JP2000243252A - Electron source, image forming device and manufacture of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve efficiency by comprising a process for applying an electric field between two sheets of substrates respectively, comprising an elemental electrode of each element and a wiring connected to the electrode in the shape of a ladder or a matrix, and placed facing opposite to one another in a state in which the wirings are faced inwardly. SOLUTION: An electric field application process for removing factors which induce the discharge phenomenon such as projection and contamination in advance, is executed after the wiring is formed on an electron source substrate (before the formation of a conductive film). An electron source substrate 218 is fixed on a mechanical stage 217, and the other electron source substrate 219 is fixed on the bottom of a substrate holder 211. The matrix wirings of the electron source substrates 218, 219 are electrically connected in common by a conductive getter 213 at the ends of the wirings, and connected to GND and a high-tension power source 221 by the cables 215, 216 and the like to equalize the wiring potential of two sheets of electron source substrates 218, 219. Since two sheets of electron source substrates 218, 219 are treated with one electric field application process, manufacturing efficiency can be improved, and cost can be reduced, so that an image forming device can be provided more inexpensively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices formed on a substrate, an electron source using the method, an image forming apparatus using the electron source, and manufacturing of the same. About the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, two types of electron-emitting devices using a thermionic electron-emitting device and a cold-cathode electron-emitting device have been known. The cold cathode electron emitting device includes a field emission type (hereinafter, referred to as “FE type”), a metal / insulating layer / metal type (hereinafter, referred to as “MIM type”), a surface conduction type electron emitting device, and the like. Examples of surface conduction electron-emitting devices include those described in M.S. I. Elinson, Recio Eng. E
electron Phys. , 10, 1290, (19
65). The surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes the phenomenon that electron emission occurs when a current flows in a small-area thin film formed on a substrate in parallel with the film surface. JP-A-7-235255 discloses a surface conduction electron-emitting device using a metal thin film such as Pd. FIG. 1 schematically shows the element configuration. In the figure, 1 is a substrate, and 2 and 3 are device electrodes.
Reference numeral 4 denotes a conductive film made of a metal oxide thin film of Pd or the like, which is locally broken, deformed, or altered by an energization process called energization forming described below, and has a high electrical resistance. The electron emitting portion 5 is formed in a state as described above.

Further, in order to improve the electron emission characteristics, a process called “activation” is performed as described later, and a film (carbon film) made of carbon / carbon compound is formed near the electron emission portion 5 and its cracks. May form. This step is
This can be performed by a method in which a pulse voltage is applied to the element in an atmosphere containing an organic substance, and carbon / carbon compound is deposited around the electron emitting portion.

The above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device has an advantage that a large number of devices can be arranged and formed over a large area because of its simple structure and easy manufacture. Therefore, various applications that make use of this feature are being studied. For example, a charged beam source, a display device, and the like can be given. As an example of arranging and forming a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices, as will be described later, surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in parallel,
An electron source in which both ends of each element are connected by wiring (also referred to as a common wiring) and a plurality of connected rows are arranged in many rows (for example, JP-A-64-031332,
-2833749, JP-A-2-257552 and the like).

In image forming apparatuses such as display apparatuses, flat panel display apparatuses using liquid crystal have been widely used in place of CRTs in recent years. However, since they are not self-luminous, they must have a backlight. Therefore, development of a self-luminous display device has been desired. As a self-luminous display device, an electron source in which a number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged,
An image forming apparatus, which is a display device in which a phosphor that emits visible light by electrons emitted from the electron source is combined (for example, US Pat. No. 5,066,883). Therefore, unlike the conventional CRT, a thin image forming apparatus can be obtained by shortening the facing distance between the electron source and the substrate having the phosphor.

[0006]

Generally, electrons emitted from an electron source are accelerated by a voltage (acceleration voltage) applied between the electron source and the phosphor, and collide with the phosphor to emit light. Therefore, the display image has higher brightness as the acceleration voltage is higher, and as described above, in the case of a thin image forming apparatus in which the facing distance between the electron source and the substrate having the phosphor is short, the electron source and the phosphor are accelerated by the acceleration voltage. The electric field strength formed between them increases.

However, such a case has the following problems.

When a strong electric field is applied to an electron source, for example, when there is a projection or the like, the electric field may concentrate on the electron source and emit electrons. Due to the heat generated by the emission current and the effect of the strong electric field, the shape of the projection becomes sharper, the electric field intensity further increases, and the amount of electron emission increases. When such positive feedback is applied, a phenomenon occurs in which the protrusion is eventually thermally destroyed.

Even when the electron source is contaminated, electrons are easily emitted if there are factors such as a large secondary electron emission coefficient or a small work function of electron emission.
Even in this case, the dirt decomposes and evaporates in a strong electric field or high temperature due to electron emission.

[0010] When such a phenomenon occurs, not only destruction of the projections and dirt, but also the vacuum atmosphere in the image forming apparatus becomes worse. As a result, these trigger the discharge phenomenon occurs between the electron source and the phosphor, to which a high electric field is applied, and the accelerated cations collide with the electron source, damaging the electron source, There is a problem of causing image defects.

As a countermeasure against such a phenomenon, a high electric field is applied to the electron source in advance, and an electric field application step (called a flushing step or a conditioning step) for removing factors that induce a discharge phenomenon such as protrusions and dirt. Has been done. Conventionally, this process involves applying an anode electrode to the electron source substrate and applying a high voltage to the anode, or applying a high voltage between the electron source and the phosphor after creating an envelope that constitutes the image forming apparatus. That approach was commonly used.

However, in such an electric field application step, it is necessary to gradually increase the electric field in order to reduce the damage due to the destruction of the projections and the like, and there has been a problem that the process takes time.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for efficiently producing a highly reliable electron source by performing the above-mentioned electric field applying step in a short time. An object of the present invention is to provide an excellent image forming apparatus and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0014]

According to the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing an electron source, comprising: a pair of device electrodes formed on a substrate; a conductive film electrically connected to each of the device electrodes; A plurality of electron-emitting devices having an electron-emitting portion formed on a part of a conductive film are formed on the same substrate, and the device electrodes of each device are connected in a ladder-like or matrix-like manner by wiring. A method of manufacturing a source, comprising: an electric field application step of applying at least two substrates on which the wirings and the device electrodes are formed, opposing each other such that the wirings are inside, and applying an electric field between the substrates. Features.

Further, the electron source of the present invention comprises a pair of element electrodes formed on a substrate, a conductive film electrically connected to each of the element electrodes, and a part formed on the conductive film. A plurality of electron-emitting devices having an electron-emitting portion are formed on the same substrate, and the device electrodes of each device are connected in a ladder-like or matrix-like form by wiring, respectively. It is manufactured by a manufacturing method.

Further, the first image forming apparatus of the present invention has at least one or more element rows formed by arranging and connecting a plurality of the above-mentioned electron emitting elements in parallel, and the wiring for driving each element is a ladder. An electron source, an image forming member,
And a control electrode for controlling an electron beam emitted from each element according to the information signal, wherein the second image forming apparatus has at least one element row in which a plurality of the electron-emitting elements are arranged. An electron source in which wirings for driving the element are arranged in a matrix, and an image forming member.

Still further, according to a first method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling an electron source obtained by the above-described method of manufacturing an electron source of the present invention to control an electron beam emitted from the electron source. Electrodes, characterized in that they are combined with an image forming member that forms an image by irradiation of an electron beam from the electron source,
A second method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus is characterized in that the electron source obtained by the method of manufacturing an electron source of the present invention is combined with an image forming member that forms an image by irradiating an electron beam from the electron source. And

In the method of manufacturing an electron source according to the present invention, when performing an electric field application step (flashing step or conditioning step) for removing factors inducing a discharge phenomenon such as protrusions and dirt in advance, two electron sources are used. When the substrates are opposed to each other, two electric field application-processed substrates can be obtained in one electric field application step.

Therefore, even if the electric field intensity is raised and lowered in the same manner as in the prior art, the processing time per sheet can be halved, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Further, by using such an electron source in an image forming apparatus such as a display device, the discharge phenomenon during driving is small, and even when a long-time image display is performed, the display image has few missing pixels. Is provided.

[0021]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, as a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to an electron source and an image forming apparatus constituted by using a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device. The surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present invention is, for example, a device described in JP-A-7-235255.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an example of a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present invention.
(A) and (b) are a plan view and a sectional view thereof. In FIG. 1, 1 is a substrate, 2 and 3 are device electrodes, 4 is a conductive film, and 5 is an electron emitting portion.

Examples of the substrate 1 include quartz glass, glass having a reduced impurity content such as Na, blue plate glass, a glass substrate obtained by laminating blue plate glass with SiO ₂ formed by sputtering or the like, ceramics such as alumina, and a Si substrate. Can be used.

Materials for the opposing device electrodes 2 and 3 include:
General conductor materials can be used. For example, Ni,
Cr, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu, Pd
Metals or alloys such as Pd, Ag, Au, RuO ₂ ,
It is appropriately selected from a printed conductor composed of a metal such as Pd-Ag or a metal oxide and glass, a transparent conductor such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ , and a semiconductor conductor material such as polysilicon.

The element electrode interval L, the element electrode length W, the shape of the conductive film 4 and the like are designed in consideration of the applied form and the like. The device electrode interval L is preferably several hundred nm to several hundred μm.
More preferably, the range is several μm to several tens μm in consideration of a voltage applied between the device electrodes and the like. The element electrode length W is preferably in the range of several μm to several hundred μm in consideration of the resistance value and the electron emission characteristics of the electrode, and the film thickness d of the element electrodes 2 and 3 is preferably several tens nm to several tens of nm. It is in the range of μm. In addition, not only the configuration shown in FIG. 1 but also a configuration in which a conductive film 4 and opposing element electrodes 2 and 3 are laminated in this order on the substrate 1 can be adopted.

The thickness of the conductive film 4 is appropriately set in consideration of the step coverage of the device electrodes 2 and 3, the resistance between the device electrodes 2 and 3, a forming condition described later, and the like. It is preferably in the range of several times 0.1 nm to several hundred nm, more preferably in the range of 1 nm to 50 nm. The resistance value of R _s is 10 ² to 1
0 is a ^{7 Ω} / □ of value. Note that R _s is an amount that appears when the resistance R of a thin film having a thickness t, a width w, and a length 1 is defined as R = R _s (l / w). Also, in the present specification,
The forming process will be described by taking an energizing process as an example, but the forming process is not limited to this, and includes a process of forming a high resistance state by causing a crack in a film.

