JP2000251733A - Inspection method for electron source and image display device, its inspection device, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To greatly reduce inspection period, by reading one or more inspection results of a previous inspection performed before a target inspection, determining a priority of inspection places for the target inspection based on the read inspection results, and performing the target inspection according to the priority of the determined inspection places. SOLUTION: A value of element resistance measured prior to a lighted inspection is read in a memory of a control device 209. Difference between the measured value and the designed value of the element resistance is calculated. A priority of positions to be inspected about lighting according to magnitude of the calculated difference, the resulted positions are arranged in the ascending order of the priority to create a table, and the table is stored in the memory of the control device 209. A CCD camera 203 is moved to the highest region in priority in the table. Brightness data for each individual picture element lighted by impression of a voltage pulse is provided from images of the CCD camera 203, difference between the brightness data and the designed brightness is calculated. When the calculated difference is not less than a prescribed constant, the picture element is discriminated defective.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electron source, an inspection method and an inspection apparatus for an image forming apparatus using the same, and a CD-ROM or the like in which a computer program for causing a computer to perform the inspection method of the present invention is recorded. It relates to a recording medium.

[0002]

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

[0003] As a surface conduction type emission element, for example,
M. I. Elinson, Radio Eng. Ele
ctron Phys. , 10, 1290, (196
5) and other examples described later are known.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes a phenomenon in which an electron is emitted by flowing a current through a small-area thin film formed on a substrate in parallel with the film surface. As the surface conduction electron-emitting device, in addition to the use of a thin film of SnO ₂ according to the Ellingson, etc., by an Au thin film [G. Dittmer: “Thin SolidF
ilms ", 9,317 (1972)] and In ₂ O ₃
/ SnO ₂ thin film [M. Hartwell a
nd C.I. G. FIG. Fonstad: “IEEE Tran
s. ED Conf. , 519 (1975)] and those using carbon thin films [Hisashi Araki et al .: Vacuum, 26th.
Vol. 1, No. 22, 22 (1983)].

[0005] As a typical example of the element structure of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, FIG. Hartwel
1 shows a plan view of an element according to the present invention. In FIG.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a substrate, and reference numeral 3004 denotes a conductive thin film made of a metal oxide formed by sputtering. The conductive thin film 3004 is formed in an H-shaped planar shape as shown. An electron emission portion 3005 is formed by performing an energization process called energization forming described later on the conductive thin film 3004. The interval L in the figure is 0.5 to 1 [mm], and W is
It is set at 0.1 [mm]. In addition, for convenience of illustration, the electron emitting portion 3005 is shown in a rectangular shape at the center of the conductive thin film 3004, but this is a schematic one, and the position and shape of the actual electron emitting portion are faithfully represented. Not necessarily.

[0006] M. In the above-described surface conduction electron-emitting device including the device by Hartwell et al., The electron-emitting portion 3005 is formed by subjecting the conductive thin film 3004 to an energization process called energization forming before electron emission.
Is generally formed. In other words, the energization forming means that a constant DC voltage or a DC voltage that increases at a very slow rate of, for example, about 1 V / min is applied to both ends of the conductive thin film 3004 to energize the conductive thin film 3004. Is locally destroyed, deformed or altered, and the electron emitting portion 300 in an electrically high resistance state
5 is formed. Note that a crack is generated in a part of the conductive thin film 3004 that is locally broken, deformed, or altered. After the energization forming, the conductive thin film 3
When an appropriate voltage is applied to 004, electrons are emitted near the crack.

[0007] The above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device can obtain electrons at a lower temperature than the hot cathode device, and therefore does not require a heater for heating. Therefore, the structure is simpler than that of the hot cathode element, and a fine element can be produced. Further, even when a large number of elements are arranged on a substrate at a high density, problems such as thermal melting of the substrate hardly occur. Also, unlike the hot cathode device which operates by heating the heater, the response speed is slow, and the surface conduction type emission device also has the advantage that the response speed is fast.

For this reason, studies for applying the surface conduction electron-emitting device have been actively conducted.

For example, the surface conduction electron-emitting device has an advantage that a large number of devices can be formed over a large area because it has a particularly simple structure and is easy to manufacture among cold cathode devices. Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
As disclosed in JP-A-332-332, a method for arranging and driving a large number of elements, a multi-electron beam source, an image display device using the multi-electron beam source, an image forming device such as an image recording device, Etc. are being studied.

Particularly, as an application to an image display device, for example, as disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,066,883, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-257551 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-28137 by the present applicant, A combination of a beam source and a phosphor that emits light when irradiated with an electron beam has been studied. An example is shown below.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an example of the image display device, in which a part of the panel is cut away to show the internal structure.

In the drawing, 1015 is a rear plate, 1016
Denotes a side wall, 1017 denotes a face plate, and a rear plate 1015, a side wall 1016, and a face plate 1
017 forms an envelope (airtight container) for maintaining the inside of the display panel in a vacuum.

A substrate 1011 is fixed to the rear plate 1015, and N × M surface-conduction emission devices 1012 are formed on the substrate 1011. (N,
M is a positive integer of 2 or more, and is appropriately set according to the target number of display pixels. The N × M surface conduction electron-emitting devices 1012 are wired by M row-direction wires 1013 and N column-direction wires 1014, as shown in FIG. These substrate 1011, surface conduction electron-emitting device 1012, row direction wiring 1013 and column direction wiring 1
The portion constituted by 014 is called a multi-electron beam source. Further, a row direction wiring 1013 and a column direction wiring 1014
An insulating layer (not shown) is formed between the two wirings at least at the crossing points to maintain electrical insulation.

On the lower surface of the face plate 1017, a fluorescent film 1018 made of a fluorescent material is formed, and on the rear plate 1015 side of the fluorescent film 1018, A
A metal back 1019 made of l or the like is formed.

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

The inside of the hermetic container is maintained at a vacuum of about 10 −6 Torr, and as the display area of the image display device increases, the rear plate 1015 due to a pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the hermetic container. In addition, means for preventing deformation or destruction of the face plate 1017 is required. On the other hand, in FIG. 10, a structural support (called a spacer or a rib) 1020 made of a relatively thin glass plate and supporting the atmospheric pressure is provided. In this way, the distance between the substrate 1011 on which the multi-beam electron source is formed and the face plate 1016 on which the fluorescent film 1018 is formed is usually maintained at a sub-millimeter to several millimeters, and the inside of the hermetic container is maintained at a high vacuum as described above. ing.

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

[0018]

In recent years, large-screen displays, high-definition televisions, and the like have become widespread. Naturally, an image display device which is an application of a multi-electron beam source using a surface conduction electron-emitting device has also been described. Performance such as "large screen", "high definition", and "high image quality" is required.

