JP2003086077A - Electron emission element, electron source, and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electron emission element, an electron source, and an image forming device, capable of coping with high efficiency, high reliability, high process yield, high-speed driving, low power consumption, a wide area substrate, and high definition. SOLUTION: An insulator 4 having height in which the position in the direction almost perpendicularly crossing to a substrate 1 is present on an anode side than a cathode 3 and an extraction electrode 2 is installed between the cathode 3 and the extraction electrode 2, on a substrate 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electron-emitting device, an electron source, and an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, flat panel display devices using liquid crystal as image display devices have become popular in place of CRTs.

However, since a flat panel display device using liquid crystal is not a self-luminous type, it requires a backlight.
It has problems such as high power consumption.

As one means for solving this problem, one or more field emission type (FE type) per pixel is used.
A self-luminous display device including an electron-emitting device has been proposed.

With this self-luminous display device, it is possible to achieve the same level of brightness and power consumption as a CRT, and a thinner and lighter image display device can be manufactured.

[0006] Conventionally, as the FE type electron-emitting device, one having a metal conical or pyramidal emitter called a Spindt type is well known.

For example, C.I. A. Spindt, "Phy
social properties of thin-f
ilm field emission cathod
es with mollybdenum cone
s ", J. Appl. Phys., 47, 5248 (1.
976).

According to this, it is possible to arrange the electron-emitting devices at intervals of several tens of μm by using the photolithography technique, and several electron-emitting devices are formed in one pixel of the image display device. Can be crowded.

An FE type electron-emitting device using carbon fiber as an electron-emitting member is proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-111161. Carbon fibers such as carbon nanotubes have diameters of tens to hundreds of nanometers and are very thin, and because they have a length on the order of μm, they have a very large aspect ratio (aspect ratio) and sharp tips. ing.

From this, the electric field is emphasized at the tip of the carbon fiber in the electric field, and electron emission occurs even in a relatively small electric field. Further, since it is mechanically strong, carbon fiber is currently the most excellent electron emitting member.

From the viewpoint of reducing power consumption, in the electron-emitting device, the ratio (efficiency) of the number of electrons reaching the anode to the number of electrons extracted from the cathode is very important.

In a general electron-emitting device including a cathode, an extraction electrode, and an anode, the electron emitted from the cathode collides with and is absorbed by the extraction electrode before reaching the anode, resulting in a considerable decrease in efficiency.

The positional relationship among the cathode, the extraction electrode and the anode is very important for increasing the efficiency, and various devised configurations have been proposed.

For example, as shown in FIG. M. Ki
m, et al, "Carbon Nanotube-b
based Field Emission Displ
ays with Triode Structur
e ”, Proceedings of The Se
venth International Displ
ay Workshops, 1003, (2000)
The positional relationship among the cathode, the extraction electrode, and the anode, which have been elaborated to improve the efficiency, is shown.

Here, the extraction electrode 102 is the cathode 10.
It is provided on the side opposite to the anode (not shown) when viewed from 3. With this configuration, the electrons extracted from the carbon nanotubes 105 on the cathode 103 by the extraction electrode 102 can be placed on the trajectory attracted to the anode before colliding with the extraction electrode 102.

Then, the emitted electrons are transferred to the extraction electrode 1
It is possible to increase the efficiency of the electron-emitting device by reaching the anode without collision or absorption with 02. The electrode arrangement is ideal for producing an efficient electron-emitting device.

[0017]

However, in the case of the above-mentioned prior art, the following problems have occurred.

As shown in FIG. M. Kim, et
al, “Carbon Nanotube-base
d Field Emission Displays
with Triode Structure ",
Proceedings of The Event
h International DisplayWo
In the structure described in rkshops, 1003, (2000), the carbon nanotube 105 may hang down from the cathode 103 and come into contact with the extraction electrode 102.

Then, the extraction electrode 102 and the cathode 103
Are electrically short-circuited and cannot function as an electron-emitting device, resulting in a reduction in process yield.

Further, the extraction electrode 102 and the cathode 103
The parasitic capacitance between and becomes large, so that the electron-emitting device cannot be driven at high speed and the power consumption due to the capacitance component increases.