The material constituting the conductive film 4 is Pd, P
t, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, In, Cu, Cr, F
metals such as e, Zn, Sn, Ta, W, Pd, PdO, S
oxides such as nO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO, Sb ₂ O ₃ , Hf
Borides such as B ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , CeB ₆ , YB ₄ , GdB ₄ , TiC, ZrC, HfC, TaC, SiC, W
Carbide such as C, nitride such as TiN, ZrN, HfN, S
It is appropriately selected from semiconductors such as i and Ge, carbon and the like.

The electron-emitting portion 5 is constituted by a high-resistance crack formed in a part of the conductive film 4 and depends on the film thickness, film quality, material of the conductive film 4 and a method such as energization forming which will be described later. It will be. Inside the electron emission unit 5,
In some cases, conductive fine particles having a particle size ranging from several times 0.1 nm to several tens nm are present. The conductive fine particles contain some or all of the elements of the material constituting the conductive film 4. The electron emitting portion 5 and the conductive film 4 near the electron emitting portion 5 can also contain carbon and a carbon compound.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a basic method of manufacturing the above-mentioned electron-emitting device. In FIG. 2, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

1) The substrate 1 is sufficiently washed with a detergent, pure water, an organic solvent, and the like, and after the element electrode material is deposited by a vacuum deposition method, a sputtering method, or the like, the substrate 1 is deposited on the substrate 1 by using, for example, a photolithography technique. Then, device electrodes 2 and 3 are formed (FIG. 2A).

2) An organic metal solution is applied to the substrate 1 provided with the device electrodes 2 and 3 to form an organic metal thin film. As the organic metal solution, a solution of an organic metal compound containing the metal of the material of the conductive film 4 as a main element can be used. The organic metal thin film is heated and baked, and patterned by lift-off, etching, or the like to form a conductive film 4 (FIG. 2).
(B)). Here, the method of applying the organometallic solution has been described, but the method of forming the conductive film 4 is not limited to this, and a vacuum deposition method, a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition method, a dispersion coating method, A dipping method, a spinner method, an inkjet method, or the like can also be used.

When the ink jet method is used, 10
Fine droplets of about ng to several tens of ng can be generated with good reproducibility and applied to the substrate, and patterning by photolithography and a vacuum process are unnecessary, which is preferable in terms of productivity. As a device of the ink jet method, a bubble jet type using an electrothermal converter as an energy generating element, a piezo jet type using a piezoelectric element, or the like can be used. As the means for firing the droplets, means for irradiating electromagnetic waves, means for irradiating heated air, and means for heating the entire substrate are used. As the electromagnetic wave irradiation means, for example, an infrared lamp, an argon ion laser, a semiconductor laser, or the like can be used.

3) Subsequently, a forming step is performed.
As an example of a method of the forming step, a method by an energization process will be described. When an electric current is applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 using a power supply (not shown), an electron-emitting portion 5 having a changed structure is formed at the portion of the conductive film 4 (FIG. 2C). According to the energization forming, a portion (generally, often in the form of a crack) whose structure such as destruction, deformation or alteration is locally formed in the conductive film 4 is formed. This portion constitutes the electron emission section 5. FIG. 3 shows an example of the voltage waveform of the energization forming.

The voltage waveform is preferably a pulse waveform. The method shown in FIG. 3A in which a pulse with a constant pulse peak value is applied continuously and the method shown in FIG. 3B in which a voltage pulse is applied while increasing the pulse peak value are used for this purpose. There is.

First, the case where the pulse peak value is a constant voltage will be described with reference to FIG. T in FIG. 3 (a)
₁ and T ₂ are the pulse width and the pulse interval of the voltage waveform. The peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage during energization forming)
It is appropriately selected according to the form of the surface conduction electron-emitting device. Under such conditions, for example, a voltage is applied for several seconds to several tens of seconds. The pulse waveform is not limited to a triangular wave, and a desired waveform such as a rectangular wave can be adopted.

Next, a case where a voltage pulse is applied while increasing the pulse peak value will be described with reference to FIG.
T ₁ and T ₂ in FIG. 3 (b) shown in FIG. 3 (a) T
_1, it is similar to T _2. The peak value of the triangular wave is increased, for example, by about 0.1V.

The end of the energization forming process can be detected by applying a voltage that does not locally destroy or deform the conductive film 4 during the pulse interval T ₂ and measuring the current. For example, a current flowing by applying a voltage of about 0.1 V is measured, and a resistance value is obtained. When the resistance value indicates 1 MΩ or more, the energization forming is terminated.

4) The element after the forming is subjected to a process called an activation step. The activation process is a process in which the device current _If and the emission current _Ie are significantly changed by this process.

The activation step can be performed, for example, by repeating the application of a pulse in an atmosphere containing an organic substance in the same manner as the energization forming. The preferable gas pressure of the organic substance at this time varies depending on the above-described application form, the shape of the vacuum vessel, the type of the organic substance, and the like, and is accordingly set as appropriate.

By this treatment, carbon or a carbon compound is deposited on the element from the organic substance existing in the atmosphere to the electron emission portion formed on the conductive film, and the element current _If and the emission current _Ie are reduced. It will change significantly.

Here, carbon and carbon compounds include, for example, graphite (what is called HOPG, PG, and GC). HOPG has a crystal structure of almost perfect graphite, and PG has a crystal grain of about 200 ° and a crystal structure of about 200 °. A slightly disturbed material, GC refers to a material in which the crystal grain is about 20 ° and the disorder of the crystal structure is further increased.), Amorphous carbon (amorphous carbon and a mixture of amorphous carbon and the fine crystals of the graphite) )
The film thickness is preferably in the range of 50 nm or less,
More preferably, the thickness is 30 nm or less.

Suitable organic substances that can be used in the present invention include alkanes, alkenes, aliphatic hydrocarbons of alkynes, aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, amines, phenols, and the like. carboxylic acid, organic acids such as sulfonic acid can be exemplified, specifically, methane, ethane, saturated hydrocarbon represented by C _n H _{2n + 2} such as propane, ethylene, propylene, acetylene, etc. C _n H _2n, C _n H _2n or C _n H _2n-2 unsaturated hydrocarbon expressed by a composition formula such as, benzene, methanol, ethanol, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methylamine, ethylamine, phenol, formic acid, acetic acid And propionic acid.

In the present invention, these organic substances may be used alone, or may be used as a mixture if necessary.

Further, these organic substances may be used by diluting them with another gas which is not an organic substance. Examples of the type of gas that can be used as the diluting gas include an inert gas such as nitrogen, argon, and xenon.

In the present invention, the method of applying a voltage in the activation step may be a condition such as a time change of a voltage value, a direction of the voltage application, and a waveform.

As in the case of the forming, the time change of the voltage value can be performed by a method of increasing the voltage value with time or a method of performing the operation at a fixed voltage.

As shown in FIG. 4, the direction of voltage application may be applied only in the same direction as the driving (forward direction) (FIG. 4 (a)), or alternately in the forward and reverse directions. (FIG. 4B). It is preferable to apply the voltage alternately, since it is considered that the carbon film is formed symmetrically with respect to the crack.

Although the example of the waveform is shown in FIG. 4 as a rectangular wave, any waveform such as a sine wave, a triangular wave, and a sawtooth wave can be used.

The termination of the activation step is appropriately determined while measuring the device current _If and the emission current _Ie .

5) The electron-emitting device obtained through such a step is preferably subjected to a stabilization step. This step is a step of exhausting the organic substance in the vacuum container. It is preferable to use a vacuum exhaust device that does not use oil so that the oil generated from the device does not affect the characteristics of the element. Specifically, a vacuum exhaust device such as a sorption pump or an ion pump can be used.

The partial pressure of the organic component in the vacuum vessel is 1.3 at which the above-mentioned carbon and carbon compounds hardly newly deposit.
× 10 ⁻⁶ Pa or less, more preferably 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁸ Pa
Pa or less is particularly preferred. Further, when evacuating the inside of the vacuum vessel, the entire vacuum vessel is heated, and the inner wall of the vacuum vessel,
It is preferable that the organic substance molecules adsorbed on the electron-emitting device be easily exhausted. The heating conditions at this time are 80 to 250
C. Preferably at 150 ° C. or higher, it is desirable to treat as long as possible, but it is not particularly limited to this condition.
This is performed under conditions appropriately selected according to various conditions such as the size and shape of the vacuum vessel and the configuration of the electron-emitting device. The pressure in the vacuum vessel needs to be as low as possible, and is preferably 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ Pa or less, and particularly preferably 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁶ Pa or less.

It is preferable that the atmosphere at the time of driving after the stabilization step is performed is the same as that at the end of the stabilization treatment, but the present invention is not limited to this. Even if the pressure itself slightly increases, sufficiently stable characteristics can be maintained. By employing such a vacuum atmosphere, the deposition of new carbon or a carbon compound can be suppressed, and H ₂ adsorbed on a vacuum vessel or a substrate can be suppressed.
O, O _{2 and the} like can also be removed, and as a result, the device current _If and emission current _Ie are stabilized.

The basic characteristics of the electron-emitting device used in the present invention obtained through the above-described steps will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an example of a vacuum processing apparatus. This vacuum processing apparatus also has a function as a measurement and evaluation apparatus. Also in FIG. 5, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, 55 is a vacuum vessel, and 56 is an exhaust pump. An electron-emitting device is provided in the vacuum vessel 55. That is, 1 is a substrate constituting an electron-emitting device, 2 and 3 are device electrodes, 4 is a conductive film, and 5 is an electron-emitting portion. Reference numeral 51 denotes a power supply for applying a device voltage _Vf to the electron-emitting device; 50, an ammeter for measuring a device current _If flowing through the conductive film 4 between the device electrodes 2 and 3;
Reference numeral 4 denotes an anode electrode for capturing an emission current _Ie emitted from the electron emission portion of the device. Reference numeral 53 denotes a high-voltage power supply for applying a voltage to the anode electrode 54, and reference numeral 52 denotes an ammeter for measuring an emission current _Ie emitted from the electron emission portion 5 of the device. As an example, the voltage of the anode electrode is l
The measurement can be performed with the range of kV to 10 kV and the distance H between the anode electrode and the electron-emitting device in the range of 2 mm to 8 mm.

In the vacuum vessel 55, equipment necessary for measurement in a vacuum atmosphere such as a vacuum gauge (not shown) is provided.
The measurement and evaluation can be performed in a desired vacuum atmosphere. The exhaust pump 56 is composed of a normal high vacuum device system including a turbo pump and a rotary pump, and an ultra high vacuum device system including an ion pump and the like. The entire vacuum processing apparatus equipped with the electron source substrate shown here is
It can be heated by a heater (not shown). Therefore, by using this vacuum processing apparatus, the steps after the energization forming described above can also be performed.

