency voltage of 500 W is applied to generate plasma,
The voltage application was continued for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes,
The application of the high frequency voltage was stopped, and the introduced H ₂ gas was exhausted.

The device subjected to the plasma cleaning of this embodiment is as follows.
Sufficient electron emission characteristics were maintained for almost the same time as in Example 1 and the stability of emission current _Ie was greatly improved as compared with the device of Comparative Example 1. Further, the partial pressure of the gas released into the hermetic container during the operation of the element of the present example is determined by the residual gas analyzer disposed in the hermetic container, and the gas released when the element of Comparative Example 1 is driven. Was found to be significantly lower than the partial pressure of Further, when the device of this example was observed with a scanning electron microscope, it was found that the number of protrusions observed on the device was significantly smaller than that of the device of Comparative Example 1.

Similar effects were obtained by various combinations using sputtered films of Pd, Ni, Pt, Au and the like in addition to PdO as the material of the conductive film 4 of the second embodiment.

[Embodiment 3] In this embodiment, the same steps as in Embodiment 1 are performed up to Step-b.
After performing the plasma cleaning of e, the energization forming process is performed in the same manner as the process-c of the first embodiment, and then the activation process of the process-d of the first embodiment is performed.
Baking (stabilization step) was performed at 30 ° C. for 30 minutes.

The electron emission characteristics of the electron-emitting device thus obtained were evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1.

The device manufactured by the method of the present example, though slightly inferior to the device of Example 1, retained sufficient electron emission characteristics for a longer time than the device of Comparative Example 1.

The partial pressure of the gas released into the hermetic container during the operation of the device of the present embodiment is determined by the residual gas analyzer disposed in the hermetic container when the device of Comparative Example 1 is driven. Significantly lower than the partial pressure of the applied gas. Further, when the device of this example was observed with a scanning electron microscope, it was found that the number of protrusions and the like seen on the device was significantly smaller than that of the device of Comparative Example 1.

Similar effects were obtained by various combinations using sputtered films of Pd, Ni, Pt, Au and the like in addition to PdO as the material of the conductive film 4 of the third embodiment.

[Embodiment 4] In this embodiment, the same steps as in Embodiment 1 are performed up to Step-c.
After performing the plasma cleaning of e, an activation treatment and a stabilization step were performed in the same manner as in step-d of Example 1.

The electron emission characteristics of the electron-emitting device thus obtained were evaluated in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

The stability of the device manufactured by the method of the present example was almost the same as that of the device of Example 3, and sufficient electron emission characteristics were maintained for a longer time than the device of Comparative Example 1.

The partial pressure of the gas released into the hermetic container during the operation of the device of the present embodiment is determined by the residual gas analyzer disposed in the hermetic container when the device of Comparative Example 1 is driven. Significantly lower than the partial pressure of the applied gas. Further, when the device of this example was observed with a scanning electron microscope, it was found that the number of protrusions and the like seen on the device was significantly smaller than that of the device of Comparative Example 1.

Similar effects were obtained by various combinations using sputtered films of Pd, Ni, Pt, Au and the like in addition to PdO as the material of the conductive film 4 of the fourth embodiment.

Example 5 An electron-emitting device was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the step-e of Example 1 was changed to the following step-e, and the electron emission characteristics were evaluated.

Step-e The element and the vacuum vessel 55 are heated to 200 ° C. by a heater (not shown) while evacuating the inside of the vacuum vessel 55 in which the element is installed, and further, 6.5 × is supplied into the vacuum vessel 55 through a needle valve. He was introduced at 10 ³ Pa, and 13.56 MHz was applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the anode electrode, which were brought to the same potential.
A high-frequency voltage of 500 W is applied to generate plasma,
The voltage application was continued for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes,
The application of the high-frequency voltage was stopped, and the introduced He gas was exhausted. Further, heating by the heater was stopped.

The device manufactured by the method of the present embodiment maintained sufficient electron emission characteristics for the longest time as compared with the devices of Examples 1 to 4.

