JP2000208032A - Electron beam device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electron beam device with suppressed amount of electron beams incident on a spacer, reduced distortion of images, and reduce brightness dependence by excluding the neighborhood of orbits of electrons discharged from an electron emission part to arrange a spacer. SOLUTION: Since electrons that are made incident on a spacer and a part of the electrons discharged by electron incidence bit a spacer 11, or ion gas ionized adheres to the spacer 112, positive electrification is generated on spacer 112. An electric field changes by this electrification, orbits of the electrons discharged from an element are bent, which reaches positions different from regularly positions. Since the spacer 112 is not arranged in the neighborhood of electron beams 119, gaps of the electron beams 119 absorbed in the spacer 112 sides can be suppressed, so that the high-quality image formation without distorting becomes possible. Furthermore, since the spacer 112 is not arranged in the neighborhood of the electron orbits, or the area of the spacer 11 is reduced, the suck of the electron beams 119 is few by the electrification of the spacer 112, so that the uniform image can be obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electron beam apparatus and an image forming apparatus such as a display apparatus to which the apparatus is applied.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, two types of electron emitting devices, a hot cathode device and a cold cathode device, are known. Among these, among the cold cathode devices, for example, a surface conduction type emission device, a field emission type device (hereinafter referred to as FE type), a metal / insulating layer / metal type emission device (hereinafter referred to as MIM type), and the like are known. I have.

[0003] As a surface conduction type emission element, for example,
MIElinson, Radio Eng. ElectronPhys., 10, 1290, (1
965) and other examples described below.

[0004] A surface conduction electron-emitting device is formed on a substrate.
By passing a current through a small area thin film parallel to the film surface.
This utilizes the phenomenon that electron emission occurs. This surface
As the conduction type emission element, Sn described by Elinson et al.
O_TwoIn addition to those using thin films, those using Au thin films [G.D.
ittmer: “Thin Solid Films”, 9,317 (1972)] _Two
O_Three/ SnO_TwoThin film [M. Hartwell and C. G.
 Fonstad: “IEEE Trans. ED Conf.”, 519 (1975)]
By carbon thin film [Hisashi Araki et al .: Vacuum, Vol. 26,
No. 1, 22 (1983)].

As a typical example of the device configuration of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, FIG. 22 is a plan view of the device by M. Hartwell et al. Described above. In the figure, reference numeral 3001 denotes a substrate, and reference numeral 3004 denotes a conductive thin film made of a metal oxide formed by sputtering. The conductive thin film 3004 is formed in an H-shaped planar shape as shown. An electron emission portion 3005 is formed by performing an energization process called energization forming described later on the conductive thin film 3004. The interval L in the figure is 0.5 to 1 [mm], and W is 0.1
[Mm]. In addition, for convenience of illustration, the electron emitting portion 3005 is shown in a rectangular shape at the center of the conductive thin film 3004, but this is a schematic one, and the position and shape of the actual electron emitting portion are faithfully represented. Not necessarily.

In the above-described surface conduction electron-emitting device including the device by M. Hartwell et al., An electron emission portion 3005 is formed by performing an energization process called energization forming on the conductive thin film 3004 before electron emission. Was common. That is, energization forming means that a constant DC voltage is applied to both ends of the conductive thin film 3004,
Alternatively, a current is applied by applying a direct current voltage that is boosted at a very slow rate of, for example, about 1 V / min, and locally destroys, deforms, or alters the conductive thin film 3004, and the electrons in an electrically high resistance state That is, forming the emission part 3005. Note that a crack is generated in a part of the conductive thin film 3004 that is locally broken, deformed, or altered. After the energization forming, the conductive thin film 3004
When an appropriate voltage is applied to the above, electrons are emitted in the vicinity of the crack.

An example of the FE type is, for example, WP Dy
ke & WW Dolan, “Field Emission”, Advance in El
ectron Physics, 8, 89 (1956) or CASpin
dt, “Physical Properties of Thin-Film Field Emissi
on Cathodes with Molybdenium Cones ”, J. Appl. Phys.,
47, 5248 (1976) and the like are known.

FIG. 23 shows a cross-sectional view of a device by CA Spindt et al. As a typical example of the FE device structure. In the figure, 3010 is a substrate, 3011 is an emitter wiring made of a conductive material, 3012 is an emitter cone, 3013 is an insulating layer, and 3014 is a gate electrode.
This device comprises an emitter cone 3012 and a gate electrode 301
By applying an appropriate voltage during the period 4, field emission is caused from the tip of the emitter cone 3012.

As another element structure of the FE type, FIG.
There is also an example in which an emitter and a gate electrode are arranged on a substrate almost in parallel with the plane of the substrate, instead of the laminated structure as in No. 3.

As an example of the MIM type, for example,
CAMead, “Operation of Tunnel-Emission Devices,
J. Appl. Phys., 32, 646 (1961) and the like are known.
FIG. 24 shows a typical example of the MIM element configuration. FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view, and in FIG.
3021 is a lower electrode made of metal, 3022 is a thickness of 100
An insulating layer as thin as about Å, and 3023 has a thickness of 8
The upper electrode is made of a metal of about 0 to 300 angstroms. In the MIM type, electrons are emitted from the surface of the upper electrode 3023 by applying an appropriate voltage between the upper electrode 3023 and the lower electrode 3021.

The above-mentioned cold cathode device can obtain electrons at a lower temperature than the hot cathode device, and therefore does not require a heater for heating. Therefore, the structure is simpler than that of the hot cathode element, and a fine element can be produced. Also,
Even if a large number of elements are arranged on a substrate at a high density, problems such as thermal melting of the substrate hardly occur. In addition, unlike the hot cathode device, which operates by heating the heater, the response speed is slow, and the cold cathode device also has the advantage that the response speed is fast.

For this reason, research for applying the cold cathode device has been actively conducted.

For example, the surface conduction electron-emitting device has the advantage of being able to form a large number of devices over a large area because it has a particularly simple structure and is easy to manufacture among the cold cathode devices. Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
As disclosed in JP-A-332-332, a method for arranging and driving a large number of elements has been studied.

As for the application of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, for example, an image forming apparatus such as an image display device and an image recording device, a charged beam source, and the like have been studied.

Particularly, as an application to an image display device, for example, US Pat. No. 5,066,883, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-257551 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-2813 by the present applicant.
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-107, an image display device using a combination of a surface conduction electron-emitting device and a phosphor that emits light by irradiation with an electron beam has been studied. An image display device using a combination of a surface conduction electron-emitting device and a phosphor is expected to have better characteristics than other conventional image display devices. For example, compared to a liquid crystal display device that has become widespread in recent years, it can be said that it is superior in that it does not require a backlight because it is a self-luminous type and that it has a wide viewing angle.

A method of driving a large number of FE types is disclosed in, for example, US Pat.
No. 895. As an example of applying the FE type to an image display device, for example, a flat panel display device reported by R. Meyer et al. Is known [R. Meyer: “Re.
cent Development on Micro-Tips Display at LETI ”, T
ech.Digest of 4th Int.Vacuum Microelectronics Co
nf., Nagahama, pp. 6-9 (1991)].

An example in which a number of MIM types are arranged and applied to an image display device is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
No. 5,557,838.

Among the image forming apparatuses using the above-described electron-emitting devices, a flat display device having a small depth has been attracting attention as a replacement for a cathode ray tube display device because of its space saving and light weight. .

FIG. 25 is a perspective view showing an example of a display panel portion forming a flat type image display device, and a part of the panel is cut away to show the internal structure.

In the figure, 3115 is a rear plate, 3116
Denotes a side wall, 3117 denotes a face plate, and a rear plate 3115, a side wall 3116, and a face plate 3
117 forms an envelope (airtight container) for maintaining the inside of the display panel in a vacuum.

A substrate 3111 is fixed to the rear plate 3115, and N × M cold cathode devices 3112 are formed on the substrate 3111. (N and M are positive integers of 2 or more and are appropriately set according to the target number of display pixels.) Further, the N × M cold cathode elements 31 are used.
Reference numeral 12 denotes M row-directional wirings 311 as shown in FIG.
Three and N column-directional wirings 3114 are provided.
The part constituted by the substrate 3111, the cold cathode element 3112, the row direction wiring 3113 and the column direction wiring 3114 is called a multi electron beam source. An insulating layer (not shown) is formed at least at the intersection of the row wiring 3113 and the column wiring 3114 between the two wirings.
Electrical insulation is maintained.

On the lower surface of the face plate 3117, a tendency film 3118 made of a phosphor is formed, and phosphors of three primary colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) (not shown) are applied. Divided. A black body (not shown) is provided between the phosphors of the respective colors constituting the fluorescent film 3118, and a metal back 3119 made of Al or the like is formed on the surface of the fluorescent film 3118 on the rear plate 3115 side. ing.

Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn and Hv are electric connection terminals having an airtight structure provided for electrically connecting the display panel to an electric circuit (not shown). Dx1 to Dxm are electrically connected to the row direction wiring 3113 of the multi-electron beam source, Dy1 to Dyn are electrically connected to the column direction wiring 3114 of the multi-electron beam source, and Hv is electrically connected to the metal back 3119.