FIG. 6 shows the emission current I of the electron-emitting device suitable for the present invention measured using the vacuum processing apparatus shown in FIG.
_e is a diagram schematically showing a relationship between an element current _If and an element voltage _Vf . In FIG. 6, the emission current _Ie is the device current _If
Since it is significantly smaller than, it is shown in arbitrary units. The vertical and horizontal axes are linear scales.

As is clear from FIG. 6, the electron-emitting device used in the present invention has the following three characteristic characteristics with respect to the emission current _Ie .

(I) When a device voltage of a certain voltage (called a threshold voltage, V _{th in} FIG. 6) or more is applied to the device, the emission current I suddenly increases.
_e increases, while the emission current I _e is lower than the threshold voltage V _th.
Is hardly detected. That is, it is a non-linear element having a clear threshold voltage V _th for the emission current I _e .

(Ii) Since the emission current _Ie depends monotonically on the device voltage _Vf , the emission current _Ie can be controlled by the device voltage _Vf .

(Iii) The emission charge captured by the anode electrode 54 depends on the time during which the device voltage _Vf is applied.
That is, the amount of charge captured by the anode electrode 54 can be controlled by the time during which the device voltage _Vf is applied.

As understood from the above description, the electron-emitting device used in the present invention can easily control the electron-emitting characteristics according to the input signal. By utilizing this property, it is possible to apply to various fields such as an electron source and an image forming apparatus having a plurality of electron-emitting devices. FIG. 6 shows an example in which the device current _If monotonically increases with respect to the device voltage _Vf (hereinafter, referred to as “MI characteristic”). The element current _If may exhibit a voltage-controlled negative resistance characteristic (hereinafter, referred to as a "VCNR characteristic") with respect to the element voltage _Vf (not shown). These characteristics can be controlled by controlling the aforementioned steps.

The electron source of the present invention comprises a plurality of the above-described electron-emitting devices arranged on a substrate. The image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises an electron source and an electron beam emitted from the electron source. It is configured by combining with an image forming member capable of forming an image.

In the electron source of the present invention, various arrangements of the electron-emitting devices can be adopted. As an example, each of a large number of electron-emitting devices arranged in parallel is connected at both ends, a large number of rows of electron-emitting devices are arranged (referred to as a row direction), and a direction perpendicular to the wiring (referred to as a column direction). There is a ladder-type arrangement in which electrons from the electron-emitting devices are controlled and driven by control electrodes (also referred to as grids) disposed above the electron-emitting devices. Separately, a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix in the X and Y directions, and one of the electrodes of the plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in the same row is commonly connected to a wiring in the X direction. One example is one in which the other of the electrodes of a plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in the same column is commonly connected to a wiring in the Y direction. This is a so-called simple matrix arrangement. First, the simple matrix arrangement will be described in detail below.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of one embodiment of the electron source of the present invention. In FIG. 7, 71 is an electron source substrate, and 72 is X
The direction wiring 73 is a Y-direction wiring. 74 is a surface conduction electron-emitting device, and 75 is a connection.

The m X-direction wirings 72 include D _x1 , D _x2 ,
, _Dxm , and can be made of a conductive metal or the like formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. The material, thickness and width of the wiring are appropriately designed. Y-direction wiring _{73, D y1, D y2, ...} , it consists n wirings of D _yn, is formed in the same manner as the X-direction wiring 72. An interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is provided between the m X-directional wirings 72 and the n Y-directional wirings 73 to electrically separate them (m and n are both Positive integer). The interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is made of SiO ₂ or the like formed by using a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. For example, the X-directional wiring 72 and the Y-directional wiring 73 are formed in a desired shape on the entire surface or a part of the substrate 71 on which the X-directional wiring 72 is formed.
The film thickness, material, and manufacturing method are set as appropriate so as to withstand the potential difference at the intersection of. X direction wiring 72 and Y direction wiring 73
Are drawn out as external terminals.

A pair of electrodes (not shown) constituting the surface conduction electron-emitting device 74 are electrically connected to each other by a connection 75 made of a conductive metal or the like with m X-direction wires 72 and n Y-direction wires 73. It is connected. The material forming the wiring 72 and the wiring 73, the material forming the connection 75, and the material forming the pair of element electrodes may have some or all of the same or different constituent elements. These materials are appropriately selected, for example, from the above-described materials for the device electrodes. When the material forming the element electrode is the same as the wiring material, the wiring connected to the element electrode can also be called an element electrode.

The electron-emitting device constituting the electron source of the present invention has characteristics (i) to (iii) as described above. That is, when the electron emission from the electron-emitting device is equal to or higher than the threshold voltage, it can be controlled by the peak value and the width of the pulse voltage applied between the opposing device electrodes. On the other hand, when the voltage is equal to or lower than the threshold voltage, it is hardly emitted. According to this characteristic, even when a large number of electron-emitting devices are arranged, if a pulse-like voltage is appropriately applied to each device, the electron-emitting device is selected according to an input signal to control the amount of electron emission. it can.

For example, a scanning signal applying unit (not shown) for applying a scanning signal for selecting a row of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 74 arranged in the X direction is connected to the X-direction wiring 72. On the other hand, a modulation signal generating means (not shown) for modulating each row of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 74 arranged in the Y direction according to an input signal is connected to the Y-direction wiring 73. The driving voltage applied to each electron-emitting device is supplied as a difference voltage between a scanning signal and a modulation signal applied to the device.

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

In the method of manufacturing an electron source according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 7, in the manufacturing process of an electron source having a large number of electron-emitting devices on the same substrate, the same
And an electric field applying step of applying a high electric field between these substrates by arranging the substrates and the surfaces on which the matrix wirings are formed facing each other.

The electric field application step is preferably performed before a forming step described later. This is because, after the forming step, since the conductive film having a crack formed by being formed on the matrix wiring is connected to the matrix wiring, an electric field is applied between the two electron source substrates to cause a current to flow on the electron source substrate. In this case, a voltage higher than that applied in the forming step is applied to the conductive film due to an increase in potential due to the wiring resistance of the matrix wiring, and the crack may be destroyed and the electron source may not be manufactured.

Further, it is preferable that the electric field application step be performed in a state where only the matrix wiring and the element electrodes are formed, because there is no influence on the conductive film.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a substrate arrangement when two electron source substrates are opposed to each other. In the figure, 71a, 71
b is a substrate, 72a and 72b are X-direction wirings as lower wirings,
73a and 73b are Y-direction wirings as upper wirings, and 76a and 7b.
6b is an interlayer insulating layer. As shown in FIG. 8, the two electron source substrates 71a and 71b are arranged so that the surfaces on which the wirings 73a and 73b are formed face each other.

In general, since a matrix wiring drives many electron-emitting devices, it is desired that the wiring resistance is low. Therefore, it is preferable to increase the thickness and width of the wiring as much as possible. It is difficult to make the width of the wiring too large to secure the definition of the image forming apparatus, and the thickness may be increased. When making thick wiring, the deposition time may be long or printing may be repeated, and in such a case, the danger of foreign substances adhering to the wiring etc. increases, and a strong electric field is applied Protrusions may occur.

In an image forming apparatus to be described later, the distance from the phosphor is closest to the upper wiring of the matrix wiring. In particular, the area where the upper wiring intersects the lower wiring via the interlayer insulating layer is the most phosphor. And the distance becomes shorter. Therefore, even when the two electron source substrates are opposed to each other, as shown in FIG. 8A, the direction in which the upper wirings (Y direction wirings 73a, 73b) of the respective substrates 71a, 71b are parallel to each other. It is preferable that the upper wirings are opposed to each other so that the distance between the upper wirings is the shortest. In this case, the region where the thick wiring intersects is closest.

Further, if necessary, in order to apply a large electric field not only to the upper wiring but also to other regions, for example, as shown in FIG. The relative position of the two electron source substrates may be changed in a state in which is applied.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an apparatus for applying an electric field between two electron source substrates. In the device,
On the stage 210, there is a mechanical stage 217 that can be moved in the XYZ directions.
Has been fixed. The other electron source substrate 219 is fixed to the bottom surface of the substrate holder 211. Substrate holder 2
11 is fixed to the stage 210 via an insulating insulator 212. By controlling the mechanical stage 217, the relative positions of the two electron source substrates 218 and 219 can be determined.

The matrix wirings of the electron source substrates 218 and 219 are electrically connected in common by a conductive extraction member 213 at the ends of the wirings, and are connected to GND and the high voltage power supply 221 by cables 215 and 216. You. Note that the electrical connection is intended to make the same potential between the wirings on each substrate, that is, the two substrates 218,
This is to make each wiring potential equal to the electric field application at 219.

Here, the electrical connection may be made by using a material having a very low resistivity such as a metal, or conversely, a material having a relatively large resistivity such as a semiconductor may be formed between wirings on a substrate. In some cases, the connection may be made via a resistive element.

In the present invention, even if a discharge phenomenon occurs in the electric field application step, the amount of charge flowing in a short time of discharge is limited by the time constant of the resistance. Is considered to be small. However, since a potential difference is easily generated between the wirings during discharge, the conductive film and a crack form after forming are easily affected. Therefore, after forming the wiring on the electron source substrate (before forming the conductive film). ), An electric field application step is preferably performed.

Therefore, it is preferable that the electrical connection be made in the latter case via the resistance element. At this time, the resistance value of the resistor connected between the wirings is about 1 kΩ or more, preferably about 10 kΩ.

Further, as the conductive take-out member, a sheet or wire of a relatively soft metal material (gold, indium, etc.) is used, and these are used by pressing. Alternatively, a conductive material in which carbon or metal filler is dispersed in an adhesive or the like is used by being adhered to the end of the wiring.

As a specific configuration of the electrical connection, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, the conductive take-out members 200 and 201 are crimped at the ends of the wirings 72 and 73. In addition, as shown in FIG.
03 and the ends of the wires 72 and 73 adjacent to each other,
There is a configuration in which the resistance element 204 is connected between them.
In FIGS. 10 and 11, the interlayer insulating layer provided at the intersection of the X-directional wiring 72 and the Y-directional wiring 73 is omitted for convenience.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 9, since the conductive extraction member 213 is close to the two electron source substrates, it is preferable that the insulating seal 214 is made of a high-resistance silicone material or the like.