In order to satisfy these requirements, a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices corresponding to the number of pixels required by the image display device are formed on the multi-electron beam source so that the device characteristics become uniform. is necessary. At the same time, it is evaluated whether or not the element characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device and the luminance of each pixel of the image display device are within an allowable range with respect to the design value, and the non-defective product is judged. Is required to be sequentially performed for all the elements.

However, the "large screen" of the image display device
In addition, with the increase in the number of pixels accompanying the “high definition”, the time required for “inspection” sequentially over all the elements has been greatly increased. As a result, there has been a problem that the manufacturing cost of an image display device, which is an application of a multi-electron beam source using a surface conduction electron-emitting device, is increased.

[0021]

According to the present invention, there is provided a method for inspecting an electron source in each step of producing an electron source using a plurality of electron-emitting devices, comprising: a. In the electron source to be inspected by the inspection, a pre-inspection result reading procedure for reading one or more inspection results of a pre-inspection performed before the inspection; b) From an inspection result read in in the pre-inspection result reading procedure, A priority determination procedure for determining the priority of inspection locations in the inspection; c) an inspection procedure for performing the inspection in accordance with the priority of the inspection locations determined by the priority determination procedure. Has an inspection method.

Further, the priority order determining step includes a step of calculating a difference between the inspection result read by the pre-inspection result reading step and a predetermined constant, and determining a priority of an inspection part according to the magnitude of the difference. And an inspection method of the electron source.

[0023] In addition, the above-mentioned procedure for determining a priority order may include a procedure for preparing a table of inspection locations described in order corresponding to the priority order of the inspection locations.

In addition, there is provided an electron source inspection method, wherein the inspection is terminated when the number of found defects exceeds a predetermined number.

A face plate provided with an electron source, a high-voltage electrode arranged to face the electron source and accelerating electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device, and an image forming member for forming an image by the emitted electrons; In the method for inspecting an image forming apparatus, the method for inspecting an electron source is performed by the method for inspecting an electron source.

Also, the inspection item is an inspection of the light emission luminance of the image forming member, and the pre-inspection result reading step reads the inspection result of the electric resistance value of the electron-emitting portion of the electron-emitting device. This is also an inspection method for an image forming apparatus.

Further, the image forming apparatus is configured to be electrically connected to the high-voltage electrode and provided between the electron source and the face plate, and to supply a voltage to the structural support. An inspection method for an image forming apparatus, comprising: a wiring;

The inspection item is an inspection of the light emission luminance of the image forming member, and the pre-inspection result reading step reads the inspection result of the electric resistance value between the structural support and the high voltage electrode. An inspection method of an image forming apparatus characterized by the above.

The above-mentioned electron-emitting device is a surface conduction type electron-emitting device, and is also a method for inspecting the electron source or an image forming apparatus.

Further, there is provided an inspection method for an image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming member is a phosphor.

Further, in the electron source inspection apparatus in each step of producing an electron source using a plurality of electron-emitting devices, a) the electron source to be inspected is an electron source to be inspected. A pre-inspection result reading unit for reading one or more inspection results of the inspection; b) a portion where a difference between the inspection result read by the pre-inspection result reading unit and a design value is large is an inspection portion having a high priority in the inspection. C) inspection means for performing the inspection according to the priority order of the inspection locations determined by the priority order determination means; d) the number of defects found as a result of the inspection becomes a predetermined number or more. Means for terminating the inspection at the point of time when the electron source is inspected.

Further, in the inspection apparatus for an image forming apparatus having an electron source in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged, and an image forming member for forming an image by the electrons emitted from the electron source, An inspection apparatus for an image forming apparatus, comprising:

In an electron source inspection apparatus having a plurality of electron-emitting devices, a means for calculating a difference between a device resistance of the electron-emitting device measured in the previous inspection and a design value thereof is provided. Means for preferentially performing a lighting test of the next test, and means for determining that a defective pixel is present at the time when the number of defective pixels is equal to or more than a predetermined number as a result of the lighting test and stopping the subsequent lighting test. It is also an electron source inspection device.

Further, the electron source is divided into a plurality of regions,
An electron source inspection apparatus, further comprising means for summing the differences in each of the areas, and setting the area having a larger total sum to have a higher priority of the next inspection.

An electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices, a high-voltage electrode disposed opposite to the electron source for accelerating electrons emitted from the electron-emitting devices, and an image forming an image by the emitted electrons A face plate including a forming member, a structural support electrically connected to the high-voltage electrode, and provided between the electron source and the face plate; and a wiring for supplying a voltage to the structural support. In the inspection apparatus for an image forming apparatus, a means for calculating a difference between the resistance value of the structural support and a design value of the resistance, and an area in which the structural support having a large difference exists in a large amount. And a means for preferentially performing a lighting inspection.

Further, there is provided a recording medium having recorded thereon a computer program for causing a computer to execute any one of the electron source inspection methods described above.

Further, the present invention is also a recording medium having recorded thereon a computer program for causing a computer to execute the image forming apparatus inspection method according to any one of the above.

[0038]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Prior to showing an embodiment to which the present invention is applied, an outline of a configuration and a manufacturing method of an image display device which is an application of a multi-electron beam source using a surface conduction electron-emitting device handled in the embodiment. Will be described below.

(1) Outline of Image Forming Apparatus FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus used in the embodiment, in which a part of the panel is cut away to show the internal structure.

In the figure, 1015 is a rear plate, 1016
Is a side wall, 1017 is a face plate, and 1015
An airtight container for maintaining the inside of the image display device at a vacuum is formed by 1017 to 1017. When assembling an airtight container, it is necessary to seal the joints of each member to maintain sufficient strength and airtightness.For example, apply frit glass to the joints, and in air or nitrogen atmosphere, Sealing was achieved by baking at 400 to 500 degrees for 10 minutes or more. A method of evacuating the inside of the airtight container to a vacuum will be described later. The inside of the airtight container is 1
Since the vacuum is maintained at about 0 to the sixth power [Torr], the spacer 1020 is used as a structural support for the purpose of preventing the hermetic container from being destroyed due to the atmospheric pressure or an unexpected impact.
Is provided.

The rear plate 1015 has a substrate 1011
Are fixed, but N × M surface conduction electron-emitting devices 1012 are formed on the substrate (N and M are positive integers of 2 or more, and depending on the target number of display pixels, For example, in an image display device for displaying high-definition television, N = 3000 and M = 1
It is desirable to set the number to 000 or more. In this embodiment, N = 3072 and M = 1024. ). N × M
Of the surface conduction type emission elements are M row-directional wirings 1013.
And a simple matrix wiring by N column-directional wirings 1014. The portion constituted by 1011 to 1014 is called a multi-electron beam source (electron source).