The interior of the hermetic container is maintained at a vacuum of about 10 −6 Torr, and as the display area of the image display device increases, the rear plate 3115 due to the pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the hermetic container. Further, means for preventing deformation or destruction of the face plate 3117 is required. The method of increasing the thickness of the rear plate 3115 and the face plate 3116 not only increases the weight of the image display device, but also causes image distortion and parallax when viewed from an oblique direction. On the other hand, in FIG. 25, a structural support (called a spacer or a rib) 3120 made of a relatively thin glass plate and supporting the atmospheric pressure is provided. Thus, the substrate 3111 on which the multi-beam electron source is formed and the fluorescent film 3
The space between the face plates 3116 where the 118 is formed is usually kept at a sub-millimeter to several millimeters, and as described above, the inside of the airtight container is kept at a high vacuum.

In the image display apparatus using the display panel described above, when a voltage is applied to each cold cathode element 3112 through the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn, electrons are emitted from each cold cathode element 3112. At the same time, a high voltage of several hundred [V] to several [kV] is applied to the metal back 3119 through the external terminal Hv to accelerate the emitted electrons and cause them to collide with the face plate 3117 in the plane. As a result, the phosphors of each color forming the fluorescent film 3118 are excited and emit light, and an image is displayed.

[0026]

The above-described electron beam apparatus such as an image forming apparatus includes an envelope for maintaining a vacuum atmosphere inside the apparatus, an electron source arranged in the envelope, and an electron source. A target to be irradiated with the electron beam emitted from the electron source, an acceleration electrode for accelerating the electron beam toward the target, and the like, and further, to support the atmospheric pressure applied to the envelope from inside the envelope. May be arranged inside the envelope.

The display panel of such an image display device has the following problems.

First, there is a possibility that the spacer may be charged by a part of the electrons emitted from the vicinity of the spacer hitting the spacer or by the ionized ions attached to the spacer by the action of the emitted electrons. Further, there is a possibility that electrons reaching the face plate are partially reflected and scattered, and a part of the electrons hit the spacer, thereby causing spacer charging. The electrons emitted from the cold cathode device due to the charging of the spacer are bent in their trajectories, and reach a place different from the normal position on the phosphor,
The image near the spacer is distorted.

In order to solve this problem, a proposal has been made to remove the charge by making a small current flow through the spacer (hereinafter referred to as "discharge"). There, a high-resistance thin film is formed on the surface of an insulating spacer so that a minute current flows on the surface of the spacer.

However, when the amount of electrons emitted from the cold cathode device becomes large, the charge elimination ability cannot be said to be sufficient, and the charge amount changes depending on the intensity of the electron beam. Accordingly, the deviation of the electron beam emitted from the element near the spacer from the normal position on the target differs depending on the intensity (luminance). So when you view a video,
There are drawbacks such as that the image appears to fluctuate.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional spacer, and provides an electron beam apparatus which suppresses the amount of electron beams incident on the spacer, thereby reducing distortion of an image and having little dependence on luminance. It is.

[0032]

The above object is achieved by an image forming apparatus having the following configuration. That is, an electron source substrate having an electron source composed of a plurality of cold cathode type electron-emitting devices, an acceleration electrode arranged to face the electron source substrate for accelerating electrons emitted from the electron source, and an electron beam emitted from the electron source. A target (phosphor) irradiated with an electron beam,
In an image forming apparatus having an envelope having a sealed structure for maintaining an electron source substrate and an accelerating electrode in a vacuum, and a spacer for supporting the envelope, a spacer is not disposed near an electron orbit, or as much as possible. By reducing the area of the spacer, the effect of the spacer charging on the electrons is reduced, the electron beam is less attracted, and the non-uniformity of the image near the spacer can be reduced.

The present invention is also effective against fluctuations in brightness-induced images that occur when a spacer having a form for removing static electricity is used by causing a minute current to flow through the spacer.

Here, the function of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a relationship between a spacer position and an electron beam, and is a cross-sectional view in an image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a relationship between a spacer position and an electron beam spot.
(B) shows the spacer of the present invention. The cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view along AA ′ of FIG. 1 and 2, reference numeral 110 denotes a face plate including a phosphor and a metal back; 111, an electron source substrate; 112, a spacer;
Reference numeral 7 denotes an electron-emitting device, 119 denotes an electron beam, 120 denotes a space, and 121 denotes an electron beam spot. FIG.
The direction of application of the voltage for driving the electron emission portion is indicated by an arrow a.
Indicated by

In (a), the electrons directly incident on the spacer or a part of the electrons emitted from the vicinity of the spacer due to the electron injection hit the spacer, or ions ionized by the action of the emitted electrons adhere to the spacer. Positive charging occurs in the spacer. The electric field changes due to the spacer charging, and the electrons emitted from the element are bent in their trajectories, and reach a position different from the normal position. As a result, there has been a problem that the image near the spacer is distorted in the image forming apparatus. This situation is shown in FIG.
It is shown in (a).

On the other hand, (b) shows a state in which the configuration of the present invention is applied and the amount of change in the arrival position of electrons is reduced. According to the present invention, the displacement of the electron beam sucked into the spacer side can be suppressed by not disposing the spacer that causes the displacement of the electron beam near the electron beam. As a result, high quality image formation without distortion can be realized. This situation is shown in FIG.

In the present invention, when a high-resistance film is formed on the surface of the spacer 112 and a conductive spacer for alleviating spacer electrification is used, the electron emission from the cold cathode element is large. Even when the static elimination ability is insufficient, the present invention can be applied, and similarly, the shift amount can be reduced.

The electron beam apparatus of the present invention may have the following form. The electron beam device is an accelerating electrode in which the electrode accelerates electrons emitted from the electron source, and irradiates the target with the electrons emitted from the cold cathode device according to an input signal to form an image. An image forming apparatus is provided. In particular, an image display device in which the target is a phosphor is provided. The cold cathode device is a cold cathode device having a conductive film including an electron emission portion between a pair of electrodes, and is particularly preferably a surface conduction type emission device. The electron source is a simple matrix-shaped electron source having a plurality of cold cathode devices arranged in a matrix with a plurality of row-direction wirings and a plurality of column-direction wirings. The electron source arranges a plurality of rows of cold-cathode devices each having a plurality of cold-cathode devices arranged in parallel and connected at both ends (referred to as a row direction), and in a direction orthogonal to the wiring (referred to as a column direction). Along the way, a control electrode (also called a grid) arranged above the cold cathode device forms an electron source in a ladder arrangement for controlling electrons from the cold cathode device. Further, according to the idea of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the image forming apparatus suitable for display, but may be any of the above-described alternative light sources such as a light emitting diode of an optical printer including a photosensitive drum and a light emitting diode. An image forming apparatus can also be used. In this case, by appropriately selecting the above-mentioned m row-directional wirings and n column-directional wirings, the present invention can be applied not only to a linear light emitting source but also to a two-dimensional light emitting source. In this case, the image forming member is not limited to a substance that directly emits light, such as a phosphor used in the following embodiments, and a member that forms a latent image by electron charging can also be used.

Further, according to the concept of the present invention, the present invention is applicable to a case where a member to be irradiated with electrons emitted from an electron source is other than an image forming member such as a phosphor, as in an electron microscope. Is applicable. Therefore, the present invention can also take a form as a general electron beam apparatus that does not specify a member to be irradiated.

[0040]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the configuration and manufacturing method of a display panel of an image display device to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the display panel used in the embodiment, in which a part of the panel is cut away to show the internal structure.

In the figure, 1015 is a rear plate, 1016
Is a side wall, 1017 is a face plate, and 1015
An airtight container for maintaining the inside of the display panel at a vacuum is formed by 1017 to 1017. When assembling an airtight container, it is necessary to seal the joints of each member to maintain sufficient strength and airtightness.For example, apply frit glass to the joints, and in air or nitrogen atmosphere, Sealing was achieved by baking at 400 to 500 degrees for 10 minutes or more. A method of evacuating the inside of the airtight container to a vacuum will be described later. The inside of the airtight container is 1
Since a vacuum of about 0 to the sixth power [Torr] is maintained, the spacer 11 is used as an anti-atmospheric structure in order to prevent the airtight container from being destroyed by the atmospheric pressure or an unexpected impact.
2 are provided.

A substrate 111 is fixed to the rear plate 1015, and N × M cold cathode elements 1012 are formed on the substrate 111. (N and M are positive integers of 2 or more and are appropriately set according to the target number of display pixels. For example, in a display device for displaying high-definition television, N = 3000, M It is desirable to set the number to be equal to or greater than 1000.) The N × M cold cathode elements are arranged in a simple matrix by M row-directional wirings 1013 and N column-directional wirings 1014. The portion constituted by 111 and 1012 to 1014 is called a multi-electron beam source.

The material, shape, and manufacturing method of the cold cathode element are not limited as long as the multi-electron beam source used in the image display device of the present invention is an electron source in which the cold cathode elements are arranged in a simple matrix wiring. Therefore, for example, a cold cathode device such as a surface conduction type emission device, an FE type, or an MIM type can be used.

Next, the structure of a multi-electron beam source in which a surface conduction electron-emitting device (described later) as a cold cathode device is arranged on a substrate and arranged in a simple matrix will be described.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the multi-electron beam source used for the display panel of FIG. On the substrate 111, surface conduction type emission elements similar to those shown in FIG. 12 to be described later are arranged.
And a column-directional wiring electrode 1014 for wiring in a simple matrix. An insulating layer (not shown) is formed between the row-directional wiring electrodes 1013 and the column-directional wiring electrodes 1014 at the intersections of the electrodes to maintain electrical insulation.

