JP2001351548A - Flat-panel image forming device and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a flat-panel image forming device and its manufacturing method maintaining electrical insulation between row direction wiring and column direction wiring over the whole image forming device and easily producible with good yield with a conventional manufacturing device. SOLUTION: This flat-panel image forming device has an insulating substrate, a phosphor, a face plate opposed to the insulating substrate, a plurality of spacer members for supporting the face plate to the insulating substrate, and electron emission elements corresponding to the respective picture elements. The image forming device and its manufacturing method are characterized by forming the electron emission elements on strip insulating substrates provided separately from the insulating substrate and lined up in a column direction, or forming the electron emission elements at the spacer members.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a display device to which an electron-emitting device is applied, and more particularly, to a novel image forming apparatus incorporating an electron-emitting device having a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices. It relates to a manufacturing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, two types of electron-emitting devices, a thermionic electron-emitting device and a cold cathode electron-emitting device, are known. Field emission type (hereinafter abbreviated as FE type) cold cathode electron-emitting devices,
There are a metal / insulating layer / metal type (hereinafter abbreviated as MIM type) and a surface conduction electron-emitting device (hereinafter abbreviated as SCE). FE
Examples of types include W.S. P. Dyke & W. W. Dola
n, "Field emission", Advanc
es in Electronics Electron
Physics, 8, 89 (1956) or C.I.
A. Spindt, “PHYSICAL Proper
ties thin-film field emis
sion cathodes with mollybd
eneium concs "J. Appl. Phys.,
47, 5248 (1976). MIM
Examples of types include C.I. A. Mead, “The tunn
el-emission amplifier, J. et al. A
ppl. Phys. , 32, 646 (1961).

As an example of the SCE type, M. I. Elin
son, Radio Eng. Electron Ph
ys. , 10, (1965).

[0004] The SCE type utilizes a phenomenon in which an electron is emitted when a current flows through a small-area thin film formed on a substrate in parallel with the film surface. Examples of the surface conduction electron-emitting device include a device using an SnO ₂ thin film made of the above-described erinsin and the like, and a device using an Au thin film [G. Dittm
er: “Thin Solid Films”, 9, 3
17 (1972) ", In ₂ O ₃ / SnO ₂ by thin film [M. Haetwell and C.I. G. FIG. Fon
stad: “IEEE Trans. ED, Con.
f. , 519 (1975)], using a carbon thin film [Hisashi Araki et al .: Vacuum, Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 22 (1
983)] has been reported.

As a typical device configuration of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, the above-mentioned M.S. FIG. 16 shows an element configuration of the Hartwell. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an insulating substrate. 4
Denotes a thin film for forming an electron-emitting portion, which is formed of a metal oxide thin film or the like formed by sputtering in an H-shaped pattern. Reference numeral 4 denotes a thin film including an electron-emitting portion. Incidentally, L ₁ in the figure, 0.5 to 1 mm, W is 0.1
mm.

Conventionally, in these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, the electron-emitting portion forming thin film 4 is formed before electron emission.
In general, the electron-emitting portion 5 was previously formed by an energization process called forming. That is, forming refers to an electron emission in which a voltage is applied to both ends of the thin film 4 for forming an electron emission portion, the thin film for forming an electron emission portion is locally destroyed, deformed or deteriorated, and an electrically high resistance state is obtained. That is, the part 5 is formed. In the electron emitting portion 5, a crack is generated in a part of the thin film 4 for forming the electron emitting portion, and the electron is emitted from the vicinity of the crack. The surface-conduction electron-emitting device that has been subjected to the forming treatment is configured to apply a voltage to the thin film 4 including the above-described electron-emitting portion and to cause a current to flow through the device, thereby causing the electron-emitting portion 5 to emit electrons. However, these conventional surface conduction electron-emitting devices have various problems in practical use,
The present applicants have diligently studied various improvements as described below,
Various problems in practical use have been solved.

The above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device has an advantage that a large number of devices can be arrayed 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. An example in which a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are formed in an array is an electron emission device in which surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in parallel and a large number of rows in which both ends of each element are connected by wiring are arranged in a large number of rows. Can be (For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
1332) In recent years, particularly in image forming apparatuses such as display apparatuses, flat-panel display apparatuses using liquid crystal have become widespread in place of CRTs. There are problems such as not becoming
Development of a self-luminous display device has been desired. An image forming apparatus, which is a display device combining an electron emission element in which a large number of surface conduction emission elements are arranged and a phosphor that emits visible light by electrons emitted from the electron emission element,
It is a self-luminous display device that can be manufactured relatively easily even with a large screen device and has excellent display quality. (For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,883 of the present applicant) Incidentally, conventionally, an element which emits electrons and causes a phosphor to emit light is selected from an electron emitting element constituted by a large number of surface conduction electron emitting elements as described above. A wiring (called a row direction wiring) in which a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged and connected in parallel,
In a direction perpendicular to the row wirings (referred to as a column direction), a control electrode (referred to as a grid) provided in a space between the electron-emitting device and the phosphor and an appropriate drive signal to the column-directional wirings. However, as a matter of course, it is needless to say that the position of each surface conduction type electron-emitting device and the grid or the uniform distance between the grid and the surface conduction type electron-emitting device. That it is,
It was necessary and was a problem in the manufacturing method. In view of these problems, the present applicant has further proposed a new configuration in which a grid is stacked on a surface conduction electron-emitting device in order to solve the problems in the manufacturing method associated with the grid.
(For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-20941 of the present applicant)

[0008]