FIG. 13 is a plan view of the multi-electron beam source used in the image display device of FIG. Substrate 10
Surface-emitters similar to those shown in FIG. 14, which will be described later, are arranged on
13 and column direction wiring 1014 are arranged in a simple matrix. Row direction wiring 1013 and column direction wiring 1
At the intersection of 014, an insulating layer (not shown) is provided between the electrodes.
Are formed, and electrical insulation is maintained.

The multi-electron beam source having such a structure includes a row-directional wiring 1013, a column-directional wiring 1014, an inter-electrode insulating layer (not shown), and a device electrode of a surface conduction electron-emitting device. After forming the conductive thin film, power was supplied to each element via the row-direction wiring 1013 and the column-direction wiring 1014 to perform an energization forming process (described later) and an energization activation process (described below).

In this embodiment, the substrate 1011 of the multi-electron beam source is fixed to the rear plate 1015 of the airtight container.
When the substrate 1 has a sufficient strength, the substrate 101 of the multi-electron beam source is used as a rear plate of the hermetic container.
1 itself may be used.

On the lower surface of the face plate 1017, a fluorescent film 1018 is formed as an image forming member. The image forming member is not limited to a phosphor,
A member that forms a latent image can also be used. Since this embodiment is a color image display device, phosphors of three primary colors of red, green, and blue used in the field of CRT are separately applied to a portion of the fluorescent film 1018. The phosphors of each color are separately applied in stripes as shown in FIG. 12A, for example, and black conductors 101 are provided between the phosphor stripes.
0 is provided. The purpose of providing the black conductor 1010 is to prevent the display color from shifting even if the electron beam irradiation position is slightly shifted, and to prevent the reflection of external light to prevent the display contrast from lowering. And preventing charge-up of the fluorescent film by the electron beam. Although graphite is used as a main component for the black conductor 1010, any other material may be used as long as it is suitable for the above purpose.

The method of applying the phosphors of the three primary colors is not limited to the stripe arrangement shown in FIG. 12A, but may be, for example, a delta arrangement as shown in FIG. Other arrangements may be used.

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

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

Although not used in the present embodiment, for the purpose of applying an accelerating voltage and improving the conductivity of the fluorescent film, a gap between the face plate substrate 1017 and the fluorescent film
For example, a transparent electrode made of ITO may be provided.

FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view taken along the line AA 'of FIG. The spacers 1020 are arranged between the substrate 1011 and the face plate 1017 at a necessary number and at a necessary interval for the purpose of preventing the airtight container from being destroyed due to the atmospheric pressure or an unexpected impact.

The spacer 1020 is a spacer 1
A part of the electrons emitted from the vicinity of 020 hit;
Alternatively, charging may occur due to attachment of ions ionized by the action of the emitted electrons, or reflection and scattering of some of the electrons that have reached the face plate, which may hit some of them. When such charging occurs, the electrons emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device are bent in their trajectories, reach a position different from the normal position on the phosphor, and the image near the spacer 1020 is distorted and displayed. Is done.

Therefore, it is preferable that a minute current always flows through the surface of the spacer 1020 in order to prevent electrification.
Further, it is necessary to have an insulating property enough to withstand a high voltage applied between the substrate 1011 and the face plate 1017. Therefore, the spacer 1020 is configured as follows.

The spacer 1020 is formed of a member in which the high-resistance film 2 is formed on the surface of the insulating member 1 and the low-resistance film 3 is formed on the upper and lower end surfaces and the side surfaces in contact with each other. The spacer 1020 having such a configuration was mechanically and electrically connected to the face plate (the inner metal back 1019) and the surface of the substrate 1011 (the row wiring 1013) by the bonding material 4 having conductivity. With such a configuration, it is possible to pass a weak current to the surface of the spacer and to have an insulating property enough to withstand a high voltage. In this embodiment, the spacers 1020 and the row wirings 1013 are electrically connected. However, a column wiring 1014 or another wiring may be provided and electrically connected thereto.

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

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

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

Normally, the voltage applied to 1012 to the surface conduction electron-emitting device is about 12 to 16 [V],
The distance d between the device 19 and the surface conduction electron-emitting device 1012 is 0.1
[Mm] to about 8 [mm], and the voltage between the metal back 1019 and the surface conduction electron-emitting device 1012 is about 0.1 [kV] to about 10 [kV].

The outline of the image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

(2) Method of Manufacturing Multi-Electron Beam Source (Preferred Element Structure and Manufacturing Method of Surface Conduction Emission Element) Typical Structure of Surface Conduction Emission Element Forming Electron Emission Portion or Its Peripheral Portion from Fine Particle Film There are two types of flat type and vertical type
Kinds are given. In this embodiment, a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device is used.

(Flat-type surface conduction electron-emitting device) Here, an element structure and a manufacturing method of a flat-surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described. FIG. 14 is a plan view (a) and a cross-sectional view (b) for describing the configuration of a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device. In the figure, 1101 is a substrate, 1102 and 1103 are device electrodes, 1104 is a conductive thin film, 1105
Are electron-emitting portions formed by an energization forming process;
Reference numeral 113 denotes a thin film formed by the activation process.

As the substrate 1101, for example, various glass substrates such as quartz glass and blue plate glass, various ceramics substrates such as alumina, or an insulating layer made of, for example, SiO ₂ is formed on the various substrates described above. A laminated substrate or the like can be used.

The device electrodes 1102 and 1103 provided on the substrate 1101 in parallel with the substrate surface are formed of a conductive material. For example, N
i, Cr, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Cu, Pd,
A material such as Ag or the like, an alloy of these metals, a metal oxide such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ , or a semiconductor such as polysilicon may be appropriately selected and used. . An electrode can be easily formed by using a combination of a film forming technique such as vacuum deposition and a patterning technique such as photolithography and etching. However, the electrode can be formed by other methods (for example, printing technique). I can't wait.

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

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

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

Materials that can be used to form the fine particle film include, for example, Pd, Pt, Ru, Ag,
Au, Ti, In, Cu, Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, T
a, W, Pb, and other metals, PdO, S
Oxides such as nO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO, Sb ₂ O ₃ , etc .; HfB ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , C
Borides such as eB ₆ , YB ₄ , GdB ₄ , etc., TiC, ZrC, HfC, TaC, SiC, WC,
And other carbides, TiN, ZrN, Hf
Nitrides such as N, semiconductors such as Si, Ge, and the like, carbon, and the like can be mentioned, and are appropriately selected from these.

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

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

The electron emitting portion 1105 is a crack-like portion formed in a part of the conductive thin film 1104, and has an electrical property higher than that of the surrounding conductive thin film. The crack is formed by performing a later-described energization forming process on the conductive thin film 1104. Fine particles having a particle size of several Angstroms to several hundred Angstroms may be arranged in the crack. Since it is difficult to accurately and accurately show the actual position and shape of the electron-emitting portion, they are schematically shown in FIG.

