JP2007073480A - Flat lamp and its producing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a flat lamp that is easy to control emission, and to provide a production method of the flat lamp achieving simplicity of process and low cost. <P>SOLUTION: In a structure of a field emission display, having a cathode electrode with an emitter 43, a gate electrode 42, and an anode electrode 45, the gate electrode 42 and the cathode electrode 43 are arranged on the same plane and so that the display regions of these electrodes are parallel to each other. Furthermore, the interval between the cathode electrode with the emitter 43 and the gate electrode 42 is arranged so as to be 100 μm or smaller. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a flat lamp and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly to a flat lamp for a backlight of a liquid crystal display panel and a manufacturing method thereof.

  When fabricating a field electron emission device with a tripolar structure type having a cathode electrode, a gate electrode, and an anode electrode, an insulating layer is conventionally provided on the cathode electrode formed on the lower substrate, and a gate electrode is provided thereon. In many cases, a three-pole structure is used (for example, see Patent Document 1). In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, a cathode electrode 12 is provided on the lower substrate 11, an insulating layer 13 is provided thereon, a hole is formed in the insulating layer, and an emitter 14 is provided at the bottom of the hole. A structure in which the gate electrode 15 is provided on the insulating layer 13, or a cathode electrode 22 is provided on the lower substrate 21, an insulating layer 23 is provided thereon, a hole is formed in the insulating layer, and the hole is electrically conductive. A structure (side gate structure) is provided in which the emitter 25 is embedded on the conductive material 24, the emitter 25 is provided on the conductive material, and the gate electrode 26 is provided on the insulating layer 23. A display element is manufactured. Note that reference numeral 16 in FIG. 1 and reference numeral 27 in FIG. 2 schematically show an anode electrode provided on the upper substrate, and the anode electrode part and the cathode electrode part are bonded together to produce a field electron emission device. .

In the case of producing a flat lamp, it is known that a bipolar structure type having only a cathode electrode and an anode electrode is produced, and a mechanism for causing electron emission from the emitter at an anode voltage of several kV is known. FIG. 3 schematically shows the structure of a two-electrode electron-emitting device in this case. As shown in FIG. 3, a cathode electrode 32 is provided on the lower substrate 31, an emitter 33 is provided on the cathode electrode, and an anode electrode 33 is provided on the upper substrate. The cathode electrode portion and the anode electrode portion are bonded together to produce a field electron emission device.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-63965 (FIG. 4)

  When a flat lamp is manufactured using the above-described conventional technology, a complicated structure such as a conventional tripolar structure or a side gate structure requires an insulating layer manufacturing process, which complicates the manufacturing process and reduces the manufacturing cost. Is not preferable. In the case of the bipolar structure, the manufacturing process is simple, but since it is the anode electrode that generates electron emission, it is difficult to control the emitted electrons, and surface emission unevenness is likely to occur. In order to control ON / OFF of light emission, there is a problem that it must be performed at a high voltage.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, a flat lamp having a structure in which an insulating layer is not provided and electron emission is not performed by an anode electrode, an insulating layer manufacturing process, and the like Is to provide a method for manufacturing a flat lamp which simplifies the process and reduces the cost.

  The flat lamp of the present invention is a field emission display structure having a cathode electrode with an emitter, a gate electrode, and an anode electrode on a substrate, wherein the cathode electrode and the gate electrode are arranged on the same plane. .

  As described above, by forming both electrodes so that the gate electrode and the cathode electrode are arranged on the same plane, it is possible to provide a flat lamp that can easily control light emission at a low cost with a simple process. .

  The flat lamp manufacturing method of the present invention includes a step of forming a gate electrode at a predetermined position on a substrate, a step of forming a cathode electrode next to the gate electrode, and an emitter on the cathode electrode. Forming a cathode electrode at a predetermined position on the substrate, forming an emitter on the cathode electrode, and forming a gate electrode adjacent to the cathode electrode formed on the substrate. Or forming a cathode electrode at a predetermined position on the substrate, forming a gate electrode adjacent to the cathode electrode, and forming an emitter on the cathode electrode. These electrodes are formed so that the cathode electrode and the gate electrode are arranged on the same plane, and the cathode electrode with the emitter, the gate electrode, and the anode electrode are formed on the substrate. Characterized in that to produce a planar lamp in the structure of the field emission display with.

  According to the present invention, since the insulating layer is not provided and the electron emission is not performed by the anode electrode, a flat lamp that is easy to control light emission can be provided at a low cost with a simple process. There is an effect.

  According to the present invention, in the structure of a field emission display having a cathode electrode with an emitter, a gate electrode, and an anode electrode on a substrate, the gate electrode and the cathode electrode are arranged on the same plane, It is possible to provide a flat lamp that is easy to control light emission at a low cost with a simple process. Embodiments of a flat lamp and a manufacturing method thereof according to the present invention will be described below.