Further, in order to reduce the parasitic capacitance as much as possible, polyimide 106 is stacked to increase the distance between the extraction electrode 102 and the cathode 103.
Since 06 is applied by spin coating, in-plane non-uniformity of the thickness occurs, and thus the in-plane distribution of the electron emission threshold value of the electron-emitting device can be varied.

Further, the inclusion of an organic component such as polyimide 106 lowers the upper limit of the process temperature, and further lowers the reliability as a device.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and the object thereof is to have high efficiency, high reliability, high process yield, high speed driving, low power consumption, and large area. An object of the present invention is to provide an electron-emitting device, an electron source, and an image forming apparatus which can be applied to a substrate and can be used in high definition.

[0024]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a cathode provided on an insulating substrate and provided with an electron emitting member, and the cathode on the substrate And an extraction electrode for extracting electrons from the electron emission member, the electron extraction device emitting electrons extracted by the extraction electrode toward an anode provided opposite to the substrate, On the substrate, between the cathode and the extraction electrode, an insulator having a height such that a position in a direction substantially orthogonal to the substrate is located closer to the anode than the cathode and the extraction electrode is provided. It is characterized by

It is also preferable that the electron emitting member is provided on the cathode in a region including a region facing the extraction electrode.

The insulator provided between the cathode and the extraction electrode is substantially parallel to the substrate, and the electron is provided in a direction substantially orthogonal to a direction in which the cathode and the extraction electrode face each other. It is also suitable to face the emitting member.

The insulator provided between the cathode and the extraction electrode is provided by laminating with an opening on a partial region of the cathode, and the electron emission member is provided on the cathode. It is also preferable that it is formed in the opening of the insulator.

It is also preferable that the insulator has a plurality of openings.

It is also preferable that the electron emitting member is made of a material containing carbon as a main component.

The material containing carbon as the main component is also preferably an aggregate of fibrous carbon.

It is also preferable that the fibrous carbon aggregate is made of graphite nanofibers, carbon nanotubes, amorphous carbon or a mixture thereof grown through catalyst fine particles.

The catalyst fine particles are Pd, Ni, Fe and C.
It is also preferable to use o or an alloy thereof.

The electron source is characterized in that it has at least one row of elements formed by connecting a plurality of the above-mentioned electron-emitting elements in parallel and connecting them.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that at least one row of the above-mentioned electron-emitting devices is arranged and the wirings for driving the devices are arranged in a matrix.

In the image forming apparatus, the electron source described above, the image forming member that forms an image by the electrons emitted from the electron source, and the means for controlling the electron amount of each electron emitting element by the information signal. And are provided.

It is also preferable that the image forming member includes a phosphor that emits light by collision of electrons.

[0037]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be illustratively described in detail below with reference to the drawings. However, the dimensions of the components described in this embodiment,
The material, the shape, and the relative arrangement of them should be appropriately changed depending on the configuration of the device to which the invention is applied and various conditions, and the scope of the invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an electron-emitting device according to the embodiment of
1A is a top view of the substrate 1, and FIG. 1B is a side view of the cross section AA 'of FIG.

In the electron-emitting device according to the present embodiment shown in the figure, 1 is an insulating substrate, 2 is an extraction electrode, 3 is a cathode, 4 is an insulator, and 5 is an electron-emitting member. The electron-emitting device is generally composed of a substrate 1, a lead-out electrode 2 and a cathode 3 which are laminated on the substrate 1 and are provided to face each other.
An insulator 4 which is stacked on the substrate 1 between the extraction electrode 2 and the cathode 3 and an electron emission member 5 provided on the cathode 3.

As the material of the substrate 1, the surface of which is thoroughly cleaned and the content of impurities such as quartz glass and Na is reduced to K.
Examples of the insulating substrate include a glass partially substituted with glass, a soda-lime glass, a silicon substrate and the like, a laminated body in which SiO ₂ is laminated by a sputtering method, or a ceramic such as alumina.