However, the present applicant has proposed an image forming apparatus such as a surface device in which a phosphor is arranged at a position opposed to an electron-emitting device in which a plurality of surface-conduction electron-emitting devices are provided. However, in the case of manufacturing an image forming apparatus having a large area of 50 inches or more, there are the following problems. 1) Since the row direction wiring and the column direction wiring are formed on the same substrate via the insulating layer, it is difficult to maintain electrical insulation between the row direction wiring and the column direction wiring over the entire image forming apparatus. The yield in producing the forming apparatus was not good. 2) In an image forming apparatus such as a conventional electron emitting device in which a plurality of surface conduction electron emitting devices are provided and a phosphor is arranged at a position opposed to the electron emitting device, which has been proposed by the present applicant, In order to support the face plate with the phosphor against atmospheric pressure, spacers had to be arranged at certain fixed lengths, but since the spacers had to be placed between the pixels, they did not block the electron beam It was difficult to arrange the spacers as described above. 3) In the surface conduction electron-emitting device formed on the insulating substrate facing the face plate, the electron beam emitted from the device is applied between the face plate and the device by the electric field generated by the voltage applied to both device electrodes. Since the direction of the electric field due to the applied voltage differs by 90 °, the pattern of the electron beam reaching the phosphor screen could not be narrowed, and it was difficult to obtain a high-definition image. 4) The surface conduction electron-emitting device has a simple structure and is easy to manufacture, but since the size between individual device electrodes is about several microns to several tens of microns, it must be patterned by a method such as photolithography. However, it is difficult to perform patterning over a large area of 50 inches or more at a stroke by the conventional patterning method. Therefore, when applying the conventional manufacturing method, a new manufacturing apparatus must be developed. There is a drawback that a large-scale device is required and the production cost is high. 5) Since a large number of electron-emitting devices must be formed at once on a substrate having the same size as the display area of the image forming apparatus, if a defective device occurs, the device cannot be replaced. Is larger, it has been difficult to manufacture a flat plate type image forming apparatus having no defective pixels.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a flat-panel type image forming apparatus and a method of manufacturing the same which have solved the above-mentioned drawbacks. The gist of the present invention consists of at least a phosphor and an electron-emitting device. Is a flat plate image forming apparatus having n pixels and m columns of pixels, wherein the flat plate image forming apparatus has an insulating substrate and a face plate having the phosphor and facing the insulating substrate. And a plurality of spacer members for supporting the face plate with respect to the insulating substrate, and an electron-emitting device corresponding to each pixel, wherein the electron-emitting device is provided on the insulating substrate. A flat image forming apparatus formed on a strip-shaped insulative substrate continuous in the column direction provided separately from the substrate, a method of manufacturing the same, and at least a phosphor and electron emission A flat panel image forming apparatus having n pixels in a row direction and m pixels in a column direction, wherein the flat image forming apparatus has an insulating substrate and the phosphor, and Face plate facing the non-conductive substrate, and a plurality of spacer members for supporting the face plate with respect to the insulating substrate,
It has electron emission elements corresponding to each pixel,
In addition, there are provided a flat-plate type image forming apparatus, wherein the electron-emitting device is formed on the spacer member, and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail.

The configuration of the surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the flat panel type image forming apparatus according to the present invention and the features of the manufacturing method are as follows.

1) The thin film for forming the electron emission portion before the energization treatment called forming is a thin film composed of fine particles formed by dispersing a fine particle dispersion or a fine particle formed by heating and firing an organic metal or the like. Basically, it is composed of fine particles such as a thin film composed of

2) The thin film including the electron emitting portion after the energization process called forming is basically composed of fine particles, both in the electron emitting portion and the thin film including the electron emitting portion.

First, the basic structure of the surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present invention will be described. FIG. 1a, b
1A and 1B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view, respectively, showing the configuration of a basic surface conduction electron-emitting device. In FIG. 1, 1 is an insulating substrate, 2 and 3 are device electrodes, 4 is a thin film including an electron emitting portion, and 5 is an electron emitting portion.

As the insulating substrate 1, quartz glass, Na
Glass, blue plate glass, glass substrate obtained by laminating SiO ₂ on blue plate glass by sputtering or the like, and ceramics such as alumina. The material of the opposing element electrodes 2 and 3 may be any material as long as it has conductivity. For example, Ni, Cr, Au, Mo, W, Pt, T
metal or alloy such as i, Al, Cu, Pd and Pd, A
g, Au, printed conductors composed of RuO _2, metal or metal oxide such as Pd-Ag and glass, etc., In ₂ O ₃ -S _n
Examples include transparent conductors such as O ₂ and semiconductor conductor materials such as polysilicon. The device electrode interval L1 is from several hundred angstroms to several hundred microns, and is based on the photolithography technology which is the basis of the device electrode manufacturing method, that is, the performance of the exposure device and the etching method, and the voltage applied between the device electrodes and the electron. It is set depending on the electric field strength that can be emitted, etc., but is preferably several microns to several tens microns. The element electrode length W1 and the film thickness d of the element electrodes 2 and 3 are appropriately set depending on the resistance of the electrodes, the connection with the X and Y wirings described above, and the arrangement of a large number of electron-emitting devices. The device electrode length W1 is several microns to several hundred microns, and the film thickness d of the device electrodes 2 and 3 is preferably several hundred angstroms to several microns.

Opposing elements provided on insulating substrate 1
Disposed between the electrode 2 and the device electrode 3 and on the device electrodes 2 and 3
The thin film 4 including the electron emitting portion includes the electron emitting portion 5.
You. Only in the case shown in FIG.
And a thin film 4 for forming an electron emission portion on an insulating substrate 1.
In some cases, the device electrodes 2 and 3 are laminated in the order of resistance.
You. Further, the entire space between the opposing element electrodes 2 and 3 is
Depending on the manufacturing method, it may function as an electron emission part.
You. The thickness of the thin film 4 including the electron-emitting portion is several angstrom.
Thousands of angstroms, preferably dozens of
Several hundred angstroms than
Step coverage to poles 2 and 3, electron emission unit 5 and device
Resistance value between electrodes 2 and 3 and conductive fine particles of electron emitting portion 5
Is appropriately set depending on the particle size of
It is. Its resistance is 10 7 ohms rather than 10 3 ohms
/ □ indicates the sheet resistance value. The thin film 4 including the electron emission part
Pd, Ru, A
g, Au, Ti, In, Cu, Cr, Fe, Zn, S
Metals such as n, Ta, W, Pb, PdO, SnO_Two , In
_TwoO_Three , PbO, Sb_Two O_Three Oxides such as HfB_Two , Z
rB_Two , LaB₆ , CeB ₆ , YB_Four , GdB_Four Etc. Bor
Compound, TiC, ZrC, HfC, TaC, SiC, WC
Carbide, such as TiN, ZrN, HfN, etc., S
semiconductors such as i, Ge, carbon, AgMg, NiCu,
Pb, Sn, etc., which are composed of a fine particle film. Note that
A fine particle film is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated,
Fine particles are in a state of being dispersed and arranged individually
In addition, the particles are adjacent to each other or overlap
Film (including islands). The electron emission unit 5 is a number
Thousands of Angstroms, preferably Angstroms
Is 200 angstroms from 10 angstroms
Consists of a large number of conductive fine particles with a particle size and includes an electron-emitting portion
It depends on the thickness of the thin film 4 and the manufacturing method such as the energization processing conditions described later.
And it is set as appropriate. Construct electron emission section 5
The material is limited to the material constituting the thin film 4 including the electron-emitting portion 5.
Similar to some or all of the degrees.