The partial pressure of the gas released into the hermetic container during the operation of the device of this embodiment was the lowest as compared with any of the above embodiments. Further, when the device of this example was observed with a scanning electron microscope, it was found that the number of protrusions and the like seen on the device was significantly smaller than that of the device of Comparative Example 1.

Similar effects were obtained by various combinations using sputtered films of Pd, Ni, Pt, Au and the like in addition to PdO as the material of the conductive film 4 of the fifth embodiment.

[Embodiment 6] In this embodiment, an image forming apparatus is manufactured by using an electron source in which a large number of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a simple matrix.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a part of a substrate on which a plurality of conductive films are arranged in a matrix. Also, A- in FIG.
FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along the line A ′. 13 and 14 indicate the same members. Here, 71 is a substrate, 2 and 3 are device electrodes, and 4 is a conductive film. 72 is an X-direction wiring (also called lower wiring) corresponding to Dxm in FIG. 7, 73 is a Y-direction wiring (also called upper wiring) corresponding to Dyn in FIG. 7, 151 is an interlayer insulating layer, and 152 is an element electrode 2 This is a contact hole for electrical connection with the lower wiring 72.

First, a method for manufacturing an electron source substrate according to the present embodiment will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. The steps -a to h described below correspond to (a) to (d) in FIG. 15 and (e) to (h) in FIG.
Corresponding to

Step-a On a substrate 71 in which a 0.5 μm-thick silicon oxide film was formed on a cleaned blue plate glass by a sputtering method, 50 mm thick Cr and 6000 mm thick Au were deposited by vacuum evaporation. After sequentially laminating, a photoresist (AZ1500 / Hoechst) is spin-coated with a spinner and baked, then a photomask image is exposed and developed to form a resist pattern of the lower wiring 72, and the Au / Cr deposited film is wet-etched. Thus, a lower wiring 72 having a desired shape was formed.

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

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

Step-d Thereafter, a pattern to be a gap L between the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the device electrode is formed by a photoresist (RD-2000N-41).
/ Made by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.)
Ｔｉ Ti and 1000 Ｎｉ Ni were sequentially deposited. The photoresist pattern was dissolved in an organic solvent, the Ni / Ti deposited film was lifted off, and the element electrode interval L was 3 μm and the width W was 3
Element electrodes 2 and 3 of 00 μm were formed.

Step-e After forming a photoresist pattern of the upper wiring 73 on the device electrodes 2 and 3, Ti of 50 厚 thickness and Au of 5000 Ａ thickness are sequentially deposited by vacuum evaporation, and unnecessary portions are removed by lift-off. By removing, the upper wiring 73 of a desired shape was formed.

Step-f Next, a 1000 .ANG.-thick Cr film 161 is deposited by vacuum evaporation, patterned so as to have an opening in the shape of the conductive film 6, and a Pd amine complex solution (ccp423) is formed thereon.
0 / Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) by spinner,
A heating and baking treatment was performed at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes to form a conductive film 4 made of PdO fine particles. The thickness of this film is 10
0 °, and the sheet resistance was 5 × 10 ⁴ Ω / □.

Step-g The Cr film 161 was wet-etched with an acid etchant to remove unnecessary portions of the conductive film 4 made of fine PdO particles, thereby forming a conductive film 4 having a desired shape.

Step-h A resist pattern having an opening in the contact hole 152 was formed, and 50 .mu.m thick Ti and 5000 .mu.m thick Au were sequentially deposited by vacuum evaporation. Unnecessary portions are removed by lift-off, so that contact holes 1
52 was embedded.

Through the above steps, the lower wiring 72, the interlayer insulating layer 151, the upper wiring 73, the device electrodes 2, 3, and the conductive film 4 were formed on the insulating substrate 71.

Next, an image forming apparatus was manufactured using the substrate 71 (FIG. 13) on which the plurality of conductive films 4 manufactured as described above were arranged in a matrix. 8 and 9 show the manufacturing procedure.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the substrate 71 (FIG. 13) on which the plurality of conductive films 4 are wired in a matrix is fixed on the rear plate 81, and the face plate 86 (on the inner surface of the glass substrate 83) is placed 5 mm above the substrate 1. A fluorescent film 84 and a metal back 85 are formed via a support frame 82, and frit glass is applied to the joint between the face plate 86, the support frame 82, and the rear plate 81. Sealing was performed by firing at 10 ° C. for 10 minutes or more (FIG. 8). The fixing of the substrate 71 to the rear plate 81 was also performed with frit glass.

