JP2003223857A - Electron beam equipment and image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electron beam equipment and an image forming system which are equipped with superior visual quality being able to correct beam gap and which have a spacer with proper yield, without forming a spacer electrode by a new process. <P>SOLUTION: The spacer 1020 composes that irregularity is formed on an exposure surface standing between an electron source and an electron beam irradiated member and that an antistatic film 11 is covered on this irregularity, connects with the electron source and is provided with a site which is flatter than the irregularity in areas near the electron source or the electron beam irradiated member. This antistatic film 11 comprises that its sheet resistance value of a part of a irregular shape, having a predetermined angle with respect to a normal line which is vertical to a parallel face with the electron source, is set higher than that of the other parts. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electron beam apparatus having a spacer for supporting an envelope which is arranged inside an envelope sealed in a required atmosphere, and more particularly to an inside of the envelope. For example, the present invention relates to an electron beam apparatus used as an image forming apparatus, in which a spacer is erected upright between an electron source provided in the above and an electron beam irradiated member facing the electron source.

[0002]

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

Since this cold cathode device can emit electrons at a lower temperature than the hot cathode device, it does not require a heater for heating. Therefore, the structure is simpler than that of the hot cathode device, and a fine device can be manufactured. Even if a large number of elements are arranged on the substrate with high density, problems such as heat melting of the substrate are unlikely to occur. Further, since the hot cathode element operates by heating the heater, the response speed is slow, while the cold cathode element has an advantage that the response speed is fast. Therefore, research for applying the cold cathode device has been actively conducted.

Particularly, the surface conduction electron-emitting device has a simple structure among the cold cathode devices and is easy to manufacture.
There is an advantage that many elements can be formed over a large area. As the surface conduction electron-emitting device, for example, MIElinson, Radio Eng. Electron Phys., 10,129
0, (1965) and the like are known.

This surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes a phenomenon in which electron emission occurs in a small-area thin film formed on a substrate by passing a current in parallel with the film surface.
As the surface conduction electron-emitting device, in addition to the SnO ₂ thin film by Erinson et al. Mentioned above, an Au thin film [G. Dittmer: “Thin Solid Films”, 9,317 (197)
2)] and In ₂ O ₃ / SnO ₂ thin film [M.Hartwel
l and CGFonstad: “IEEE Trans.ED Conf.”, 519 (197
5)], or by a carbon thin film [Hiraki Araki et al .: Vacuum,
Vol. 26, No. 1, 22 (1983)] and the like are reported.

Further, as an application example of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, for example, an image forming apparatus such as an image display apparatus and an image recording apparatus, a charged beam source and the like have been studied. In particular,
Examples of application to an image display device include, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,883 by the present applicant and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-25.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 7551 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-28137, a surface conduction electron-emitting device,
An image display device using a combination of a phosphor that emits light when irradiated with an electron beam has been studied.

An image display device using a combination of a surface conduction electron-emitting device and a phosphor is expected to have better characteristics than other conventional image display devices. For example,
It can be said that even when compared with the liquid crystal display devices which have become widespread in recent years, since they are self-luminous, they do not require a backlight and have a wide viewing angle.

An image forming apparatus using such an electron-emitting device can be used as a flat type image display apparatus having a small depth, which can save space and reduce weight. It is attracting attention as a replacement for devices.

In this type of image forming apparatus, an electron source equipped with an electron-emitting device and an electron-beam-irradiated member, such as a phosphor, facing the electron source are arranged in an envelope sealed in a required atmosphere. Then, the electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device are caused to collide with the phosphor, whereby the phosphor is excited and emits light, and an image is displayed. In addition, a spacer as an atmospheric pressure resistant structure of the envelope is arranged between the electron source and the member to be irradiated with the electron beam in order to prevent the envelope from being damaged by atmospheric pressure or the like. There is.

However, in the conventional image forming apparatus,
There were the following problems. That is, a part of the electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device near the spacer hits the spacer, or the ions ionized by the action of the emitted electrons adhere to the spacer, which may cause spacer charging. The electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device due to the spacer charging are bent in their trajectories, reach a position different from the regular position on the phosphor, and the image near the spacer is distorted and displayed. In this specification, this phenomenon will be referred to as "beam shift".

In order to solve this problem, US Pat. No. 5,760,538 proposes removing a charge by allowing a minute current to flow through the spacer. There, a high resistance thin film as an antistatic film is formed on the surface of an insulating spacer so that a minute current flows on the surface of the spacer.

However, there are cases where the reduction of the image distortion is insufficient only by removing the charge by the high resistance thin film. In order to solve this point, in JP-A-8-180821 and JP-A-10-144203, the end faces of the spacer on the electron beam irradiated member side and the electron source side are 100 to 10 respectively.
By coating with a metal or a material having a lower specific resistance than the high resistance film in the range of about 00 microns (the coated one is called a spacer electrode), the upper and lower substrates (electron beam irradiation member and electron source substrate) There has been proposed a method of ensuring electrical contact and suppressing charging due to incidence of reflected electrons (radiation electrons) from an electron beam irradiated member.

[0013]

However, it is necessary to form the above-mentioned spacer electrode in a process different from that of the antistatic film, and the dimensional accuracy is strict (several μm to several tens μm).
m), further, there is a problem that the electric field is disturbed by the occurrence of film peeling of the antistatic film on the spacer electrode, which induces discharge.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electron beam apparatus and an image having spacers having excellent display quality capable of correcting a beam shift without forming spacer electrodes by a new process and having a high yield. To provide a forming apparatus.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following features.

According to the invention described in claim 1 of the present application, the electron source provided with the electron emitting element, the electrode for controlling the electron emitted from the electron source, and the electron emitted from the electron source are irradiated. An electron beam apparatus having an electron beam irradiated member, and a spacer as an atmospheric pressure resistant support structure arranged between the electron source and the electron beam irradiated member,
The spacer has a predetermined uneven shape formed on the surface of the substrate, and the uneven shape is covered with a conductive conductive film of the same component that is continuously formed, and is in contact with the electron source. A region flatter than the uneven shape is provided in the electron source side region close to the electron source or the electron beam irradiation member side region close to the electron beam irradiation member, and the conductive film is perpendicular to a plane parallel to the electron source. It is characterized in that the sheet resistance value of a part of the uneven shape having a predetermined angle with respect to the normal is higher than that of the other part.

According to the invention of claim 2 of the present application, the concavo-convex shape is a periodic shape.

According to the invention of claim 3 of the present application, in the conductive film, the film thickness of a part of the concavo-convex shape having a predetermined angle with respect to a normal line perpendicular to a plane parallel to the electron source is It is characterized by being thinner than the part.

According to the invention of claim 4 of the present application, in the conductive film, the oxygen content of a part of the uneven shape having a predetermined angle with respect to a normal line perpendicular to a plane parallel to the electron source is It is characterized by being higher than the other parts.

According to the invention of claim 5 of the present application, the oxygen content of the conductive film is adjusted by firing.