Various methods are conceivable as a method for manufacturing the electron-emitting device having the electron-emitting portion 5, one example of which is shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a thin film for forming an electron emitting portion, for example, a fine particle film.

1) After sufficiently washing the insulating substrate 1 with a detergent, pure water and an organic solvent, depositing an element electrode material by a sputtering method, the element electrodes 2 are formed on the surface of the insulating substrate 1 by a photolithography technique. 3 (FIG. 2)
(A)).

2) An organic metal solution is applied between the device electrode 2 and the device electrode 3 provided on the insulating substrate 1 on the insulating substrate on which the device electrodes 2 and 3 are formed, and left. Then, an organic metal thin film is formed. In addition, the organic metal solution refers to the Pd, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, In, Cu,
This is a solution of an organic compound containing a metal such as Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, Ta, W, and Pb as a main element. Thereafter, the organic metal thin film is heated and baked, and is patterned by lift-off, etching, or the like to form the electron-emitting-portion-forming thin film 4 (FIG. 2B). In addition, here, the description has been given by the method of applying the organometallic solution, but is not limited thereto, and a vacuum deposition method,
It may be formed by a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition method, a dispersion coating method, a dipping method, a spinner method, or the like.

3) Subsequently, when a voltage is applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 by the power supply 7 in a pulsed manner or a high-speed voltage increase is applied to the thin film 4 for forming the electron emission portion, the energization process called forming is performed. An electron emitting portion 5 having a changed structure is formed at the site (FIG. 2C). The portion where the thin film 4 for forming an electron emission portion is locally broken, deformed or deteriorated by this energization treatment and the structure is changed is referred to as an electron emission portion 5. As described above, the present applicant has observed that the electron-emitting portion 5 is made of conductive fine particles. FIG. 3 shows a voltage waveform of the forming process. FIG.
Where T1 and T2 are the pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform, T1 is 1 microsecond to 10 milliseconds, T2 is 10 microseconds to 100 milliseconds, and the peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage during forming) is The voltage was set to about 4 V to 10 V, and the forming process was appropriately set in a vacuum atmosphere for about several tens seconds.

In forming the above-described electron emitting portion,
Although the forming process is performed by applying a triangular wave pulse between the electrodes of the element, the waveform applied between the electrodes of the element is not limited to the triangular wave, and a desired waveform such as a rectangular wave may be used. The high value, pulse width, pulse interval and the like are not limited to the above-mentioned values, and desired values can be selected as long as the electron-emitting portion is formed well.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the basic characteristics of the electron-emitting device manufactured by the above-described device structure and manufacturing method.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a measurement evaluation apparatus for measuring the electron emission characteristics of the device having the configuration shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, 1 is an insulating substrate, 2 and 3 are device electrodes, 4 is a thin film including an electron emitting portion, and 5 is an electron emitting portion. Reference numeral 8 denotes a power supply for applying a device voltage Vf to the device, 9 denotes an ammeter for measuring a device current If flowing through the thin film 4 including an electron-emitting portion between the device electrodes 2 and 3, 10
Is an anode electrode for capturing the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission portion of the device, 11 is a high voltage power supply for applying a voltage to the anode electrode 10, and 12 is an emission current emitted from the electron emission portion 5 of the device. It is an ammeter for measuring Ie. The device current If and the emission current I of the electron-emitting device
In the measurement of e, a power supply 8 and an ammeter 9 are connected to the element electrodes 2 and 3, and an anode electrode 10 connected to a power supply 11 and an ammeter 12 is disposed above the electron-emitting device. The present electron-emitting device and the anode electrode 10 are installed in a vacuum device, and the vacuum device is equipped with equipment necessary for a vacuum device such as an exhaust pump (not shown) and a vacuum gauge. The device can be measured and evaluated.

The voltage of the anode electrode is 1 kV to 10 kV.
kV, the distance H between the anode electrode and the electron-emitting device is 3 mm
It was measured in a range of ８8 mm.

Further, the present inventors have conducted intensive studies on the characteristics of the above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present invention, and as a result, have found characteristic characteristics which are the principles of the present invention. Emission current Ie limited by the measurement and evaluation device shown in FIG.
FIG. 5 shows a typical example of the relationship between the device current If and the device voltage Vf. In FIG. 5, since the magnitudes of If and Ie are significantly different, they are shown in arbitrary units.
Is about 1/2000 of the element current If. As is clear from FIG. 5, the electron-emitting device has three characteristics with respect to the emission current Ie.

First, when an element voltage higher than a certain voltage (called a threshold voltage, Vth in FIG. 5) or more is applied to the present element, the emission current Ie sharply increases, while the threshold voltage Ve is increased.
Below th, the emission current Ie is hardly detected. That is, a clear threshold voltage Vt for the emission current Ie
h is a non-linear element. Second, since the emission current Ie depends on the device voltage Vf, the emission current Ie can be controlled by the device voltage Vf. Third, the emission charge captured by the anode electrode 10 depends on the time during which the device voltage Vf is applied. That is, the amount of charge captured by the anode electrode 10 can be controlled by the time during which the device voltage Vf is applied. Because of the above characteristics, the electron-emitting device can be expected to be applied to various fields.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a characteristic in which the element current If monotonically increases with respect to the element voltage Vf (referred to as MI characteristic). In addition, the element current If changes with respect to the element voltage Vf. In some cases, it exhibits a voltage-controlled negative resistance (referred to as VCNR characteristic) characteristic. Also in this case, the electron-emitting device has the above-mentioned three characteristics.

The basic manufacturing method is not limited to the above, and a part of the basic manufacturing method of the basic element configuration may be changed.

Next, the electron-emitting device and the image forming apparatus, which are the main features of the present invention, will be described. According to the above-mentioned three characteristics of the basic characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, the emitted electrons from the surface conduction electron-emitting device have a pulse-like voltage applied between the opposing device electrodes when the threshold voltage is exceeded. Is controlled to the peak value and width. On the other hand, below the threshold voltage, no emission occurs. According to this characteristic, even when a large number of electron-emitting devices are arranged, an arbitrary surface conduction electron-emitting device can be selected by appropriately applying the pulsed voltage to each device, and the electron emission amount can be reduced. Can be controlled. Hereinafter, the configuration of the electron-emitting device substrate formed based on this principle will be described with reference to FIG.

13 is an insulating substrate, 14 is an X-direction wiring, 1
5 is a Y-direction wiring, 16 is an electron-emitting device, and 17 is a face plate.