The fluorescent film 84 is used to realize color.
A phosphor having a stripe shape (see FIG. 9A) was formed, a black stripe was formed first, and phosphors 92 of the respective colors were applied to gaps by a slurry method to form a phosphor film 84. As a material of the black stripe, a material mainly containing graphite, which is generally used, was used.

Further, a metal back 85 was provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 84. The metal back 85 is manufactured by performing a smoothing process (usually called filming) on the inner surface of the fluorescent film 84 after the fluorescent film 84 is manufactured, and then performing vacuum deposition of Al.

The face plate 86 is further provided with a fluorescent film 8.
In some cases, a transparent electrode is provided on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 84 in order to increase the conductivity of the metal back 8.
5 was omitted because sufficient conductivity was obtained.

At the time of performing the above-described sealing, in the case of color, since the phosphors 92 of each color must correspond to the electron-emitting devices, sufficient alignment was performed.

The atmosphere in the panel (enclosure 88) completed as described above is evacuated by a vacuum pump through an exhaust pipe (not shown), and after reaching a sufficient degree of vacuum, the external terminal D
a pulse voltage is applied between _ox1 to the device electrodes 2 and 3 of the D _oxm and D _Oy1 to the electron-emitting device 74 through the _D oyn, was forming process. In this embodiment, the pulse width is 1 mse
c. , Pulse interval 10 msec. And about 1.3 × 10
^The forming treatment was performed in a vacuum atmosphere of ^-3 Pa.

[0187] Next, n-
Hexane was introduced into the panel through a slow leak valve to maintain 1.3 × 10 ⁻³ Pa. Next, a pulse voltage of the same rectangular wave (peak value 14 V) as in the forming was applied, and the device activation process was performed while measuring the device current _If and the emission current _Ie .

As described above, the forming and activating processes were performed to form the electron-emitting portion 5, and the electron-emitting device 74 was manufactured.

Next, He gas was introduced into the panel through an exhaust pipe, and the partial pressure was adjusted to about 6.5 × 10 ³ Pa. Subsequently, the X-direction wiring 72 and the Y-direction wiring 73 are short-circuited to have the same potential, and a high-frequency voltage of 13.56 MHz and 500 W is applied between these wirings and the face plate 86 to generate plasma. The voltage application was continued for minutes. Thereafter, the application of the high-frequency voltage was stopped, and the introduced He gas was exhausted. Further, the evacuation was continued and the evacuation was performed to a degree of vacuum of about 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa, and then the evacuation pipe (not shown) was welded by heating with a gas burner to seal the envelope 88.

Finally, gettering was performed by a high-frequency heating method to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing.

The external terminals _{Dox1 to Doxm} and _{Doy1 to Doyn} and the high voltage terminal 87 of the panel manufactured as described above were connected to necessary driving systems, respectively, to complete an image forming apparatus. External terminals D _{ox1 to} D _ox
A scanning signal and a modulation signal are respectively applied from signal generating means (not shown ₎ through _oxm and _Doy1 to _Doyn to emit electrons.
To apply a high voltage of several kV or more to accelerate the electron beam,
The image was displayed by colliding with the fluorescent film 84 to excite and emit light.

The image display device in this embodiment displays a good image stably for a long time as compared with a comparative image display device manufactured by performing baking at 200 ° C. for 60 minutes without performing plasma cleaning. I was able to.

[Embodiment 7] The same steps as in the embodiment up to the forming process in Embodiment 6 are performed, He is introduced, and the partial pressure is adjusted to about 6.5 × 10 ³ Pa.
Plasma was generated for 30 minutes under the same conditions as in the plasma cleaning step of Example 6. Thereafter, He was exhausted, n-hexane was introduced and activation treatment was performed in the same manner as in Example 6, and then plasma cleaning, exhaust pipe sealing, and getter treatment were performed for 60 minutes under the same conditions as described above to form an image. The device was made.

