JP2946178B2 - Surface conduction electron-emitting device, electron source, and method of manufacturing image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a surface conduction electron-emitting device, an electron source using the same, and a method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus such as a display device or an exposure device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes a phenomenon in which an electron is emitted by passing a current through a conductive thin film formed on an insulating substrate in parallel with the film surface.

As a typical configuration example of a surface conduction electron-emitting device, a conductive thin film such as a metal oxide which connects a pair of device electrodes provided on an insulating substrate is referred to as forming in advance. One in which an electron-emitting portion is formed by an energization process is exemplified. Forming involves applying a DC voltage or a very slowly increasing voltage, for example, 1 volts, across the conductive thin film.
This is usually performed by applying a voltage increase of about V / 1 minute and applying a current, and locally destroying, deforming or altering the conductive thin film to change the structure, thereby forming an electron emission portion in an electrically high-resistance state. This is the processing to be performed. The electron emission is performed from the vicinity of a crack generated in the electron emission portion by applying a voltage to the conductive thin film on which the electron emission portion is formed and causing a current to flow.

The above surface conduction electron-emitting devices have the advantage that a large number of arrays can be formed over a large area because they have a simple structure and are easy to manufacture. Therefore, various applications for utilizing this feature are being studied. For example, it can be used for an image forming apparatus such as a display device.

Conventionally, as an example of arranging a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices, a surface conduction electron-emitting device is arranged in parallel, and both ends (both device electrodes) of each surface conduction electron-emitting device are wired. An electron source in which rows connected to each other (also referred to as common wiring) are arranged in a large number of rows (also referred to as a trapezoidal arrangement). (JP-A-1-31332, 1-283
749 JP, the 2 -257552 JP). In particular, in the case of a display device, a flat panel display device similar to a display device using liquid crystal can be used, and a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are used as self-luminous display devices that do not require a backlight. A display device has been proposed in which an arranged electron source is combined with a phosphor that emits visible light when irradiated with an electron beam from the electron source (US Pat. No. 506).
No. 6883).

[0006]

However, in the production of a surface conduction electron-emitting device, a necessary energizing time is required for forming, and it is desired to shorten the production time of many surface conduction electron-emitting devices. It is.

Particularly, when a large-area display is manufactured using surface-conduction electron-emitting devices, the number of surface-conduction electron-emitting devices is extremely large. It takes time to form the conduction electron-emitting device.

In the case where the forming step of raising the voltage from a low voltage to a high voltage is performed for each column as described above, a current corresponding to the resistance of the conductive thin film of the element flows until the forming is performed. , A potential difference is generated, and each element cannot be formed uniformly. When the forming state is non-uniform, the electron emission characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices vary. For example, when the electron-emitting devices are used in a display device, they cause uneven brightness, and the adjustment is complicated.

Further, since the current at the time of forming simply increases as the number of elements increases, if a large number of elements are to be formed at once, the wiring generates heat due to Joule heat and is easily damaged.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and enables forming to be performed uniformly in a short time with less heat, thereby facilitating the manufacture of a surface conduction electron-emitting device, an electron source and an image forming apparatus using the same. The purpose is to improve efficiency.

[0011]

Means and actions for solving the problems Claims 1 to 10
The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device, wherein a step of forming a pair of device electrodes on a substrate and forming a conductive film connecting between the device electrodes is separate from the device electrodes. A forming step of forming an electron-emitting portion in the conductive thin film by discharging a charge accumulator formed by sandwiching a dielectric between the electrodes.

[0012]

The invention of claims 11 to 22 relates to a method of manufacturing an electron source having a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices, wherein a plurality of pairs of device electrodes are formed on a substrate, and each pair of device electrodes is formed. Forming a conductive thin film that communicates with each other, and forming an electron emission portion in each conductive thin film by discharging a charge storage body having a dielectric sandwiched between electrodes separate from the device electrodes It has a great feature in having the following.

[0014]

Further, the invention according to claims 23 and 24 is characterized in that
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus using an electron source manufactured by the manufacturing method.

As described above, the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device, an electron source having a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices, and an image forming apparatus. Is described further below.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present invention includes a planar type and a vertical type. First, a basic configuration of the flat surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are views showing a basic structure of a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a substrate, 2 is an electron emitting portion,
3 is a conductive thin film, and 4 and 5 are device electrodes.