In the figure, an insulating substrate 13 is a glass substrate or the like, and its size and thickness are determined by the number of electron-emitting devices installed in the flat panel display of the present invention and the design of each device. In the case where the insulating substrate 13 forms a part of the container when the electron-emitting device is used, it is appropriately set depending on conditions for maintaining the container in a vacuum, etc. You. The n X-directional wires 14 are DX
1, DX2,. . DXn, formed on the insulating substrate 13 by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like, and formed of a conductive metal or the like having a desired pattern, and a substantially uniform voltage is supplied to a large number of surface conduction type elements. The material, the film thickness, and the wiring width are set as described above. It is formed by a vacuum evaporation method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like, and is made of a conductive metal or the like having a desired pattern. The wiring width and the like are set. Since the n X-directional wirings 14 and the m Y-directional wirings 15 are formed on separate substrates, they are completely electrically separated to form a matrix wiring. (The m and n are both positive integers.) The thickness of the strip-shaped insulating substrate 18 depends on the size of the pixels and the distance between the pixels. The spacer 19 is determined depending on design parameters such as the weight of the supporting face plate 17. Also, the height of the spacer is the distance between the insulating substrate and the face plate,
It is determined depending on the acceleration voltage applied to the face plate, the shape of the electron-emitting device, and the like. Further, the length of the strip-shaped insulating substrate 18 in the longitudinal direction is determined so as to be substantially equal to the length of the insulating substrate 13 in the Y direction, but the length is set so as to maintain the electrical continuity of the wiring in the Y direction. For example, a plurality of strip-shaped insulating substrates 18 shorter than the length may be connected to each other.

The X-direction wiring 14 and the Y-direction wiring 15
Are drawn out as external terminals.

Further, in the same manner as described above, the electron-emitting device 1
6 opposing electrodes (not shown) are composed of n X-direction wirings DX.
1, DX2... DXn14 and m Y-directional wirings DY
1, DY2,... DYm15 are electrically connected to each other by a connection made of a conductive metal or the like formed by a vacuum evaporation method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like, or by a soldering or crimping method. The conductive metals of the element electrodes facing the connection of the n X-directional wirings 14 and the m Y-directional wirings 15 may be the same or different from each other, even if some or all of the constituent elements are the same. Well, Ni, Cr, Au, Mo,
A metal or alloy such as W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu, Pd and a printed conductor composed of a metal or metal oxide such as Pd, Ag, Au, RuO ₂ , Pd-Ag and glass;
It is appropriately selected depending on a transparent conductor such as n ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ and a semiconductor conductor material such as polysilicon.

The X-direction wiring 14 is connected to a scanning signal generating means (not shown) for applying a scanning signal for arbitrarily scanning a row of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 16 arranged in the X direction. Connected. On the other hand, the Y-direction wiring 15 is electrically connected to a modulation signal generating means (not shown) for applying a modulation signal for arbitrarily modulating each of the rows of the electron-emitting devices 16 arranged in the Y-direction. ing. Further, the driving voltage applied to each element of the electron-emitting device is supplied as a difference voltage between the scanning signal and the modulation signal applied to the element.

Next, an image forming apparatus used for display or the like using the electron-emitting device manufactured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view. Reference numeral 13 denotes an insulating substrate on which the X-direction wirings 14 are formed as described above. Depending on the design, the rear plate 22 may be provided outside the insulating substrate. Reference numeral 18 denotes a strip-shaped substrate on which the electron-emitting devices 16 and the Y-directional wirings 15 are formed as described above. Reference numeral 17 denotes a face plate in which a fluorescent film 19 and a metal back 20 are formed on an inner surface of a glass substrate 22. It is a frame, and the rear plate 21 and the face plate 17 are sealed with frit glass or the like to form an envelope. When forming the envelope, the insulating substrate 1 on which the X-direction wiring 14 is formed
3, a plurality of grooves 34 are formed as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 15, the strip-shaped substrate 18 is sequentially inserted into the groove 34 of the insulating substrate 13 so that the X-direction wiring 14 and the electrodes 32 and 33 provided on the strip-shaped substrate 18 can be electrically contacted well. It can be assembled while holding it.

As described above, the envelope is composed of the face plate 17, the support frame 23, and the rear plate 21. Since the rear plate 21 is provided mainly for the purpose of reinforcing the strength of the substrate 13, In the case where the substrate 13 has sufficient strength, the separate rear plate 21 is unnecessary, and the substrate 1
3, the support frame 23 is directly sealed, and the face plate 17,
An envelope may be configured by the support frame 23 and the substrate 13.

It should be noted that the strip-shaped substrate 18 should be subjected to a forming process as shown in FIG. 2C to form the electron-emitting portion 5 before assembling the envelope. Although it is preferable to obtain it, the forming process may be performed on the completed assembly after forming the envelope without performing the forming process in advance to form the electron emission portion 5.

FIG. 9 shows a fluorescent film. The fluorescent film 19 is composed of only a phosphor in the case of monochrome, but is composed of a black conductor 24 called a black stripe or black matrices and a phosphor 25 depending on the arrangement of the phosphor in the case of a color fluorescent film. You. The purpose of providing the black stripes and black matrices is to make the three-color phosphors necessary for color display black between the phosphors 25 so that color mixing and the like become inconspicuous. Is to suppress a decrease in contrast due to reflection of external light in the above. The material of the black stripe is not limited to the commonly used material containing graphite as a main component, as long as it is conductive and has little light transmission and reflection.

The method of applying the fluorescent substance to the glass substrate 22 is not limited to monochrome or color, and a precipitation method or a printing method is used.

A metal back 20 is usually provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 19. The purpose of the metal back is to improve the brightness by mirror-reflecting the light emitted from the phosphor toward the inner surface side to the glass substrate 23 side, to act as an electrode for printing the electron beam acceleration voltage, This is to protect the phosphor from damage due to collision of negative ions generated in the enclosure. After the fluorescent film is made,
The fluorescent film can be manufactured by performing a smoothing process (usually called filming) on the inner surface of the fluorescent film and then depositing A1 by vacuum evaporation or the like. The face plate 17 may be provided with a transparent electrode (not shown) on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 19 in order to further enhance the conductivity of the fluorescent film 19. When the above-mentioned sealing is performed, in the case of color, the phosphors of each color must correspond to the electron-emitting devices, so that it is necessary to perform sufficient alignment.