The extraction electrode 2 and the cathode 3 have conductivity and are formed by a general vacuum film forming technique such as a vapor deposition method and a sputtering method, and a photolithography technique. The material of the extraction electrode 2 and the cathode 3 is appropriately selected from, for example, carbon, metal, metal nitride, metal carbide, metal boride, semiconductor, and semiconductor metal compound.
The thickness of the extraction electrode 2 and the cathode 3 is selected in the range of several tens nm to several tens μm.

The insulator 4 is formed by a general vacuum film forming technique such as a sputtering method and a CVD method, and a photolithography technique. The material of the insulator 4 is, for example, Si
It is appropriately selected from insulating materials such as O ₂ , SiN, and Al ₂ O ₃ . The thickness of the insulator 4 is appropriately selected within the range of several tens nm to several tens μm.

The electron emitting member 5 is formed by processing a film deposited by a general vacuum film forming method such as a sputtering method into an emitter shape by using a method such as RIE, or by acicular crystals using nucleus growth in CVD. There are cases in which the growth of carbon fibers, growth of whiskers, and the like are used, and cases in which catalyst fine particles are dispersed on the cathode 3 and carbon fibers are grown by CVD or the like in a hydrocarbon atmosphere.

In the case of RIE, the control of the emitter shape depends on the type of substrate used, the type of gas, the gas pressure (flow rate), the etching time, the energy for forming plasma, and the like.

On the other hand, in the formation method by CVD, the type of substrate, the type of gas, the flow rate, the growth temperature, etc. are controlled.

The material used for the electron emitting member 5 is TiC,
Carbides such as ZrC, HfC, TaC, SiC, and WC, amorphous carbon, graphite, diamond-like carbon, diamond-dispersed carbon and carbon compounds, and carbon fibers such as carbon nanotubes and graphite nanofibers are preferable.

In the present embodiment, among them, carbon fiber grown by utilizing a catalyst was used.

Fe, Co, Pd, Ni and the like can be used as the catalyst material used for growing the carbon fibers. In particular, with Pd, Co, and Ni, it is possible to generate graphite nanofibers at low temperatures (temperatures of 350 to 600 ° C.).

Since the carbon nanotubes using Fe or the like need to be produced at a temperature of 800 ° C. or higher, graphite nanofibers that can be produced at a low temperature are preferable from the viewpoint of affecting other members and reducing the manufacturing cost.

As the above-mentioned hydrocarbon gas, for example, gases such as ethylene, methane, propane, propylene and acetylene are used. CO, C instead of hydrocarbon gas
It is also possible to use carbon dioxide gas such as O ₂ or vapor of an organic solvent such as ethanol or acetone.

Next, the features of this embodiment will be described.

The present inventor has found that the conventional problems can be solved by forming a bank-type insulator between the cathode and the extraction electrode of the electron-emitting device.

That is, if there is a bank-shaped insulator between the cathode and the extraction electrode, the electron emission member made of carbon fiber such as carbon nanotubes provided near the extraction electrode on the cathode should come into contact with the extraction electrode. Is eliminated, and there is no concern that the cathode and the extraction electrode will be electrically short-circuited.

Since a bank-like insulator is present between the extraction electrode and the cathode, one of the many electron emission points in the electron emission member made of carbon fiber such as carbon nanotube can be seen from the extraction electrode. The part hidden by the bank-shaped insulator is not an effective electron emission point.

That is, the electron-emitting member is in the same state as that of the lead-out electrode raised by the height of the bank-like insulator, and is a triode type electron-emitting device composed of the cathode, the anode and the lead-out electrode. In the device, it is not necessary to have the structure in which the electron-emitting member provided on the cathode by raising it with polyimide or the like as shown in the conventional example exists on the anode side with respect to the extraction electrode.

Further, since it is not necessary to increase the height by using polyimide, the process yield and device reliability are improved, and the cost is reduced.

In addition, since there is no portion where the extraction electrode and the cathode overlap each other, the parasitic capacitance can be significantly reduced, the electron-emitting device can be driven at high speed, and the power consumption is further reduced to be applied to an image display device. Is also advantageous.

When carbon nanotubes or graphite nanofibers as electron emitting members are directly grown on the cathode, the growth direction of the electron emitting members is perpendicular to the substrate due to the cathode side wall of the bank-like insulator. Since it is limited, it is possible to suppress the variation in the distance between the extraction electrode and the electron emitting member due to growth of the electron emitting member in the horizontal direction with respect to the substrate.