The cable 216 to which a high voltage is applied
It is more preferable to insert a resistor 220 for limiting the current to regulate the upper limit of the current.

Further, the discharge phenomenon occurring between the electron source substrates can be evaluated by using the device 222 for measuring the current flowing between the electron source substrates.

The electric field intensity applied in the electric field applying step according to the present invention needs to be higher than the electric field intensity applied between the electron source and the phosphor as the image forming apparatus. The distance between the electron source and the phosphor is about 2 to 6 mm from the viewpoint of realizing a thin image forming apparatus and the spread of an electron beam.
The acceleration voltage value depends on the light emission characteristics of the phosphor, etc.
From the viewpoint of realizing a high-luminance image, it is considered that a general phosphor for CRT requires 6 to 10 kV. Therefore, the electric field intensity applied in the electric field application step is about 1 to 5 kV / mm.

When applying such a high electric field, it is necessary to perform the application in a vacuum atmosphere. If the vacuum pressure is large, a continuous discharge such as a spark discharge occurs, which easily affects the elements on the electron source substrate. The preferred vacuum pressure is
The pressure is preferably 10 ⁻⁴ torr or less, and an electric field applying device having a configuration shown in FIG. 9 is held in a vacuum device (not shown). The evacuation can be performed using the same evacuation apparatus as that shown in FIG.

The time for applying the electric field in the electric field application step is preferably about the driving time of the image display device, but the electric field application step takes time. This time can be shortened by making the electric field applied intensity higher than the electric field applied intensity at the time of actual driving.

In the manufacturing method of the present invention, since two substrates are used, two processed substrates can be obtained in one electric field application step. Therefore, the processing time per sheet can be halved, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

FIGS. 12 to 14 show an image forming apparatus constructed using such an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a display panel of an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a fluorescent film used for the display panel of FIG. Also. FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an example of a driving circuit for performing display according to an NTSC television signal.

In FIG. 12, reference numeral 71 denotes an electron source substrate on which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged; 81, a rear plate on which the electron source substrate 71 is fixed; 86, a fluorescent film 8 on the inner surface of a glass substrate 83;
4 is a face plate on which a metal back 85 and the like are formed. Reference numeral 82 denotes a support frame to which a rear plate 81 and a face plate 86 are joined by using low melting point frit glass or the like. Reference numeral 74 denotes the electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 1, and reference numerals 72 and 73 denote an X-direction wiring and a Y-direction wiring connected to a pair of device electrodes of the electron-emitting device. The conductive film is omitted for convenience.

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

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a fluorescent film. The fluorescent film 84 can be composed of only a phosphor in the case of monochrome. In the case of a color fluorescent film, it can be composed of a black conductive material 91 called a black stripe or a black matrix and a fluorescent material 92 depending on the arrangement of the fluorescent materials. The purpose of providing the black stripes and the black matrix is to make the color separation between the phosphors 92 of the necessary three primary color phosphors black in the case of color display so that color mixing and the like become inconspicuous.
In suppressing a decrease in contrast due to reflection of external light. As a material for the black stripe, a material which is conductive and has little light transmission and reflection can be used in addition to a commonly used material mainly containing graphite.

The method of applying the fluorescent substance to the glass substrate 83 can employ a precipitation method, a printing method or the like irrespective of monochrome or color. Usually, a metal back 85 is provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 84. The purpose of providing a metal back is
The light emitted from the phosphor toward the inner surface is converted into a face plate 8.
Improve the brightness by specular reflection on the 6 side, act as an electrode for applying electron beam acceleration voltage, protect the phosphor from damage due to collision of negative ions generated in the envelope, etc. It is. The metal back performs a smoothing process (usually called “filming”) on the inner surface of the phosphor film after the phosphor film is formed,
Thereafter, it can be manufactured by depositing Al using vacuum evaporation or the like.

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

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

An example of a method for manufacturing the display panel of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 12 will be described below.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of an apparatus used in this step. The display panel 101 is connected to the vacuum chamber 133 via an exhaust pipe 132 and further connected to an exhaust device 135 via a gate valve 134. The vacuum chamber 133 is provided with a pressure gauge 136, a quadrupole mass analyzer 137, and the like for measuring the internal pressure and the partial pressure of each component in the atmosphere. Since it is difficult to directly measure the pressure inside the envelope 88 of the display panel 101, the pressure inside the vacuum chamber 133 is measured to control the processing conditions. A gas introduction line 138 is connected to the vacuum chamber 133 in order to introduce necessary gas into the vacuum chamber and control the atmosphere. An introduction substance source 140 is connected to the other end of the gas introduction line 138, and the introduction substance is stored in an ampoule or a cylinder. In the middle of the gas introduction line, an introduction amount control means 139 for controlling the introduction rate of the introduction substance is provided. As the introduction amount control means, specifically, a valve such as a slow leak valve capable of controlling the flow rate to be released, a mass flow controller, or the like can be used according to the type of the substance to be introduced.

The interior of the envelope 88 is evacuated by the apparatus shown in FIG. 17 to perform forming. At this time, for example, as shown in FIG. 18, the Y-direction wiring 73 is connected to the common electrode 141,
The element connected to one of the X-direction wirings 72 is connected to the power supply 14.
2, the forming can be performed by applying the voltage pulse at the same time. Conditions such as the shape of the pulse and the determination of the end of the processing may be selected according to the above-described method for forming the individual elements. Further, by sequentially applying (scrolling) a pulse with a phase shifted to the plurality of X-direction wirings 72, it is possible to form the elements connected to the plurality of X-direction wirings 72 collectively. In the drawing, reference numeral 143 denotes a current measurement resistor, and 144 denotes an oscilloscope for current measurement.

After the forming is completed, an activation step is performed.
After sufficiently exhausting the inside of the envelope 88, the organic substance is introduced from the gas introduction line 138.

By applying a voltage to each electron-emitting device in an atmosphere containing an organic substance formed in this manner, carbon or a carbon compound, or a mixture of both, is deposited on the electron-emitting portion, and the amount of emitted electrons is increased. Rises drastically as in the case of the individual element. At this time, the voltage is applied by connecting the Y-direction wiring 73 to the common electrode 14.
1 and sequentially applying (scrolling) a pulse having a shifted phase to the plurality of X-direction wirings 72, it is also possible to activate the elements connected to the plurality of X-direction wirings 72 collectively. . Conditions such as the shape of the pulse and the determination of the end of the processing may be selected according to the method described above for activating the individual elements.

After the activation step, a stabilization step is preferably performed as in the case of an individual element. While the envelope 88 was heated and maintained at 80 to 250 ° C., the atmosphere was exhausted through an exhaust pipe 132 of an exhaust device 135 that does not use oil, such as an ion pump and a sorption pump, to obtain an atmosphere containing a sufficiently small amount of organic substances. Then, the exhaust pipe is heated with a burner to melt and seal. In order to maintain the pressure after the envelope 88 is sealed, a getter process may be performed. This is because the getter disposed at a predetermined position (not shown) in the envelope 88 is heated by heating using resistance heating, high-frequency heating, or the like immediately before or after the envelope 88 is sealed. This is a process for forming a deposited film. The getter is usually composed mainly of Ba or the like, and maintains the atmosphere in the envelope 88 by the adsorption action of the deposited film.

Next, an example of the configuration of a drive circuit for performing television display based on NTSC television signals on a display panel configured using electron sources in a simple matrix arrangement will be described with reference to FIG. . In FIG.
101 is a display panel, 102 is a scanning circuit, 103 is a control circuit, and 104 is a shift register. 105 a line memory, a synchronous signal separating circuit 106, 107 is a modulation signal generator, V _x and V _a are DC voltage sources. Display panel 101, the terminal D _x1 to D _xm, connected to an external electric circuit via terminals D _y1 to D _yn, and a high-voltage terminal 87. Terminals D _{y1 to} D _yn are sequentially provided with electron sources provided in the display panel, that is, a group of surface conduction electron-emitting devices arranged in a matrix of m rows × n columns in a matrix (one row at a time). A scanning signal for driving is applied.

To the terminals D _{x1 to} D _xm , a modulation signal for controlling the output electron beam of each of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices in one row selected by the scanning signal is applied. The high-voltage terminal 87, the DC voltage source V _a, for example, 10kV
Is supplied to the electron beam emitted from the surface-conduction type electron-emitting device at an accelerating voltage for applying sufficient energy to excite the phosphor. The scanning circuit 102 will be described. This circuit is a those with m-number of switching devices therein (in the figure, is schematically shown in S ₁ to S _m) it is. Each switching element is an output voltage or 0V (ground level) of the DC voltage source V _x
Is selected, and the terminal D _{y1 of the} display panel 101 is selected.
~ _Dyn . Each of the switching elements S _{1 to} S _m operates based on a control signal T _scan output from the control circuit 103, and can be configured by combining switching elements such as FETs, for example.

[0107] DC voltage source V _x is the example a surface conduction electron-emitting device characteristics (electron emission threshold voltage) to the basis scanned drive voltage applied to have no element electron emission threshold in the case of It is set to output a constant voltage that is equal to or lower than the value voltage.

The control circuit 103 has a function of matching the operation of each unit so that appropriate display is performed based on an image signal input from the outside. Control circuit 103 in accordance with the synchronization signal T _sync sent from the synchronous signal separating circuit 106, generates the respective control signals of T _scan and T _sft and T _mry to each unit.

The synchronizing signal separating circuit 106 is a circuit for separating a synchronizing signal component and a luminance signal component from an NTSC television signal input from the outside. Can be configured. The synchronizing signal separated by the synchronizing signal separating circuit 106 includes a vertical synchronizing signal and a horizontal synchronizing signal, but is illustrated here as a _Tsync signal for convenience of explanation. The luminance signal component of the image separated from the television signal is referred to as a DATA signal for convenience. The DATA signal is input to the shift register 104.

The shift register 104 converts the DATA signal input serially in time series into a serial / parallel format for each line of an image. The shift register 104 converts the DATA signal into a control signal _Tsft sent from the control circuit 103. (Ie, the control signal T _sft is applied to the shift register 10
4 shift clocks. ). The data for one line of the serial / parallel-converted image (corresponding to drive data for n electron-emitting devices) is I _d1 to I _d1 .
The shift register 104 as n parallel signals of I _dn
Output.

The line memory 105 is a memory device for storing data for one line of an image for a required time only, and appropriately _stores the contents of I _{d1 to} I _dn according to a control signal T _mry sent from the control circuit 103. Is stored. The stored contents are output as I _d'1 ~I _d'n, the modulation signal generator 10
7 is input.