The envelope is evacuated through an exhaust pipe (not shown) to a degree of vacuum of about 10 −6 Torr and sealed. In addition, the terminals outside the container Dox 1 to Dox n, Do
A voltage was applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 through y1 to Doym, and the above-described forming was performed to form the electron-emitting portion 5 to manufacture an electron-emitting device. In addition, getter processing may be performed in order to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing of the outer package. This is achieved by heating a getter disposed at a predetermined position (not shown) in the envelope by a heating method such as resistance heating or high-frequency heating immediately before or after sealing the envelope, and performing evaporation. This is a process for forming a film. The getter is usually composed mainly of Ba or the like, and maintains a degree of vacuum of, for example, 1 × 10 −5 or 1 × 10 −7 [Torr] by the adsorption action of the deposited film.

In the image display device of the present invention completed as described above, each electron-emitting device is provided with an external terminal Dox.
Electrons are emitted by applying a voltage through 1 to Doym, and a high voltage of several kV or more is applied to the metal back 20 or a transparent electrode (not shown) through the high voltage terminal Hv to accelerate the electron beam, An image is displayed by colliding with the film 19 to excite and emit light.

Next, another embodiment of the flat panel display will be described with reference to FIGS. In each drawing, the same reference numerals are used for the same portions in FIGS.

In this example, the strip-shaped insulating substrate 18 has a phosphor 25 and a plurality of spacer members for supporting the face plate 17 facing the insulating substrate 13 with respect to the insulating substrate 13. The spacer members are provided with electron-emitting devices 16 corresponding to the respective pixels. The strip-shaped insulating substrate 1 also serving as the spacer member
Each of the strip-shaped insulating substrates 18 provided separately from the spacers 8 and the spacer members may be provided with a surface conduction electron-emitting device 16 on both surfaces thereof, or a plurality of electron-emitting devices 16 on one surface. Is also good. Further, the spacer member can be mounted on the insulating substrate 13 so as to be inclined from the vertical direction. Note that this strip-shaped insulating substrate 18 is formed as shown in FIG.
As shown in (a) to (e), a plurality of Y-direction wirings 15 and electrodes 26 were formed on an insulating substrate 13 such as a rectangular quartz glass, and a plurality of electron-emitting devices 16 were formed in many rows. The insulating substrate 13 as shown in FIGS. 14C and 14D is cut by a dicing saw as shown in FIG. The thickness of the strip-shaped insulating substrate 18 is determined depending on design parameters such as the size of the pixel, the interval between the pixels, and the weight of the supporting face plate 17. The height is the distance between the insulating substrate and the face plate, and is determined depending on the acceleration voltage applied to the face plate, the shape of the electron-emitting device, and the like. Further, the length in the longitudinal direction of the strip-shaped insulating substrate 18 is determined to be substantially equal to the length in the Y-direction of the insulating substrate 13 as in the above-described embodiments of FIGS. If the electrical continuity of the wiring in the Y direction can be maintained, a plurality of strip-shaped insulating substrates 18 shorter than the length thereof may be connected to each other.

The X-direction wiring 14 and the Y-direction wiring 15
Are drawn out as external terminals.

The materials and members used in this embodiment can be the same as those in the above embodiment, and the same technical means can be employed.

In constructing the envelope, FIG.
As in the eighth embodiment, a plurality of grooves 34 are formed in the insulating substrate 13 on which the X-direction wirings 14 are formed as shown in FIG. 14H, and the insulating substrate 13 is formed as shown in FIG. By sequentially inserting the strip-shaped substrates 18 into the groove portions 34, it is possible to assemble the X-direction wirings 14 while maintaining good electrical contact between the electrodes 26 provided on the strip-shaped substrates 18.

It should be noted that the strip-shaped substrate 18 is prepared in advance as shown in FIG.
It is preferable to form the electron-emitting portion 5 by performing the forming process as shown in (g) because the characteristics of the electron-emitting device can be inspected in advance, but after assembling the envelope without performing the forming process in advance, The electron emitting portion 5 may be formed by performing a forming process on the completed assembly.

In the image display device of the present invention completed as described above, each of the electron-emitting devices has a terminal Dox outside the container.
1 to Doxn and Doy1 to Doym, a voltage is applied to emit electrons, and the high voltage terminal Hv
An image is displayed by applying an exciting voltage of several kV or more to the metal back 20 or a transparent electrode (not shown) to accelerate the electron beam, collide with the fluorescent film 19, and excite and emit light. .

The configuration described above is a schematic configuration necessary for manufacturing a suitable image forming apparatus used for display and the like. For example, detailed portions such as materials of each member are not limited to those described above. , To be suitable for the purpose of the image device.

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

[0053]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 15 is a structural view showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and is a view as seen from a sectional direction of an electron-emitting device. In this configuration, the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 28 and 29 and the Y-direction wirings 30 and
31, an electrode 32 for obtaining electrical contact with the X-direction wiring,
33 are formed. Further, a tapered portion as shown is formed in the groove portion 34 formed in the insulating substrate 13 and the fitting portion 35 of the strip-shaped insulating substrate 18, and at the time of sealing the envelope. X-direction electrode 14 and electrode 3
The structure is such that the contact of 2, 33 is maintained. Therefore, good electrical contact can be maintained irrespective of a method such as soldering, so that a great effect can be recognized in reducing the manufacturing cost of the image forming apparatus and improving the yield.

Embodiment 2 In this embodiment, as in the case of Embodiment 1, as many electron-emitting devices as possible are arranged on a strip-shaped insulating substrate also serving as a spacer, so that the number of spacers is reduced. Things.

FIG. 16 is a structural view showing a second embodiment of the present invention, and is a view as seen from the cross-sectional direction of the electron-emitting device. In this configuration, a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are formed in the direction of the short side of the strip-shaped insulating substrate 36 in the electron-emitting device. In this embodiment, three electron-emitting devices were formed. Phosphors 40, 41, and 42 corresponding to each of the above-described electron-emitting devices are arranged on the fluorescent film of the face plate. Since the distribution of lines of electric force formed by the voltage applied between the metal back layer 20 on the face plate and the electrodes on the strip-shaped insulating substrate 36 has a substantially elliptical shape, electrons emitted from each electron-emitting device are emitted. The line is Figure 1
As shown in FIG. 6, the light reaches the corresponding phosphors, and by independently driving the elements in a matrix, the intensity of light emitted from the phosphors can be controlled independently.