As the substrate 1, for example, quartz glass, Na
And glass having reduced impurity content such as glass, blue plate glass, a laminate obtained by laminating SiO ₂ on a blue plate glass by a sputtering method or the like, and ceramics such as alumina.

The materials of the opposing device electrodes 4 and 5 are as follows.
Common conductor materials are used, such as Ni, Cr, Au,
Metals or alloys such as Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu, Pd, and Pd, Ag, Au, RuO ₂ , Pd-Ag
Printed conductors composed of metals or metal oxides and glass and the like, transparent conductors such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ , and semiconductor conductor materials such as polysilicon are appropriately selected.

The element electrode interval L, the element electrode length W, the shape of the conductive thin film 3 and the like are designed depending on the form to be applied.

The distance L between the device electrodes is preferably several hundred angstroms to several hundred micrometers, and more preferably several micrometers due to the voltage applied between the device electrodes 4 and 5 and the electric field intensity capable of emitting electrons. From several tens of micrometers.

The element electrode length W is preferably several micrometers to several hundred micrometers in consideration of the resistance value and electron emission characteristics of the electrode.
A few hundred angstroms to a few micrometers.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 1 is formed by laminating device electrodes 4 and 5 and a conductive thin film 3 on a substrate 1 in this order. The conductive thin film 3 and the device electrodes 4 and 5 may be stacked in this order.

In order to obtain good electron emission characteristics, the conductive thin film 3 is particularly preferably a fine particle film composed of fine particles. It is appropriately selected according to the resistance value between the electrodes 4 and 5 and the forming conditions described later. The thickness of the conductive thin film 3 is preferably from several angstroms to several thousand angstroms, particularly preferably from 10 angstroms to 500 angstroms, and its resistance value is a sheet of 10 3 to 10 7 ohm / □. It is a resistance value.

Examples of the material constituting the conductive thin film 3 include Pd, Pt, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, In, and C.
metals such as u, Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, Ta, W and Pb, PdO, SnO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO and Sb ₂ O
Oxides such as ₃ , HfB ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , CeB
₆ , borides such as YB ₄ and GdB ₄ , TiC, ZrC, H
Carbides such as fC, TaC, SiC, WC, TiN, Zr
Examples include nitrides such as N and HfN, semiconductors such as Si and Ge, and carbon.

The fine particle film is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated. The fine structure thereof is not only a state in which the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged, but also a state in which the fine particles are adjacent to each other or overlap each other (island-like). ). In the case of a fine particle film, the particle size of the fine particles is preferably from several angstroms to several thousand angstroms, and particularly preferably from 10 angstroms to 200 angstroms.

The electron emitting portion 2 contains a crack, and the electron emission is performed from the vicinity of the crack. The electron-emitting portion 2 including the crack and the crack itself are formed depending on the thickness, the film quality, the material of the conductive thin film 3 and the manufacturing method such as forming conditions described later. Therefore, the position and shape of the electron-emitting portion 2 are not limited to the position and shape as shown in FIG.

The cracks may have conductive particles with a particle size of several Angstroms to hundreds of Angstroms. The conductive fine particles are similar to some or all of the elements of the material constituting the conductive thin film 3. Further, the electron emitting portion 2 including the crack and the conductive thin film 3 in the vicinity thereof may include carbon and a carbon compound.

Next, the basic structure of the vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a basic structure of a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 21 denotes a step forming member.
Other reference numerals the same as those in FIG. 1 indicate the same members.

The substrate 1, the electron-emitting portion 2, the conductive thin film 3, and the device electrodes 4 and 5 are made of the same material as that of the above-mentioned flat surface conduction electron-emitting device.

The step forming member 21 is formed, for example, by a vacuum evaporation method,
It is made of an insulating material such as SiO ₂ provided by a printing method, a sputtering method or the like. The thickness of the step forming member 21 corresponds to the element electrode interval L (see FIG. 1) of the flat surface conduction electron-emitting device described above. It is set by the voltage applied between the electrodes 5 and the electric field intensity capable of emitting electrons, but is preferably several hundred angstroms to several tens of micrometers, and particularly preferably several hundred angstroms to several micrometers.