Thereafter, an image was displayed under the same conditions as in Example 6 and the stability was confirmed. As a result, it was found that this example was more excellent than Example 6.

This is because, by performing plasma cleaning even before the activation process, molecules such as H ₂ O adsorbed on the inner wall of the envelope of the image display device are removed, and the activation process is performed by H ₂ O or the like. This is considered to be because the activation treatment is performed in an atmosphere having less neutrons, and the result of the activation treatment is more favorable for the stability of the electron emission characteristics.

[Embodiment 8] After the forming process was performed in the same manner as in Embodiment 7, the image forming apparatus in the course of production, which was stored in a desiccator, was connected to a vacuum processing apparatus and evacuated once.
Subsequently, He was introduced at a partial pressure of about 6.5 × 10 ³ Pa to generate plasma. The duration of the plasma was 60 minutes, after which He was evacuated. The pressure inside the panel (the envelope 88) was 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa. Thereafter, benzonitrile was introduced into the panel so that the partial pressure became 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa, and the panel was activated.

After the activation process is completed, the entire panel is
C., and the evacuation was continued for 10 hours, the exhaust pipe was sealed, and a getter process was performed to produce an image forming apparatus.

Comparative Example 2 An image forming apparatus was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 8, except that the plasma treatment before the activation treatment was not performed.

More specifically, after the forming process was performed in the same manner as in Example 7, the image forming apparatus in the course of production, which was stored in a desiccator, was connected to a vacuum processing apparatus and evacuated for 60 minutes. It was about 3 × 10 ² Pa.
Thereafter, benzonitrile was introduced and the activation treatment was performed in the same manner as in Example 8. However, it took about four times as long to reach a substantially equal level of the device current _If .

Subsequently, the entire panel was heated to about 200 ° C., exhausting was continued for 10 hours, the exhaust pipe was sealed, and a getter process was performed to produce an image forming apparatus.

The image forming apparatuses of Example 8 and Comparative Example 2
When the brightness was visually compared with the light emitted from the entire surface, it was clear that the device of Example 8 was brighter.

[0202] This is because when benzonitrile, which is activated at a relatively low partial pressure, is used, the effect of water or the like remaining in the atmosphere appears remarkably, and carbon and / or carbon formed by the activation treatment is formed. In Comparative Example 2 in which the compound was qualitatively weak and plasma cleaning was not performed, a part of the compound disappeared due to the stabilization treatment by heating, and I _f and I _e obtained once by activation.
Is considered to have become smaller.

Thus, when the plasma cleaning according to the present invention is applied to the exhaust treatment before the activation treatment, an effect of improving the resistance of the element to the stabilization treatment by heating can be expected depending on the conditions of the activation treatment. It has been shown.

[Embodiment 9] In this embodiment, Embodiments 6 to 8 will be described.
An example of a display device configured to be able to display image information provided from various image information sources such as a television broadcast, for example, is shown. Display was performed on the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 8 by using the drive circuit shown in FIG. 10 in accordance with an NTSC television signal.

In the present display device, the depth of the display device can be reduced particularly because the display panel using the surface conduction electron-emitting device as the electron beam source can be easily made thin. In addition, the display panel using the surface conduction electron-emitting device as the electron beam source is easy to enlarge the screen, has high brightness, and has excellent viewing angle characteristics. It is possible to display with good visibility.

The display device of this example was able to display a television image according to the NTSC television signal in a favorable state and stably for a long time.

[0207]

As described above, according to the present invention, the electron emission characteristics of the electron-emitting device have been stabilized for a long time. An electron source and an image forming apparatus using the above-described electron-emitting device have the same effect.

In the image forming apparatus, the stability of the electron emission characteristics and the life are improved. For example, in the case of an image forming apparatus using a phosphor as an image forming member, a high quality image forming apparatus can be formed. A color flat TV is realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of a flat-type electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an example of a vertical electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view for explaining an example of a method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of a vacuum processing apparatus (measurement evaluation apparatus) that can be used in the method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a voltage waveform of energization forming.