Embodiment 3 This embodiment is different from the above-described embodiment in that the strip-shaped insulating substrate serving also as a spacer is set up. In the above-described embodiment, all the strip-shaped insulating substrates are configured to be perpendicular to the insulating substrate 13 or the rear plate 21. The present inventors have examined the electron emission characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device and found that when a voltage is applied to the device electrodes 2 and 3, the direction of the emitted electron beam differs depending on the locality of the applied voltage. are doing. In other words, it is observed that if a voltage is applied to the device electrode 2 so as to be negative with respect to 3, the emitted electrons are emitted obliquely upward in the direction of the device electrode 3. In the present embodiment, this effect is positively used, and the strip-shaped substrate is inclined from the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 17 to improve the electron beam focusing characteristics.

Embodiment 4 In this embodiment, the shape of the strip-shaped insulating substrate is different from that of the above-described embodiment. In the above-described embodiment, the strip-shaped insulating substrates are all rectangular in shape. However, in this embodiment, in order to improve the vacuum exhaust characteristics inside the image forming apparatus, the emitted electron beam is further reduced. The shape is changed so as not to cover the strip-shaped insulating substrate. FIG.
8a is a configuration diagram in which a rectangular cutout 46 is formed in the upper part of the strip-shaped insulating substrate 44, and FIG. 18b is a configuration diagram in which a rectangular hole 47 is formed in the strip-shaped insulating substrate 45. Since the air permeability between adjacent cells is improved via the spacer, it is possible to form uniformly, and the electrons emitted from the electron-emitting devices are vignetted on the strip-shaped insulating substrate before reaching the phosphor. Disappears.

Embodiment 5 In this embodiment, as many electron-emitting devices as possible are arranged on a strip-shaped insulating substrate 18 provided separately from a spacer.
It is devised to reduce the number of strip-shaped insulating substrates.

FIG. 19 is a structural view showing another embodiment of the present invention, and is a view as seen from a sectional direction of the electron-emitting device. In this configuration, the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 28 and 29 and the Y-direction wirings 30 and 31 are provided on both sides of the strip-shaped insulating substrate 18.
Electrodes 32 and 3 for obtaining electrical contact with X-direction wiring 14
3 are formed. Further, a tapered portion as shown is formed in the groove portion 34 formed in the insulating substrate 13 and the fitting portion 35 of the strip-shaped insulating substrate 18.

Embodiment 6 This embodiment is different from the above-mentioned embodiment in that the strip-shaped insulating substrate provided separately from the spacers is set up differently. In the above-described embodiment, all the strip-shaped insulating substrates are configured to be perpendicular to the insulating substrate 13 or the rear plate 21. The present inventors have examined the electron emission characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device and found that when a voltage is applied to the device electrodes 2 and 3, the direction of the emitted electron beam differs depending on the locality of the applied voltage. are doing. That is, it has been observed that the emitted electrons are emitted obliquely upward in the direction of the element electrode 3 when a voltage is applied so that the element electrode 2 becomes negative with respect to 3. In the present embodiment, this effect is positively used, and a strip-shaped substrate is inclined from the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 20 to improve the light-collecting characteristics of an electron beam.

Embodiment 7 FIG. 13 shows a plan view of a part of the electron-emitting device and a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′. Here, 18 is a substrate, and 15 is DYm in FIG.
, A reference numeral 26 denotes an electrode for making electrical contact with DXn in FIG. 10, 4 denotes a thin film including an electron-emitting portion,
Reference numerals 2 and 3 denote device electrodes.

Next, the manufacturing method will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. Step-a: Cleaned thickness: 300 microns, side length: 200 mm
A 50 .mu.m thick Cr layer and a 6000 .mu.m. Au layer are successively laminated by vacuum evaporation on a substrate 13 having a 0.5 micron thick silicon oxide film formed on a square quartz glass by sputtering. Company)
After spin coating and baking with a spinner, the photomask image is exposed and developed to form a resist pattern.
The u / Cr deposited film is wet-etched to form wirings 15 and 26 having a desired shape. Step-b After that, a pattern to be a gap between the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the device electrode is formed by a photoresist (RD-2000N-41 manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.), and a thickness of 5 mm is formed by vacuum evaporation.
0 ° Ti and 1000 ° Ni were sequentially laminated. The photoresist pattern is dissolved with an organic solvent, the Ni / Ti deposited film is lifted off, the device electrode interval L1 (see FIG. 2A) is 3 microns, and the device electrode width W1 (see FIG. 2A).
Formed device electrodes 2 and 3 having a thickness of 300 microns. Step-c A film thickness 100 deposited by a vacuum evaporation method using a mask having an opening L1 between the element electrodes and the vicinity thereof.
0% Cr film is patterned and organic Pd
(Ccp4230 manufactured by Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) was spin-coated with a spinner and heated and baked at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes. The thin film 4 for forming an electron emission portion formed of fine particles of Pd as the main element thus formed has a thickness of 100 Å and a sheet resistance of 5 × 10 4 Ω / □.
Met. The fine particle film described here is, as described above, a film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated, and has a fine structure not only in a state in which the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged,
Fine particles are films that are adjacent to each other or overlapped (including islands), and the particle size refers to the diameter of the fine particles whose particle shape can be recognized in the above state. Step-d The desired pattern was formed by etching the Cr film and the fired electron-emitting-portion-forming thin film 4 with an etchant. Step-e The quartz glass substrate was cut by a dicing saw, and divided into strip-shaped substrates having a length of 200 mm and a width of 5 mm. Step-f After the strip-shaped substrate produced as described above was heated again to sufficiently remove moisture adhering to the substrate, the substrate was placed in a vacuum vessel (not shown) to reach a sufficient degree of vacuum. Thereafter, a voltage was applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 of the electron-emitting device, and the electron-emitting portion forming thin film 4 was subjected to an energizing process (forming process) to form the electron-emitting portion 5. FIG. 3 shows a voltage waveform of the forming process. In FIG. 3, T1 and T2 are the pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform. In this embodiment, T1 is 1 millisecond, T2 is 10 milliseconds, and the peak value of the triangular wave (the peak voltage during forming) is 5 V. The forming process was performed for 60 seconds in a vacuum atmosphere of about 1.times.10.sup.-6 torr. The electron emission unit 5 thus created
Was in a state where fine particles mainly composed of palladium element were dispersed and arranged, and the average particle diameter of the fine particles was 30 angstroms. Thereafter, the current was further applied to form the electron-emitting device 16. Step-g Further, after holding the strip-shaped substrate 18 on which the electron-emitting devices are formed in the electron-emitting device inspection apparatus as shown in FIG. I
While flowing f, the current Ie due to the emitted electrons was measured.
This measurement was performed for all the electron-emitting devices on the strip-shaped insulating substrate 18. As a result of this measurement, if at least one element whose emission current is less than 1.0 microampere is present on the strip-shaped insulating substrate 18, the strip-shaped insulating substrate 18 is determined to be defective and the next process is performed. I did not let it flow. Step-h On the other hand, a 310 μm width was applied to a large-area insulating substrate 13 having a length of 500 mm and a width of 300 mm using a dicing saw.
A large number of grooves having a depth of 1 mm were formed. Step-i Next, an X-directional wiring having a thickness of 2 μm and a width of 100 μm was formed on the insulating substrate 13 by screen printing. Step-j Here, the strip-shaped electron-emitting devices selected in Step-g were sequentially arranged by being inserted into grooves of a large-area substrate. At this time, a small amount of solder 27 is used to obtain electrical contact with the electrode 26 provided on the strip-shaped substrate 18.
Was used. Step-k After fixing the insulative substrate 13 in which a number of strip-shaped substrates 18 are assembled as described above on the rear plate 21, the face plate 17 is opposed to the insulative substrate 13.
(The fluorescent film 19 and the metal back 2 are formed on the inner surface of the glass substrate 22.
0 is formed via a support frame 23, frit glass is applied to the joint between the face plate 17, the support frame, and the insulating substrate 13, and the temperature is 400 ° C. to 500 ° C. in the air or a nitrogen atmosphere. It sealed by baking at ℃ for 10 minutes or more. Also, the substrate 13 on the rear plate 21
Was also fixed with frit glass. (Not shown) The fluorescent film 19 is composed of only a phosphor in the case of monochrome, but in this embodiment, the phosphor adopts a stripe shape.
First, a black stripe was formed, and a phosphor of each color was applied to the gap, thereby forming a fluorescent film 19. As a material for the black stripe, a material mainly containing graphite, which is usually often used, was used. However, a slurry method was used as a method for applying a phosphor on the glass substrate 22. A metal back 20 is usually provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 19. 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. In order to further enhance the conductivity of the fluorescent film 19, the fluorescent film 19
In some cases, a transparent electrode (not shown) is provided on the outer surface of the metal back. However, in this embodiment, a sufficient conductivity was obtained only with the metal back, so that the description was omitted. 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. Step-1 Next, the envelope was sealed by heating with a gas burner of an exhaust pipe (not shown) at a degree of vacuum of about 10 −6 Torr. Step-m Finally, a getter process was performed to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing. This is because a predetermined position (not shown) in the image forming apparatus is heated by a heating method such as a high frequency heating immediately before the sealing is performed.
Was heated to form a deposited film. The getter was mainly composed of Ba or the like.