According to the invention of claim 6 of the present application, as the sheet resistance value of the conductive film, the sheet resistance value of the flat portion in the uneven shape before firing is Ra, and the flat portion in the uneven shape is fired. Let Rb be the subsequent sheet resistance value, Rra be the sheet resistance value of the uneven portion in the uneven shape before firing, and Rrb be the sheet resistance value of the uneven portion in the uneven shape after firing, 1 <Rb / Ra < It is characterized by the relationship of Rrb / Rra.

According to the invention of claim 7 of the present application, the conductive film has a resistance difference of 2 between the highest sheet resistance value in the uneven shape and the lowest sheet resistance value in the uneven shape.
It is characterized by being more than double.

According to the invention of claim 8 of the present application, the conductive film has a resistance difference of 1 between the highest sheet resistance value in the uneven shape and the lowest sheet resistance value in the uneven shape.
It is characterized by being 0 to 1000 times.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the conductive film is a nitrogen compound of W and Ge.

According to the invention of claim 10 of the present application,
It is characterized in that the conductive film is formed by inclining a predetermined angle with respect to a normal line perpendicular to a plane parallel to the electron source.

According to the invention of claim 11 of the present application,
It is characterized in that both the electron source side region and the electron beam irradiated member side region are provided with a portion that is flatter than the uneven shape.

According to the invention of claim 12 of the present application,
An image forming apparatus using the electron beam apparatus is characterized by having a member on which an image is formed by collision of electrons emitted from the electron source.

(Function) In the present invention configured as described above, the uneven shape formed on the surface of the substrate is covered with a conductive film as a spacer, and the conductive film has a sheet resistance value other than that of the uneven shape. The higher one is used.

By imparting a sheet resistance distribution to the conductive film as described above, the equipotential lines at the spacer and its periphery work so as to correct the deviation from the equal electric field and the deflection of the electron beam trajectory due to the charging of the spacer. Because (Fig. 1
5), the beam deviation can be corrected.

Further, unlike the prior art, it is not necessary to correct the deflection of the electron beam trajectory due to spacer charging by the spacer electrode, so that the spacer manufacturing process is simplified and the spacer yield is improved.

[0031]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Electron Beam Apparatus] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an electron beam apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and shows a partially broken electron beam apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 1, the electron beam apparatus of this embodiment has a rear plate (cold cathode element) as an electron emitting element in an envelope (hereinafter also referred to as an airtight container) sealed in a required atmosphere. Electron source) 1015 and rear plate 1
A face plate (electron beam irradiation member) 1017 arranged to face 015, and a spacer (a component member such as a plate-shaped piece or a rib) arranged upright between the electron source and the electron beam irradiation member. And 1020. In addition, a side wall (support frame) (not shown) for keeping the envelope in a sealed state is provided around the envelope.

The spacer 1020 is provided with irregularities on the exposed surface that stands up between the electron source and the electron beam irradiated member. Regarding this unevenness, than the value obtained by dividing the unit actual surface area along the unevenness in the central region of the exposed surface by the unit area of the straight plane in that region (the plane having a geometrical dimension ignoring the unevenness), The electron source side region of the exposed surface (see FIG.
In (1), the unit actual surface area along the unevenness in the standing height: h1) and / or the electron beam irradiated member side region (in FIG. 1, standing height: h3) is divided by the unit area of the vertical plane in that region. So that the value is smaller. Also,
As shown in FIG. 1, the irregularities in the present embodiment are spacers 1
020 is a concave groove shape or a convex groove shape that extends in the horizontal direction with respect to the standing surface. Note that the uneven shape shown in FIG. 1 is a schematic shape, and the detailed shape will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

The unit actual surface area along the above-mentioned unevenness is
For example, using a non-contact type laser surface shape measuring microscope (VF7500 manufactured by Keyence), the shape of the unevenness is measured, and further the shape of the unevenness is measured even when the depth direction is advanced, and the surface area is obtained with the integrated value. And However, in the above-mentioned non-contact laser surface profile measuring apparatus, noise components increase during measurement on the vertical surface, so it is desirable to remove noise components by smoothing to obtain the surface area. To measure the shape of the unevenness more accurately, a method of cutting the spacer 1020 to expose the uneven cross section and recording and measuring the uneven shape using a magnifying microscope is used.

In the present embodiment, in the central region of the exposed surface of the spacer 1020 standing upright between the electron source and the electron beam irradiated member, the unit actual surface area obtained from the above measurement result is used as the unit area of the straight plane. The value divided by is 1 or more.

On the other hand, in the electron source side region (h1 in FIG. 1) of the exposed surface of the spacer 1020, since the shape is a flat surface as shown in FIG. 1, the unit actual surface area obtained from the above measurement results. The value obtained by dividing by the unit area of the straight plane is approximately 1.

Similarly, in the electron beam irradiated member side region (h3 in FIG. 1) of the exposed surface of the spacer 1020, the shape is a flat surface as shown in FIG. The value obtained by dividing the unit real surface area by the unit area of the vertical plane is approximately 1.

Further, in the present embodiment, the spacer 1
In 020, the electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device of the electron source are accelerated, so that the upper and lower edges thereof, that is, the bonding surface with the electron source and the bonding surface with the electron-beam-irradiated member (phosphor or metal back). A low resistance film (also referred to as an electrode, an intermediate electrode layer, or an intermediate layer) 21 is provided on each of them, and the exposed surface standing between the electron source and the electron beam irradiated member is provided on the insulating base material 1. An antistatic film 11 is formed.

As a method of forming the antistatic film 11, an existing antistatic film forming process can be applied. For example, a sputtering method, a reactive sputtering, an electron beam evaporation method, an ion plating method, a wet printing, a spray coating method, a dipping method, or the like can be applied. From the viewpoint of reducing the cost of the production process, it is preferable to apply a liquid phase process such as a dipping method.

Further, in the present embodiment, the antistatic film 11 is configured such that a part of the uneven shape has a higher sheet resistance value than the other uneven shapes. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, which is an enlarged view of the cross section of the spacer 1020,
The tangent line on the uneven surface corresponding to the uneven shape makes an angle with respect to the normal line extending vertically from the electron source to the electron beam irradiation member (that is, the normal line perpendicular to the plane parallel to the electron source). One of the regions of the antistatic film 11 (for example, regions 1 to 5 having angles of θ1, θ2, θ3, and θ4 and parallel to the normal line of FIG. 2) is the other region. The sheet resistance value is higher than that.

Further, in the present embodiment, the antistatic film 11 is formed such that a part of the uneven shape has a smaller film thickness than the other uneven shapes. That is, each region of the antistatic film 11 (for example, θ1 and θ with respect to the normal line of FIG. 2).
2, θ3, θ4, and regions 1 with parallel angles 1
It is configured such that any one of the regions 5) has a smaller film thickness than the other regions.

Further, in the present embodiment, the antistatic film 11 is configured such that a part of the uneven shape has a higher oxygen content than the other uneven shapes. That is, each area of the antistatic film 11 (for example, θ with respect to the normal line of FIG. 2).
1, θ2, θ3, θ4, and any one of the regions 1 to 5) having parallel angles have a higher oxygen content than the other regions.