The electron-emitting device described above will be further described with reference to FIG.

In the present embodiment, AA 'in FIG. 1 (b) is used.
As shown in the cross-sectional view, the extraction electrode 2 and the cathode 3
And do not overlap with each other in the element portion (on the substrate 1). With this configuration, the parasitic capacitance can be reduced, so that not only the electron-emitting device can be driven at high speed, but also the power consumption can be reduced.

Further, since the insulator 4 exists between the extraction electrode 2 and the cathode 3, among the many electron emission points in the electron emission member 5 made of carbon fiber such as carbon nanotube, the extraction electrode 2 As seen from the above, since the portion hidden by the insulator 4 is not an effective electron emission point, the electrons that are extracted from the electron emission member 5 by applying a positive drive voltage to the extraction electrode 2 of the electron emission member 5 are removed. Since it is emitted only from the vicinity of the upper portion, it is possible to take a trajectory to reach the anode (not shown, which is provided in parallel with and facing the substrate 1) without being absorbed and absorbed by the extraction electrode 2.

As a result, most of the electrons extracted from the cathode 3 can reach the anode and the efficiency is improved.

When carbon nanotubes or graphite nanofibers are directly grown on the cathode 3 as the electron emitting member 5, the growth direction of the electron emitting member 5 is directed to the substrate 1 by the wall on the cathode 3 side of the bank-like insulator 4. On the other hand, since it is limited to the vertical direction (z direction shown in the figure), the electron emitting member 5 grows in the horizontal direction with respect to the substrate 1 and the distance between the extraction electrode 2 and the electron emitting member 5 varies. Can be suppressed.

As a result, the production yield of electron-emitting devices can be improved.

A method of manufacturing the electron-emitting device described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

First, in FIG. 2A, the insulating substrate 1 is used.
A metal thin film 11 which will later become the extraction electrode 2 and the cathode 3 was vapor-deposited on the quartz substrate, and the resist 10 was patterned so as to expose a portion to be etched later by dry etching. The metal thin film 11 is made of Ti / Pt 5 respectively.
It is EB vapor-deposited to a thickness of 00 / 500Å.

Next, in FIG. 2B, the metal thin film 11 was dry-etched to form the extraction electrode 2 and the cathode 3, and the resist 10 was peeled off with a peeling liquid. The dry etching is a parallel plate type plasma etching apparatus. Ar gas is 20 sccm (1 sccc) for Pt.
m = 1.68 × 10 ⁻³ Pa · m ³ / s), 2 Pa, 30
CF ₄ gas of 50 scc for 0 W condition and Ti
Etching was performed under the conditions of m, 5 Pa and 300 W.

The resist 10 was peeled off by immersing the substrate 1 in a peeling solution heated to about 70.degree.

Next, in FIG. 2C, SiO ₂ to be the insulator 4 is deposited to a thickness of 1 μm by the plasma CVD method, and the resist 10 is covered thereover so as to cover the remaining portion of the insulator 4. Patterned.

Next, in FIG. 2D, the insulator 4 was dry-etched and shaped like a bank. In this embodiment, the dry etching conditions for the insulating film 4 are SF ₆ , 50
It was sccm, 2 Pa, and 300 W.

Next, in FIG. 2E, the resist 10 used as the etching mask in FIG. 2D is not stripped, and an additional resist is exposed so that a region where the electron emitting member 5 is to be grown later is exposed. 12 is patterned.

Next, in FIG. 2F, a catalyst 13 for growing carbon nanotubes, which is the electron emitting member 5 later, was deposited by the sputtering method. In the present embodiment, the catalyst 13 used is Pd deposited by sputtering to a thickness of 5 nm.

Next, in FIG. 2 (g), the substrate 1 was dipped in a stripping solution heated to about 70 ° C., and the resists 10 and 12 were stripped together.

Finally, in FIG. 2 (h), a carbon fiber to be the electron emitting member 5 was grown to complete the electron emitting device. In the present embodiment, carbon nanotubes having a length of about 4 μm and a thickness of 10 nm were grown by leaving the substrate 1 heated at 800 ° C. for 1 hour in an ethylene gas atmosphere with a pressure of 1 Pa.