Since the conductive thin film 3 is usually formed after the formation of the device electrodes 4 and 5, the conductive thin film 3 is laminated on the device electrodes 4 and 5. It is also possible to form such that the device electrodes 4 and 5 are laminated on the conductive thin film 3. Further, as described in the description of the planar surface conduction electron-emitting device, the formation of the electron-emitting portion 2 depends on the manufacturing method such as the film thickness, film quality, material, and forming conditions of the conductive thin film 3 described later. , The position and shape are not limited to the position and shape as shown in FIG.

It should be noted that the following description will be made in connection with the above-mentioned plane type surface conduction type electron-emitting device and vertical type surface conduction type electron-emitting device.
Although the plane type is described as an example, a vertical type surface conduction type electron-emitting device may be used instead of the plane type surface conduction type electron-emitting device.

Various methods can be considered for manufacturing the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present invention. One example will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 indicate the same members.

1) After sufficiently cleaning the substrate 1 with a detergent, pure water and an organic solvent, depositing an element electrode material by a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method, or the like, and then depositing the element on the surface of the substrate 1 by a photolithography technique. Electrodes 4 and 5 are formed (FIG. 3A).

2) An organic metal solution is applied on the substrate 1 provided with the device electrodes 4 and 5, and the solution is allowed to stand.
And an element electrode 5 are connected to form an organic metal thin film.
The organic metal solution is a solution of an organic compound containing a metal as a constituent element of the conductive thin film 3 as a main element. Thereafter, the organic metal thin film is heated and baked to form a conductive thin film 3 patterned by lift-off, etching, or the like (FIG. 3B). Here, the description has been given of the method of applying the organic metal solution. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the organic metal solution may be formed by a vacuum deposition method, a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition method, a dispersion coating method, a dipping method, a spinner method, or the like. A film can also be formed.

3) Subsequently, the electron-emitting portion 2 having a changed structure is formed at the portion of the conductive thin film 3 by forming (FIG. 3C). The portion where the conductive thin film 3 is locally destroyed, deformed or deteriorated and the structure is changed is the electron emitting portion 3.

Although the effect of forming is not clear,
It is said that the thin film is partially destroyed or deteriorated due to the Joule heat of electricity. However, the supply of energy for generating this Joule heat is not limited to energization.

Therefore, in the present invention, in the forming step, discharge energy due to the charge Q and the potential difference V is used as a source of energy for generating Joule heat.

The electric charge used in the present invention is stored in a charge storage (condenser). Examples of this charge storage body include the charge storage body formed outside the substrate 1 and the second embodiment.
As described in FIG. 14, the electrodes 501 and 502 (FIG. 14) are located at positions opposite to the front and back of a surplus portion of the substrate 1 made of a dielectric material.
(See FIG. 3) to form a charge storage body integrated with the substrate 1. Further, electrodes facing each other with a dielectric material interposed therebetween may be provided on a surplus portion of the substrate 1, so that a charge storage body integrated with the substrate 1 can be formed. In the case where forming is performed by providing a charge accumulator integrated with the substrate 1, it is preferable that at least one electrode of the charge accumulator is removed after the forming to prevent subsequent accumulation of charges.

In the forming by the charge accumulator, one element electrode 4 (or 5) of the element and one electrode of the charge accumulator are grounded or connected to each other, and both element electrodes 4 and 5 are electrically conductive thin films.
After charging the charge accumulator from the power supply at the same potential via the film 3 , the other element electrode 5 (or 4) is connected to the other electrode of the charge accumulator or the other element electrode 5 (or
4) can be performed by grounding .

In particular, when the electron source having a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices is manufactured, forming by the charge accumulator is performed by using all of the device electrodes 4 (or 5) of the selected plurality of devices and the charge accumulator. One electrode is grounded or connected to each other, and both device electrodes 4 and 5 of each surface conduction electron-emitting device are connected.
Are charged at the same potential via the conductive thin film 3, and then all the other device electrodes 5 (or 4) are connected to the other electrode of the charge storage material or the other device electrode 5
(Or 4) can be performed by grounding all .

Next, the principle of forming by electric charge is as follows.
A brief description will be made assuming that the forming is performed by Joule heat.

Assuming that the energy required for forming is U, in the case of energization, U = ITV in terms of current I and voltage V energization time T. For discharge, the use of charge Q or capacitance C and the voltage ^{V, U = CV 2/2} = QV
/ 2. As in the case of energization, the energy of the discharge is almost 100% at the resistor included in the discharge path.
It is consumed as Joule heat. Therefore, when Joule heat is dominant in forming, forming can be performed similarly to energization even in the case of discharge.