The thin film 1113 is a thin film made of carbon or a carbon compound, and covers the electron emitting portion 1105 and its vicinity. The thin film 1113 is formed by performing an energization activation process described later after the energization forming process.

The thin film 1113 is made of any one of single crystal graphite, polycrystalline graphite, and amorphous carbon, or a mixture thereof, and has a thickness of 500 [Å] or less, but 300 [Å] or less. Is more preferred. The actual thin film 1113
Since it is difficult to accurately illustrate the position and shape of
Is schematically shown. In addition, in the plan view (a), an element in which a part of the thin film 1113 is removed is illustrated.

While the basic structure of the preferred device has been described above, the following device was used in the examples.

That is, a soda lime glass was used for the substrate 1101, and a Ni thin film was used for the device electrodes 1102 and 1103. The thickness d of the device electrode was 1000 [angstrom], and the electrode interval L was 2 [micrometer].

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

Next, a description will be given of a method of manufacturing a suitable flat surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIGS. 15A to 15D are cross-sectional views for explaining a manufacturing process of the surface conduction electron-emitting device. The notation of each member is the same as that of FIG.

1) First, as shown in FIG. 15A, device electrodes 1102 and 1103 are formed on a substrate 1101.

When forming, the substrate 1
After sufficiently washing 101 with a detergent, pure water and an organic solvent,
The material of the device electrode is deposited. (As a deposition method, for example, a vacuum film forming technique such as a vapor deposition method or a sputtering method may be used.) Then, the deposited electrode material is patterned using a photolithography / etching technique, and shown in FIG. A pair of device electrodes (1102 and 11
03) is formed.

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

In the formation, first, an organic metal solution is applied to the substrate (a), dried, heated and baked to form a fine particle film, and then patterned into a predetermined shape by photolithography and etching. . here,
The organic metal solution is a solution of an organic metal compound containing, as a main element, a material of fine particles used for a conductive thin film (specifically, Pd was used as a main element in this embodiment. As the method, a dipping method was used, but other methods such as a spinner method and a spray method may be used.)

As a method for forming a conductive thin film made of a fine particle film, a method other than the method of applying an organometallic solution used in this embodiment, for example, a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method,
Alternatively, a chemical vapor deposition method or the like may be used.

3) Next, as shown in FIG. 9C, a forming power source 1110 supplies the device electrodes 1102 and 110
3, an appropriate voltage is applied, and an energization forming process is performed to form the electron-emitting portion 1105.

The energization forming treatment is to energize the conductive thin film 1104 made of a fine particle film and to appropriately break, deform, or alter a part of the conductive thin film 1104 to change into a structure suitable for emitting electrons. This is the process that causes A portion of the conductive thin film made of a fine particle film that has been changed to a structure suitable for emitting electrons (that is, the electron emitting portion 110
In 5), an appropriate crack is formed in the thin film.
Note that the electrical resistance measured between the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 is significantly increased after the formation of the electron emission portions 1105 as compared to before the formation.

FIG. 16 shows an example of an appropriate voltage waveform applied from the forming power supply 1110 in order to explain the energization method in more detail. When forming a conductive thin film made of a fine particle film, a pulsed voltage is preferable. In the case of this embodiment, a triangular wave pulse having a pulse width T1 is continuously generated at a pulse interval T2 as shown in FIG. Was applied. At that time, the peak value Vpf of the triangular wave pulse was sequentially increased. Also, monitor pulses Pm for monitoring the state of formation of the electron-emitting portion 1105 are inserted at appropriate intervals between the triangular-wave pulses, and the current flowing at that time is measured by the ammeter 1.
It was measured at 111.

In the embodiment, for example, in a vacuum atmosphere of about 10 −5 [torr], for example, the pulse width T1 is 1 [millisecond] and the pulse interval T2 is 1
0 [millisecond], and the peak value Vpf is set to 0.
The pressure was increased by 1 [V]. Then, the monitor pulse Pm was inserted at a rate of one every time five triangular waves were applied. The monitor pulse voltage Vpm was set to 0.1 [V] so as not to adversely affect the forming process. Then, when the electric resistance between the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 becomes 1 × 10 6 [ohm], that is, the current measured by the ammeter 1111 at the time of application of the monitor pulse is 1 × 10 −7 [A When the following conditions were reached, the energization related to the forming process was terminated.

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

4) Next, as shown in FIG.
The device electrodes 1102 and 1103 are supplied from the activation power source 1112.
During the energization activation process, apply an appropriate voltage during
Improve electron emission characteristics.

The energization activation process is a process of energizing the electron-emitting portion 1105 formed by the energization forming process under appropriate conditions to deposit carbon or a carbon compound in the vicinity thereof. (In the figure, a deposit made of carbon or a carbon compound is schematically shown as a member 1113.) By performing the activation process, the emission current at the same applied voltage is typically smaller than that before the activation. Specifically, it can be increased by 100 times or more.

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

FIG. 17A shows an example of an appropriate voltage waveform applied from the activation power supply 1112 in order to explain the energization method in more detail. In the present embodiment, the energization activation process is performed by applying a rectangular wave of a constant voltage periodically, but specifically, the voltage Vac of the rectangular wave is 14 [V],
The pulse width T3 is 1 [millisecond], and the pulse interval T4 is 10
[Milliseconds]. The above-mentioned energization conditions are preferable conditions for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of this embodiment, and when the design of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is changed, it is desirable to appropriately change the conditions accordingly.

Reference numeral 1114 shown in FIG. 15D denotes an anode electrode for capturing the emission current Ie emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device, to which a DC high voltage power supply 1115 and an ammeter 1116 are connected. (Note that the substrate 1101
When the activation process is performed after the device is incorporated into the image display device, the phosphor screen of the image display device is connected to the anode electrode 11.
Used as 14. While the voltage is applied from the activation power supply 1112, the emission current Ie is measured by the ammeter 1116 to monitor the progress of the energization activation process, and control the operation of the activation power supply 1112. An example of the emission current Ie measured by the ammeter 1116 is shown in FIG. 17B. When the pulse voltage is started to be applied from the activation power supply 1112, the emission current Ie increases with the passage of time, but eventually saturates. And hardly increase. Thus, the emission current I
When e is almost saturated, the application of the voltage from the activation power supply 1112 is stopped, and the energization activation process ends.

The above-mentioned energization conditions are preferable conditions for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of this embodiment, and when the design of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is changed, it is desirable to change the conditions accordingly. .

As described above, the planar surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 15E was manufactured.

(Characteristics of Surface Conduction Emission Device Used in Image Display Device) FIG. 18 shows the characteristics of the device used in the image display device.
Typical examples of (emission current Ie) versus (device applied voltage Vf) characteristics and (device current If) versus (device applied voltage Vf) characteristics are shown. Note that the emission current Ie is significantly smaller than the element current If, and it is difficult to show them on the same scale. In addition, these characteristics are changed by changing design parameters such as the size and shape of the element. Therefore, 2
The graphs in the book are shown in arbitrary units.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the image display device has the following three characteristics regarding the emission current Ie.