The method for manufacturing the electron-emitting device described above is an example, and the electron-emitting device can be manufactured by other manufacturing methods.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an electron-emitting device according to the embodiment of
1A is a top view of the substrate 1, and FIG. 1B is a side view of the cross section AA 'of FIG.

In the electron-emitting device according to this embodiment shown in the figure, 1 is an insulating substrate, 2 is an extraction electrode, 3 is a cathode, 4 is an insulator, and 6 is an electron-emitting member. The electron-emitting device is generally composed of a substrate 1, a lead-out electrode 2 and a cathode 3 which are laminated on the substrate 1 and are provided to face each other.
And an insulator 4 which is laminated on the substrate 1 between the extraction electrode 2 and the cathode 3 and an electron emitting member 6 provided on the cathode 3.

In this embodiment, unlike the above-described first embodiment, the insulator 4 is substantially parallel to the substrate 1 and is substantially orthogonal to the direction in which the cathode 3 and the extraction electrode 2 face each other. The electron emission member 6 is also opposed in the direction. That is, the shape of the insulator 4 is substantially U-shaped when viewed from above, and the electron-emitting member 6 is formed inside the U-shape.

For example, when carbon fibers such as graphite nanofibers are used for the electron emitting member 6 and grown by a method such as a thermal CVD method, the substrate shown in FIG. Horizontal and extraction electrode 2
It is possible to suppress the electron emitting member 6 from growing in a direction (y direction shown in the drawing) which is perpendicular to a direction in which the cathode 3 and the cathode 3 face each other (x direction shown in the drawing).

That is, the region of the electron emitting member 6 in the y direction which is horizontal to the substrate 1 and perpendicular to the x direction in which the extraction electrode 2 and the cathode 3 face each other can be arbitrary.

As a result, the y-direction component of the beam shape of the electron beam emitted from the electron-emitting device, which is horizontal to the substrate and perpendicular to the x-direction in which the extraction electrode 2 and the cathode 3 are opposed, The configuration shown in FIG. 3 allows control. In addition, it also becomes possible to suppress variations among the elements.

The method of manufacturing the electron-emitting device described above is almost the same as that of the first embodiment. But,
In the present embodiment, since graphite nanofibers are used for the electron emission member 6, the substrate 1 is heated to 450 ° C. in an acetylene gas atmosphere with a pressure of 1 Pa and the length is about 5 μm and the thickness is about 5 μm by waiting for 1 hour. An electron emission member 6 was produced by growing a graphite nanofiber having a thickness of 40 nm.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an electron-emitting device according to the embodiment of
1A is a top view of the substrate 1, and FIG. 1B is a side view of the cross section AA 'of FIG.

In the electron-emitting device according to the present embodiment shown in the drawing, 1 in the drawing is an insulating substrate, 2 is an extraction electrode, 3 is a cathode, 4 is an insulator, and 5 is an electron-emitting member. The electron-emitting device is generally composed of a substrate 1, a lead-out electrode 2 and a cathode 3 which are laminated on the substrate 1 and are provided to face each other.
An insulator 4 which is stacked on the substrate 1 between the extraction electrode 2 and the cathode 3 and an electron emission member 5 provided on the cathode 3.

In the present embodiment, unlike the above-described first embodiment, the insulator 4 covers the cathode 3 and the opening 4a for exposing the electron emission member formed in the cathode 3 is formed. I have it. That is, the shape of the insulator 4 is a substantially square V shape when viewed from above, and the electron emission member 5 is formed inside the square V shape.

For example, when carbon fibers such as graphite nanofibers are used for the electron emitting member 5 and grown by a method such as a thermal CVD method, the electron emitting member 6 of FIG. Growth in the horizontal direction with respect to the substrate can be suppressed.

That is, the electron emission member 5 region in the horizontal direction (xy direction shown in the drawing) with respect to the substrate 1 can be made arbitrary. As a result, variations in the shape of the electron beam emitted from the electron-emitting device among the devices can be suppressed by using the configuration shown in FIG.