[Spacer] Next, the spacer 1020, which is a characteristic part of the present invention, will be described in detail with reference to specific examples.

In FIG. 1, in the spacer 1020, the insulating substrate 1 is made of quartz glass, glass with a reduced content of impurities such as Na, soda lime glass, or a ceramic member such as alumina.

Concavities and convexities (this is not limited to the concave groove shape or the convex shape but may be a porous structure having irregularities) are provided in the central region of the exposed surface of the spacer 1020. Regarding this unevenness, than the value obtained by dividing the unit actual surface area along the unevenness in the central region of the exposed surface by the unit area of the straight surface of that region (the surface of the geometric dimension in which the unevenness is ignored),
The unit actual surface area along the unevenness (including a portion having substantially no unevenness in the present embodiment) in the electron source side region and / or the electron beam irradiated portion side region of the exposed surface is defined as a straight plane of the region. The value divided by the unit area of is smaller.

For the measurement of the unit actual surface area of the surface of the spacer 1020, the BET method or the contact or non-contact roughness measuring method is used in addition to the above-mentioned measuring method using the non-contact laser surface shape measuring microscope. .

The exposed surface of the spacer 1020 may be processed by a concavo-convex method such as a mechanical cutting method, a physical method such as polishing, or the like.
A chemical method such as photolithography and etching method is used, and the processing method is not particularly limited.

The spacer 1020 is provided with a low resistance film 21 as an end face spacer electrode on the joint surface with the electron source and the joint surface with the electron beam irradiated member for ensuring continuity. The low resistance film 21 is formed by the spacer 102 for reasons such as disturbance to the beam trajectory and discharge induction due to film peeling.
It is preferable not to go around the 0 side surface (standing surface) as much as possible. As a method of forming the low resistance film 21, a sputtering method using a mask, an electron beam evaporation method, or the like can be used. It is also possible to bundle a large number of end face electrodes, expose a surface requiring the end face electrodes, and perform sputtering at one time. An antistatic film 11 is formed on the surface of the insulating base material 1.

It should be noted that a portion having a smaller actual external surface area per unit actual area than the central area of the exposed surface of the spacer 1020 is provided only in either the electron source side area or the electron beam irradiated section side area. However, the effect intended by the present invention can be obtained.

The upper edge of the spacer 1020 is connected to the high voltage of the face plate 1017, and the lower edge is connected to the wiring electrode of the rear plate 1015. At that time, by providing the antistatic film 11 with a sheet resistance distribution, as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the equipotential lines at the spacer and its periphery act to correct the deviation from the uniform electric field and the deviation of the electron beam trajectory due to charging. In particular, when a portion having a small actual external surface area per unit area is provided in the electron source side region and the electron beam irradiation member side region, the electron trajectories are moved to the spacer 102.
It can be separated from 0, and a structure less affected by charging can be obtained.

The difference between the structure of the conventional spacer electrode and that of the present invention will be described. Conventionally, the deflection of the electron beam trajectory due to the effect of surface charging of the spacer is corrected by the low resistance film as the spacer electrode. Since the resistance film is also provided on the side surface of the spacer on the antistatic film side, if film peeling occurs here, undesired discharge is induced. Further, when a metal conductor is used for the spacer electrode, very strict dimensional accuracy is required in the manufacturing process. on the other hand,
In the present embodiment, it is sufficient to focus only on the production accuracy of the uneven shape by a process such as heat drawing, and in that case, production accuracy higher than the production accuracy of the spacer electrode can be obtained.

When the uneven shape is provided on the spacer 1020, in addition to the pseudo electrode effect, there is the merit of the antistatic effect as disclosed in JP-A-8-24166. Therefore, it is preferable that the unevenness is provided on the entire surface of the spacer 1020 as much as possible.

Next, the merit that a part of the uneven shape of the spacer 1020 has a higher sheet resistance value than the other uneven shapes will be briefly described.

First, the merit from the viewpoint of the pseudo electrode will be described.

To obtain the pseudo electrode effect, a method of giving a resistance ratio by the difference in surface area between the flat portion and the uneven portion can be considered. However, in this case, only a surface area difference of 1 to 2 times is given to the normally processable grooves (the groove pitch and the groove depth are approximately equal). Therefore, the pseudo electrode effect becomes small, a considerably long flat portion is required, and the desired beam trajectory correction effect may not be obtained.

On the other hand, when the resistance is changed at each of the concave and convex portions, the resistance given to the concave and convex portions can be given regardless of the groove size. That is, 2 to 1000 with respect to the flat portion
It is possible to form double different resistances, and it is possible to form a more excellent pseudo electrode having a high degree of design freedom.

Further, in the present embodiment, by using a continuous film, it is possible to give a resistance distribution to a film that can be formed in one process, and it is possible to manufacture by a simple process.

Next, merits from the viewpoint of antistatic will be described.

It is considered that the charged state in the uneven shape is as shown in FIG. 3, which is an enlarged view of the cross section of the spacer 1020 in FIG. In the case of such a concavo-convex shape, the surface whose surface faces the electron source side is negative, and the surface is the surface which faces the electron beam irradiated member side or the normal line connecting the electron source and the electron beam irradiated member. The surface along is positively charged.
Then, the generated charges disappear by recombination.

Here, when only a part of the uneven shape has a high resistance (for example, the region 4) and the other part has a low resistance, the resistance value in the proximity is smaller than that when the entire surface has a constant resistance value. Since it becomes low, the recombination probability increases, and the antistatic effect is further improved. In other words, while maintaining an electric field with a certain high resistance value as a spacer (if the resistance of the entire spacer is too low, the electric current cannot flow because the current flows too much, or the current value of the spacer is extremely low. It is possible to reduce the local resistance value related to antistatic, which is advantageous in terms of antistatic.

Next, the resistance of the spacer 1020 will be described.

The resistance value Rs of the spacer 1020 is set in a desirable range from the viewpoint of antistatic and power consumption. From the viewpoint of antistatic, sheet resistance (sheet resistiv
It is preferable that the (ity) is 10 ¹⁴ [Ω / □] or less. In order to obtain a sufficient antistatic effect, 10 ¹³ [Ω / □] or less is more preferable. The sheet resistance depends on the spacer shape and the voltage applied between the spacers, but it is 10 ⁷ [Ω /
□] or more is preferable.

The resistance difference that gives the resistance distribution in the uneven shape is Rh in the highest resistance region and Rl in the lowest resistance region.
Then, Rh / Rl is more than double, preferably 10-100
About 0 times is good.

Next, the material of each part constituting the spacer 1020 will be described.

Examples of the material of the insulating base material 1 include quartz glass, glass with a reduced content of impurities such as Na, soda lime glass, and ceramic members such as alumina. It is preferable that the insulating base material 1 has a coefficient of thermal expansion close to that of the member forming the rear plate 1015 and the face plate 1017.

As the material of the antistatic film 11, metal oxide is excellent. Among the metal oxides, oxides of chromium, nickel and copper are preferable materials. In addition to metal oxides, carbon is a preferable material because of its low secondary electron emission efficiency. In particular, since amorphous carbon has a high resistance, it is easy to control the resistance of the spacer 1020 to a desired value.