First, a certain voltage (this is referred to as a threshold voltage Vth
When a voltage of the above magnitude is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device, the emission current Ie sharply increases. On the other hand, at a voltage lower than the threshold voltage Vth, the emission current Ie is hardly detected. That is, it is a non-linear element having a clear threshold voltage Vth with respect to the emission current Ie.

Second, the emission current Ie changes depending on the voltage Vf applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device.
The magnitude of the emission current Ie can be controlled by f.

Third, since the response speed of the current Ie emitted with respect to the voltage Vf applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device is high, the light emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device depends on the length of time for applying the voltage Vf. The amount of charge of the electrons.

Because of the above-mentioned characteristics, the surface conduction electron-emitting device could be suitably used for an image display device. If the first characteristic is used, it is possible to perform display by sequentially scanning the display screen. That is, the threshold voltage V is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device being driven in accordance with the desired light emission luminance.
th or more is appropriately applied, and a voltage lower than the threshold voltage Vth is applied to the non-selected surface conduction electron-emitting device. By sequentially switching the surface conduction electron-emitting devices to be driven, it is possible to sequentially scan the display screen to perform display.

Further, since the emission luminance can be controlled by utilizing the second characteristic or the third characteristic, it is possible to perform gradation display.

The configuration and creation method of the image display device handled in this embodiment have been described above.

[0102]

[Embodiment 1] Embodiment 1 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a lighting inspection of an image display device. here,
The lighting inspection described here is to measure the light emission luminance of a pixel and compare the measured value with a design value to extract a defect of the pixel. The defective display of the image display device is determined based on whether or not the number of defective pixels extracted in the lighting inspection is equal to or greater than a predetermined number.

In the lighting inspection of this embodiment, the following procedure is taken in order to achieve the purpose of shortening the inspection time. First, an inspection result of an electric resistance value (hereinafter abbreviated as element resistance) of a conductive thin film of a surface conduction electron-emitting device before energization forming, which is performed prior to a lighting inspection, is read. Next, the priority of the place where the lighting inspection is performed is determined based on the read inspection result. Finally, a lighting test is performed in accordance with the above-mentioned priorities.

Hereinafter, the lighting inspection method will be described in detail. First, as the order of the description, the relationship between the element resistance and the light emission luminance of the pixel will be described. Next, the lighting inspection method to which the present invention is applied and the reason why the inspection time can be reduced will be described. Finally, a lighting inspection method to which the present invention is applied will be described.

(1) Relationship between Device Resistance and Pixel Luminance As described above, in the surface conduction electron-emitting device, an appropriate crack is generated in the electron-emitting portion by the energization forming process. By the way, the inventors have confirmed that the form of a crack (width, length, etc., of the crack) formed by the energization forming may vary depending on the value of the element resistance.
It is considered that the difference in the form of the crack is partly due to the difference in the current flowing therethrough even when the same voltage is applied due to the difference in element resistance.

If there is such a difference in the form of the cracks in the electron-emitting portion, even if the same voltage is applied, for example, the electric field intensity of the electron-emitting portion is different, so that the electron emission amount also differs. As a result, a difference occurs in the light emission luminance of pixels having a close correlation with the amount of electron emission.

(2) Reason why the lighting inspection time can be shortened In (1), it has been explained that there is a correlation between the element resistance and the light emission luminance of the pixel. The lighting inspection of the present invention utilizes this fact to reduce the inspection time. That is, the position of a pixel which is determined to be defective by the lighting inspection can be predicted to some extent from the inspection result of the element resistance performed before the lighting inspection. Therefore, prioritizing the locations where lighting inspections are performed in accordance with the magnitude of the difference between the element resistance and its design value, and performing lighting inspections based on the priorities enables quick detection of defective pixels. Can be. That is, in the case of an image display device (defective product) having a predetermined number or more of defective pixels, a predetermined number or more of defective pixels are extracted at the stage of performing a lighting inspection on some of the pixels of the image display device. There is a high possibility that the lighting inspection is determined to be defective at that point, and the subsequent lighting inspection can be stopped (because there is no point in continuing the inspection after determining that the product is defective).

As a result, the time required to detect a defective product of the image display device can be greatly reduced as compared with the conventional method in which the lighting inspection is sequentially performed for all the pixels without assigning a priority to the inspection place. .

(3) Specific Method of Lighting Inspection to which the Present Invention is Applied First, a procedure for creating an image display device up to the time of performing a lighting inspection to which the present invention is applied will be briefly described with reference to FIG.

In step S301, wires, device electrodes, and conductive thin films are formed on the substrate. These creation processes have been described above. In S302, the electric resistance (element resistance) of the conductive thin film created in S301 is measured. Here, a method of measuring the element resistance will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a multi-electron beam source and an element resistance measuring device. Reference numeral 401 denotes a surface conduction electron-emitting device, and 402 denotes a resistance between row-directional wiring elements. 4
03 is a resistance between column-directional wiring elements. Since the resistances of the row direction wiring and the column direction wiring have sufficient uniformity, the resistance values Ryline and Rxline between the elements are assumed to be constant regardless of the position of the section. Reference numeral 404 denotes an ammeter on the row direction wiring side, which is provided between each row direction wiring and the ground. Reference numeral 405 denotes an ammeter on the wiring side in the column direction, which is connected to the ground via the DC power supply 406. Ammeter 4
Reference numeral 06 is connected via a switching element 407 to a column direction wiring having an element to be measured by a relay or the like.

A method for obtaining the element resistance Rpq of the surface conduction electron-emitting element arranged in, for example, the p-th row and the q-th column by using such an apparatus will be described.

First, a voltage of Vin is applied from the DC power supply 406 to the column q in the column direction wiring. In this embodiment, a voltage of DC 1 to 2 [V] is used as the voltage of Vin. Also,
All the column wirings were open except for the q-th column, so that current did not flow to other than the selected column. The element resistance R at this time
The circuit equation near pq can be expressed as follows.

Rpq = (Vx (p) −Vy (p)) / Iy (p) (1) Vy (p) = Iy (p) × Ryline × q (2) Vx (p) = Vx (p + 1) − Ix (p) × Rxline (3) Ix (p) = Ix (p + 1) −Iy (p + 1) (4) In equation (1), Iy (p) can be measured by an ammeter on the p-th row in the row direction wiring. Vy (p) and Vx
If (p) is determined, the element resistance Rpq is determined.

In the equation (2), Vy (p) is Ryli
Since ne and q are fixed values and the value of Iy (p) can be measured, it can be calculated.