In the image display device of the present invention completed as described above, the scanning signal and the modulation signal are applied to the respective electron-emitting devices through the suspected terminals Dx1 to Dxn and Dy1 to Dym from the signal generating means (not shown). By doing so, electrons were emitted, a high voltage of several kV or more was applied to the metal back 20 through the high-voltage terminal Hv, the electron beam was accelerated, collided with the fluorescent film 19, and excited and emitted to display an image.

[0065]

According to the present invention, the following advantages can be obtained.

1) Since the row wiring and the column wiring are formed on different substrates, electrical insulation between the row wiring and the column wiring can be easily maintained throughout the image forming apparatus. Thus, the yield in producing an image forming apparatus has been improved.

2) The electron-emitting devices may be formed on a strip-shaped substrate, and there is no need to pattern the electron-emitting devices on a substrate having the same size as the image display device. Because it can be produced, the production cost can be kept low.

3) Since the substrate on which the electron-emitting devices are formed also serves as a spacer member for supporting the face plate, the electron beams emitted from the electron-emitting devices are separated by the spacers as in a conventional image forming apparatus. Nothing.

4) Since the electron-emitting devices are formed on a separate substrate from the rear panel, it is necessary to design the orientation of the substrate on which the electron-emitting devices are formed in accordance with the angular characteristics of electron emission of the electron-emitting devices. As a result, the pattern of the electron beam reaching the phosphor screen can be narrowed or diffused as needed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a basic manufacturing method of a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a voltage waveform of a conduction process of the surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a basic measurement and evaluation device for a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 5 is a basic characteristic diagram of the surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus showing an example of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

8 is a cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a fluorescent film.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing another example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a plan view and an A-A ′ cross-sectional view of the electron-emitting device.

FIG. 14 is a manufacturing method diagram of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a sectional view of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to a sixth embodiment.

FIG. 21 shows an example of a conventional surface conduction electron-emitting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Insulating substrate 2, 3 Element electrode 4 Thin film for electron emission part formation 5 Electron emission part 8 Element voltage application power supply 9 Element current measurement ammeter 10 Anode electrode 11 Anode voltage application power supply 12 Emission current measurement ammeter 13 Insulation Substrate 14 X-directional wiring 15 Y-directional wiring 16 Electron-emitting device 17 Face plate 18 Strip-shaped insulating substrate 19 Fluorescent film 20 Metal back 21 Rear plate 22 Glass substrate 23 Support frame 24 Black conductor 25 Phosphor 26 Electrode 27 Solder 28, 29 Thin film including electron-emitting portion 30, 31 Y-direction wiring 32, 33 Electrode 34 Groove 35 Wedge portion 36 Strip-shaped insulating substrate 37, 38, 39 Thin film including electron-emitting portion 40, 41, 42 Fluorescent films 43, 44, 45 Insulating substrate 46 Rectangular cut 47 Rectangular hole

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] May 21, 2001 (2001.5.2)
1)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0009