FIG. 6 is a view showing electron emission characteristics of the electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 8 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. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a fluorescent film in a display panel.

FIG. 10 illustrates an NTSC image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a drive circuit for performing display according to a television signal of a system.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing an example of an electron source having a ladder-type arrangement to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 12 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. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a part of a matrix-wired electron source according to a sixth embodiment.

14 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A 'of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a manufacturing process diagram of the electron source of FIG. 13;

FIG. 16 is a manufacturing process diagram of the electron source of FIG. 13;

FIG. 17 is a typical view showing a change in emission current _Ie according to a driving time of the surface conduction electron-emitting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2, 3 Element electrode 4 Conductive film 5 Electron emission part 50 Ammeter for measuring element current _If 51 Power supply for applying element voltage _Vf to electron emission element 52 Emitted from electron emission part 5 Ammeter 53 for measuring the emission current I _e of the anode 53 A high-voltage power supply 54 for applying a voltage to the anode 54 An anode electrode for capturing electrons emitted from the electron emission section 5 55 Vacuum container 56 Exhaust device 57 Plasma Gas cylinder for needle 58 Needle valve 59 DC or high frequency power supply 71 Electron source board 72 X direction wiring 73 Y direction wiring 74 Electron emission element 75 Connection 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 101 Display panel 102 Scanning circuit 1 3 control circuit 104 the shift register 105 a line memory 106 synchronizing signal separation circuit 107 modulation signal generator V _x, V _a DC voltage source 110 the electron source substrate 111 electron-emitting devices 112 common wiring 120 grid electrodes 121 for wiring the electron-emitting device Opening through which electrons pass 151 Interlayer insulating layer 152 Contact hole 161 Cr film

Claims (8)

[Claims] A pair of device electrodes formed on a base;
A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device having a conductive film including an electron-emitting portion connected to the device electrode, comprising: (a) forming the device electrode and a conductive film on a base; A forming step of forming an electron-emitting portion in the conductive film; and (c) a method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device, comprising at least an activation step of applying a voltage between the pair of device electrodes in an atmosphere in which an organic substance is present. The above-described electron-emitting device is installed in an airtight container provided with electrodes, a gas is introduced into the airtight container, and a voltage is applied between the electron-emitting device and the anode to generate plasma. The plasma cleaning step of exhausting the inside is performed in any one or more periods before the step (b), between the steps (b) and (c), and after the step (c). Manufacturing method of electron-emitting device 2. The electron according to claim 1, wherein the gas introduced into the hermetic container in the plasma cleaning step is at least one gas selected from He, Ne, and H _2. A method for manufacturing an emission element. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plasma cleaning step is performed after the step (c) while heating the electron-emitting device or the electron-emitting device, the hermetic container, and the members installed therein. Or the method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to 2. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plasma cleaning step is performed before and after the step (c). 5. A voltage applied between the electron-emitting device and the anode electrode in the plasma cleaning step is 100V to 100V.
2. A DC voltage of 10 kV.
5. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to any one of items 1 to 4. 6. A voltage applied between the electron-emitting device and the anode electrode in the plasma cleaning step has a frequency of 10.
MHz to 3 GHz.
5. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to any one of 4. 7. A plurality of electron-emitting devices each having a pair of device electrodes and a conductive film including an electron-emitting portion connected to the device electrodes on a base, and connected to the plurality of electron-emitting devices. In the method for manufacturing an electron source having a wiring,
A method of manufacturing an electron source, comprising applying the method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1. 8. A plurality of electron-emitting devices each having a pair of device electrodes and a conductive film including an electron-emitting portion connected to the device electrodes on a base, and connected to the plurality of electron-emitting devices. Of an image forming apparatus having, in an airtight container, an electron source having patterned wiring and an image forming member which forms an image by emitting light by irradiation of an electron beam emitted from the electron source. 7. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, comprising applying the method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1 to a method.