From equations (3) and (4), Vx (p)
Is a recurrence formula of Vx (p) and Ix (p) by p. Therefore, Vx (p) can be calculated by sequentially solving Vx (k) and Ix (k) from the k = mth row to the k = p + 1th row.

That is, a voltage Vin is applied to the column wiring q, and a current flowing from the row p + 1 to the row m and a current flowing to the column q in the column are measured. The element resistance Rpq can be obtained by sequentially solving the recurrence formula of the circuit equation from the measured value. Note that the above calculation and control of the element resistance measuring device were performed by software processing provided with a control computer (not shown). Element resistance was measured for all surface conduction electron-emitting devices of the multi-electron beam source by the method described above.

After measuring the element resistance, the hermetic container is sealed in S303, and the energization forming process is performed in S304.
At 305, an energization activation process is performed. Since these creation processes have been described above, they will not be described in detail here. Finally, a lighting test to which the present invention is applied is performed in S306.

The lighting inspection to which the present invention was applied was performed by an apparatus as shown in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 201 denotes an image display device to be inspected. A DC high-voltage power supply 208 is connected to the external terminal HV of the image display device 201. The row wirings are individually connected to the wiring switch Ro204. The wiring switch Ro is connected to the pulse generator Ro205 and the ground via a switching element such as a relay, so that a voltage pulse can be applied to each row-directional wiring and connected to the ground. The wiring switch Co206 having the same circuit configuration as that connected to the row wiring is also connected to the column wiring. Image display device 201
A XY stage 202 driven by a linear motor and equipped with a CCD camera 203 is disposed immediately before the display surface lead. The XY stage 202 allows the CCD camera 203 to move on a plane parallel to the display surface of the image display device. The above CCD camera 203, XY
The stage 202, the wiring switch Ro204, and the wiring switch Co206 are connected to the control device 209, respectively, so that they can receive control commands and transfer measurement data. Note that the control device 209 is constituted by a personal computer, and the connection with the device is made using an interface such as GPIB.

Using such an apparatus, a lighting test to which the present invention was applied was carried out according to a procedure as shown in FIG.

At S1, the measured value (test result) of the element resistance performed before the lighting test is read into the memory of the control device 209. In this embodiment, digitized information of the measured value of the element resistance and the position of the surface conduction electron-emitting device was read by a magnetic disk.

In S2, the difference between the device resistance of each surface conduction electron-emitting device and a predetermined constant (design value of the device resistance) is calculated.
In this embodiment, the design value of the element resistance is 4 KΩ.

In S3, the priority order of the positions where the lighting inspection is to be performed is determined according to the magnitude of the difference calculated in S2, and the results are arranged in a table arranged in descending order of priority.
09 was stored in the memory. Specifically, first, as shown in FIG. 5, the display surface of the image display device 501 was virtually divided into regions having the same size as the field of view of the CCD camera. In the present embodiment, the area is divided into six areas of 1024 × 512 in the column direction × row direction, and areas 1 to 6. Next, the differences determined in S2 in the regions 1 to 6 are summed up. It is assumed that an area having a larger total sum has a higher priority, and a table in which the areas 1 to 6 are arranged in descending order of the priority is created.
In this way, it is possible to arrange regions in which a large number of surface conduction emission devices having a large difference between the device resistance and the design value exist, that is, regions in the order of high possibility of occurrence of many defects.

The procedure of S1 to S3 is performed by the control unit 209.
Software.

At S4, a lighting test is performed according to the table created at S3. The specific procedure will be described with reference to FIG.

In step S601, the CCD camera 203 is moved by the XY stage 202 so that the area having the highest priority in the table created in step S3 within the area not subjected to the lighting inspection is within the field of view.

At S602, the CC of the image display device 201
The D camera 203 emits light from the pixels in the upper region. For this purpose, the CCD camera 203 applies a pulse of a voltage Vf for causing electron emission to the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the region above. For example, when a pulse of the voltage Vf is applied to the region 1 in FIG.
04, the row direction wirings 1 to 512 are connected to the pulse generator Ro.
205 and another row direction wiring is connected to the ground. Further, the column direction wirings 1 to 1024 are connected to the pulse generator Co207 by the wiring switching device Co206, and the other column direction wirings are connected to the ground. At the same time, a pulse of voltage -Vf / 2 is applied from the pulse generator Ro205 and a pulse of voltage + Vf / 2 is applied from the pulse generator Co207. By doing so, a pulse of the voltage Vf can be applied to the region 1 by subtraction. At this time, a pulse having a voltage of Vf / 2 is applied to the regions 2, 3, and 5. Therefore, the voltage Vf is changed to the threshold voltage Vt of the surface conduction electron-emitting device described above.
It is necessary to set the voltage Vf / 2 to a value equal to or less than Vth. In this way, region 2,
The pixels 3 and 5 do not emit light. In this embodiment, Vf
= 15.0 [V] and Vf / 2 = 7.5 [V]. The period of the voltage pulse is 16 [ms] and the pulse width is 0.1 [ms].
V] to the metal back of the image display device (high voltage electrode)
Is applied.

In S603, the luminance data of each pixel emitted by the application of the voltage pulse in S602 is obtained.
First, the intensity (image) of the output of the 203 pixels of the CCD camera was transferred to the control device 209. The control unit 209 removes an image from the CCD camera in order to remove factors such as noise.
A process of averaging over 0 frames was performed. Next, from the obtained image, the image corresponding to the black stripe of the image display device 201 is cut off, and the individual luminance data of each pixel can be obtained by summing the outputs of the pixels of the CCD camera 203 corresponding to each pixel of the image display device 201. it can.

In steps S604 to S610, a pixel defect is detected based on the luminance data of each pixel in the area acquired in step S603. First, in S604, a difference between the luminance data and the design value of the luminance is calculated. In S605, it is determined whether or not the difference calculated in S604 is equal to or more than a predetermined constant (in this embodiment, 5% of the design value). If the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined constant, the pixel is determined to be defective, and the total number of defects is increased by one in S606. In S607, it is determined whether or not the total number of obtained defects is equal to or larger than a predetermined constant (in this embodiment, 30,000, which is about 1% of the total number of pixels of the image display device). If the total number of defects is equal to or more than the predetermined constant, the image display device is determined to be defective, and the lighting inspection ends. The above steps S604 to S610 are performed for all pixels in the area.

After the lighting inspection of one area is completed, S6
In steps 10 to S612, the process proceeds to the lighting inspection of the next highest priority area. The procedure of the lighting inspection of the next area is the same as the procedure of S601 to S610 already described.

If the total number of defects is equal to or less than a predetermined constant after the completion of the lighting inspection of all areas, the image display device is determined to be non-defective (S
613) to end the lighting inspection.

The procedures in S601 to S613 were performed by software on the control device 209.