The material of the low-resistance film 21 may be selected from those containing a material having a resistance value lower than that of the antistatic film 11 by one digit or more. Ni, Cr, Au, Mo, W, P
Metals or alloys such as t, Ti, Al, Cu, Pd, P
A printed conductor composed of a metal such as d, Ag, Au, RuO ₂ , Pd-Ag or a metal oxide and glass, In
It is appropriately selected from transparent conductors such as ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ and semiconductor materials such as polysilicon.

[Image Forming Apparatus] Next, the structure of the display panel of the image forming apparatus using the electron beam apparatus of the present invention and the manufacturing method thereof will be described with reference to specific examples.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a display panel of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which a part of the display panel is cut away to show the internal structure.

In FIG. 4, 1011 is a substrate and 1012 is a substrate.
Is a cold cathode device, 1013 is row-direction wiring, 1014 is column-direction wiring, 1015 is a rear plate, 1016 is a side wall, 1
017 is a face plate, 1018 is a phosphor, 101
9 is a metal back, and 1020 is a spacer.

The rear plate 1015, the side wall 1016 and the face plate 1017 form an airtight container (enclosure) for maintaining the inside of the display panel in a vacuum.

In assembling this airtight container,
It is necessary to seal the joints of the respective members so as to maintain sufficient strength and airtightness. Therefore, for example, frit glass is applied to the joint, and in the air or nitrogen atmosphere,
Sealing is achieved by baking at 400 to 500 ° C. for about 10 minutes. Further, since the inside of the airtight container is kept in a vacuum of about 10 ⁻⁵ [Pa], a spacer 1020 is provided as an atmospheric pressure resistant structure for the purpose of preventing the airtight container from being broken by atmospheric pressure or an unexpected impact. Has been.

In order to evacuate the inside of the airtight container to a vacuum, after assembling the airtight container, the airtight container is connected to an exhaust pipe and a vacuum pump (not shown) so that the airtight container has a vacuum degree of about 10 ^-6 [Pa]. Exhaust. Then, the exhaust pipe is sealed, but in order to maintain the degree of vacuum in the airtight container, a getter film (not shown) is formed at a predetermined position in the airtight container immediately before or after the sealing. The getter film is, for example, a film formed by heating a getter material containing Ba as a main component with a heater or high-frequency heating and vapor deposition, and the inside of the airtight container is 1 × 10 ⁻⁴ [Pa] due to the adsorption action of the getter film. ~ 1 x 1
The degree of vacuum is maintained at 0 ^-6 [Pa]. The process of activating the above getter material and treating the inside of the airtight container so that it can be evacuated is called getter treatment.

Next, the electron source substrate used in the display panel of the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described.

The electron source substrate used for the display panel of the image forming apparatus of the present invention is formed by arranging a plurality of cold cathode elements on the substrate. A typical method of arranging the cold cathode elements is a simple matrix arrangement in which a pair of element electrodes of the cold cathode elements are respectively connected to the X-direction wiring and the Y-direction wiring (hereinafter, an electron source substrate arranged in such a simple matrix arrangement. Is referred to as a “matrix type arrangement electron source substrate”).

In FIG. 4, a substrate 1011 is fixed to a rear plate 1015, and N × M cold cathode elements 1012 are formed on the substrate 1011. N ×
The M cold cathode elements 1012 are M row-direction wirings 101.
A simple matrix is arranged by 3 and N column-direction wirings 1014. Hereinafter, a portion composed of the substrate 1011, N × M cold cathode elements 1012, M row-direction wirings 1013, and N column-direction wirings 1014 is referred to as a multi-electron beam source.

The multi-electron beam source used for the display panel of the image forming apparatus of the present invention is not limited in the material, shape or manufacturing method of the cold cathode device. Therefore, for example, a surface conduction electron-emitting device or an FE-type or MIM-type cold cathode device can be used.

Next, the structure of a multi-electron beam source in which surface conduction electron-emitting devices (described later) as cold cathode devices 1012 are arranged in a simple matrix on a substrate will be described.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the multi-electron beam source used in the display panel of FIG.

On the substrate 1011 is a cold cathode device 1 which is a surface conduction electron-emitting device similar to that shown in FIG. 9 described later.
012 are arranged, and these cold cathode devices 1012 are arranged in a simple matrix by the row direction wirings 1013 and the column direction wirings 1014. An inter-electrode insulating layer (not shown) is provided at the intersection of the row-directional wiring 1013 and the column-directional wiring 1014.
Are formed, and electrical insulation is maintained.

The multi-electron beam source having such a structure is provided on the substrate 1011 in advance in the row wiring 101.
3, the column direction wiring 1014, the inter-electrode insulating layer (not shown), and the cold cathode element 1012 are formed, and then the row direction wiring 10
Each cold cathode element 1 through the column 13 and the column direction wiring 1014.
Power supply to 012 and energization forming processing (details will be described later)
And the energization activation treatment (details will be described later).

In the present embodiment, the rear plate 1015 of the airtight container is attached to the substrate 10 of the multi-electron beam source.
Although 11 is fixed, if the substrate 1011 of the multi-electron beam source has sufficient strength, the substrate 1011 of the multi-electron beam source itself may be used as the rear plate 1015 of the airtight container.

Further, a phosphor 1018 is formed on the lower surface of the face plate 1017. Since the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment is an image forming apparatus that forms a color image, the phosphors 1018 are arranged such that phosphors of three primary colors of red, green, and blue used in the field of CRT are separately applied. There is. The phosphors 1018 of the respective colors are, for example, separately applied in stripes as shown in FIG.
Black conductors 1010 are provided between the stripes. The purpose of providing the conductor 1010 is to suppress the deviation of the display color due to the deviation of the irradiation position of the electron beam, to prevent the reflection of external light to prevent the deterioration of the display contrast, and to charge up the phosphor 1018 by the electron beam. Is to prevent. A material containing graphite as a main component is mainly used for the black conductor 1010, but a material other than this may be used as long as it is suitable for the above purpose.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A metal back 1019 known in the field of CRTs is provided on the rear plate 1015 side surface. The purpose of providing the metal back 1019 is to specularly reflect a part of the light emitted by the phosphor 1018 to improve the light utilization rate, to protect the phosphor 1018 from the collision of negative ions, and to increase the electron beam acceleration voltage. For example, it acts as an electrode for applying the voltage, and acts as a conductive path for electrons excited by the phosphor 1018. Metal back 101
9 includes, for example, the phosphor 1018 and the face plate 10
After being formed on 17, the surface of the phosphor 1018 is smoothed, and Al is formed on the surface by vacuum evaporation.

Further, in FIG. 4, Dx1 to Dxm, D
y1 to Dyn and Hv are electric connection terminals of the airtight container provided for electrically connecting the display panel and an electric circuit (not shown). Dx1 to Dxm are electrically connected to the row wiring 1013 of the multi-electron beam source, and Dy1 to
Dyn is electrically connected to the column-direction wiring 1014 of the multi electron beam source, and Hv is electrically connected to the metal back 1019 on the face plate 1017.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view taken along the line AA 'of the display panel of FIG. 4, and the reference numerals of the respective parts correspond to those of FIG.