In such forming, if the energy of one discharge is equal to or more than the minimum energy required for performing the forming, the forming can be performed by one discharge. Since the discharge is completed in a very short time, forming can be performed in a short time.

In addition, an extremely large current is generated at the time of discharging the electric charge, but since the discharge is completed in a very short time, the heat generation of the wiring can be suppressed to a very small value.

For example, when forming is performed on one line in which a plurality of elements are arranged in parallel, when a forming current flows, the potential decreases due to wiring resistance as the distance from the potential supply point increases. However, one element electrode 4 (or 5) of each element in one line is connected to one electrode of the charge accumulator, and both element electrodes 4 and 5 of each element are connected via the conductive thin film 3.
When the electric charge is charged to the charge accumulator in a state where the electric potential is the same, the potential in one line can be maintained at a constant electric potential. Thereafter, when the other element electrode 5 (or 4) of each element is grounded to discharge the charge accumulator, an electric charge initially formed on each element is obtained.
Since the position can be set to large, the rate of potential drop amount caused by the wiring resistance can be a small one for the initially formed potential. Therefore, there is little variation in the discharge energy of each element in one line, and uniform forming can be performed in one line.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a discharge voltage waveform in the forming process.

The discharge voltage in FIG. 4 indicates a potential difference between the device electrodes 4 and 5. Initial potential difference V1 and discharge time constant T1
Depends on the capacitance Q of the used charge storage material and the resistance value R between the device electrodes 4 and 5, but if the forming is performed with energy of about 100 μJ per device, the above-mentioned U
= From CV ^2/2 = QV / ² relational expression, is the initial voltage of approximately 450V when charges are accumulated, for example, in the charge accumulation of 1nF. Further, assuming that discharge is caused by an element of R = 200Ω, the time constant T is 0.2 microsecond. Note that this forming step is preferably performed under an appropriate degree of vacuum.

4) In the case of the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present invention, it is preferable to further perform an activation step.

The activation step is, for example, 10 −4 to 1
A process of repeating the application of a pulse with a pulse peak value of a constant voltage at a degree of vacuum of about 0 to the fifth power torr,
By depositing carbon and a carbon compound from the organic substance existing in the vacuum atmosphere on the electron emitting portion 2 (see FIGS. 1 and 2), the state of the device current and the emission current can be significantly improved. This activation step is preferably performed while measuring, for example, the device current and the emission current, and is completed when, for example, the emission current is saturated, since it is effective and is preferable. The pulse peak value in the activation step is preferably the peak value of the drive voltage.

The above-mentioned carbon and carbon compound are graphite (indicating both single crystal and polycrystal) and amorphous carbon (indicating amorphous carbon and a mixture thereof with polycrystalline graphite). Further, the deposited film thickness is preferably 500 Å or less, more preferably 3 Å.
00 angstrom or less.

6) It is preferable to perform a stabilizing step of operating the surface conduction electron-emitting device thus produced in a vacuum atmosphere having a higher degree of vacuum than the forming step and the activating step. More preferably, after heating at 80 to 150 ° C. in a vacuum atmosphere with a high degree of vacuum,
Drive operation.

The vacuum atmosphere having a degree of vacuum higher than that of the forming step and the activation step is, for example, about 10 −
A vacuum atmosphere having a degree of vacuum of 6 torr or more;
More preferably, it is an ultrahigh vacuum system, and has a degree of vacuum at which carbon and carbon compounds are not substantially newly deposited.

That is, by encapsulating the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the above-mentioned vacuum atmosphere, it is possible to suppress further deposition of carbon and carbon compounds, and thereby the device current If and the emission current Ie Becomes stable.

The basic characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device thus obtained will be described below.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a measurement evaluation system for measuring the electron emission characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device. First, the measurement evaluation system will be described.

In FIG. 5, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 denote the same members. Reference numeral 51 denotes a power supply for applying a device voltage Vf to the device; 50, an ammeter for measuring a device current If flowing through the conductive thin film 3 between the device electrodes 4 and 5; An anode electrode for capturing the emission current Ie to be emitted; 53, a high-voltage power supply for applying a voltage to the anode electrode 54; 52, an ammeter for measuring the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission section 2; Is a vacuum device, and 56 is an exhaust pump.