As described above, in the lighting inspection to which the present invention is applied, it is expected that there is a high possibility that a defect occurs in the lighting inspection in a region where there are many surface conduction type emission elements having a large difference between the device resistance and the design value. The lighting inspection is performed preferentially from the region where the lighting is performed. At the same time, the lighting inspection is terminated when the total number of pixel defects exceeds a predetermined constant. By doing so, when the image display device is defective, it often happens that it is possible to determine that the image display device is defective before performing the lighting inspection over the entire area. As a result, it is possible to greatly reduce the time for determining a defective product of the image display device as compared with the conventional method of sequentially performing the lighting inspection of all the regions without determining the priority order for each region.

[Embodiment 2] In Embodiment 2, an example in which the present invention is applied to a lighting inspection of an image display device will be described.

In the lighting inspection of this embodiment, the electric resistance value (hereinafter abbreviated as spacer resistance) between the high-voltage electrode (metal back) and the row direction wiring sandwiching the structural support (spacer), which was conducted prior to the lighting inspection. ) Read the inspection result.
Next, the priority of the place where the lighting inspection is performed is determined based on the read inspection result. Finally, a lighting test is performed in accordance with the above-mentioned priorities.

Hereinafter, the above-described lighting inspection method will be specifically described.

First, a method of measuring the spacer resistance performed prior to the lighting inspection will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 7 schematically shows a circuit configuration for measuring the spacer resistance Rsp (m) of the spacer connected to the row wiring m. In the figure, the image display device 7
The 01th row wiring m was connected to the ground via an ammeter 703. The other row direction wiring and column direction wiring are in a state in which nothing is electrically connected. A DC high-voltage power supply 7 is connected to a high-voltage electrode (not shown) of the image display device via a terminal HV outside the container.
02 was connected. The voltage Va applied from the high-voltage power supply was set to 1.0 [kV] in this embodiment.

As described above with reference to FIG. 11, the spacer is electrically connected to the high-voltage electrode (metal back) and the row wiring. Therefore, the ammeter 703
If the current measured in the step is I (m), the spacer resistance Rs
p (m) can be calculated by an equation such as Rsp (m) = Va / I (m).

The above-described method was sequentially performed by switching the row-direction wiring for connecting the ammeter 703, and the spacer resistance was measured.

Next, a lighting inspection method to which the present invention is applied will be described.

The lighting inspection to which the present invention is applied was performed by the same apparatus as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

The lighting inspection to which the present invention was applied was carried out according to the procedure shown in FIG.

In step S801, the measured value (test result) of the spacer resistance performed prior to the lighting test is read into the memory of the control device 209. In this embodiment, the digitized information of the measured value of the spacer resistance and the position of the spacer was read by a magnetic disk.

In S802, a difference between the spacer resistance and a predetermined constant (design value of the spacer resistance) is calculated. In this embodiment, the design value of the spacer resistance is set to 10 MΩ.

In step S803, the priority order of the position where the lighting inspection is performed is determined according to the magnitude of the difference calculated in step S802.
The results are arranged in a table arranged in descending order of priority and stored in the memory of the control device 209. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, the display surface of the image display
A region having a size of 256 in the 72-row direction was virtually divided into regions 1 to 4. Next, the differences determined in S2 in the regions 1 to 4 are summed up. It is assumed that an area having a larger total sum has a higher priority, and a table in which the areas 1 to 4 are arranged in descending order of the priority is created. In this way, it is possible to arrange regions in which there are many spacers having a large difference between the spacer resistance and the design value, that is, regions in the order of high possibility of occurrence of many defects.

By the way, it is considered that the reason why there is a high possibility that a pixel defect occurs when the difference between the spacer resistance and the design value is large is as follows. If the spacer resistance deviates from the design value, the current flowing through the spacer differs from the design, and the spacer may be charged. When the spacer is charged, the trajectory of the electrons emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device near the spacer is bent and reaches a position different from the normal position of the pixel, so that the brightness of the pixel near the spacer is different from the normal case. .

In step S804, a lighting test is performed according to the table created in step S803. The specific procedure is the same as the procedure of S601 to S613 in FIG. 6 described in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. However, in this embodiment, since the region is long in the column direction, the entire region is
Couldn't get into the field of view. For this reason, the brightness of each pixel was obtained by moving the CCD camera 203 along the row direction within the region and obtaining the brightness in a plurality of times.

The steps S801 to S804 were executed by the software of the control device 209.

As described above, in the lighting inspection to which the present invention is applied, priority is given to the region where there is a large number of spacers having a large difference between the spacer resistance and the design value, that is, the region where the possibility that a defect is likely to occur in the lighting inspection is high. A lighting inspection is performed.
In this manner, as in the first embodiment, the time for determining a defective image display device can be significantly reduced as compared with the conventional lighting inspection method.

The present invention also relates to a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a floppy disk on which a computer program for causing a computer to perform the above-described inspection method of the present invention is provided. Read the program into the computer's memory
It can be easily implemented by controlling the PU.

[0152]

According to the present invention, from the viewpoint that the position of a pixel which is determined to be defective by the inspection can be predicted to some extent from the inspection result of the previous inspection performed prior to the inspection.
Priorities are assigned to places to be inspected in accordance with the magnitude of the difference between the inspection result of the previous inspection and its design value, and based on the priority, the inspection is performed to quickly find defective pixels. Can be done. In other words, when the image display device (defective product) has a predetermined number or more of defective pixels, a predetermined number or more of defective pixels are obtained at the stage when the inspection such as the lighting inspection is performed on some of the pixels of the image display device. Is highly likely to be extracted, and at that point it can be determined to be defective and the subsequent lighting inspection can be stopped (since there is no point in continuing the inspection after it is determined to be defective). As a result, it is possible to greatly reduce the inspection time as compared with the conventional method in which the lighting inspection is sequentially performed on all the pixels without prioritizing the inspection locations.

Further, according to the present invention, the position of a pixel which is determined to be defective by the lighting inspection can be predicted to some extent from the inspection result of the element resistance performed prior to the lighting inspection. By prioritizing the places where the lighting inspection is to be performed in accordance with the magnitude of the difference and performing the lighting inspection based on the priority, it is possible to quickly find a defective pixel. That is, in the case of an image display device (defective product) having a predetermined number or more of defective pixels, a predetermined number or more of defective pixels are extracted at the stage of performing a lighting inspection on some of the pixels of the image display device. There is a high possibility that the lighting inspection is determined to be defective at that point, and the subsequent lighting inspection can be stopped (because there is no point in continuing the inspection after determining that the product is defective). As a result, the time required for detecting a defective product of the image display device can be significantly reduced as compared with the conventional method of sequentially performing the lighting inspection on all the pixels without prioritizing the inspection locations.