  In the flat lamp, it is preferable that the display region of the cathode electrode with an emitter and the gate electrode are arranged in parallel to each other without providing an insulating layer so that line emission can be performed. In other words, in the flat lamp of the present invention, the cathode electrode with the emitter and the gate electrode are arranged in a stripe shape, so that there is no contact between the cathode electrode and the gate electrode even without an insulating layer. . Therefore, it is useful as a backlight of a liquid crystal display panel, a flat light source for illumination, and the like.

  These electrodes are preferably arranged so that the distance between the cathode electrode with an emitter and the gate electrode is 100 μm or less. When the distance exceeds 100 μm, the electron emission electric field becomes high. The lower limit of this distance is preferably about 1 μm from the viewpoint of preventing a short circuit between the cathode electrode and the anode electrode due to the carbon nanomaterial constituting the emitter.

  A cathode electrode with an emitter is manufactured by forming a cathode electrode on a substrate by sputtering, CVD, or printing according to known process conditions, and then forming an emitter on the cathode by printing or the like. Can be.

  The electron emission emitter provided on the cathode electrode may be made of a carbon nanomaterial known as an electron emission source. The carbon nanomaterial is not particularly limited, and for example, carbon nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and graphite nanofibers can be used.

  The cathode electrode with an emitter is also formed by forming a cathode electrode on a substrate by sputtering, CVD, or printing according to known process conditions, and then depositing the emitter made of the carbon nanomaterial on the cathode. It can also be made by forming directly under known process conditions by the method.

  According to the present invention, the step of forming a gate electrode at a predetermined position on the substrate, the step of forming a cathode electrode next to the gate electrode, and the step of forming an emitter on the cathode electrode A flat lamp in the structure of a field emission display having a cathode electrode with an emitter, a gate electrode, and an anode electrode on a substrate, wherein the electrodes are formed so that the gate electrode and the cathode electrode are arranged on the same plane. Can be produced. In this case, the above steps may be performed in any order. For example, a step of forming a cathode electrode at a predetermined position on the substrate, a step of forming an emitter on the cathode electrode, and a cathode formed on the substrate Forming a gate electrode next to the electrode, or forming a cathode electrode at a predetermined position on the substrate, forming a gate electrode next to the cathode electrode, and the cathode electrode. And a step of forming an emitter on the substrate.

  In the method of manufacturing the flat lamp, similarly to the structure of the flat lamp, the display area of the cathode electrode and the gate electrode is formed so as to be arranged in parallel with each other, and the cathode electrode and the gate electrode are formed. The gate electrode and the cathode electrode are arranged and formed so that the distance between them is 100 μm or less, and the cathode electrode is formed and processed on the substrate by a sputtering method, a CVD method, or a printing method. The emitter is formed on the substrate by printing, the emitter is formed from a carbon nanomaterial such as carbon nanotube, graphite nanofiber, etc., and the cathode electrode is formed on the substrate by sputtering, CVD, or printing.・ Processing, and then an emitter made of the above carbon nanomaterial is directly formed on the cathode electrode by the CVD method. It can be.

  The flat lamp according to the present invention, which is a field electron emission display element, includes a spacer that includes the cathode substrate and an anode substrate in which an anode electrode made of, for example, an ITO film and a known phosphor are formed on another upper substrate. And bonded together at a predetermined interval. In the anode substrate, an anode electrode is formed on an upper substrate made of a transparent substrate such as glass, and a phosphor is formed on the electrode. This element operates as follows.

  That is, when a driving voltage is applied to the cathode electrode and the gate electrode, an electric field is generated between the cathode electrode and the gate electrode. Electrons are emitted from the emitter by the generated electric field, and the emitted electrons are guided toward the anode electrode by a high voltage applied to the anode electrode to form an electron beam. The induced electrons collide with the phosphor on the upper substrate, and the phosphor having the electrons excited by the collision emits visible light in a line shape.

  The substrate used in the present invention may be any substrate that is usually used in a field electron emission display element. For example, a glass substrate or the like can be used.

  The cathode electrode, gate electrode, anode electrode, and phosphor in the present invention are not particularly limited as long as they are used for a known field electron emission display element. For example, a cathode electrode made of Cr film, Al film, W film, Mo film, etc., a gate electrode made of Cr film, Al film, W film, Mo film, etc., an anode electrode made of ITO film, etc., and a phosphor for CRT Can be used. Further, when a catalyst is used in forming the emitter, the catalyst is not particularly limited as long as it is a known catalyst metal capable of growing a carbon nanomaterial. For example, Fe, Co, Ni, and these metals An alloy containing at least one of the above can be given.

  EXAMPLES Next, although an Example demonstrates this invention, this invention is not limited at all by these examples.