In FIG. 6, 1 is an insulating base material, 11 is an antistatic film which is a high resistance film, 21 is a low resistance film, 40 is an insulating layer, and 1041 is a bonding material.

The spacer 1020 is composed of an insulating base material 1, an antistatic film 11 formed on the surface of the insulating base material 1 for the purpose of preventing charging, and a low surface facing the inside of the face plate 1017 and the surface of the substrate 1011. And a resistance film 21. The low resistance film 21 is fixed to the metal back 1019 inside the face plate 1017 and the row-direction wiring 1013 on the surface of the substrate 1011 by the bonding material 1041.

The antistatic film 11 is formed on at least the surface of the insulating base material 1 exposed in a vacuum in the airtight container, and the low resistance film 21 on the spacer 1020 is formed.
And the metal back 1019 via the bonding material 1041.
And is electrically connected to the row wiring 1013.
An insulating layer 40 is formed at the intersection of the row-directional wiring 1013 and the column-directional wiring 1014 to maintain electrical insulation.

The bonding material 1041 needs to have conductivity so that the spacer 1020 is electrically connected to the row wiring 1013 and the metal back 1019. Therefore, a conductive adhesive or frit glass to which metal particles or conductive fillers are added is preferably used.

The method of forming the uneven shape on the spacer 1020 can be freely selected from the above-mentioned methods capable of forming the uneven shape. For example, a grating forming method is used as a fine processing technology for a glass material or the like. An etching method, a lift-off method, or the like can be applied, and it is also possible to control the uneven shape by using optical patterning or a mechanical mask, if necessary. Further, the method is not limited to the above-described creation method, and a plurality of methods may be combined and applied.

Further, as a method of forming a random uneven shape on the spacer 1020, a method of spraying solids, liquids, particle groups and the like such as a sandblast method may be used. Furthermore, as a method of creating a deep recess, that is, a porous surface, it is possible to create a porous glass or a porous ceramic by using a method of corroding a glass material or a ceramic material composed of a phase-separating component, and further, Microholes can be created using the technique of electrochemically anodizing on a metal surface.

Even if the insulating base material 1 itself does not have an uneven surface, an uneven layer is provided between the insulating base material 1 and the antistatic layer 11, and the spacer 1020 is provided with a multilayer uneven surface. It can also be a substrate.

Since the insulating base material 1 of the spacer 1020 is made of glass or the like which is relatively easy to melt as described above, a device as shown in FIG. It can be manufactured by forming.

First, a spacer base material having a cross section similar to the cross section of a desired spacer is prepared. At this time, assuming that the cross-sectional area of the desired spacer is S1 and the cross-sectional area of the spacer base material is S2, the cross-sectional areas S1 and S2 satisfy S1 / S2 <1.

Next, both ends of the spacer base material are fixed, a part of the longitudinal direction is heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the softening point, and one end is sent out toward the heating portion at a speed v1 and the other end is moved. Pull out in the same direction as v1 at speed v2. At this time, speed v
1 and v2 should satisfy S1v1 = S2v2. The heating temperature is usually 500 ° C. to 700 ° C., though it depends on the type of spacer material used and the processing shape.

After cooling the spacer base material, the stretched spacer base material is cut into a desired length. As a cutting method, various methods such as cutting with a diamond cutter, cutting with abrasive grains, and cutting with a laser can be used.

In the image forming apparatus described above, when a voltage is applied to each cold cathode element 1012 through the terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn outside the container, each cold cathode element 1
Electrons are emitted from 012. At the same time, several hundred [V] to several [k] are supplied to the metal back 1019 through the terminal Hv outside the container.
When a high voltage of V] is applied, the electrons emitted above accelerate and collide with the inner surface of the face plate 1017. As a result, the phosphor 1018 of each color is excited and emits light, and an image is displayed.

Normally, the voltage applied to the cold cathode device 1012, which is a surface conduction electron-emitting device, is 12 [V] to 16 [V].
The distance d between the metal back 1019 and the cold cathode device 1012 is about 0.1 [mm] to 8 [mm], and the applied voltage between the metal back 1019 and the cold cathode device 1012 is 0.1 [kV]. To about 15 [kV].

[Plane Type Surface Conduction Electron Emitting Element] Next, the structure, manufacturing method and characteristics of the plane type surface conduction electron emitting element used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described.

First, the structure of a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the structure of a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device, in which (a) is a plan view.
(B) is a sectional view.

In FIG. 9, reference numeral 1011 denotes a substrate, 1102.
And 1103 are element electrodes, 1104 is a conductive thin film, 1
Reference numeral 105 denotes an electron emission portion formed by the energization forming process, and 1113 is a member formed by the energization activation process.

Sodium lime glass was used for the substrate 1011 and Ni thin films were used for the device electrodes 1102 and 1103. The thickness d of the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 was 1000 [Å], and the electrode interval L was 2 [μm].

As the main material of the conductive thin film 1104,
Pd or PdO can be used and the film thickness is about 10
0 [Å] and the width W was 100 [μm].

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

10A to 10D are sectional views for explaining the manufacturing process of the flat surface conduction electron-emitting device, and the reference numerals of the respective parts correspond to those of FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 10A, the substrate 1
The device electrodes 1102 and 1103 are formed on 011. Before forming the element electrodes 1102 and 1103, the substrate 1011 is thoroughly washed with a detergent, pure water, and an organic solvent, and then the electrode material of the element electrodes 1102 and 1103 is deposited. As a deposition method, for example, a vacuum film forming technique such as a vapor deposition method or a sputtering method may be used. After that, the deposited electrode material is patterned by photolithography / etching technique to form a pair of device electrodes 1
102 and 1103 are formed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 10B, a conductive thin film 1104 is formed. In forming the conductive thin film 1104, first, the substrate 1011 is coated with an organic metal solution, dried, and heated and baked to form a fine particle film. Then, the fine particle film is subjected to a predetermined process by photolithography / etching technique. Pattern into a shape. Here, the organometallic solution is a solution of an organometallic compound whose main element is the material of the fine particles used for the conductive thin film 1104. Specifically, Pd is used as the main element in this embodiment. Further, in this embodiment, a dipping method is used as a coating method.

Next, as shown in FIG. 10C, an appropriate voltage is applied between the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 by using a forming power supply 1110 to carry out energization forming to emit electrons. The portion 1105 is formed.

The energization forming treatment means that the electroconductive thin film 1104 made of a fine particle film is energized so that a part of the electroconductive thin film 1104 is appropriately destroyed, deformed or altered to change to a structure suitable for electron emission. It is a process that causes it. Appropriate cracks are formed in the thin film in the portion of the conductive thin film 1104 that has changed to a structure suitable for electron emission (that is, the electron emitting portion 1105).

After that, as shown in FIG. 10D, an activation power source 1112 is used to apply an appropriate voltage between the element electrodes 1102 and 1103 to carry out an energization activation process, The electron emission characteristics are improved.