The modulation signal generator 107 outputs the image data I
_d'1 is ~I signal source for appropriately driving modulating each of the surface conduction electron-emitting device according to each of _d'n, the output signal, the display panel 101 through the terminals D _x1 to D _xn Is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device. As previously mentioned,
The electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied has the following basic characteristics with respect to the emission current _Ie . That is, electron emission has a clear threshold voltage _Vth , and electron emission occurs only when a voltage equal to or higher than _Vth is applied. For a voltage equal to or higher than the electron emission threshold, the emission current also changes according to the change in the voltage applied to the device. From this, when a pulse-like voltage is applied to this element, for example, when a voltage lower than the electron emission threshold is applied, electron emission does not occur, but when a voltage higher than the electron emission threshold is applied, the electron beam is emitted. Is output. At that time, it is possible to control the intensity of the output electron beam by changing the peak value V _m of pulse. Further, it is possible to control the total amount of electric charge of an electron beam output by changing the width P _w of pulse. Therefore, a voltage modulation method, a pulse width modulation method, or the like can be adopted as a method of modulating the electron-emitting device according to the input signal.
When implementing the voltage modulation method, the modulation signal generator 1
As 07, a voltage modulation type circuit that generates a voltage pulse of a fixed length and appropriately modulates the peak value of the pulse according to input data can be used.

When implementing the pulse width modulation method,
As the modulation signal generator 107, a pulse width modulation type circuit that generates a voltage pulse having a constant peak value and appropriately modulates the width of the voltage pulse according to input data can be used.

The shift register 104 and the line memory 10
5 can be either a digital signal type or an analog signal type. This is because the serial / parallel conversion and storage of the image signal may be performed at a predetermined speed.

When the digital signal type is used, it is necessary to convert the output signal DATA of the synchronization signal separation circuit 106 into a digital signal. For this purpose, an A / D converter may be provided at the output of the synchronization signal separation circuit 106. In connection with this, the line memory 10
Depending on whether the output signal of 5 is a digital signal or an analog signal,
The circuit used for modulation signal generator 107 is slightly different. That is, in the case of the voltage modulation method using a digital signal, for example, a D / A conversion circuit is used as the modulation signal generator 107, and an amplification circuit and the like are added as necessary. In the case of the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 107 includes, for example, a high-speed oscillator, a counter for counting the number of waves output from the oscillator, and a comparator for comparing the output value of the counter with the output value of the memory. (Comparator) is used. If necessary, an amplifier for voltage-amplifying the pulse width modulated signal output from the comparator to the drive voltage of the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be added.

In the case of the voltage modulation method using an analog signal, an amplification circuit using, for example, an operational amplifier can be used as the modulation signal generator 107, and a level shift circuit and the like can be added as necessary. In the case of the pulse width modulation method, for example, a voltage-controlled oscillation circuit (VOC) can be employed, and an amplifier for amplifying the voltage up to the drive voltage of the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be added as necessary. In the image display device of the present invention that can take such a configuration, each of the electron-emitting devices has an external terminal D _x1 to D _x1 .
By applying a voltage via D _xm , D _{y1 to} D _yn ,
Electron emission occurs. A high voltage is applied to the metal back 85 or a transparent electrode (not shown) via the high voltage terminal 87 to accelerate the electron beam. The accelerated electrons collide with the fluorescent film 84 and emit light to form an image. The configuration of the image forming apparatus described here is an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention. As for the input signal, the NTSC system has been described, but the input signal is not limited to this.
In addition to the L and SECAM schemes, a TV signal (for example, a MUSE scheme or other high-definition TV) composed of a larger number of scanning lines can be adopted.

FIG. 15 is a schematic view showing an example of a ladder type electron source. In FIG. 15, reference numeral 110 denotes an electron source substrate, and 111 denotes an electron-emitting device. 112 is D _{1 to} D ₁₀
And a common wiring for connecting the electron-emitting devices 111. The electron-emitting device 111 has an X
A plurality are arranged in parallel in the direction (this is called an element row). A plurality of the element rows are arranged to constitute an electron source. By applying a drive voltage between the common wires of each element row, each element row can be driven independently. That is,
A voltage equal to or higher than the electron emission threshold is applied to an element row that wants to emit an electron beam.
A voltage lower than the electron emission threshold is applied. Common wiring D ₂ to D ₉ of each element rows can also be, for example, D _2, D ₃ of the same wiring.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a display panel structure in the image forming apparatus of the present invention provided with the ladder-type electron source. 120 is a grid electrode, 121 is a hole for passing electrons, and 122 is D ₁ , D _{2 ,.}
This is an external terminal made of a container. 123 is a grid electrode 1
An external terminal 110 composed of G ₁ , G ₂ ,..., G _n connected to 20 is an electron source substrate in which the common wiring between the element rows is the same. In FIG. 16, the same portions as those shown in FIG. 12 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

The major difference between the image forming apparatus of FIG. 16 and the image forming apparatus of the simple matrix arrangement shown in FIG.
Whether or not the grid electrode 120 is provided between the electron source substrate 110 and the face plate 86 is determined. The grid electrode 120 modulates the electron beam emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device, and allows the electron beam to pass through a stripe-shaped electrode provided orthogonal to the ladder-type element row. , One circular hole 121 is provided for each element. The shape and installation position of the grid are not limited to those shown in FIG. For example, a large number of passage openings may be provided in a mesh shape as holes, and a grid may be provided around or near the surface conduction electron-emitting device.

The outer terminal 122 and the outer grid terminal 123 are electrically connected to a control circuit (not shown). In the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, a modulation signal for one line of an image is simultaneously applied to the grid electrode columns in synchronization with sequentially driving (scanning) the element rows one by one. This allows
By controlling the irradiation of each electron beam to the phosphor, an image can be displayed line by line. The image forming apparatus of the present invention can be used as an image forming apparatus as an optical printer configured using a photosensitive drum or the like, in addition to a display device of a television broadcast, a display device of a video conference system, a computer, or the like. it can.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention configured to display image information provided from various image information sources such as a television broadcast.

In the figure, 1700 is a display panel, 1
701 is a display panel driving circuit, 1702 is a display controller, 1703 is a multiplexer,
1704 is a decoder, 1705 is an input / output interface circuit, 1706 is a CPU, 1707 is an image generation circuit,
Reference numerals 708 to 1710 denote image memory interface circuits,
711 is an image input interface circuit, 1712 and 1713 are TV signal receiving circuits, and 1714 is an input unit.

When the present image forming apparatus receives a signal containing both video information and audio information, such as a television signal, it naturally reproduces the audio simultaneously with the display of the video. Descriptions of circuits, speakers, and the like related to reception, separation, reproduction, processing, storage, and the like of audio information that are not directly related to the features of the present invention are omitted.

Hereinafter, the function of each section will be described along the flow of the image signal.

First, the TV signal receiving circuit 1713 is a circuit for receiving a TV signal transmitted using a wireless transmission system such as radio waves or spatial optical communication. The type of the TV signal to be received is not particularly limited.
Any system such as the TSC system, the PAL system, and the SECAM system may be used. Further, a TV signal including a larger number of scanning lines than these, for example, a so-called high-definition TV signal such as a MUSE system is suitable for taking advantage of the display panel suitable for a large area and a large number of pixels. Signal source.

The TV signal received by the TV signal receiving circuit 1713 is output to the decoder 1704.

The TV signal receiving circuit 1712 is a circuit for receiving a TV signal transmitted using a wired transmission system such as a coaxial cable or an optical fiber.
Like the TV signal receiving circuit 1713, the TV
The signal system is not particularly limited, and the TV signal received by this circuit is also output to the decoder 1704.

Image input interface circuit 1711
Is a circuit for capturing an image signal supplied from an image input device such as a TV camera or an image reading scanner. The captured image signal is output to the decoder 1704.

Image memory interface circuit 1710
Stands for Video Tape Recorder (hereinafter referred to as "VTR")
Is a circuit for taking in the image signal stored in the decoder 1704, and the taken-in image signal is output to the decoder 1704.

Image memory interface circuit 1709
Is a circuit for taking in an image signal stored in the video disk.
04 is output.

Image memory interface circuit 1708
Is a circuit for taking in an image signal from a device storing still image data, such as a still image disk, and the taken still image data is input to the decoder 1704.

The input / output interface circuit 1705 is
This is a circuit for connecting the present image display device to an output device such as an external computer, computer network or printer. Input / output of image data and character / graphic information, and in some cases, CP
It is also possible to input and output control signals and numerical data between the U1706 and the outside.

The image generation circuit 1707 is provided with image data and character / graphic information input from outside via the input / output interface circuit 1705, or the CPU 1706.
Based on image data and character / graphic information output from
This is a circuit for generating display image data. Inside this circuit, for example, a rewritable memory for storing image data and character / graphic information, a read-only memory storing an image pattern corresponding to a character code, a processor for performing image processing, and the like And other circuits necessary for generating an image.

The display image data generated by this circuit is output to the decoder 1704. In some cases, the display image data can be output to an external computer network or printer via the input / output interface circuit 1705.

The CPU 1706 mainly performs operations related to operation control of the image display apparatus, generation, selection, and editing of a display image.

For example, a control signal is output to the multiplexer 1703, and an image signal to be displayed on the display panel is appropriately selected or combined. In that case, the display panel controller 1
A control signal is generated for the display device 702 to appropriately control the operation of the display device such as the screen display frequency, the scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced), and the number of scanning lines on one screen. In addition, image data, character / graphic information is directly output to the image generation circuit 1707, or an external computer or memory is accessed via the input / output interface circuit 1705 to access image data, character / graphic information, or the like.
Enter graphic information.

It should be noted that the CPU 1706 may be involved in work for other purposes. For example, it may directly relate to a function of generating and processing information, such as a personal computer or a word processor. Alternatively, as described above, the input / output interface circuit 1705
The computer may be connected to an external computer network via a computer, and work such as numerical calculation may be jointly performed as an external device.

An input unit 1714 is for the user to input commands, programs, data, and the like to the CPU 1706. For example, in addition to a keyboard and a mouse,
Various input devices such as a joystick, a barcode reader, and a voice recognition device can be used.

The decoder 1704 is provided by
This is a circuit for inversely converting various image signals input from 13 into three primary color signals or a luminance signal and an I signal and a Q signal. As shown by the dotted line in FIG.
Preferably has an image memory inside. This is for handling a television signal that requires an image memory when performing inverse conversion, such as the MUSE method. Further, the provision of the image memory facilitates the display of a still image. Alternatively, the image generation circuit 17
07 and the CPU 1706, there is obtained an advantage that image processing and editing including thinning, complementing, enlarging, reducing, and synthesizing images are facilitated.