Further, the lighting test is preferentially performed in a region where there is a large number of spacers having a large difference between the spacer resistance and the design value, that is, a region where it is expected that a defect is likely to occur in the lighting test. Compared with the method, the time for determining a defective product of the image display device can be significantly reduced.

Therefore, according to the present invention,
As the number of pixels increases due to the large screen and high definition of the image forming apparatus, the time required for inspection can be significantly reduced as compared with the method of sequentially inspecting all elements of the electron source. In addition, the manufacturing cost of an image forming apparatus using an electron source can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a lighting inspection procedure to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an apparatus used in a lighting inspection to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a process until a lighting inspection is performed in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a device resistance measuring method of a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an area where a lighting test is performed in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing in detail a part of a lighting inspection procedure to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining a method of measuring a spacer resistance.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a procedure of a lighting inspection according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an area where a lighting test is performed in a second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view in which a part of the image display device is cut away.

FIG. 11 illustrates a structure of a spacer used in the image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a plan view illustrating a phosphor array of a face plate of the image display device.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a substrate of the multi-electron beam source used in the embodiment.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view of a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device used in an example.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing a manufacturing process of the planar surface-conduction emission type electron-emitting device.

FIG. 16 shows an applied voltage waveform in the energization forming process.

FIG. 17 is an applied voltage waveform (a) during the activation process;
Change in emission current Ie (b)

FIG. 18 is a graph showing typical characteristics of a surface conduction electron-emitting device used in an example.

FIG. 19 is a schematic view showing an example of a conventionally known surface conduction electron-emitting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 201 Image display device 202 XY stage 203 CCD camera 204 Wiring switch Ro 205 Pulse generator Ro 206 Wiring switch Co 206 Wiring switch Co 207 Pulse generator Co 208 DC high voltage power supply 209 Control device HV terminal outside container

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A method for inspecting an electron source in each step of producing an electron source using a plurality of electron-emitting devices, the method comprising: a) performing the inspection before the inspection in the electron source to be inspected; A pre-inspection result reading procedure for reading one or more inspection results of the pre-inspection; b) a priority determination procedure for determining a priority of an inspection point in the inspection based on the inspection result read by the pre-inspection result reading procedure; c). An inspection procedure for performing the inspection in accordance with the priority order of the inspection locations determined by the priority order determination procedure. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the priority determining step calculates a difference between an actual inspection result read by the pre-inspection result reading step and a predetermined inspection result set in advance. 2. A method for inspecting an electron source according to claim 1, further comprising: determining a priority order for performing a next inspection. 3. The electron source according to claim 1, wherein said priority order determining step includes a step of creating an information table of inspection points sequentially described in correspondence with the priority of inspection points. Inspection methods. 4. The inspection method of an electron source according to claim 1, wherein the inspection is terminated when the number of found defects is equal to or more than a predetermined number. 5. A face plate provided with an electron source, a high-voltage electrode arranged to face the electron source, for accelerating electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device, and an image forming member for forming an image by the emitted electrons. 5. The method for inspecting an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the step of inspecting the electron source comprises:
An inspection method for an image forming apparatus, which is performed by the inspection method for an electron source according to any one of the above. 6. The inspection item is an inspection of light emission luminance of the image forming member, and the pre-inspection result reading step includes:
6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising reading an inspection result of an electric resistance value of an electron emission portion of the electron emission element. 7. The image forming apparatus is configured to be electrically connected to the high-voltage electrode and to be provided between the electron source and the face plate, and to supply a voltage to the structural support. The inspection method for an image forming apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a wiring. 8. The inspection item may be an inspection of the light emission luminance of the image forming member, and the pre-inspection result reading step may read an inspection result of an electric resistance value between the structural support and the high voltage electrode. The inspection method for an image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein: 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the electron-emitting device is a surface conduction electron-emitting device. Inspection method. 10. The inspection method for an image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said image forming member is a phosphor. 11. A method for inspecting an electron source in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged, wherein a device having a large difference between an element resistance of the electron-emitting device measured in the previous inspection and a design value thereof is preferentially turned on in the next inspection. And if the number of defective pixels is equal to or more than a predetermined number as a result of the lighting inspection, it is determined to be defective at that time, and the lighting inspection thereafter is stopped. 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the electron source is divided into a plurality of regions, and the differences are summed up in each of the regions, and a region having a larger total sum has a higher priority in the next inspection. The method for inspecting an electron source according to claim 11. 13. The image according to claim 7, wherein the lighting inspection is preferentially performed from a region where a large difference between the resistance of the structural support and a design value of the resistance is large. Inspection method for forming equipment. 14. An apparatus for inspecting an electron source in each step of producing an electron source using a plurality of electron-emitting devices, wherein: a) the electron source to be inspected before the inspection is performed before the inspection; A pre-inspection result reading unit for reading one or more inspection results of the inspection; b) a portion where a difference between the inspection result read by the pre-inspection result reading unit and a design value is large is an inspection portion having a high priority in the inspection. C) inspection means for performing the inspection according to the priority order of the inspection locations determined by the priority order determination means; d) the number of defects found as a result of the inspection becomes a predetermined number or more. Means for terminating the inspection at the point of time. 15. An inspection apparatus for an image forming apparatus, comprising: an electron source in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged; and an image forming member that forms an image using electrons emitted from the electron source. An inspection apparatus for an image forming apparatus, comprising an inspection apparatus for an electron source. 16. An electron source inspection apparatus in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged, a means for calculating a difference between an element resistance of the electron-emitting device measured in the previous inspection and a design value thereof, Means for preferentially performing a lighting test of the next test; and, as a result of the lighting test, when the number of defective pixels is equal to or more than a predetermined number, means for determining a defect at that time and stopping the subsequent lighting test. Inspection equipment for electron sources. 17. A method comprising: dividing the electron source into a plurality of regions; summing the differences in each region; and setting a region having a larger total sum to have a higher priority in the next inspection. 17. The inspection apparatus for an electron source according to claim 16, wherein: 18. An electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices, a high-voltage electrode disposed opposite to the electron source for accelerating electrons emitted from the electron-emitting devices, and an image forming an image by the emitted electrons. A face plate including a forming member, a structural support electrically connected to the high-voltage electrode, and provided between the electron source and the face plate; and a wiring for supplying a voltage to the structural support. An inspection apparatus for an image forming apparatus, comprising: means for calculating a difference between a resistance value of the structural support and a design value of the resistor; preferentially from an area where the structural support having a large difference is large. And a means for performing a lighting test on the image forming apparatus. 19. A method according to claim 1, wherein
13. A recording medium having recorded thereon a computer program for causing a computer to perform the electron source inspection method according to 1 or 12. 20. A recording medium having recorded thereon a computer program for causing a computer to execute the image forming apparatus inspection method according to any one of claims 5 to 10.