In the present embodiment, the portion of the insulator 4 where the electron emitting member 5 is formed has a substantially square shape, but it may have another shape such as a round shape. The same effect can be obtained if the opening is provided in the insulator 4.

The method of manufacturing the electron-emitting device described above is almost the same as that of the first embodiment.

(Fourth Embodiment) FIG. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an electron-emitting device according to the embodiment of
1A is a top view of the substrate 1, and FIG. 1B is a side view of the cross section AA 'of FIG.

In the electron-emitting device according to the present embodiment shown in the figure, 1 is an insulating substrate, 2 is an extraction electrode, 3 is a cathode, 4 is an insulator, and 6 is an electron-emitting member. The electron-emitting device is generally composed of a substrate 1, a lead-out electrode 2 and a cathode 3 which are laminated on the substrate 1 and are provided to face each other.
And an insulator 4 which is laminated on the substrate 1 between the extraction electrode 2 and the cathode 3 and an electron emitting member 6 provided on the cathode 3.

In this embodiment, as in the case of the third embodiment described above, the shape of the insulator 4 is a shape having a generally square V-shaped moat (opening) when viewed from above. In the present embodiment, the electron-emitting member 6 is formed in a shape having a plurality of substantially square V-shaped moats.

With this shape, in addition to the effect of the third embodiment, the size of the electron-emitting member 6 is reduced, so that the electric field is emphasized and the space between the cathode 3 and the extraction electrode 2 of the electron-emitting device is enhanced. By applying a voltage to, the threshold voltage at which electrons start to be emitted can be lowered.

In the present embodiment, the portion of the insulator 4 where the electron emitting member 6 is formed has a substantially square shape, but it may have another shape such as a round shape. The same effect can be obtained if the opening is provided in the insulator 4.

The method of manufacturing the electron-emitting device described above is almost the same as that of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows an electron source in which electron-emitting devices are formed in a matrix by the above method. The electron source shown in FIG. 6 described below has the electron-emitting devices shown in FIG. 5 arranged therein. However, the electron-emitting devices according to the first to third embodiments shown in FIGS. The same is true for the electron source in which is arranged.

At this time, the electron-emitting devices were arranged at 110 μm intervals, and the film thickness variation of the insulator 4 in the 1000 × 1000 matrix was 5% or less. When the thickness of the insulator 4 was 2 μm, the threshold voltage at which electrons started to be emitted by applying a voltage between the cathode 3 and the extraction electrode 2 of the electron-emitting device was 25V. Furthermore, the variation in the threshold voltage of each electron-emitting device in the matrix could be kept within 1%. The lead electrode 2 was connected by a printed wiring 7.

In the above measurement, an anode plate (not shown) is installed so as to be parallel to the substrate 1 and the cathode 3 is placed on the anode plate.
A positive voltage of 2 kV is applied to 2 × 10 ⁻⁸ Torr
It was carried out in a vacuum of (2.66 × 10 ⁻⁶ Pa).

In each electron-emitting device in the electron source shown in FIG. 6, the electron-emitting member 5 was provided only on the cathode 3 in the vicinity of the side facing the extraction electrode 2.

As a result, even if the elements are brought close to each other, the voltage applied to the extraction electrode 2 of the adjacent element causes
There is no concern that electrons will be extracted from the electron emission member 5 in the other direction (unintended direction). Furthermore, since the other extraction electrode can be brought closer to the side of the cathode 3 not facing the extraction electrode 2, it is possible to reduce the distance between the electron-emitting devices.

As a result, an electron source in which electron-emitting devices are integrated with high density can be manufactured, which is advantageous when manufacturing a high-definition image display device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus using the electron source in which the electron-emitting devices shown in FIG. 6 are arranged in a matrix.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 71 is an electron source substrate on which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged, 81 is a rear plate on which the electron source substrate 71 is fixed, and 86 is a fluorescent film 84 on the inner surface of a glass substrate 83.
And a metal back 85 and the like.

Reference numeral 82 denotes a support frame, which is the rear plate 8
1. The face plate 86 is connected using frit glass or the like. 87 is an envelope, 450 in vacuum
It is formed by sealing by firing at a temperature of about 10 minutes. 74 corresponds to an electron-emitting device. 72 is an extraction electrode, and 73 is a cathode.