The multiplexer 1703 is connected to the CPU 1
A display image is appropriately selected based on a control signal input from 706. That is, the multiplexer 1703
Selects a desired image signal from the inversely converted image signals input from the decoder 1704 and selects a driving circuit 1701
Output to In that case, by switching and selecting an image signal within one screen display time, it is also possible to divide one screen into a plurality of areas and display different images depending on the areas, as in a so-called multi-screen TV. .

Display panel controller 1702
Is a circuit for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 1701 based on a control signal input from the CPU 1706.

As a signal related to the basic operation of the display panel, for example, a signal for controlling an operation sequence of a drive power source (not shown) for the display panel is output to the drive circuit 1701. As a method related to the display panel driving method, a signal for controlling, for example, a screen display frequency and a scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced) is output to the driving circuit 1701. In some cases, a control signal related to image quality adjustment such as luminance, contrast, color tone, and sharpness of a display image may be output to the driving circuit 1701.

A drive circuit 1701 is a circuit for generating a drive signal to be applied to the display panel 1700, and is based on an image signal input from the multiplexer 1703 and a control signal input from the display panel controller 1702. It works.

The function of each section has been described above. With the configuration illustrated in FIG. 24, in the present image forming apparatus, image information input from various image information sources can be displayed on the display panel 1700. is there. That is, various image signals such as television broadcasts are inversely converted by the decoder 1704 and then converted by the multiplexer 1.
At 703, it is appropriately selected and input to the driving circuit 1701. On the other hand, the display controller 1702
A control signal for controlling operation of the driving circuit 1701 is generated in accordance with an image signal to be displayed. Drive circuit 1701
Applies a drive signal to the display panel 1700 based on the image signal and the control signal. Thus, an image is displayed on display panel 1700. These series of operations are totally controlled by the CPU 1706.

In the present image forming apparatus, an image memory built in the decoder 1704 and an image generation circuit 170
7 and information selected from the information, as well as image information to be displayed, such as enlargement, reduction, rotation, movement, edge enhancement, thinning, complementing, color conversion, image aspect ratio conversion, etc. Initial image processing, compositing, erasing,
It is also possible to perform image editing including connection, replacement, fitting, and the like. As with the image processing and image editing, a dedicated circuit for processing and editing audio information may be provided.

Therefore, the present image forming apparatus includes a television broadcast display device, a video conference terminal device, an image editing device that handles still images and moving images, a computer terminal device,
It can be equipped with the functions of a word processor and other office terminal equipment, game consoles, and the like, and has a very wide range of applications for industrial or consumer use.

FIG. 24 shows only an example of the configuration of an image forming apparatus using a display panel using an electron-emitting device as an electron beam source, and the image forming apparatus of the present invention is not limited to this. It goes without saying that it is not limited.

For example, of the components shown in FIG. 24, circuits relating to functions that are unnecessary for the purpose of use may be omitted. Conversely, additional components may be added depending on the purpose of use. For example, when the present image display device is applied as a videophone, it is preferable to add a transmission / reception circuit including a television camera, an audio microphone, an illuminator, and a modem to the components.

In the present image forming apparatus, since the electron-emitting device is used as the electron source, the display panel can be easily made thin, so that the depth of the image forming apparatus can be reduced. In addition, a display panel using an electron-emitting device as an electron beam source is easy to enlarge the screen, has high brightness, and has excellent viewing angle characteristics, so that the image forming apparatus is capable of realizing a realistic and powerful image. It is possible to display with good visibility.

[0150]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples.

Example 1 FIG. 19 shows a plan view of a part of the electron source manufactured in this example. FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ in the figure. However, in FIGS. 19 and 20, the components denoted by the same reference numerals indicate the same components. Here 71 denotes a substrate, 72 (also referred to as a lower wiring) X-direction wiring corresponding to D _xm of 12, 73 (also referred to as an upper wiring) Y-direction wiring corresponding to D _yn in Fig. 12, 4 electron emission Parts, not shown), 2, 3 are device electrodes, 151 is an interlayer insulating layer, 1
52 is a contact hole for electrical connection between the element electrode 2 and the lower wiring 72.

The electron source of this embodiment has three wires on the X-direction wiring.
00 and 100 electron-emitting devices were formed on the Y-direction wiring. The manufacturing method will be specifically described with reference to FIG.

Step-a A 5 nm-thick Cr layer and a 600 nm-thick Au layer are sequentially laminated by vacuum evaporation on a substrate 71 having a 0.5 μm-thick silicon oxide film formed on a cleaned blue plate glass by a sputtering method. After that, the photoresist (“AZ137 manufactured by Hoechst Co., Ltd.”
0 ") is spin-coated with a spinner and baked, then the photomask image is exposed and developed to form a resist pattern for the lower wiring 72, and the Au / Cr deposited film is wet-etched to form the lower wiring 72 having a desired shape. (FIG. 21)
(A)).

Step-b Interlayer insulating layer 1 made of a silicon oxide film having a thickness of 1.0 μm
51 were deposited by RF sputtering (FIG. 21).
(B)).

Step-c The contact hole 1 was formed in the silicon oxide film deposited in the step b.
A photoresist pattern for forming 52 was formed, and using this as a mask, the interlayer insulating layer 151 was etched to form a contact hole 152 (FIG. 21C). Etching is performed by RIE (React) using CF ₄ and H ₂ gas.
iv Ion Etching) method.

Step-d A pattern to be a gap L between the device electrode 2 and the device electrode 3 is formed by a photoresist ("RD-2000N-" manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.).
41)) and a 5 nm-thick T
i, Ni having a thickness of 100 nm was sequentially deposited. The photoresist pattern is dissolved with an organic solvent, the Ni / Ti deposited film is lifted off, the element electrode interval L is 5 μm, the element electrode width W
Formed device electrodes 2 and 3 having a thickness of 300 μm (FIG. 21).
(D)).

Step-e After forming a photoresist pattern of the upper wiring 73 on the device electrode 3, 5 nm thick Ti and 500 nm thick Au
Were sequentially deposited by vacuum evaporation, and unnecessary portions were removed by lift-off to form an upper wiring 73 having a desired shape (FIG. 22E).

Step-f A Cr film having a thickness of 100 nm is deposited and patterned by vacuum deposition, and an organic Pd solution (“cpp4230” manufactured by Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) is spin-coated thereon by a spinner.
A heating and baking treatment was performed at 00 ° C. for 10 minutes. The conductive film 4 made of PdO as a main element thus formed had a thickness of 10 nm and a sheet resistance of 5 × 10 ⁴ Ω / □.

Thereafter, the Cr film and the fired conductive film 4
Was etched with an acid etchant to form a desired pattern (FIG. 22F).

Step-g A pattern was formed such that a resist was applied to portions other than the contact hole 152, and 5 nm thick Ti and 500 nm thick Au were sequentially deposited by vacuum evaporation. Unnecessary portions were removed by lift-off to bury the contact holes 152 (FIG. 22G).

Through the above steps, the lower wiring 72, the interlayer insulating layer 151, the upper wiring 73, the element electrode 2,
3. Conductive film 4 and the like were formed.

Next, using two electron sources prepared as described above, an electric field was applied between the two electron source substrates by an electric field applying apparatus having the structure shown in FIG.

First, an indium sheet having a thickness of 500 μm and a width of 5 mm is taken out from each of the two electron source substrates 218 and 219 at the ends of the upper and lower wirings, and a member 213 is crimped so that all wirings are common. I made it. An insulating seal material 214 made of silicone ("SH783" manufactured by Shin-Etsu Silicone Co., Ltd.) was applied onto the indium sheet, and cured for 72 hours.

The two electron source substrates 218, 2
19 were mounted at a facing distance of 6 mm. At this time, the upper mechanical stage 217 was moved and adjusted so that the upper wirings were parallel to each other and faced in front. Also, the electron source substrate 21
8 is connected to GND, and the other electron source substrate 219 is connected.
High-voltage power supply 221 through a 20 MΩ resistor 220.
Connected to.

The vacuum pressure around the electric field applying device was evacuated to 10 ⁻⁵ torr by an exhaust device (not shown).

Next, the high voltage power supply 221 causes the electron source substrate 2
Between 18 and 219, a DC voltage of 15 kV was applied for 6 hours.

When a measuring device 222 for measuring a current flowing between the electron source substrates was used, eleven discharge phenomena of 1 mA or more between the electron source substrates were observed in 6 hours.

Thereafter, the high-voltage power supply 221 was turned off, the electron source substrate was removed from the apparatus, and the insulating silicone and the indium sheet were removed from the electron source substrate.

Using the electron source substrate to which the electric field was thus applied, an image forming apparatus having the structure shown in FIG. 12 was produced as follows.

After fixing the substrate 71 on which a large number of planar surface conduction electron-emitting devices were formed on the rear plate 81, the face plate 86 (the fluorescent film 84 and the metal The back plate 85 is formed via a support frame 82, and frit glass is applied to a joint between the face plate 86, the support frame 82, and the rear plate 81, and baked at 410 ° C. for 10 minutes or more in the atmosphere. Then, the envelope 88 was formed. The fixing of the substrate 71 to the rear plate 81 was also performed using frit glass.

The fluorescent film 84 is made of the black conductive material 91 and the phosphor 9
2 and a color fluorescent film having a black stripe arrangement was used. First, a black stripe was formed, and phosphors of each color were applied to the gaps, thereby forming a phosphor film 84. A slurry method was used as a method of applying a phosphor on a glass substrate. A metal back 8 is provided on the inner side of the fluorescent film 84.
5 were provided. The metal back 85 was produced by performing a smoothing process (usually called filming) on the inner surface of the phosphor film after producing the phosphor film, and then vacuum-depositing Al. At the time of performing the above-mentioned sealing, in the case of color, since the phosphors of each color must correspond to the electron-emitting devices, sufficient alignment was performed.

The envelope 88 completed as described above was connected to a vacuum device evacuated by a magnetically levitated turbomolecular pump via an exhaust pipe (not shown).

Thereafter, the inside of the envelope 88 is set to 1.3 × 10 ^-4 P
It exhausted to a.

The outer terminals D _{x1 to} D _xm (m = 300) and D
_A voltage was applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 of the electron-emitting device 74 through _{y1 to Dyn} (n = 100), and the electron-emitting portion 5 was formed by applying a current to the conductive film 4 (forming process).