FIG. 9 shows a cross section along the line BB 'in FIG.

The multi-electron source having such a structure is as follows.
After previously forming a row direction wiring electrode 1013, a column direction wiring electrode 1014, an inter-electrode insulating layer (not shown), a device electrode of a surface conduction type emission device, and a conductive thin film on a substrate,
Row direction wiring electrode 1013 and column direction wiring electrode 1014
The device was manufactured by supplying power to each element through the device and performing an energization forming process (described below) and an energization activation process (described below).

In this embodiment, the substrate 111 of the multi-electron beam source is fixed to the rear plate 1015 of the airtight container.
May have sufficient strength, the rear plate of the airtight container and the substrate 111 of the multi-electron beam source may be used.

On the lower surface of the face plate 1017, a fluorescent film 1018 is formed. In the present embodiment, a color display device is used.
Phosphors of three primary colors of red, green, and blue used in the field of RT are separately applied. The phosphor of each color is, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3A, a black conductor 1010 is provided between stripes of the phosphor, which are separately applied in stripes. The purpose of providing the black conductor 1010 is to prevent the display color from shifting even if the electron beam irradiation position is slightly shifted, and to prevent the reflection of external light to prevent the display contrast from lowering. And preventing charge-up of the fluorescent film by the electron beam. Black conductor 1
For 010, graphite was used as a main component, but other materials may be used as long as they are suitable for the above purpose.

FIG. 1 shows how to paint the three primary color phosphors.
The arrangement is not limited to the stripe arrangement shown in FIG. 10A, but may be, for example, a delta arrangement as shown in FIG. 10B or another arrangement.

When a monochrome display panel is manufactured, a monochromatic phosphor material may be used for the phosphor film 1018, and a black conductive material may not be necessarily used.

A metal back 1019 known in the CRT field is provided on the surface of the fluorescent film 1018 on the rear plate side.
Is provided. The purpose of providing the metal back 1019 is
A part of the light emitted from the fluorescent film 1018 is specularly reflected to improve the light utilization rate, and the fluorescent film 101
8 to protect it, to act as an electrode for applying an electron beam acceleration voltage, and to act as a conductive path for excited electrons of the fluorescent film 1018. The metal back 1019 was formed by forming the fluorescent film 1018 on the face plate substrate 1017, smoothing the surface of the fluorescent film, and vacuum-depositing Al thereon.
Note that when a fluorescent material for low voltage is used for the fluorescent film 1018, the metal back 1019 may not be used.

Although not used in the present embodiment, for the purpose of applying an acceleration voltage and improving the conductivity of the fluorescent film, a transparent material made of, for example, ITO is provided between the face plate substrate 1017 and the fluorescent film 1018. Electrodes may be provided.

FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line AA 'of FIG. 3, and the reference numerals of the respective parts are the same as those of the corresponding parts of FIG. The spacer 112 is formed by depositing the high resistance film 11 on the surface of the insulating member 1 for the purpose of preventing electrification, and the inside of the face plate 1017 (metal back 1019 and the like) and the surface of the substrate 111 (row direction wiring 1013 or column direction). Wiring 1
014) is made of a member having the low resistance films 3 and 5 formed on the contact surface and the side surface of the spacer facing the spacer 014), and is arranged in a necessary number and at a necessary interval to achieve the above object. , Are fixed to the inside of the face plate and the surface of the substrate 111 by the bonding material 1041.

The high-resistance film 11 is formed on at least the surface of the insulating member 1 that is exposed to the vacuum in the hermetic container. The inside of the face plate 1017 (such as the metal back 1019) and the surface of the substrate 111 (the row direction wiring 1013 or the column direction wiring 1
014). In the embodiment described here, the shape of the spacer 112 is a thin plate, and the spacer 112 is arranged in parallel to the row wiring 1013 and is electrically connected to the row wiring 1013.

The spacer substrate 1 has an electric resistance enough to withstand a high voltage applied between the row wiring 1013 and the column wiring 1014 on the substrate 111 and the metal back 1019 on the inner surface of the face plate 1017. ,
The spacer substrate 1 needs to have conductivity enough to prevent the surface of the spacer substrate 1 from being charged.

Examples of the insulating member of the spacer substrate 1 include quartz glass, glass with a reduced content of impurities such as Na, soda lime glass, and ceramic members such as alumina. Note that the insulating member 1 preferably has a coefficient of thermal expansion close to that of the member forming the airtight container and the substrate 111.

In the high resistance film 11 constituting the spacer 112, the acceleration voltage Va applied to the face plate 1017 (such as the metal back 1019) on the high potential side is changed by the resistance value Rs of the high resistance film 11 as the antistatic film. The divided current flows. Therefore, the resistance value Rs of the spacer is set in a desirable range from the viewpoint of antistatic and power consumption. From the viewpoint of preventing static charge, the sheet resistance is preferably 10 12 Ω / □ or less. In order to obtain a sufficient antistatic effect, 10
Ω / □ or less is more preferable. The lower limit of the sheet resistance depends on the spacer shape and the voltage applied between the spacers, but is preferably 10 5 Ω / □ or more.

The thickness t of the high resistance film 11 formed on the insulating material is preferably in the range of 10 nm to 1 μm. Although it depends on the surface energy of the material, the adhesion to the substrate, and the substrate temperature, a thin film of 10 nm or less is generally formed in the shape of an island, and has an unstable resistance and poor reproducibility. On the other hand, when the film thickness t is 1
If it is more than μm, the film stress increases and the risk of film peeling increases, and the film formation time becomes longer, resulting in poor productivity. Therefore, the film thickness is desirably 50 to 500 nm.
The sheet resistance R / □ is ρ / t, and the above-mentioned R / □
From the preferable ranges of t and t, the specific resistance ρ of the antistatic film is set to 0.1.
1 [Ωcm] to 10 to the eighth power [Ωcm] is preferable. Further, in order to realize a more preferable range of the sheet resistance and the film thickness, ρ is preferably set to 10 2 to 10 6 Ωcm. As described above, the temperature of the spacer rises when a current flows through the high resistance film 11 formed thereon or when the entire display generates heat during operation. If the resistance temperature coefficient of the high resistance film 11 is a large negative value, the resistance value decreases when the temperature rises, the current flowing through the spacer increases, and the temperature further rises. And the current continues to increase until the power supply limit is exceeded. The value of the temperature coefficient of resistance at which such a runaway of current occurs is empirically a negative value and the absolute value is 1% or more. That is, the temperature coefficient of resistance of the high-resistance film 11 is desirably less than -1%.

As a material of the high resistance film 11 having the antistatic property, for example, a metal oxide can be used. Among metal oxides, oxides of chromium, nickel, and copper are preferred materials. The reason is considered to be that these oxides have a relatively low secondary electron emission efficiency and are hardly charged even when the electrons emitted from the cold cathode element 1012 hit the spacer 112. In addition to metal oxides, carbon is a preferable material having a low secondary electron emission efficiency.
In particular, since amorphous carbon has high resistance, it is easy to control the spacer resistance to a desired value.

As another material of the high-resistance film 11 having the antistatic property, the nitride of aluminum and the transition metal alloy can adjust the resistance of the transition metal from a good conductor to an insulator by adjusting the composition of the transition metal. It is a suitable material because it can be controlled.
Further, it is a stable material with little change in resistance value in a manufacturing process of a display device described later. Further, the material has a temperature coefficient of resistance of less than -1% and is practically easy to use. Examples of the transition metal element include Ti, Cr, and Ta.

The alloy nitride film is formed on the insulating member by thin film forming means such as sputtering, reactive sputtering in a nitrogen gas atmosphere, electron beam evaporation, ion plating, and ion assisted evaporation. The metal oxide film can be formed by the same thin film formation method, but in this case, oxygen gas is used instead of nitrogen gas. In addition, a metal oxide film can be formed by a CVD method or an alkoxide coating method. The carbon film is formed by a vapor deposition method, a sputtering method, a CVD method, or a plasma CVD method. In particular, when forming amorphous carbon, make sure that the atmosphere during the film formation contains hydrogen or the film formation gas is used. Use hydrocarbon gas.

The low resistance film 21 constituting the spacer 112
A high-resistance side face plate 101
7 (metal back 1019 etc.) and substrate 11 on the low potential side
1 (wirings 1013, 1014, etc.), and is hereinafter referred to as an intermediate electrode layer (intermediate layer). The intermediate electrode layer (intermediate layer) can have a plurality of functions listed below.

The high-resistance film 11 is applied to the face plate 101
7 and the substrate 111.

As described above, the high-resistance film 11 is provided for the purpose of preventing electrification on the surface of the spacer 112.
(Metal back 1019 etc.) and substrate 111 (wiring 10
13, 1014) directly or via the contact material 1041, a large contact resistance is generated at the interface of the connection portion, and there is a possibility that the charge generated on the spacer surface cannot be quickly removed. In order to avoid this, a low-resistance intermediate layer is provided on the contact surface or side surface of the spacer 112 that contacts the face plate 1017, the substrate 111, and the contact member 1041.

The potential distribution of the high resistance film 11 is made uniform.