The energization activation process is a process of energizing the electron emitting portion 1105 formed by the energization forming process under appropriate conditions to deposit carbon or a carbon compound in the vicinity thereof. In FIG. 10D, a deposit in which carbon or a carbon compound is deposited by the energization activation process is schematically shown as the member 1113. Specifically, by periodically applying a voltage pulse to the electron emission portion 1105 in a vacuum atmosphere within the range of 10 ⁻³ [Pa] to 10 ⁻⁴ [Pa], organic matter existing in the vacuum atmosphere can be obtained. Deposit carbon or carbon compounds originating from the compound. The member 1113 is made of single crystal graphite, polycrystalline graphite, amorphous carbon, or a mixture thereof, and has a film thickness of 500 [Å] or less.

Next, the characteristics of the flat surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described. In the following description, the current flowing from the electron emitting element that is the cathode to the face plate that is the anode is the emission current, and the current flowing between the cracks of the electron emitting element is the element current.

FIG. 11 shows the characteristics of the emission current Ie with respect to the device applied voltage Vf and the device current If with respect to the device applied voltage Vf in the flat surface conduction electron-emitting device.
3 is a graph showing a typical example of the characteristics of FIG. Note that FIG.
In, the two characteristics are shown in arbitrary units.

[Display Panel Driving Circuit] According to the characteristics of the flat surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 11, the electrons emitted from the electron-emitting portion 1105 have a threshold voltage V
Above th, it is controlled by the peak value and width of the pulsed voltage applied between the opposing device electrodes 1102 and 1103,
The amount of current is also controlled by the intermediate value, which enables halftone display.

When a large number of electron-emitting devices are arranged, the selection line is determined by the scanning line signal of each line, and the pulsed voltage is appropriately applied to each electron-emitting device through each information signal line. It is possible to appropriately apply a voltage to any electron-emitting device, and each electron-emitting device can be turned on.

As a method of modulating the electron-emitting device according to an input signal having a halftone, there are a voltage modulation method and a pulse width modulation method.

The specific structure of the display panel driving apparatus used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
2 will be described.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of a drive unit used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention. Note that this image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus for television display based on an NTSC television signal, which utilizes a display panel configured by using an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement.

In FIG. 12, 101 is a display panel and 1 is a display panel.
Reference numeral 02 is a scanning circuit, 103 is a control circuit, 104 is a shift register, 105 is a line memory, 106 is a synchronizing signal separation circuit, 107 is an information signal generator, and Va is a DC high voltage source.

X to which a scanning line signal is applied is applied to the X wiring of the display panel 101 (corresponding to the row wiring 1013 in FIG. 4).
An information signal generator 107, which is a Y driver to which a driver 102 is connected and an information signal is applied to a Y wiring (corresponding to the column direction wiring 1014 in FIG. 4) of the display panel 101.
Are connected.

In order to implement the voltage modulation method, as the information signal generator 107, a circuit for generating a voltage pulse of a fixed length, but appropriately modulating the peak value of the pulse according to the input data is used. To use. Further, in order to implement the pulse width modulation method, as the information signal generator 107, a circuit that generates a voltage pulse having a constant crest value but appropriately modulates the width of the voltage pulse according to the input data is used. To use.

The sync signal separation circuit 106 is a circuit for separating a sync signal component and a luminance signal component from an NTSC television signal input from the outside. Of these, the luminance signal component is in synchronization with the synchronization signal in the shift register 1
04, and the synchronization signal component is input to the control circuit 103.

The control circuit 103 includes the sync signal separation circuit 10
Based on the synchronization signal Tsync input from the signal generator 6, Tscan, Tsft, and Tnry signals for controlling the X driver 102, the shift register 104, and the line memory 105 are generated.

The shift register 104 includes the control circuit 103.
Based on the shift clock signal Tsft input from
Luminance signals serially input in time series from the operation synchronization signal separation circuit 106 are serially / serially supplied for each line of an image.
Convert to parallel. The data for one line of the image which has been serial / parallel converted (corresponding to the driving data for n electron-emitting devices) is converted into n parallel signals by the line memory 10.
Input to 5.

The line memory 105, based on the signal Tnry input from the control circuit 103, shift register 1
The data for one line of the image input from 04 is stored only for the required time. The content stored in the line memory 105 is then input to the information signal generator 107.

The information signal generator 107 is the line memory 1
According to the data for one line of the image input from 05,
A signal source for appropriately driving each electron-emitting device, the output signal of which enters the display panel 101 through the Y wiring, and is output to each electron-emitting device at the intersection with the scanning line being selected by the X wiring. Is applied.

By sequentially scanning the X wiring, it becomes possible to drive the electron-emitting devices on the entire surface of the display panel 101.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention configured as above, electrons are emitted by applying a voltage to each electron-emitting device through the XY wiring in the display panel 101, and the electron is emitted from the anode electrode through the high voltage terminal Hv. By applying a high voltage to a certain metal back 1019, the electron beam emitted from each electron-emitting device is accelerated, and the electron beam collides with the phosphor 1018 to display an image.

The above-described configuration of the image forming apparatus is an example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention. For example, although the NTSC system has been taken as an example of the input signal, the input signal is not limited to this, and PAL, HDTV, etc. are also applicable.

[0133]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to examples. In each example described below,
As a multi-electron beam source, a type having an electron emitting portion in the above-mentioned conductive thin film between device electrodes (see FIGS. 9 and 1).
0) N × M (N = 3072, M = 1024) surface-conduction electron-emitting devices were simple matrix wiring (see FIG. 5) by M row-direction wirings and N column-direction wirings. A multiple electron beam source was used. The element pitch was 650 [μm] in the row direction and 290 [μm] in the column direction.

Example 1 A spacer used in this example was prepared as follows.

First, soda lime glass was used as the insulating base material 1 shown in FIG. 1, and an uneven shape was provided by cutting. As shown in FIG. 2, the uneven shape has θ1 to θ4 with respect to the normal line connecting the rear plate 1015 and the face plate 1017.
And the concavo-convex shape having an angle to be parallel. Here, θ1 = 60 °, θ2 = 45 °, θ3 = 120 °, θ
4 = 135 °. The outer dimensions of this spacer (dimensions in which irregularities are ignored) are 0.2 [mm] thick and 2 [m] high.
m], the length is 40 [mm], and the face plate 10
Concavo-convex shapes were provided on the portions except the edge portion on the 17 side (h1 = 200 [μm]) and the edge portion on the rear plate 1015 side (h3 = 100 [μm]). The length of each region is 15 [μm] in the regions 1 to 4, and the concave and convex portions of the region 5 are 1 [μm].
It was set to 0 [μm].