A Cr film having a thickness of 200 nm was formed on a glass substrate by sputtering. This Cr film was patterned so that the cathode electrode and the gate electrode were parallel with a gap of 50 μm. A catalyst layer of 10 nm made of Fe was formed in the display area of the cathode electrode. Using this substrate, graphite nanofibers were grown on the catalyst layer under the conditions of growth temperature: 550 ° C., growth time: 20 minutes, process gas ratio: CO / H ₂ = 1.0, and a cathode substrate as a lower substrate. Was made.

  On the other hand, an anode substrate as an upper substrate in which ITO and a phosphor are formed on another glass substrate under known process conditions is prepared, and the anode substrate and the cathode substrate manufactured as described above are used as spacers. A panel was manufactured by bonding with a gap of 3 mm through the substrate.

  The inside of the panel thus obtained was evacuated, chip-off was performed, and a flat panel was produced. When an anode voltage of 5 kV was applied to the flat panel and a gate voltage of 100 V was applied, surface emission could be confirmed.

  On a glass substrate, Ag was printed to a thickness of 3 μm by a printing method using an Ag paste so that the cathode electrode and the gate electrode had a gap of 50 μm and were parallel to each other. The emitter was printed at a thickness of 2 μm using a paste containing double-walled carbon nanotubes in the display area of the cathode electrode. This substrate was baked at 200 ° C. to remove unnecessary components in the paste.

  On the other hand, an anode substrate as an upper substrate in which ITO and a phosphor are formed on another glass substrate under known process conditions is prepared, and the anode substrate and the cathode substrate manufactured as described above are used as spacers. A panel was produced by pasting together with a gap of 3 mm.

  The inside of the panel thus obtained was evacuated, chip-off was performed, and a flat panel was produced. When an anode voltage of 5 kV was applied to the flat panel and a gate voltage of 100 V was applied, surface emission could be confirmed.

  Except that the gap between the cathode electrode and the gate electrode in Example 1 was set to 5, 25, 75, 100, and 125 μm, the process of Example 1 was repeated with the same process conditions, and the flat panel was formed. Produced. As a result, an appropriate electron emission electric field was obtained at 100 μm or less, and surface emission could be confirmed. However, when the gap was 125 μm, there was a problem that the electron emission electric field was increased.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to manufacture a flat lamp which is easy to control light emission and has a structure in which an insulating layer is not provided and electron emission is not performed by an anode electrode, with a simple manufacturing process and at a low cost. The present invention can be industrially used in the display field to which a field electron emission device is applied.

Sectional drawing which shows typically the structure of a 3 pole structure electron-emitting element. Sectional drawing which shows the structure of the electron emission element of a side gate structure typically. Sectional drawing which shows typically the structure of the electron-emitting element of a 2 pole structure. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the structure of a three-electrode electron-emitting device according to the present invention. The top view which shows the cathode board | substrate in the structure of the electron-emitting element of the 3 pole structure of this invention in a bird's-eye view.

Explanation of symbols

41 Lower substrate 42 Gate electrode 43 Cathode electrode 44 Emitter 45 Anode electrode

Claims (10)

A flat lamp characterized in that, in a structure of a field emission display having a cathode electrode with an emitter, a gate electrode, and an anode electrode on a substrate, the cathode electrode and the gate electrode are arranged on the same plane. 2. The flat lamp according to claim 1, wherein the display area of the cathode electrode with an emitter and the gate electrode are arranged in parallel to each other. 3. The flat lamp according to claim 1, wherein the cathode electrode with an emitter and the gate electrode are arranged at an interval of 100 [mu] m or less. The cathode electrode with an emitter is formed by forming a cathode electrode on a substrate by sputtering, CVD, or printing, and then printing the emitter on the cathode or directly by CVD. The flat lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the flat lamp is provided. The flat lamp according to claim 1, wherein the emitter is made of a carbon nanomaterial. Forming a gate electrode at a predetermined position on the substrate; forming a cathode electrode adjacent to the gate electrode; and forming an emitter on the cathode electrode; Forming a cathode electrode at a position; forming an emitter on the cathode electrode; forming a gate electrode adjacent to the cathode electrode formed on the substrate; Forming a cathode electrode at a position, forming a gate electrode adjacent to the cathode electrode, and forming an emitter on the cathode electrode, wherein the cathode electrode and the gate electrode are coplanar. The field emission display has a cathode electrode with an emitter, a gate electrode, and an anode electrode formed on the substrate. Method of producing a plane lamp, characterized in that to produce a planar lamp in the structure b. 7. The method for producing a flat lamp according to claim 6, wherein the display region of the cathode electrode and the gate electrode is formed so as to be arranged in parallel to each other. 8. The method of manufacturing a flat lamp according to claim 6, wherein the cathode electrode and the gate electrode are formed so as to be arranged at an interval of 100 [mu] m or less. 7. The cathode electrode is formed on a substrate by a sputtering method, a CVD method, or a printing method, and then an emitter is printed on the cathode electrode, or directly formed by a CVD method. A method for producing a flat lamp according to any one of -8. The method for producing a flat lamp according to claim 6, wherein the emitter is formed of a carbon nanomaterial.

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