Electrons emitted from the cold cathode device 1012 form electron orbits in accordance with the potential distribution formed between the face plate 1017 and the substrate 111. Spacer 11
In order to prevent the electron orbit from being disturbed in the vicinity of 2, it is necessary to control the potential distribution of the high resistance film 11 over the entire region. The high-resistance film 11 is faceplate 1017
(Metal back 1019 etc.) and substrate 111 (wiring 10
13, 1014) directly or via the contact material 1041, the connection state becomes uneven due to the contact resistance at the interface of the connection portion, and the potential distribution of the high resistance film 11 deviates from a desired value. May be lost. In order to avoid this, the spacer 112 is provided between the face plate 1017 and the substrate 11.
End of spacer that abuts on 1 (abutting surface 3 or side surface 5)
By providing a low-resistance intermediate layer in the entire length region of, and applying a desired potential to this intermediate layer portion, the potential of the entire high-resistance film 11 can be controlled.

The trajectory of the emitted electrons is controlled.

Electrons emitted from the cold cathode element 1012 form electron orbits in accordance with a potential distribution formed between the face plate 1017 and the substrate 111. Regarding the electrons emitted from the cold cathode device near the spacer, restrictions due to the installation of the spacer (change of wiring, device position, etc.)
May occur. In such a case, in order to form an image without distortion or unevenness, it is necessary to control the trajectory of the emitted electrons to irradiate a desired position on the face plate 1017 with the electrons. By providing a low-resistance intermediate layer on the side surface portion 5 of the surface in contact with the face plate 1017 and the substrate 111, it is possible to impart desired characteristics to the potential distribution near the spacer 112 and control the trajectory of emitted electrons. I can do it.

The low-resistance film 21 may be made of a material having a sufficiently lower resistance than the high-resistance film 11.
metals or alloys such as r, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu, Pd, and Pd, Ag, Au, RuO
₂ , a printed conductor composed of a metal such as Pd-Ag or a metal oxide and glass, or a transparent conductor such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ and a semiconductor material such as polysilicon.

The conductive bonding material 1041 is formed such that the spacer 112 is formed by the row wiring 1013 and the metal back 101.
It is necessary to have conductivity so as to be electrically connected to the semiconductor device 9. That is, frit glass to which a conductive adhesive, metal particles, or a conductive filler is added is preferable.

Further, Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dy
n and Hv are electric connection terminals having an airtight structure provided for electrically connecting the display panel and an electric circuit (not shown). Dx1 to Dxm are electrically connected to the row wiring 1013 of the multi-electron beam source, Dy1 to Dyn are electrically connected to the column wiring 1014 of the multi-electron beam source, and Hv is electrically connected to the metal back 1019 of the face plate.

In order to evacuate the inside of the hermetic container to a vacuum, after assembling the hermetic container, an exhaust pipe (not shown) and a vacuum pump are connected, and the inside of the hermetic container is raised to the power of 10 −7 [T
orr]. Thereafter, the exhaust pipe is sealed, but a getter film (not shown) is formed at a predetermined position in the airtight container immediately before or after the sealing in order to maintain the degree of vacuum in the airtight container. The getter film is, for example, a film formed by heating and depositing a getter material containing Ba as a main component by a heater or high-frequency heating,
Due to the adsorption action of the getter film, the inside of the airtight container is 1 × 10−5 or 1 × 10−7 [Torr].
Is maintained at a vacuum degree.

In the image display apparatus using the display panel described above, when a voltage is applied to each cold cathode element 1012 through the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn, electrons are emitted from each cold cathode element 1012. At the same time, a high voltage of several hundred [V] to several [kV] is applied to the metal back 1019 through the external terminal Hv to accelerate the emitted electrons and collide with the inner surface of the face plate 1017. As a result, the phosphor of each color forming the fluorescent film 1018 is excited and emits light, and an image is displayed.

Normally, the voltage applied to 1012 to the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present invention, which is a cold cathode device, is 12 to 16
[V], metal back 1019 and cold cathode element 101
The distance d with respect to 2 is about 0.1 [mm] to 8 [mm], and the voltage between the metal back 1019 and the cold cathode element 1012 is about 0.1 [kV] to 10 [kV].

The basic configuration and manufacturing method of the display panel according to the embodiment of the present invention, and the outline of the image display device have been described above.

Next, a method of manufacturing the multi-electron beam source used for the display panel of the above embodiment will be described. The material, shape, and manufacturing method of the cold cathode device are not limited as long as the multi-electron beam source used for the image display device of the present invention is an electron source in which cold cathode devices are arranged in a simple matrix. Therefore, for example, a cold cathode device such as a surface conduction type emission device, an FE type, or an MIM type can be used.

However, under the circumstances where a display device having a large display screen and an inexpensive display device is required, among these cold cathode devices, a surface conduction type emission device is particularly preferable. That is, in the FE type, since the relative position and shape of the emitter cone and the gate electrode greatly affect the electron emission characteristics, extremely high-precision manufacturing technology is required, but this achieves a large area and a reduction in manufacturing cost. Is a disadvantageous factor. In the MIM type, it is necessary to make the thickness of the insulating layer and the upper electrode thin and uniform, which is also a disadvantageous factor in achieving a large area and a reduction in manufacturing cost. On the other hand, since the surface conduction electron-emitting device has a relatively simple manufacturing method, it is easy to increase the area and reduce the manufacturing cost. In addition, the inventors have found that among the surface conduction electron-emitting devices, those in which the electron-emitting portion or its peripheral portion is formed of a fine particle film have particularly excellent electron-emitting characteristics and can be easily manufactured. Therefore, it can be said that it is most suitable for use in a multi-electron beam source of a high-luminance, large-screen image display device. Therefore, in the display panel of the above embodiment, a surface conduction electron-emitting device in which the electron-emitting portion or its peripheral portion is formed of a fine particle film is used. Therefore, the basic configuration, manufacturing method and characteristics of a suitable surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described first, and then the structure of a multi-electron beam source in which a large number of devices are arranged in a simple matrix will be described.

(Suitable Device Configuration and Manufacturing Method of Surface Conduction Emission Device) Representative configurations of a surface conduction electron-emitting device in which an electron-emitting portion or its peripheral portion is formed of a fine particle film include a flat type and a vertical type. Kinds are given.

(Planar surface conduction electron-emitting device) First, the structure and manufacturing method of a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described. FIG. 12 shows a plan view (a) and a cross-sectional view (b) for describing the configuration of a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device. In the figure, 111 is a substrate, 1102 and 1
03, a device electrode; 1104, a conductive thin film; 117, an electron-emitting portion formed by an energization forming process;
Is a thin film formed by the activation process.

As the substrate 111, for example, various glass substrates such as quartz glass and blue plate glass, various ceramics substrates such as alumina, or an insulating layer made of, for example, SiO ₂ is formed on the various substrates described above. A laminated substrate or the like can be used.

The device electrodes 1102 and 1103 provided on the substrate 111 so as to be parallel to the substrate surface are formed of a conductive material. For example, N
i, Cr, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Cu, Pd,
A material such as Ag or the like, an alloy of these metals, a metal oxide such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ , or a semiconductor such as polysilicon may be appropriately selected and used. . An electrode can be easily formed by using a combination of a film forming technique such as vacuum evaporation and a patterning technique such as photolithography and etching. However, the electrode can be formed by other methods (for example, printing technique). I can't wait.

The shapes of the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 are appropriately designed according to the application purpose of the electron-emitting device.
Generally, the electrode spacing L is usually designed by selecting an appropriate value from the range of several hundreds of angstroms to several hundreds of micrometers. It is in the range of ten micrometers. Further, regarding the thickness d of the device electrode,
Usually, an appropriate numerical value is selected from the range of several hundred angstroms to several micrometers.

A fine particle film is used for the conductive thin film 1104. The fine particle film mentioned here is a film containing many fine particles as a constituent element (including an island-shaped aggregate).
I mean If you examine the microparticle film microscopically, usually
A structure in which the individual fine particles are spaced apart, a structure in which the fine particles are adjacent to each other, or a structure in which the fine particles overlap each other is observed.

The particle size of the fine particles used in the fine particle film is in the range of several Angstroms to several thousand Angstroms, and preferably in the range of 10 Angstroms to 200 Angstroms. Further, the thickness of the fine particle film is appropriately set in consideration of various conditions described below. That is, the device electrode 11
02, or 1103, conditions necessary for satisfactorily performing energization forming described later, conditions necessary for setting the electric resistance of the fine particle film itself to an appropriate value described later. , And so on. In particular,
The setting is made in the range of several Angstroms to several thousand Angstroms, and a preferable value is between 10 Angstroms and 500 Angstroms.

Materials that can be used to form the fine particle film include, for example, Pd, Pt, Ru, Ag,
Au, Ti, In, Cu, Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, T
a, W, Pb and other metals, PdO, Sn
Oxides such as O ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO, Sb ₂ O ₃ , HfB ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , CeB
Boride such as ₆ , YB ₄ , GdB ₄ ,
Carbides such as iC, ZrC, HfC, TaC, SiC, WC, etc .; nitrides such as TiN, ZrN, HfN, etc .; semiconductors such as Si, Ge, etc .; and carbon. Are appropriately selected from these.

As described above, the conductive thin film 1104 is formed of a fine particle film.
It was set so as to be included in the range of 10 3 to 10 7 [Ω / □].