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a flat plate type image forming apparatus which solves the above-mentioned drawbacks, and is as follows. 1. A method for manufacturing a flat plate type image forming apparatus including at least a phosphor and an electron-emitting device, a face plate on which the phosphor is formed, and an insulating substrate disposed so as to face the face plate, The electron-emitting device is formed on a strip-shaped insulating substrate provided separately from the insulating substrate, and the electron-emitting device is formed on the strip-shaped insulating substrate, and the characteristics of the electron-emitting device are adjusted. A method for manufacturing a flat plate type image forming apparatus, wherein the flat type image forming apparatus is manufactured by assembling in a vacuum vessel surrounded by the above-mentioned fate plate and face plate after inspection. 2. A face plate including at least a phosphor and an electron-emitting device, on which the phosphor is formed, an insulating substrate disposed to face the face plate, and supporting the face plate with respect to the insulating substrate. Having a plurality of spacer members for manufacturing a flat plate type image forming apparatus, wherein the electron-emitting device is formed on the spacer member, and the electron-emitting device is formed on the spacer member. By inspecting the characteristics of the electron-emitting device and incorporating it in a vacuum vessel surrounded by the insulating substrate and a face plate, etc.
A method of manufacturing a flat plate type image forming apparatus for manufacturing a flat type image forming apparatus. 3. 1. The forming process in which the thin film for forming the electron-emitting portion of the electron-emitting device provided on the spacer member is subjected to forming processing before being incorporated in the vacuum vessel.
The manufacturing method of the flat plate type image forming apparatus as described above. 4. 1. A forming process is performed before a thin film for forming an electron-emitting portion of an electron-emitting device provided on the strip-shaped insulating substrate is incorporated into a vacuum container. 3. The method for manufacturing a flat plate type image forming apparatus according to item 1. 5. The electron-emitting device incorporated in the flat-plate type image forming apparatus is not subjected to a forming process in advance, and is subjected to a forming process after being assembled as a flat-plate type image forming device. Or 2. The manufacturing method of the flat plate type image forming apparatus as described above.

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0053

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0053]

Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples. In addition, Examples 1 to 6 will describe examples of the form of the flat-plate image forming apparatus manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention, and Example 7 will specifically explain the manufacturing method.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5C012 AA05 BE03 5C031 DD17 DD19 5C032 CC10 5C036 EE14 EE19 EF01 EF06 EF09 EG02 EG12 EH01 EH04 EH06 EH08

Claims (24)

[Claims] 1. A flat image forming apparatus comprising at least a phosphor and an electron-emitting device and having n pixels in a row direction and m pixels in a column direction, wherein the flat image forming apparatus comprises: an insulating substrate; A face plate having the phosphor and facing the insulating substrate, and a plurality of spacer members for supporting the face plate with respect to the insulating substrate, further corresponding to each pixel A flat-plate image forming device having an electron-emitting device, wherein the electron-emitting device is formed on a strip-shaped insulating substrate provided in a column direction and provided separately from the insulating substrate; apparatus. 2. A flat image forming apparatus comprising at least a phosphor and an electron-emitting device and having n pixels in a row direction and m pixels in a column direction, wherein the flat image forming apparatus comprises: an insulating substrate; A face plate having the phosphor and facing the insulating substrate, and a plurality of spacer members for supporting the face plate with respect to the insulating substrate, further corresponding to each pixel A flat plate type image forming apparatus comprising an electron-emitting device, wherein the electron-emitting device is formed on the spacer member. 3. The flat panel image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said electron-emitting device is a surface conduction electron-emitting device comprising at least a device electrode and a thin film including an electron-emitting portion. 4. The flat plate type image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an electrode is provided on the face plate side. 5. A surface conduction electron-emitting device comprising at least a device electrode and a thin film including an electron-emitting portion, wherein the thin film including the electron-emitting portion is made of conductive fine particles. The flat panel image forming apparatus according to claim 2. 6. The flat plate type image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a row direction wiring is formed on the insulating substrate. 7. The flat plate type image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said spacer member is made of a thin strip-shaped insulated substrate connected in the column direction. 8. The flat plate type image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein wirings in a column direction are formed on said spacer member. 9. The flat panel type image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a wiring in a row direction is formed on the insulating substrate, and a wiring in a column direction is formed on the spacer member. 10. A surface conduction electron-emitting device is provided on both surfaces of said spacer member.
The flat plate type image forming apparatus as described in the above. 11. The spacer member according to claim 2, wherein the spacer member is fitted and attached to a groove formed in an insulating substrate. A flat plate type image forming apparatus according to claim 1. 12. The method according to claim 2, wherein at least one side of said spacer member is provided with a plurality of column wirings and a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices connected to each column wiring. Or the flat panel image forming apparatus according to 7. 13. The flat panel image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said spacer member is attached so as to be inclined from a vertical direction. 14. A notch or a hole having a predetermined shape is provided on an upper portion of the spacer member.
Or the flat panel image forming apparatus according to 7. 15. The flat panel type image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein wirings in a column direction are formed on the strip-shaped insulating substrate. 16. A flat plate, wherein the direction of the surface of the strip-shaped insulating substrate on which the electron-emitting devices are formed is different from the direction of the surface of the insulating substrate on which the row-direction wiring is formed. Image forming apparatus. 17. The flat-type image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a surface conduction electron-emitting device is provided on both sides of the strip-shaped insulating substrate. 18. The flat image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the strip-shaped insulating substrate is fitted and attached to a groove formed in the insulating substrate. 19. A strip-shaped insulating substrate provided on at least one surface thereof with a plurality of column-direction wirings and a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices connected to the respective column-direction wirings. Item 2. A flat panel image forming apparatus according to Item 1. 20. A flat-plate image forming apparatus comprising at least a phosphor and an electron-emitting device, having a face plate on which the phosphor is formed, and an insulating substrate disposed so as to face the face plate. In the manufacturing method, the electron-emitting device is formed on a strip-shaped insulating substrate provided separately from the insulating substrate, and the electron-emitting device is formed on the strip-shaped insulating substrate, A method of manufacturing a flat plate type image forming apparatus by inspecting the characteristics of an emission element and incorporating the emission element in a vacuum vessel surrounded by the fate plate, the face plate, and the like. 21. A flat-plate type image forming apparatus comprising at least a phosphor and an electron-emitting device, having a face plate on which the phosphor is formed, and an insulating substrate disposed to face the face plate. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the electron-emitting device is formed on the spacer member according to claim 2, and after manufacturing the electron-emitting device on the spacer member, the characteristics of the electron-emitting device are inspected to determine the insulating property. A method for manufacturing a flat-plate image forming apparatus, wherein the flat-panel image forming apparatus is manufactured by being incorporated in a vacuum container surrounded by a substrate, a face plate, and the like. 22. The method according to claim 16, wherein the thin film for forming the electron-emitting portion of the electron-emitting device provided on the spacer member is subjected to a forming treatment before being incorporated in the vacuum vessel. Of manufacturing a flat plate type image forming apparatus. 23. The method according to claim 15, wherein a thin film for forming an electron-emitting portion of the electron-emitting device provided on the strip-shaped insulating substrate is subjected to a forming treatment before being incorporated in a vacuum vessel. The manufacturing method of the flat plate type image forming apparatus as described above. 24. An electron-emitting device incorporated in a flat plate type image forming apparatus is not subjected to a forming process in advance,
18. The method according to claim 16, wherein a forming process is performed after assembling the flat plate type image forming apparatus.