FIG. 3B shows the voltage waveform of the forming process.
Shown in In FIG. 3B, in this embodiment, T ₁ is set to ₁ msec.
c, T _{2 is set} to 10 msec, and the peak value (peak voltage at the time of forming) of the rectangular wave is boosted in 0.1 V steps,
A forming process was performed. Further, during the forming process, at the same time, at 0.1V voltage, and insert the resistance measuring pulse between T _2, and the resistance was measured. The forming process was terminated when the value measured by the resistance measurement pulse became about 1 MΩ or more, and at the same time, the application of the voltage to the element was terminated. Forming voltage V _F of each element is 5.0V
Met.

In the electron-emitting portion 5 thus formed, fine particles containing palladium as a main component were dispersed and arranged, and the fine particles had an average particle size of 3 nm.

Next, 6.6 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa of benzonitrile was introduced into the envelope 88 via a vacuum device.

The external terminals D _{x1 to} D _xm (m = 300) are made common, and a power supply (not shown) is connected to D _{y1 to} D _yn (n = 100) in sequence. An activation step was performed by applying a voltage between a few.

The voltage application conditions in the activation step are as follows: peak value ± 10 V, pulse width 0.1 msec, pulse interval 5 ms
ec, a rectangular wave of both polarities (FIG. 4B) was used. afterwards,
The peak value of the square wave is 3.3 mV from ± 10 V to ± 14 V
The voltage was gradually increased at / sec, and when the voltage reached ± 14 V, the voltage application was terminated.

Thereafter, the benzonitrile in the envelope 88 was evacuated.

Finally, as a stabilization step, about 1.33 × 1
After baking was performed at 150 ° C. for 10 hours at a pressure of 0 ⁻⁴ Pa, the exhaust pipe (not shown) was welded by heating with a gas burner, and the envelope 88 was sealed. The image forming apparatus of the present invention completed as described above, each electron-emitting device, vessel terminals _{D x1 ~D xm (m = 300} ), terminals D _y1 ~
A scanning signal and a modulation signal are applied from a signal generation unit (not shown) through D _yn (n = 100) to emit electrons, and a high voltage of 8 kV is applied to the metal back 9 through a high voltage terminal 87 to generate electrons. The image was displayed by accelerating the beam, colliding with the fluorescent film 84, exciting and emitting light.

When a withstand voltage check of applying a high voltage of 10 kV to the metal back 9 for 6 hours was performed without driving the elements on the electron source, no sudden discharge phenomenon was observed.

Here, the sudden discharge phenomenon was defined as the number of times the current flowing through the high voltage terminal exceeded 1 mA. Before and after this withstand voltage check, individual characteristics (I
_{When e} ) was measured, the variations were both 8%.

Here, the variation was a value obtained by dividing the variance by the average value of the _Ie values of the respective elements.

Comparative Example 1 An image forming apparatus was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 except that no electric field was applied by the apparatus shown in FIG.

When a similar breakdown voltage check was performed on the formed image forming apparatus, a sudden discharge phenomenon was observed 10 times.

When the individual characteristics (I _e ) of each electron-emitting device before and after this withstand voltage check were measured, the variation changed from 8% to 30%.

(Example 2) Electrons were formed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the relative position between the electron source substrates was moved back and forth in the direction of the lower wiring by the pitch of the upper wiring during the application of the electric field in the apparatus of FIG. The source was made. The relative speed between the substrates during reciprocation is 1 m
m / min. Other than that, it carried out similarly to Example 1.

In the electric field application step, a discharge phenomenon of 1 mA or more between the electron source substrates was observed 10 times during 6 hours.

When a withstand voltage check similar to that of Example 1 was performed on the formed image forming apparatus, no sudden discharge phenomenon was observed.

When the individual characteristics (I _e ) of each electron-emitting device before and after this withstand voltage check were measured, the variations were both 9%.

Example 3 In this example, an electron source substrate was manufactured by a screen printing method. FIG. 23 schematically shows the process. Hereinafter, each step will be described.

Substrate 227 made of soda lime glass
Then, after forming a metal thin film by a sputtering method, device electrodes 225 and 226 were formed by a photolithographic etching method. The material is 100 nm thick with a 5 nm thick Ti underlayer.
Made of a Ni thin film. The element electrode interval is 20μ.
m, the length of the device electrode 225 is 300 μm,
No. 6 was formed to a thickness of 500 μm (FIG. 23A).

Next, a lower wiring 236 is formed by a printing method using a silver paste having an ink viscosity of 4 × 10 ⁵ cps so as to connect the device electrodes 225, and this is fired (a firing temperature of 55 ° C.).
0 ° C., peak retention time about 15 minutes). Wiring width is 100
μm, the wiring thickness was about 10 μm, and the pitch was 500 μm (FIG. 23B). Here, for printing, a squeegee was a flat squeegee made of polyurethane having a hardness of 80 degrees, and a screen plate was a stainless screen having a mesh size of 350 mesh and a stainless wire having a wire diameter of 16 μm used for the mesh. The printing conditions were a gap of 2 mm, a pushing amount of 2 mm, and a squeegee speed of 100 mm / sec. Suction is performed at 50 L / min at each suction port.
At a flow rate of about 5 mm from the screen.

Next, an insulating film 250 mainly composed of glass was formed by printing and firing. This is a strip-shaped insulating layer orthogonal to the lower wiring 236, but has a cutout partially, and is electrically connected to the upper wiring and the element electrode 226 through the cutout. The paste material for the insulating film is a paste containing PbO as a main component and a glass binder mixed. The firing temperature is 550 ° C., and the peak holding time is 15 minutes. This insulating film forming step was repeated twice. The width of the insulating film is 500 μm, the thickness is about 40 μm,
The pitch is 1000 μm (FIG. 23C).

Next, an upper wiring 235 was formed on the insulating layer 250. The upper wiring is a band-shaped pattern, and the element electrode 226 is formed.
It is formed so as to be electrically connected to. The upper wiring was formed in the same manner as the lower wiring. The wiring width was 300 μm, the wiring thickness was about 10 μm, and the pitch was 1000 μm (FIG. 23).
(D)).

Next, an electric field application step was performed using the two matrix wiring substrates thus prepared, using the apparatus shown in FIG.

When a measuring device 222 for measuring the current flowing between the electron source substrates was used, a discharge phenomenon of 1 mA or more between the electron source substrates was observed 15 times in 6 hours.

Thereafter, the high-voltage power supply 221 was turned off, the electron source substrate was removed from the apparatus, and the insulating silicone and the indium sheet were removed from the electron source substrate.

Subsequently, an organic palladium-containing solution (“cpp-4230” manufactured by Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) was applied to an element electrode 225 using an ink jet ejecting apparatus (not shown) using a piezoelectric element as a droplet applying apparatus. It was applied in the form of droplets between 226.

Next, a heat treatment is performed at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes to form a conductive film 22 made of palladium oxide (PdO).
4 was formed. At this time, the thickness of the conductive film 224 is 20
It had a trapezoidal shape at 0 °, and was thick at the center and gradually thinned toward the periphery (FIG. 23 (e)).

The formed electron source substrate has 100 upper wirings,
100 lower wirings are arranged in a matrix with an interlayer insulating layer interposed therebetween, and have 10,000 surface conduction electron-emitting devices.

Next, by using the electron source substrate to which the electric field was applied in this manner, an image forming apparatus having the structure shown in FIG.

When a similar withstand voltage check was performed on the formed image forming apparatus, no sudden discharge phenomenon was observed.

The individual characteristics (I _e ) of each electron-emitting device before and after this withstand voltage check were measured, and the variation was 9% in each case.

Comparative Example 2 An image forming apparatus was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 3 except that the electric field application step was not performed.
When a similar breakdown voltage check was performed on the prepared image forming apparatus, a sudden discharge phenomenon was observed 30 times.

When the individual characteristics (I _e ) of each electron-emitting device before and after this withstand voltage check were measured, the variation changed from 9% to 35%.

(Embodiment 4) As shown in FIG. 11, a 10 kΩ resistive element is inserted and connected between adjacent wirings on the electron source substrate to which a high voltage is applied, and an end wiring D _x1 on the electron source substrate is connected. except the connected D _xm, the Dy _1, D _yn to a high voltage power supply and was prepared image forming apparatus in the same manner as in example 3.

In the voltage application step, a discharge phenomenon of 1 mA or more between the electron source substrates was observed 10 times during 6 hours.

When a similar breakdown voltage check was performed on the formed image forming apparatus, no sudden discharge phenomenon was observed.

When the individual characteristics (I _e ) of each electron-emitting device before and after this withstand voltage check were measured, the variations were both 7%.

Embodiment 5 As shown in FIG. 15, a large number of electron-emitting devices 111 are provided between two adjacent wirings.
A ladder type electron source substrate was created. In this example, 120 electron-emitting devices were formed between adjacent wirings on the electron source substrate 110, and 40 such sets of adjacent wirings were created.

An electron source substrate was formed by forming a 500 nm-thick silicon oxide film on a cleaned blue plate glass by a sputtering method on a substrate in the same manner as in steps d to f shown in Example 1 to form an element electrode and wiring. Then, a conductive film was formed.

Using two electron source substrates, an electric field applying step was performed in the same manner as in Example 1.

That is, the two electron source substrates are arranged at a facing distance of 6 mm so that the wiring faces the front.
1, a DC voltage of 15 kV was applied between the electron source substrates 218 and 219 for 6 hours. In addition, when a measuring device 222 for measuring a current flowing between the electron source substrates was used, a discharge phenomenon of 1 mA or more flowing between the electron source substrates was observed 12 times in 6 hours.

Next, after fixing the electron source substrate 110 on the rear plate 81, a grid electrode 120 having holes 121 is arranged above the electron source substrate 110 in a direction orthogonal to the wiring electrodes 112 of the electron-emitting devices. did. Further, a face plate 86 (formed by forming a fluorescent film and a metal back on the inner surface of a glass substrate) is disposed 5 mm above the electron source substrate 110 via a support frame 82, and the face plate 86, the support frame 82, and the rear Frit glass was applied to the joint portion of the plate 81, and baked at 410 ° C. for 10 minutes or more in the atmosphere to seal, thereby forming an envelope 88 (FIG. 16).
The fixing of the electron source substrate 110 to the rear plate 81 was also performed with frit glass.

The fluorescent film 84 is composed of the black conductive material 91 and the phosphor 9
2 was used (FIG. 9). First, a black stripe was formed, and phosphors of each color were applied to the gaps, thereby forming a phosphor film 84. A slurry method was used as a method of applying a phosphor on a glass substrate.