The conductive thin film 1104 and the device electrode 11
Since it is desirable that the wires 02 and 1103 be electrically connected well, they have a structure in which a part of each overlaps with the other. In the example of FIG. 12,
Although the substrate, the device electrode, and the conductive thin film are stacked in this order from the bottom, in some cases, the substrate, the conductive thin film, and the device electrode may be stacked in this order from the bottom.

The electron emitting portion 117 is formed of the conductive thin film 1
It is a crack-like portion formed in a part of 104, and has a property of being electrically higher in resistance than the surrounding conductive thin film. The crack is formed by performing a later-described energization forming process on the conductive thin film 1104. Fine particles having a particle size of several Angstroms to several hundred Angstroms may be arranged in the crack. Since it is difficult to accurately and accurately show the actual position and shape of the electron-emitting portion, they are schematically shown in FIG.

The thin film 1113 is a thin film made of carbon or a carbon compound, and covers the electron emitting portion 117 and its vicinity. The thin film 1113 is formed by performing an energization activation process described later after the energization forming process.

The thin film 1113 is made of any one of single-crystal graphite, polycrystalline graphite, and amorphous carbon, or a mixture thereof, and has a thickness of 500 [Å] or less, but 300 [Å] or less. Is more preferred. Note that it is difficult to precisely illustrate the actual position and shape of the thin film 1113, and therefore, it is schematically illustrated in FIG. Further, in the plan view (a), an element in which a part of the thin film 1113 covering the electron-emitting portion 117 is removed is illustrated.

The basic structure of the preferred element has been described above. In the embodiment, the following element is used.

That is, blue glass was used for the substrate 111, and Ni thin films were used for the device electrodes 1102 and 1103. The thickness d of the device electrode was 1000 [angstrom], and the electrode interval L was 2 [micrometer].

Pd or P as the main material of the fine particle film
Using dO, the thickness of the fine particle film was set to about 100 [angstrom], and the width W was set to 100 [micrometer].

Next, a description will be given of a method of manufacturing a suitable flat surface conduction electron-emitting device. (A) to (d) of FIG.
Is a cross-sectional view for explaining a manufacturing process of the surface conduction electron-emitting device. The reference numerals of the respective members are the same as those of the corresponding portions in FIG.

1) First, as shown in FIG. 13A, device electrodes 1102 and 1103 are formed on a substrate 111.

Before forming, the substrate 1
11 is sufficiently washed using a detergent, pure water, and an organic solvent, and then a material for an element electrode is deposited. (As a deposition method,
For example, a vacuum film forming technique such as an evaporation method or a sputtering method may be used. Then, the deposited electrode material is patterned using a photolithographic etching technique, and a pair of device electrodes (1102 and 1102) shown in FIG.
Form 3).

2) Next, a conductive thin film 1104 is formed as shown in FIG.

In the formation, first, an organic metal solution is applied to the substrate (a), dried, heated and baked to form a fine particle film, and then patterned into a predetermined shape by photolithography and etching. . here,
The organic metal solution is a solution of an organic metal compound containing a material of fine particles used for the conductive thin film as a main element. (Specifically, in the present embodiment, Pd is used as a main element. In the embodiment, a dipping method is used as a coating method, but other methods such as a spinner method and a spray method may be used.) In addition, as a method for forming a conductive thin film made of a fine particle film, other than the method of applying the organometallic solution used in the present embodiment, for example, a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method, or a chemical vapor deposition method may be used. Sometimes used.

3) Next, as shown in FIG. 10C, a forming power supply 1110 supplies the device electrodes 1102 and 110
3, an appropriate voltage is applied, and an energization forming process is performed to form the electron-emitting portion 117.

The energization forming treatment is to energize the conductive thin film 1104 made of a fine particle film, and to appropriately break, deform, or alter a part of the conductive thin film 1104 to change into a structure suitable for emitting electrons. This is the process that causes A portion of the conductive thin film made of a fine particle film that has been changed to a structure suitable for emitting electrons (that is, the electron emitting portion 117).
In (2), an appropriate crack is formed in the thin film. Note that the electrical resistance measured between the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 greatly increases after the electron emission portion 117 is formed, as compared with before the electron emission portion 117 is formed.

FIG. 14 shows an example of an appropriate voltage waveform applied from the forming power supply 1110 in order to explain the energization method in more detail. When forming a conductive thin film made of a fine particle film, a pulse-like voltage is preferable. In the case of this embodiment, a triangular wave pulse having a pulse width T1 is continuously generated at a pulse interval T2 as shown in FIG. Was applied. At that time, the peak value Vpf of the triangular wave pulse was sequentially increased. Further, a monitor pulse Pm for monitoring the state of formation of the electron-emitting portion 117 is inserted between triangular-wave pulses at appropriate intervals, and the current flowing at that time is measured by an ammeter 11.
11 was measured.

In the embodiment, for example, in a vacuum atmosphere of about 10 −5 [Torr], for example, the pulse width T1 is 1 [millisecond], the pulse interval T2 is 10 [millisecond], and the peak value Vpf is The voltage was increased by 0.1 [V] for each pulse. Then, a monitor pulse Pm was inserted at a rate of one every time five triangular waves were applied. The monitor pulse voltage Vpm was set to 0.1 [V] so as not to adversely affect the forming process. Then, when the electric resistance between the element electrodes 1102 and 1103 has reached 1 × 10 6 [Ω], that is, the current measured by the ammeter 1111 when the monitor pulse is applied is 1 × 10 −7 [A]. When the following conditions were reached, the energization related to the forming process was terminated.

The above method is a preferable method for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present embodiment. For example, the design of the surface conduction electron-emitting device such as the material and film thickness of the fine particle film or the element electrode interval L is changed. In such a case, it is desirable to appropriately change the energization conditions accordingly.

4) Next, as shown in FIG. 13D, an appropriate voltage is applied between the element electrodes 1102 and 1103 from the activating power supply 1112, and an energizing activation process is performed to perform electron emission characteristics. Make improvements.

The energization activation process is a process of energizing the electron emitting portion 117 formed by the energization forming process under appropriate conditions and depositing carbon or a carbon compound in the vicinity thereof. (In the figure, a deposit made of carbon or a carbon compound is schematically shown as a member 1113.) By performing the activation process, the emission current at the same applied voltage is typically smaller than that before the activation. Specifically, it can be increased by 100 times or more.

More specifically, 10 minus 4 to 1
By applying a voltage pulse periodically in a vacuum atmosphere within the range of 0 to the fifth power [Torr], carbon or a carbon compound originating from an organic compound existing in the vacuum atmosphere is deposited. The deposit 1113 is any of single crystal graphite, polycrystal graphite, and amorphous carbon, or a mixture thereof, and has a thickness of 500.
[Angstrom] or less, more preferably 300 [angstrom] or less.

In order to explain the energization method in more detail, FIG. 15A shows an example of an appropriate voltage waveform applied from the activation power supply 1112. In the present embodiment, the energization activation process is performed by periodically applying a rectangular wave of a constant voltage. Specifically, the rectangular wave voltage Vac is 14
[V], pulse width T3 is 1 [millisecond], pulse interval T4
Was set to 10 [milliseconds]. The above-described energization conditions are preferable conditions for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present embodiment, and when the design of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is changed,
It is desirable to change the conditions accordingly.

Reference numeral 1114 shown in FIG. 12D denotes an anode electrode for capturing the emission current Ie emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device, to which a DC high voltage power supply 1115 and an ammeter 1116 are connected. (Note that the substrate 111 is
When the activation process is performed after being incorporated in the display panel, the phosphor screen of the display panel is used as the anode electrode 1114. While the voltage is applied from the activation power supply 1112, the emission current Ie is measured by the ammeter 1116 to monitor the progress of the energization activation process, and the activation power supply 1112 is used.
Control the operation of. An example of the emission current Ie measured by the ammeter 1116 is shown in FIG.
When the application of the pulse voltage starts from 12, the emission current Ie increases with the passage of time, but eventually saturates and hardly increases. As described above, when the emission current Ie is substantially saturated, the application of the voltage from the activation power supply 1112 is stopped, and the energization activation process ends.

The above-mentioned energization conditions are preferable conditions for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present embodiment, and when the design of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is changed, the conditions should be changed accordingly. desirable.

As described above, the planar type surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 13E is manufactured.

(Vertical Type Surface Conduction Emission Element) Next, another typical structure of a surface conduction type emission element in which the electron emission portion or its periphery is formed of a fine particle film, that is, a vertical type surface conduction type emission device. The configuration of the element will be described.

FIG. 16 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the basic structure of the vertical type. In FIG.
02 and 1203 are device electrodes, 1206 is a step forming member,
Reference numeral 1204 denotes a conductive thin film using a fine particle film; 117, an electron emitting portion formed by an energization forming process;
Is a thin film formed by the activation process.

The difference between the vertical type and the flat type described above is that one of the element electrodes (1202) is provided on the step forming member 1206, and the conductive thin film 1204 is provided on the side surface of the step forming member 1206. It is in the point of coating. Therefore, the element electrode interval L in the planar type shown in FIG.
In the vertical type, the height is set as the step height Ls of the step forming member 1206. Note that the substrate 111, the element electrode 1202
And 1203, conductive thin film 1204 using fine particle film
For the materials described above, the materials listed in the description of the planar type can be similarly used. Also, the step forming member 120
For 6, an electrically insulating material such as SiO ₂ is used.