Next, a film of a nitrogen compound of W and Ge was formed as an antistatic film 11 on the surface of the insulating substrate 1 by sputtering a target of W and Ge with a high frequency power source. The sputtering gas was a mixed gas of Ar: N ₂ of 8: 2 and the total pressure was 0.8 [Pa]. At this time,
As shown in FIG. 13, the insulating substrate 1 is formed at an angle φ with respect to the target 110 by using a block 111 such as Al.
Was attached to form a film. In FIG. 13, the insulating substrate 1
Is the joint with the face plate 1017 on the side closer to the target, and the rear plate 101 on the side farther from the target.
It becomes a joint with 5. In this embodiment, the angle φ is kept at 45 °. By thus adjusting the angle between the target surface and the surface on which the film is formed, the film thickness of the sputtered film (antistatic film 11) formed on each surface can be changed. Note that the larger the angle of the inclined surface to be formed with respect to the target surface, that is, the larger the angle φ, the thinner the film thickness.

The secondary electron emission coefficients E1 and E2 of the film simultaneously formed under the above conditions were 20 [eV] eV and 5 [keV], respectively. In the uneven portion,
The coverage of the film was good over the boundary region between the recessed portion and the raised portion, and the open area of the insulating substrate 1 was not blocked by the film formation of the antistatic film 11.

Next, the film thickness of the antistatic film 11 was measured.
This is an insulation measurement using an ellipsometer film thickness measuring device.
The smoothness monitor substrate formed simultaneously with the flexible substrate 1
I went there. The block 111 is provided on the smoothness monitor substrate.
Size of φ = 0 °, 15 °, 45 °, 90
The film was formed at an angle of 105 °. (Φ = 10
Film formation by wrapping around 5 °)
Areas 4, 3, and 5 of the uneven shape shown
This corresponds to the film forming angle in the area 1. These film thicknesses are
400 [nm], 200 [nm], 150 [nm], 1
It was 0 [nm] and 5 [nm]. At the same time this smooth moni
The sheet resistance of the target substrate was measured.
2.6 x 10⁷[Ω / □] 4.9 × 10⁷[Ω / □],
6.7 x 10 ⁷[Ω / □] 5.1 × 10⁸[Ω / □],
1.0 x 10⁹[Ω / □], which is almost the same as the film thickness
Met.

Further, a Pt film having a thickness of 200 [nm] is formed in a band shape of 10 [μm] in a region serving as a joint between the face plate 1017 and the rear plate 1015 in parallel with the joint by vapor deposition. The low resistance film 21 was formed. Thus, the spacer 102 with the low resistance film 21
I got 0. At this time, the film thickness of the low resistance film 21 is 210 [n
m] and the sheet resistance was 10 [Ω / □].

In this way, the spacer 1020 having an uneven shape was prepared.

Next, a display panel in which the spacers 1020 produced above were arranged as shown in FIG. 4 was produced as follows.

In this embodiment, as the phosphor 1018, a stripe shape in which each color phosphor extends in the column direction (Y direction) as shown in FIG. 7 is adopted, and the black conductor 1010 is used.
Was used so as to separate not only the respective color phosphors (R, G, B) but also the respective pixels in the Y direction. The spacer 1020 was arranged in the region (line width 300 [μm]) parallel to the row direction (X direction) of the black conductor 1010 via the metal back 1019. When performing the above-mentioned sealing for assembling the airtight container, each color phosphor and each cold cathode element 1012 arranged on the substrate 1011 must correspond to each other, so that the rear plate 1015,
The face plate 1017 and the spacer 1020 were sufficiently aligned.

Next, the inside of the airtight container thus assembled was evacuated by a vacuum pump (not shown) through an exhaust pipe (not shown). After reaching a sufficient degree of vacuum, the terminal Dx outside the container
1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn, power is supplied to each cold cathode element 1012 through the row-direction wiring electrode 1013 and the column-direction wiring electrode 1014 to perform the energization forming process and the energization activation process described above. Was manufactured.

Next, at a vacuum degree of about 10 ⁻⁵ [Pa], an exhaust pipe (not shown) was heated by a gas burner to weld and seal the airtight container.

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

In this way, a display panel as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 was produced.

Next, in the image forming apparatus using the display panel manufactured as described above, each cold cathode device (surface conduction electron-emitting device) 1012 has terminals outside the container Dx1 to Dxm,
The scanning signal and the modulation signal are shown in FIG. 1 through Dy1 to Dyn.
Electrons are emitted by applying each by the driving circuit shown in FIG. 2 and the electrons are made to collide with the fluorescent film 1018, and each color phosphor (R, G, B in FIG. 7) is excited and emits light to display a color image. did. The applied voltage Va to the high voltage terminal Hv is in the range of 3 [kV] to 12 [kV], and the applied voltage Vf between the wirings 1013 and 1014 is 14 [V].
And

Further, using the above image forming apparatus,
The amount of beam deviation was measured. At this time, high voltage application of 5 [k
V] and element drive 60 [Hz].

As a result, two-dimensionally formed light emission spot rows are formed at equal intervals including the light emission spots due to the electrons emitted from the cold cathode device 1012 near the spacer 1020, and a clear and good color reproducible color image display is achieved. I was able to.

This shows that even if the spacer 1020 is installed, the disturbance of the electric field that affects the electron orbit does not occur.

(Example 2) A spacer used in this example was prepared as follows.

First, in the same manner as in Example 1, soda lime glass was used as the insulating base material 1 shown in FIG. 1, and unevenness was provided by cutting. As shown in FIG. 2, the concavo-convex shape is a concavo-convex shape having angles of θ1 to θ4 and parallel to a normal line connecting the rear plate 1015 and the face plate 1017. Here, θ1 = 60 °, θ2 = 45 °,
θ3 = 120 ° and θ4 = 135 °. The outer dimensions of this spacer (dimensions that ignore irregularities) are 0.2 [m]
m], the height is 2 [mm], the length is 40 [mm], and the edge portion on the side of the face plate 1017 (h1 = 200 [μ
m]) and the edge portion on the rear plate 1015 side (h3 =
A concavo-convex shape was provided in a portion other than 100 [μm]. The length of each region was set to 15 [μm] in the regions 1 to 4 and to 10 [μm] in the concave and convex portions of the region 5.

Next, a film of a nitrogen compound of W and Ge was formed as an antistatic film 11 on the surface of the insulating substrate 1 by sputtering a target of W and Ge with a high frequency power source. The sputtering gas was a mixed gas of Ar: N ₂ of 8: 2 and the total pressure was 0.8 [Pa]. In this example, the block 111 of Example 1 was not used, and the target and the surface of the insulating substrate 1 were arranged in parallel to form a film. (Corresponding to φ = 0 °) The secondary electron emission coefficients E1 and E2 of the film simultaneously formed under the above conditions are 20 [eV] and 5 [keV], respectively.
Met. In the uneven portion, the film coverage was good over the boundary region between the depressed portion and the raised portion, and the open area of the insulating substrate 1 was not blocked by the film formation of the antistatic film 11.

Next, the film thickness of the antistatic film 11 was measured.
This was performed by measuring the smoothness monitor substrate formed simultaneously with the insulating substrate 1 using an ellipsometer film thickness measuring device. The block 111 is provided on the smoothness monitor substrate.
The size was changed, and film formation was performed at angles of φ = 0 °, 45 °, and 60 °. These correspond to the film forming angles of the concavo-convex area 5, the area 1 and the area 3, and the area 2 and the area 4 shown in FIG.
Since it is 0 °, regions 1 and 3 and regions 2 and 4 have the same film forming angle). These film thicknesses are 400 [n
m], 200 [nm], and 100 [nm].