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

When the above-mentioned sealing is performed, in the case of color, since the phosphors of each color must correspond to the electron-emitting devices, sufficient alignment is performed.

The envelope 88 completed as described above was connected via an exhaust pipe (not shown) to a vacuum device capable of evacuating with a vacuum pump not using oil.

Thereafter, the inside of the envelope 88 is 1.33 × 10 ^−4.
It exhausted to Pa.

A voltage is applied between the electrodes 2 and 3 of the electron-emitting device 111 through the external terminals D _{1 to} D _m (m = 120), and the electron-emitting portion 5 and the conductive film 4 are energized (forming). Created by doing.

Next, 6.6 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa of benzonitrile was introduced into the envelope 88 via a vacuum device.

A voltage was applied between the electrodes 2 and 3 of the electron-emitting device 111 through the external terminals D _{1 to} D _m (m = 120) to perform an activation step.

The voltage application conditions in the activation step are as follows: a peak value is ± 10 V, a pulse width is 0.1 msec, and a pulse interval is 5 ms.
ec, a rectangular wave of both polarities (FIG. 4B) was used. afterwards,
The peak value of the square wave is 3.3 mV from ± 10 V to ± 14 V
The voltage was gradually increased at / sec, and when the voltage reached ± 14 V, the voltage application was terminated.

Thereafter, the benzonitrile in the envelope 88 was evacuated.

Finally, as a stabilization step, about 1.33 × 1
After performing baking at 150 ° C. for 10 hours at a pressure of 0 ⁻⁴ Pa, the same voltage application as in Example 1 is performed, and the exhaust pipe (not shown) is welded by heating with a gas burner to form an envelope 88.
Was sealed.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention completed as described above
In each of the electron emitters, a terminal D outside the container is provided.₁~ D_m
(M = 120), the electron is applied by applying a voltage.
The emitted electrons are emitted from the grid electrode 120.
After passing through the passage hole 121, the high-voltage terminal 87 is passed.
Same, metal back, or transparent electrode (not shown)
Is accelerated by the applied high pressure of several kV or more,
They collide and excite and emit light. At this time, the grid electrode 12
When the voltage corresponding to the information signal is set to 0, the external terminal G₁~ G_n Through
The electron beam passing through the hole 121 by applying
Is controlled to display an image.

When a similar withstand voltage check was performed on the formed image forming apparatus, no sudden discharge phenomenon was observed.

When the individual characteristics (I _e ) of each electron-emitting device before and after this withstand voltage check were measured, the variations were both 8%.

Comparative Example 2 An image forming apparatus was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 3 except that no electric field was applied by the apparatus shown in FIG.

When a similar breakdown voltage check was performed on the formed image forming apparatus, a sudden discharge phenomenon was observed 20 times.

When the individual characteristics (I _e ) of each electron-emitting device before and after this withstand voltage check were measured, the variation varied from 8% to 32%.

[0234]

As described above, in the method of manufacturing an electron source according to the present invention, since an electric field is applied, an electron source obtained by the manufacturing method is used to reduce the number of missing pixels in a display image and to provide a uniform image. A highly reliable image display device for displaying an image is configured. Further, in the manufacturing method of the present invention, since two substrates are processed in one electric field application process, the processing time in the process can be reduced to half of the conventional process, and the manufacturing efficiency can be improved. The cost can be reduced and the image forming apparatus can be provided at lower cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an example of a surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a process chart showing an example of a method for manufacturing the electron-emitting device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a voltage waveform of energization forming according to the method for manufacturing an electron source of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a voltage waveform in an activation step according to the method for manufacturing an electron source of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an example of a vacuum processing apparatus provided with a measurement evaluation function for evaluating the electron emission characteristics of an electron emission element constituting the electron source of the present invention.

[6] the emission current I _e in the electron-emitting devices constituting the electron source of the present invention, is a graph showing an example of the relationship between the device current I _f and the element voltage V _f.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement, which is one embodiment of the electron source of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of the arrangement of electron source substrates in an electric field application step of the method for manufacturing an electron source of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing an apparatus for performing an electric field application step in the method for manufacturing an electron source according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a connection form between an electrode extraction member and a wiring in an electric field application step of the method for manufacturing an electron source according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing another example of a connection form between the electrode takeout member and the wiring in the electric field application step of the method for manufacturing an electron source according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a display panel using an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement, which is an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a fluorescent film used in the display panel of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a drive circuit for performing display in accordance with an NTSC television signal in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic view showing an example of an electron source having a ladder-like arrangement as another embodiment of the electron source of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a display panel using an electron source having a ladder arrangement according to another embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a schematic view of a vacuum evacuation apparatus for performing a forming and an activation step in the method for manufacturing an electron source according to the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram showing a wiring method for forming and activating steps in the method for manufacturing an electron source according to the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a schematic plan view of the electron source manufactured in Example 1 of the present invention.

20 is a partial cross-sectional view of the electron source of FIG.

FIG. 21 is a manufacturing process diagram of the electron source according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a manufacturing process diagram of the electron source according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a manufacturing process diagram of the electron source according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2, 3 Element electrode 4 Conductive film 5 Electron emission part 50 Ammeter 51 Power supply 52 Ammeter 53 High voltage power supply 54 Anode electrode 55 Vacuum device 56 Exhaust pump 71, 71a, 71b Electron source substrate 72, 72a, 72b X direction Wiring 73, 73a, 73b Y-directional wiring 74 Surface conduction electron-emitting device 75 Connection 76a, 76b Interlayer insulating layer 81 Rear plate 82 Support frame 83 Glass substrate 84 Fluorescent film 85 Metal back 86 Face plate 87 High voltage terminal 88 Envelope 91 Black conductive material 92 Phosphor 101 Display panel 102 Scanning circuit 103 Control circuit 104 Shift register 105 Line memory 106 Synchronous signal separation circuit 107 Modulation signal generator 110 Electron source substrate 111 Electron emitting element 112 Common wiring 120 Grid electrode 121 Hole 122, 1 3 External terminal 132 Exhaust pipe 133 Vacuum chamber 134 Gate valve 135 Exhaust device 136 Pressure gauge 137 Quadrupole mass analyzer 138 Gas introduction line 139 Introduction amount control means 140 Introduced substance source 141 Common electrode 142 Power supply 143 Current measurement resistance 144 Oscilloscope 151 Interlayer insulating film 152 Contact hole 200, 201, 202, 203 Extraction member 204 Resistance element 210 Stage 211 Substrate holder 212 Insulator 213 Extraction member 214 Insulation seal 215, 216 Cable 217 Mechanical stage 218, 219 Electron source substrate 220 Resistance 221 High voltage power supply 222 Current measuring device 225, 226 Device electrode 224 Conductive film 227 Soda glass substrate 235 Upper wiring 236 Lower wiring 250 Insulating layer 170 Display panel 1701 driver circuit 1702 a display controller 1703 multiplexer 1704 decoder 1705 input-output interface circuit 1706 CPU 1707 image generating circuit 1708 to 1710 image memory interface circuit 1711 image input interface circuit 1712, 1713 TV signal receiving circuit 1714 input

Claims (19)

[Claims] A pair of device electrodes formed on a substrate;
A plurality of electron-emitting devices each having a conductive film electrically connected to each of the device electrodes and an electron-emitting portion formed on a part of the conductive film are formed on the same substrate, and wiring is formed. A method of manufacturing an electron source by connecting element electrodes of each element in a ladder shape or a matrix shape, wherein at least two substrates on which the wiring and the element electrode are formed are arranged such that the wiring is inside. A method for manufacturing an electron source, comprising: an electric field application step of applying an electric field between the substrates by disposing the electron sources opposite to each other. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of applying an electric field is performed in a vacuum atmosphere. 3. The method of manufacturing an electron source according to claim 1, wherein, in the electric field applying step, wirings are commonly connected to each other on the two substrates to have the same potential. 4. The method for manufacturing an electron source according to claim 3, wherein at least one of said two substrates has respective wirings commonly connected via a resistor. 5. The method for manufacturing an electron source according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the two substrates has each wiring connected to a high-voltage power supply via a resistor. 6. The method for manufacturing an electron source according to claim 1, wherein in the electric field applying step, the two substrates are arranged so as to face each other such that the wiring located on the uppermost surface of each of the substrates adjacent to each other is arranged in parallel. 7. The method for manufacturing an electron source according to claim 6, wherein, in the electric field applying step, the two substrates are arranged to face each other such that the uppermost wiring of each substrate adjacent to each other is located at the shortest distance. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the relative position between the two substrates is changed in the electric field application step. 9. The method for manufacturing an electron source according to claim 8, wherein the relative position is changed while maintaining a constant distance between the two substrates in the electric field applying step. 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of applying an electric field is performed before the step of forming an electron-emitting portion in the conductive film of each element.
A method for manufacturing the electron source according to the above. 11. The method for manufacturing an electron source according to claim 10, wherein the step of applying an electric field is performed before the step of forming a conductive film of each element. 12. A pair of device electrodes formed on a substrate, a conductive film electrically connected to each of the device electrodes, and an electron-emitting portion formed on a part of the conductive film. The electron source according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein a plurality of electron-emitting devices are formed on the same substrate, and the device electrodes of each device are connected in a ladder shape or a matrix shape by wiring. An electron source manufactured by a manufacturing method. 13. The electron source according to claim 12, wherein said electron-emitting device is a surface conduction electron-emitting device. 14. A semiconductor device comprising: at least one element row formed by arranging and connecting a plurality of said electron-emitting devices in parallel, and wiring for driving each element is arranged in a ladder shape. An electron source according to claim 12. 15. The semiconductor device according to claim 12, wherein at least one element row in which a plurality of the electron-emitting devices are arranged is provided, and wirings for driving the elements are arranged in a matrix. The electron source according to 1. 16. An image forming apparatus comprising: the electron source according to claim 14; an image forming member; and a control electrode for controlling an electron beam emitted from each element according to an information signal. 17. An image forming apparatus, comprising: the electron source according to claim 15; and an image forming member. 18. An electron source obtained by the method for manufacturing an electron source according to claim 1, comprising: a control electrode for controlling an electron beam emitted from the electron source; A method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus, wherein the method is combined with an image forming member that forms an image by irradiating an electron beam. 19. A method of combining an electron source obtained by the method for manufacturing an electron source according to claim 1 with an image forming member that forms an image by irradiating an electron beam from the electron source. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.