Next, a method of manufacturing a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described. FIGS. 17A to 17F are cross-sectional views for explaining the manufacturing process. The reference numerals of the respective members are the same as those of the corresponding parts in FIG.

1) First, an element electrode 1203 is formed on a substrate 111 as shown in FIG.

2) Next, as shown in FIG. 13B, an insulating layer for forming a step forming member is laminated. The insulating layer may be formed by stacking, for example, SiO ₂ by a sputtering method, but another film forming method such as a vacuum evaporation method or a printing method may be used.

3) Next, as shown in FIG. 13C, an element electrode 1202 is formed on the insulating layer.

4) Next, as shown in FIG. 14D, a part of the insulating layer is removed by using, for example, an etching method to expose the element electrode 1203.

5) Next, as shown in FIG. 14E, a conductive thin film 1204 using a fine particle film is formed. For the formation, as in the case of the flat type, a film forming technique such as a coating method may be used.

6) Next, as in the case of the flat type, an energization forming process is performed to form an electron-emitting portion.
(A process similar to the planar energization forming process described with reference to FIG. 13C may be performed.)

7) Next, as in the case of the flat type, a current activation process is performed to deposit carbon or a carbon compound near the electron-emitting portion. (A process similar to the planar energization activation process described with reference to FIG. 13D may be performed.) As described above, the vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. To manufacture.

(Characteristics of Surface Conduction Emission Device Used in Display Device) The element structure and manufacturing method of the planar and vertical surface conduction electron-emitting devices have been described above. Next, the characteristics of the device used in the display device will be described. Is described.

FIG. 18 shows typical examples of (emission current Ie) versus (element applied voltage Vf) characteristics and (element current If) versus (element applied voltage Vf) characteristics of the elements used in the display device. . Note that the emission current Ie is significantly smaller than the element current If, and it is difficult to show the same current on the same scale.
Since these characteristics are changed by changing design parameters such as the size and shape of the element, the two graphs are shown in arbitrary units.

The element used in the display device has the following three characteristics regarding the emission current Ie.

First, a certain voltage (this is referred to as a threshold voltage Vth
When a voltage of the above magnitude is applied to the element, the emission current Ie sharply increases. On the other hand, at a voltage lower than the threshold voltage Vth, the emission current Ie is hardly detected.

That is, the non-linear element has a clear threshold voltage Vth with respect to the emission current Ie.

Secondly, since the emission current Ie changes depending on the voltage Vf applied to the element, the emission current Ie varies with the voltage Vf.
The magnitude of e can be controlled.

Third, since the response speed of the current Ie emitted from the device is faster than the voltage Vf applied to the device, the amount of charge of the electrons emitted from the device depends on the length of time for applying the voltage Vf. Can control.

Because of the above characteristics, the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be suitably used for a display device. For example, in a display device in which a large number of elements are provided corresponding to pixels of a display screen, if the first characteristic is used, display can be performed by sequentially scanning the display screen. That is,
The driving element has a threshold voltage Vt according to a desired light emission luminance.
h or higher, and a voltage lower than the threshold voltage Vth is applied to the non-selected elements. By sequentially switching the elements to be driven, the display screen can be sequentially scanned and displayed.

Further, by using the second characteristic or the third characteristic, the light emission luminance can be controlled, so that a gradation display can be performed.

(Structure of a Multi-Electron Beam Source in Which Many Devices are Wired in a Simple Matrix) Next, a structure of a multi-electron beam source in which the above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged on a substrate and wired in a simple matrix will be described.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the multi-electron beam source used for the display panel of FIG. On the substrate, surface conduction electron-emitting devices similar to those shown in FIG. 12 are arranged, and these devices are wired in a simple matrix by row-direction wiring electrodes 1013 and column-direction wiring electrodes 1014. Row direction wiring electrode 1013 and column direction wiring electrode 10
An insulating layer (not shown) is formed between the electrodes at the intersections of 14 to maintain electrical insulation.

FIG. 9 shows a cross section taken along the line BB 'of FIG.

The multi-electron source having such a structure is as follows.
After previously forming a row direction wiring electrode 1013, a column direction wiring electrode 1014, an inter-electrode insulating layer (not shown), a device electrode of a surface conduction type emission device, and a conductive thin film on a substrate,
Row direction wiring electrode 1013 and column direction wiring electrode 1014
The device was manufactured by supplying power to each element through the device and performing an energization forming process and an energization activation process.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a drive circuit for performing television display based on an NTSC television signal. In the figure, a display panel 1701 corresponds to the above-described display panel, and is manufactured and operates as described above. In addition, the scanning circuit 1702
Scans the display line, and the control circuit 1703 generates a signal to be input to the scanning circuit. The shift register 1704 shifts data for each line, and stores the data in a line memory 1705.
Inputs one line of data from the shift register 1704 to the modulation signal generator 1707. The synchronization signal separation circuit 1706 separates the synchronization signal from the NTSC signal.

Hereinafter, the function of each unit of the apparatus shown in FIG. 19 will be described in detail.

First, the display panel 1701 is connected to an external electric circuit via terminals Dx1 to Dxm, terminals Dy1 to Dyn, and a high voltage terminal Hv. The terminals Dx1 to Dxm are connected to the display panel 17
A scanning signal is applied to sequentially drive the multi-electron beam sources provided in 01, that is, the cold-cathode elements arranged in a matrix of m rows and n columns in a row (n elements). On the other hand, to the terminals Dy1 to Dyn, a modulation signal for controlling the output electron beams of the n elements for one row selected by the scanning signal is applied. Also,
The high voltage terminal Hv is connected to a DC voltage source Va, for example, 5
A DC voltage of [kV] is supplied, which is an accelerating voltage for applying sufficient energy to the electron beam output from the multi-electron beam source to excite the phosphor.

Next, the scanning circuit 1702 will be described. This circuit has m switching elements inside (in the figure,
S1 to Sm), each switching element selects either the output voltage of the DC voltage source Vx or 0 [V] (ground level), and the switching element of the display panel 1701 Terminals Dx1 to Dxm
It is electrically connected to. Each of the switching elements S1 to Sm operates based on the control signal Tscan output from the control circuit 1703. However, in practice, the switching elements can be easily configured by combining switching elements such as FETs. . The DC voltage source Vx outputs a constant voltage so that a driving voltage applied to an element that is not scanned based on the characteristics of the electron-emitting device illustrated in FIG. 18 is equal to or lower than the electron-emitting threshold voltage Vth. Is set.

The control circuit 1703 has a function of coordinating the operation of each unit so that an appropriate display is performed based on an image signal input from the outside. The synchronization signal T sent from the synchronization signal separation circuit 1706 described next
Based on the sync, Tscan and T
It generates control signals sft and Tmry. The synchronization signal separation circuit 1706 is a circuit for separating a synchronization signal component and a luminance signal component from an NTSC television signal input from the outside. The synchronization signal separated by the synchronization signal separation circuit 1706 is composed of a vertical synchronization signal and a horizontal synchronization signal, as is well known, but is illustrated here as a Tsync signal for convenience of explanation. On the other hand, the luminance signal component of the image separated from the television signal is referred to as DAT for convenience.
This signal is represented by an A signal, which is input to a shift register 1704.

A shift register 1704 is for serially / parallel-converting the DATA signal input serially in time series for each line of an image, and is based on a control signal Tsft sent from the control circuit 1703. Works. That is, the control signal Tsft can be rephrased as a shift clock of the shift register 1704. The data of one line of the serial-parallel-converted image (corresponding to drive data for n electron-emitting devices) is output from the shift register 1704 as n signals of 1dl to 1dn.

The line memory 1705 is a storage device for storing data for one line of an image for a required time, and stores the contents of Id1 to Idn as appropriate according to a control signal Tmry sent from the control circuit 1703.
The stored contents are output as I'd1 to I'dn and input to modulation signal generator 1707.

A modulation signal generator 1707 is a signal source for appropriately driving and modulating each of the electron-emitting devices 1015 in accordance with each of the image data I'd1 to I'dn.
The output signal is applied to the electron-emitting device 1015 in the display panel 1701 through the terminals Dy1 to Dyn.

As described with reference to FIG. 18, the surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention has the following basic characteristics with respect to the emission current Ie. That is, electron emission has a clear threshold voltage Vth (8 [V] in a surface conduction electron-emitting device of an embodiment described later), and electron emission occurs only when a voltage equal to or higher than the threshold Vth is applied. Also, the electron emission threshold V
For a voltage equal to or greater than th, the emission current Ie also changes according to the change in the voltage as shown in the graph of FIG. For this reason, when a pulse-like voltage is applied to the device, for example, when a voltage equal to or lower than the electron emission threshold Vth is applied, no electron emission occurs. An electron beam is output from the conduction type emission device. At this time, the intensity of the output electron beam can be controlled by changing the pulse peak value Vm.
In addition, it is possible to control the total amount of charges of the output electron beam by changing the pulse width Pw.

Therefore, as a method of modulating the electron-emitting device according to the input signal, a voltage modulation method, a pulse width modulation method, or the like can be employed. When performing the voltage modulation method, a circuit of the voltage modulation method that generates a voltage pulse of a fixed length and modulates the peak value of the pulse appropriately according to input data is used as the modulation signal generator 1707. be able to. When implementing the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 1707 generates a voltage pulse having a constant peak value and modulates the width of the voltage pulse appropriately according to input data. Circuit can be used.