Next, the spacer 1020 is baked (at 420 ° C.).
/ 1H) to oxidize the antistatic film 11. The composition and sheet resistance of each monitor sample before and after firing were measured by ESCA. Table 1 shows the results before firing.
The results after firing are shown in Table 2.

[0156]

[Table 1]

[0157]

[Table 2] As shown in Tables 1 and 2, it can be seen that, although the change in film thickness is small, the amount of change in resistance value before and after firing greatly differs depending on the angle of the slope. In general, the larger the angle of the slope with respect to the target, the more often the film becomes sparse, and the easier the firing proceeds. Therefore, the slope has a large oxygen content after firing, and the resistance tends to be extremely high. As the relationship between the flat part and the uneven part at the edge part,
Let Ra be the resistance value of the flat portion before firing, Rb be the resistance value of the flat portion after firing, be the resistance value of the uneven portion before firing be Rra, and be the resistance value of the uneven portion after firing be Rrb, 1 <Rb / The relationship Ra <Rrb / Rra holds. The firing time, temperature, etc. may be optimal values depending on the desired resistance value and distribution. Thus, the resistance distribution can be given to each part of the spacer only by a simple firing process.

In this way, the spacer 1020 having an uneven shape was prepared.

Next, a display panel in which the above-prepared spacers 1020 are arranged as shown in FIG. 4 is produced in the same manner as in Example 1, and an image forming apparatus using the produced display panel is used in the same manner as in Example 1. A color image was displayed on the.

Further, using the above image forming apparatus,
The amount of beam deviation was measured. At this time, high voltage application of 5 [k
V] and element drive 60 [Hz].

As a result, two-dimensionally formed light emission spot rows are formed at equal intervals including the light emission spots due to the electrons emitted from the cold cathode device 1012 near the spacer 1020, and a clear and good color reproducibility is obtained. I was able to display.

This indicates that even if the spacer 1020 is installed, the disturbance of the electric field that affects the electron orbit does not occur.

In this embodiment, the spacer 1
An example of the trapezoidal shape is shown as the uneven shape of 020.
As shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), it is possible to obtain the same effect of the present invention even with various uneven shapes having surfaces (or curved surfaces) having various angles with respect to the normal line. Needless to say.

Further, in the present embodiment, the spacer 1
Although an example of a periodical uneven shape is shown as the uneven shape of 020, it is needless to say that even an irregular uneven shape (preferably less variation) exhibits substantially the same effect of the present invention.

[0165]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an electron beam apparatus and an image forming apparatus which prevent turbulence of an electron beam near the spacer and have good performance.

Further, since the electron shape around the spacer can be corrected by the spacer shape and the antistatic film, it is possible to provide the electron beam apparatus and the image forming apparatus in which the yield is good and the discharge is suppressed. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an electron beam apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed surface shape of a spacer used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a charged state according to a surface shape of a spacer used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a display panel of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a substrate of a multi-electron beam source used in an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of the display panel shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a plan view exemplifying an arrangement of phosphors on a face plate in a display panel.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example (heating stretching method) of a method of forming a spacer used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a plan view,
(B) is a sectional view.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing the manufacturing process of the flat surface-conduction type electron-emitting device used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing typical characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a drive circuit of a display panel used in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a film forming method of a spacer used in Example 2 in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a surface shape of a spacer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic cross-sectional view schematically showing spacers and equipotential lines on the periphery thereof in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Insulating member 11 Antistatic film 21 Low resistance film 40 insulating layer 1010 Black conductive material 1011 substrate 1012 Cold cathode device 1013 row direction wiring 1014 Column direction wiring 1015 Rear plate 1016 Side wall 1017 face plate 1018 phosphor 1019 Metal back 1020 spacer 1041 Bonding material 1102, 1103 Element electrodes 1104 Conductive thin film 1105 Electron emission unit 1113 member

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Akira Hayama             3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Non non corporation (72) Inventor Masahiro Fushimi             3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Non non corporation F-term (reference) 5C032 AA07 CC10 DD10 DE01 DE05                       DF05 DG02                 5C036 EE09 EF01 EF06 EF09 EG31                       EH08 EH18 EH26

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. An electron source having an electron-emitting device, an electrode for controlling electrons emitted from the electron source, an electron-beam-irradiated member irradiated with electrons emitted from the electron source, and the electron. In an electron beam apparatus having a spacer as an atmospheric pressure resistant support structure arranged between a source and the electron beam irradiated member, the spacer has a predetermined uneven shape formed on a substrate surface, and the uneven shape is formed. Is covered with a continuously formed conductive film of the same component, is in contact with the electron source, and the electron source side region near the electron source on the surface of the substrate or the electron beam near the electron beam irradiated member. A flatter portion than the uneven shape is provided in the irradiated member side region, and the conductive film has a partial sheet resistance of the uneven shape having a predetermined angle with respect to a normal line perpendicular to a plane parallel to the electron source. The value is the other part Electron beam apparatus, wherein even higher. 2. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the uneven shape is a periodic shape. 3. The conductive film according to claim 1, wherein a part of the concavo-convex shape having a predetermined angle with respect to a normal line perpendicular to a plane parallel to the electron source has a smaller film thickness than other parts. The electron beam apparatus according to 2. 4. The conductive film has a higher oxygen content in a part of the uneven shape having a predetermined angle with respect to a normal line perpendicular to a plane parallel to the electron source than in other parts. The electron beam device according to any one of 1 to 3. 5. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the oxygen content of the conductive film is adjusted by firing. 6. As a sheet resistance value of the conductive film, a sheet resistance value of a flat portion in the uneven shape before firing is Ra, a sheet resistance value of the flat portion in the uneven shape after firing is Rb, and the unevenness is Letting Rra be the sheet resistance value before firing of the uneven portion in the shape and Rrb be the sheet resistance value after firing of the uneven portion in the uneven shape, there is a relation of 1 <Rb / Ra <Rrb / Rra. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 5. 7. The conductive film according to claim 1, wherein a difference in resistance between the highest sheet resistance value in the uneven shape and the lowest sheet resistance value in the uneven shape is twice or more. The electron beam apparatus according to item 1. 8. The conductive film has a resistance difference of 10 to 1000 times between a highest sheet resistance value in the concavo-convex shape and a lowest sheet resistance value in the concavo-convex shape.
The electron beam device according to any one of 1. 9. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conductive film is a nitrogen compound of W and Ge. 10. The conductive film according to claim 1, wherein the conductive film is formed at a predetermined angle with respect to a normal line perpendicular to a plane parallel to the electron source. The electron beam apparatus described. 11. The electron beam apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a flatter portion than the uneven shape is provided in both of the electron source side region and the electron beam irradiated member side region. . 12. An image forming apparatus using the electron beam apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a member on which an image is formed by collision of electrons emitted from the electron source. Image forming apparatus.