The envelope 87 is composed of the face plate 86, the support frame 82, and the rear plate 81 as described above. On the other hand, by installing a support body (not shown) called a spacer between the face plate 86 and the rear plate 81, the envelope 87 having sufficient strength against atmospheric pressure.
Configured.

The metal back is produced by producing a fluorescent film, smoothing the inner surface of the fluorescent film (usually called “filming”), and then depositing Al using vacuum deposition or the like. Was given.

The face plate 86 is further provided with a fluorescent film 8
In order to improve the conductivity of No. 4, a transparent electrode (not shown) was provided on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 84. When the above-mentioned sealing is performed, in the case of color, it is necessary to associate each color phosphor with the electron-emitting device, and sufficient alignment is indispensable.

[0108]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide an electron-emitting device, an electron source, and an image forming apparatus capable of high efficiency, high reliability, high process yield, high speed driving, low power consumption, large area substrate support, and high definition.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an electron-emitting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a method for manufacturing the electron-emitting device according to the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an electron-emitting device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an electron-emitting device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an electron-emitting device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an electron source produced by arranging electron-emitting devices according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention in a matrix.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an image forming apparatus using an electron source according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an electron-emitting device according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 substrate 2 Lead-out electrode 3 cathode 4 insulator 4a opening 5,6 Electron emission member 7 printed wiring 10,12 resist 11 Metal thin film 13 catalyst 71 Electron source substrate 72 Lead-out electrode 73 cathode 74 Electron-emitting device 81 Rear plate 82 Support frame 83 glass substrate 84 Fluorescent film 85 metal back 86 face plate 87 Package

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5C031 DD17                 5C036 EE01 EE03 EE14 EE16 EF01                       EG12 EH01

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A cathode provided on an insulating substrate, on which an electron emitting member is arranged, and an extraction electrode provided on the substrate and facing the cathode, for drawing out electrons from the electron emitting member. In the electron-emitting device that emits electrons extracted by the extraction electrode toward an anode provided facing the substrate, on the substrate, between the cathode and the extraction electrode, An electron-emitting device comprising: an insulator having a height in a direction substantially orthogonal to the substrate, the height being closer to the anode than the cathode and the extraction electrode. 2. The electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the electron-emitting member is provided on the cathode in a region including a region facing the extraction electrode. 3. The insulator provided between the cathode and the extraction electrode is substantially parallel to the substrate, and in a direction substantially orthogonal to a direction in which the cathode and the extraction electrode face each other, The electron-emitting device according to claim 1 or 2, which faces the electron-emitting member. 4. The insulator provided between the cathode and the extraction electrode is laminated and provided with an opening on a partial region of the cathode, and the electron emission member is the The electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the electron-emitting device is formed on the cathode and in the opening of the insulator. 5. The electron-emitting device according to claim 4, wherein the insulator has a plurality of the openings. 6. The electron emitting member is made of a material containing carbon as a main component.
The electron-emitting device according to any one of 1. 7. The electron-emitting device according to claim 6, wherein the material containing carbon as a main component is an aggregate of fibrous carbon. 8. The electron-emitting device according to claim 7, wherein the aggregate of fibrous carbon is composed of graphite nanofibers grown through catalyst fine particles, carbon nanotubes, amorphous carbon or a mixture thereof. . 9. The catalyst fine particles are Pd, Ni, Fe, C.
9. The electron emitting device according to claim 8, which is made of o or an alloy thereof. 10. An electron source comprising at least one row of a plurality of electron-emitting devices according to claim 1 arranged in parallel and connected. 11. At least one row of elements in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices according to claim 1 are arranged, and wirings for driving the elements are arranged in a matrix. An electron source characterized by the above. 12. An electron source according to claim 10, an image forming member for forming an image by electrons emitted from the electron source, and means for controlling an electron amount of each electron-emitting device by an information signal. An image forming apparatus comprising: 13. The image forming member is provided with a phosphor that emits light by collision of electrons.
The image forming apparatus according to item 1.