The shift register 1704 and the line memory 1
Reference numeral 705 may be a digital signal type or an analog signal type. That is, the serial /
This is because parallel conversion and storage may be performed at a predetermined speed.

When the digital signal type is used, the output signal DATA of the synchronization signal separation circuit 1706 needs to be converted into a digital signal.
An A / D converter may be provided at the output unit 6. In this connection, the circuit used for the modulation signal generator differs slightly depending on whether the output signal of the line memory 1705 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 1707
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 1707 includes, for example, a high-speed oscillator, a counter (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, an amplification circuit using, for example, an operational amplifier can be used as the modulation signal generator 1707, and a shift level circuit and the like can be added as necessary. In the case of the pulse width modulation method, for example, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO)
And, if necessary, an amplifier for amplifying the voltage up to the drive voltage of the electron-emitting device can be added.

In the image display device to which the present invention can be applied in such a configuration, by applying a voltage to each of the electron-emitting devices via terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn outside the container, the electron-emitting devices can emit electrons. Occurs. A high voltage is applied to the metal back 1019 or a transparent electrode (not shown) via the high voltage terminal Hv to accelerate the electron beam. The accelerated electrons collide with the fluorescent film 1018 and emit light to form an image.

The configuration of the image display 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 concept of the present invention. Although the NTSC system is used as the input signal, the input signal is not limited to the NTSC system, but may be a PAL, SECAM system, or other TV signal including a larger number of scanning lines (for example, a high quality T
V) system can also be adopted.

[0152]

EXAMPLES The structure of the spacer which is a feature of the present invention will be further described below with reference to examples.

In each of the embodiments described below, as the multi-electron beam source, N × M (N = 307) of the above-described type having an electron emission portion in the conductive fine particle film between the electrodes is used.
A multi-electron beam source was used in which the surface conduction electron-emitting devices (2, M = 1024) were matrix-wired (see FIGS. 3 and 8) by M row-directional wirings and N column-directional wirings.

(Embodiment 1) In Embodiment 1, FIG.
The display panel in which the spacer 112 shown in FIG. Hereinafter, this will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. First,
A substrate 111 on which a row direction wiring electrode 1013, a column direction wiring electrode 1014, an interelectrode insulating layer (not shown), a device electrode of a surface conduction electron-emitting device 1012, and a conductive thin film are previously formed on a substrate is provided on a rear plate 1015. Fixed.
Next, among the surfaces of the insulating member 1 made of soda-lime glass, the high-resistance film 11 is formed on four surfaces exposed in the hermetic container, and the spacer 112 (the high-resistance film 11) is formed on the contact surface. 10 mm, plate thickness 0.2 mm, length 1 mm)
One row-directional wiring 1013 on one row-directional wiring 1013 at regular intervals.
13 and fixed in parallel. Then, 10 mm of the substrate 111
Above, the fluorescent film 1018 and the metal back 1019 on the inner surface
The face plate 1017 provided with
, And the joints of the rear plate 1015, the face plate 1017, the side walls 1016, and the spacers 112 are fixed. The joint between the substrate 111 and the rear plate 1015, the joint between the rear plate 1015 and the side wall 1016, and the joint between the face plate 1017 and the side wall 1016 are coated with frit glass (not shown), and 400 ° C. to 500 ° C. in the atmosphere. For 10 minutes or more for sealing.

The spacer 112 is formed by mixing a conductive material such as conductive filler or metal on the row wiring 1013 (line width 0.3 mm) on the substrate 111 side and on the metal back 1019 surface on the face plate 1017 side. And placed in the air at 400 ° C. to 500 ° C. simultaneously with the sealing of the airtight container.
By sintering at 10 ° C. for 10 minutes or more, bonding and electrical connection were also performed. In this embodiment, the fluorescent film 101
As shown in FIG. 20, as shown in FIG. 20, each of the color phosphors 1301 adopts a stripe shape extending in the column direction (Y direction). , A fluorescent film arranged so as to separate each pixel in the Y direction, and the spacer 112 is provided in a black conductor 1010 region (line width 3) parallel to the row direction (X direction).
00 [micrometer]) metal back 1019
Arranged through. When performing the above-mentioned sealing,
Since each color phosphor 1301 must correspond to each element arranged on the substrate 111, the rear plate 10
15, face plate 1017 and spacer 112
Performed sufficient alignment.

The inside of the airtight container 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 outer terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dx1.
A multi-electron beam source was manufactured by supplying power to each element through the Dyn through the row direction wiring electrode 1013 and the column direction wiring electrode 1014 to perform the above-described energization forming process and energization activation process.

Next, an exhaust pipe (not shown) was welded by heating with a gas burner at a degree of vacuum of about 10 −6 [Torr] to seal the envelope (airtight container).

Finally, a getter process was performed to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing.

In this embodiment, the element size is 2.6 mm in a direction perpendicular to the voltage application direction, and is 2.0 in the voltage application direction.
3 mm. The spacers were arranged at a cycle of 2.3 mm in the voltage application direction and 5.2 mm in a direction perpendicular to the voltage application direction. The material of the spacer was blue plate glass, and the conductive portion was Al formed by sputtering.

In this embodiment, the high-resistance film 11
Was prepared as follows.

A Ti—Al alloy nitride film was formed on the spacer 112 made of soda lime glass by simultaneously sputtering Ti and Al targets with a high frequency power supply.
The sputtering gas is a mixed gas of Ar: N ₂ of 1: 2, and the total pressure is 1 mTorr. At this time, it is possible to adjust the specific resistance of the alloy nitride film by adjusting the high frequency power applied to the Ti and Al targets. In this embodiment, the sheet resistance of the high resistance film 112 is 8 × 10
⁹ [Ω / □].

FIGS. 3 and 11 completed as described above.
In the image display device using the display panel as shown in FIG. 1, a scanning signal and a modulation signal are not shown in each cold cathode element (surface conduction type emission element) 1012 through terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn outside the container. The electron emission is performed by applying a high voltage through the high voltage terminal Hv to the metal back 1019 to accelerate the emitted electron beam.
Of the phosphors 1301 (R, R in FIG. 20).
G and B) were excited and emitted to display an image. The applied voltage Va to the high voltage terminal Hv was 5 [kV] to 30 [kV], and the applied voltage Vf between the wirings 1013 and 1014 was 14 [V].

At this time, a two-dimensional array of light-emitting spots including light-emitting spots generated by electrons emitted from the cold cathode elements 1012 near the spacers 112 are formed at two-dimensional intervals, and a clear, color-reproducible color image is obtained. Display was possible, and even if the spacer 112 was provided, it was possible to obtain a high-quality image without beam deviation.

(Embodiment 2) An example in which a plurality of spacers are integrated in Embodiment 2 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a spacer of an image apparatus to which the present embodiment is applied. The configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment except that a plurality of spacers are integrally formed. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line AA 'in FIG. 4, and explains the relationship between the spacer and the beam. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 110 denotes a fluorescent film 1018.
Plate including metal and metal back 1019, 11
1 is an electron source substrate, 112b is a spacer, 117 is an electron-emitting device, 119 is an electron beam, and 120b is a portion (space) without a spacer. The direction of application of the voltage for driving the electron-emitting portion is indicated by an arrow a.

In this embodiment, the face plate 11
The distance between 0 and the electron source substrate 111 is 3 mm, the element size is 0.65 mm in the direction perpendicular to the voltage application direction and 0.4 mm in the voltage application direction, and the spacer 112b has a period of 6.5 mm in the voltage application direction. Placed. Also,
The thickness of the spacer 112b was approximately 0.2 mm. Further, the size of the portion (space portion) 120b without a spacer was 0.45 mm × 2.5 mm.

The material of the spacer 112b was blue plate glass, and the element electrodes 1102 and 1103 were Al formed by sputtering. Further, the spacer 112
Regarding the electrical connection and fixing with the electron source substrate wiring portion b in the same manner as in Example 1, the conductive paste and the insulating paste were used to form a paste material containing PdO as a main component, and the surface was plated with Au. A conductive paste (not shown) formed by dispersing a glass filler was formed on one wiring, and was electrically connected to the spacer 112b and fixed. Also,
On the face plate 110 side, it was fixed using a conductive paste at the spacer arrangement portion.

Here, the spacer 112 arranged in the middle is used.
The method for manufacturing b will be described.

The spacer 112b was formed using a glass plate as an insulating substrate having a thickness of 0.2 mm, and Al was formed as an intermediate electrode layer on both surfaces by a sputtering method, and a part thereof was removed by sandblasting. Further, a high-resistance film was formed on both surfaces by using the same method as in Example 1 to produce a spacer 112.

When an accelerating voltage of 6 kV was applied to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, it was possible to obtain a high-quality image without beam deviation even in the vicinity of the spacer 112b.

In the structure of the present embodiment, the integration of a plurality of spacers facilitates the assembly, and in particular, can be easily applied to a small element pitch of 1 mm or less.

(Embodiment 3) Next, Embodiment 3 will be described with reference to FIG. The numbers in the figure and the manufacturing method are the same as those in Example 2 shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the spacer 11
Since only the central portion of 2c is removed and the space 120c is provided, there is an effect that the strength of the spacer is increased. Also,
Since the spacer 112c is removed along the electron trajectory, a high beam shift suppression effect can be realized even in a small removal area.

(Embodiment 4) FIG. 7 is a view for explaining Embodiment 4, in which the spacer 112d is an insulating spacer having no high-resistance film. That is, this is an example in which the spacer has no high-resistance film and the insulating base material is exposed.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 110 denotes a face plate including a phosphor 1018 and a metal back 1019;
Is an electron source substrate, 112d is a spacer, 117 is an electron emitting element portion, 119 is an electron beam, and 120d is a portion (space portion) without a spacer. Further, the direction of application of the voltage for driving the electron emission section 117 is indicated by an arrow a.

In this embodiment, the face plate 11
The distance between 0 and the electron source substrate 111 was 3 mm, the element size was 1.5 mm in the direction perpendicular to the voltage application direction, 0.8 mm in the voltage application direction, and the spacers 112d were arranged at a period of 4 mm in the voltage application direction. . The thickness of the spacer 112d was approximately 0.2 mm. Further, the dimension b of the portion (space portion) 120d without the spacer 112d
Was 0.3 mm, and the remaining portions of the upper and lower spacers were each 0.2 mm.

When the image forming apparatus of the present invention was driven at an acceleration voltage of 6 kV, it was possible to obtain a high quality image with little beam deviation even in the vicinity of the spacer 112d.

In this embodiment, although the beam shift amount is larger than that in the case of forming a high resistance film, there is an effect that the manufacturing process is simplified.

(Embodiment 5) This embodiment shows an example in which a plane field emission (FE) type electron-emitting device is used as the electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a top view of the flat FE type electron emission electron source.
3 is a pair of device electrodes for applying a potential to the electron emitting portion 117,
Reference numeral 3113 denotes a row-direction wiring, and a spacer positioning groove 3108 is formed in 3105. Reference numeral 3114 denotes a column wiring, and 112 denotes a spacer.

Electrons are emitted from the device electrodes 3102 and 3103.
By applying a voltage between them, electrons are emitted from a sharp tip in the electron emission portion 117, and the electrons are attracted to an acceleration voltage (not shown) provided opposite to the electron source, and the phosphor (see FIG. (Not shown) to cause the phosphor to emit light. In this embodiment, an image device is formed by arranging spacers in the same manner as in the first to fourth embodiments, and each is driven in the same manner as in the first to fourth embodiments. It has become possible to obtain a high-quality image in which is suppressed.

(Other Embodiments) The present invention
The present invention can be applied to any of the cold cathode type electron-emitting devices other than E. As a specific example, there is a field emission type electron-emitting device in which a pair of opposing electrodes are formed along a substrate surface forming an electron source as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-27447 by the present applicant.

The present invention can be applied to an image forming apparatus using an electron source other than the simple matrix type. For example, in an image forming apparatus for selecting an SCE using a control electrode as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 2-257551 by the present applicant, the support member as described above is provided between the electron source and the control electrode. This is the case when used.

According to the concept of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to an image forming apparatus suitable for display, but may be used as an alternative light source such as a light emitting diode of an optical printer comprising a photosensitive drum and a light emitting diode. Alternatively, the above-described image forming apparatus can be used. In this case, by appropriately selecting the above-mentioned m row-directional wirings and n column-directional wirings, the present invention can be applied not only to a linear light emitting source but also to a two-dimensional light emitting source.

Further, according to the concept of the present invention, the present invention can be applied to a case where a member to be irradiated with electrons emitted from an electron source is a member other than an image forming member, such as an electron microscope. . Therefore, the present invention can be embodied as an electron beam device that does not specify a member to be irradiated.

[0185]

As described above, according to the image display device of the present invention, the spacer is not arranged near the electron beam or a part of the spacer near the electron beam is removed, so that the electron to the spacer near the spacer is removed. The effect of reducing the suction of the beam and reducing the non-uniformity of the image near the spacer can be obtained.

Further, the same effect can be exhibited in an electron generating device constituting a multi-plane electron source without specifying the electron irradiation object.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a spacer shape diagram of a conventional electron beam device, and FIG. 1B is a spacer shape diagram of an electron beam device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a top view of an electron beam device showing a state of an electron beam according to a conventional example, and FIG. 2B is a top view of an infectious device showing the state of an electron beam according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a display panel of an electron beam apparatus according to an embodiment and an example of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a display panel of an electron beam apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a spacer shape of an electron beam apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a shape of a spacer of an electron beam device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a shape of a spacer of an electron beam apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a substrate of a multi-electron beam source used in embodiments and examples of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional view of a substrate of a multi-electron beam source used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a plan view illustrating a phosphor array of a face plate of a display panel.

11 is a cross-sectional view of the display panel of FIG. 3 taken along the line AA '.

FIG. 12 is a plan view (a) and a cross-sectional view (b) of a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device used in an embodiment of the present invention.

13 is a cross-sectional view showing a step of manufacturing the planar surface-conduction emission type electron-emitting device shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is an applied voltage waveform during energization forming processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 shows an applied voltage waveform (a) and a change (b) of the emission current Ie during the energization activation process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a sectional view of a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

17 is a cross-sectional view showing a step of manufacturing the vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG.

FIG. 18 is a graph showing typical characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a drive circuit of the electron beam device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a plan view illustrating a phosphor array of a face plate of a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a view showing the vicinity of an electron emission portion of an electron beam device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a plan view of an example of a conventional surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 23 is a side view of an example of a conventional FE element.

FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view of an example of a conventional MIM element.

FIG. 25 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a display panel of an electron beam device according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 110 face plate 111 substrate 112, 112b, 112c, 112d spacer 117 electron emitting portion 119 electron beam 120 space portion 117 electron emitting portion

Claims (11)

[Claims] An electron source having a plurality of cold cathode type electron-emitting devices each including an electron-emitting portion on a substrate and a pair of device electrodes for applying a voltage to the electron-emitting portion to emit electrons.
An accelerating electrode disposed opposite to the electron emitting portion to apply an accelerating voltage acting on electrons emitted from the electron emitting portion, and an electron beam comprising a spacer made of an insulating member disposed between the electron source and the accelerating electrode. An electron beam apparatus, wherein a spacer is arranged except for a portion near an orbit of electrons emitted from the electron emission section. 2. An electron source having a plurality of cold-cathode-type electron-emitting devices each comprising an electron-emitting portion and a pair of device electrodes for applying a voltage to the electron-emitting portion to emit electrons, facing the electron-emitting portion. An electron beam apparatus comprising: an accelerating electrode for applying an accelerating voltage acting on electrons emitted from the electron emitting portion; and a spacer comprising an insulating member disposed between the electron source and the accelerating electrode. An electron beam device wherein a part of the spacer is removed in the vicinity of the trajectory of the electrons emitted from the part. 3. An electron source having a plurality of cold-cathode-type electron-emitting devices each including an electron-emitting portion and a pair of device electrodes for applying a voltage to the electron-emitting portion to emit electrons, facing the electron-emitting portion. An electron beam apparatus comprising: an accelerating electrode for applying an accelerating voltage acting on electrons emitted from the electron emitting portion; and a spacer comprising an insulating member disposed between the electron source and the accelerating electrode. An electron beam apparatus, wherein the spacers are arranged two-dimensionally discretely so as to avoid the vicinity of the orbit of the electrons emitted from the part. 4. An electron source in which a plurality of cold-cathode-type electron-emitting devices each including an electron-emitting portion and a pair of device electrodes for applying a voltage to the electron-emitting portion to emit electrons are arranged in a matrix. An electron beam device comprising an acceleration electrode disposed opposite to the emission section and applying an acceleration voltage acting on electrons emitted from the electron emission section, and a spacer comprising an insulating member disposed between the electron source and the acceleration electrode. The electron beam apparatus, wherein the spacer is disposed between rows or columns of the electron-emitting device, and a portion near the orbit of the electrons emitted from the electron-emitting portion is removed. 5. The electron beam device according to claim 1, wherein a high resistance film is formed on a surface of the spacer. 6. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a conductive part at an upper end and a lower end of the spacer, wherein the conductive part is a wiring part between the electron source and the acceleration electrode. An electron beam device characterized by being connected to: 7. The electron beam device according to claim 1, wherein the electron-emitting device includes a pair of opposing element electrodes and a thin film including an electron-emitting portion extending between the element electrodes. An electron beam device, characterized in that the electron beam device is a surface conduction electron-emitting device. 8. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 7, wherein
An electron beam apparatus, wherein the thin film is a film composed of conductive fine particles. 9. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of row-direction wirings and column-direction wirings for supplying a current to the element electrode on the electron source form an insulating layer. Are arranged via a wire, and by connecting the pair of element electrodes to the row direction wiring and the column direction wiring,
An electron beam apparatus, wherein the plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix on the substrate. 10. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of row wirings are arranged in the electron source, and the device electrodes of the plurality of electron-emitting devices are connected to each other. An electron beam apparatus, wherein the plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix on the substrate by being connected to a pair of row-direction wirings of the plurality of row-direction wirings. 11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image forming member on which an image is formed by collision of the electron beam accelerated by the acceleration voltage. An electron beam device used as a device.