The surface conduction type electron-emitting device and the anode electrode 54 are installed in a vacuum device 55.
Is equipped with necessary equipment such as a vacuum gauge (not shown),
Measurement and evaluation of the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be performed under a desired vacuum.

The exhaust pump 56 is composed of a normal high vacuum system such as a turbo pump and a rotary pump, and an ultrahigh vacuum system such as an ion pump.
The entire vacuum device 55 and the substrate 1 of the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be heated to about 200 ° C. by a heater. In this measurement and evaluation system, the display panel and the inside thereof are connected to a vacuum device 55 at the stage of assembling a display panel (see 201 in FIG. 8) described later.
And, by being configured as the inside thereof, the present invention can be applied to the above-described forming step, activation step, and side evaluation and processing in the later steps described later.

The basic characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device described below are as follows. The voltage of the anode electrode 54 in the above-mentioned measurement and evaluation system is 1 kV to 10 kV, and the distance H between the anode electrode 54 and the surface conduction electron-emitting device is 2 to 8 mm. This is based on the measurement performed as follows.

First, the emission current Ie and the device current If,
FIG. 6 shows a typical example of the relationship with the element voltage Vf. still,
In FIG. 6, since the emission current Ie is significantly smaller than the element current If, it is shown in arbitrary units.

As apparent from FIG. 6, the surface conduction electron-emitting device has the following three characteristic characteristics with respect to the emission current Ie.

First, when a device voltage Vf exceeding a certain voltage (referred to as a threshold voltage: Vth in FIG. 6) is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device, the emission current Ie rapidly increases, while the surface conduction electron-emitting device rapidly increases. Below the threshold voltage Vth, the emission current Ie is hardly detected. That is, it is a nonlinear element having a clear threshold voltage Vth with respect to the emission current Ie.

Second, since the emission current Ie has a characteristic that monotonically increases with respect to the device voltage Vf (referred to as MI characteristic), the emission current Ie can be controlled by the device voltage Vf.

Third, the emission charge captured by the anode electrode 54 (see FIG. 5) depends on the time during which the device voltage Vf is applied. That is, the amount of charge captured by the anode electrode 54 can be controlled by the time during which the device voltage Vf is applied.

When the emission current Ie is smaller than the device voltage Vf by MI
At the same time as having the characteristics, the device current If may also have the MI characteristics with respect to the device voltage Vf. An example of the characteristics of such a surface conduction electron-emitting device is a characteristic indicated by a solid line in FIG. On the other hand, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 6, the device current If is different from the device voltage Vf by the voltage control type negative resistance characteristic (VCN).
R characteristic). Which characteristic is exhibited depends on the manufacturing method of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, measurement conditions at the time of measurement, and the like. However, the element current If is equal to the element voltage Vf.
In contrast, a surface conduction electron-emitting device having VCNR characteristics also has the above three characteristics.

Next, the arrangement of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices in the electron source of the present invention will be described.

The arrangement of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices in the electron source of the present invention is not limited to the ladder arrangement as described in the section of the prior art, or to the arrangement of n Y-direction wirings on m X-direction wirings. There is an arrangement method in which directional wiring is provided via an interlayer insulating layer, and an X-directional wiring and a Y-directional wiring are connected to a pair of device electrodes of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, respectively. This is hereinafter referred to as a simple matrix arrangement. First, the simple matrix arrangement will be described in detail.

According to the above-described basic characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, the emitted electrons in the surface conduction electron-emitting device arranged in a simple matrix are arranged between the opposing device electrodes at a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage. It can be controlled by the peak value and pulse width of the pulsed voltage to be applied. On the other hand, below the threshold voltage, almost no electrons are emitted. Therefore, even when a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged, if the pulse-like voltage is appropriately applied to each of the devices, the surface conduction electron-emitting device is selected according to the input signal, and the electron emission amount is determined. , And individual surface conduction electron-emitting devices can be selected and driven independently with only a simple matrix wiring.

The simple matrix arrangement is based on such a principle, and the structure of the electron source having the simple matrix arrangement, which is an example of the electron source of the present invention, will be further described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 7, the substrate 1 is a glass plate or the like as described above, and the number and shape of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104 of the present invention arranged on the substrate 1 are appropriately set according to the application. Things.

The m X-directional wirings 102 have external terminals Dx1, Dx2,..., Dxm, respectively.
A conductive metal or the like formed thereon by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. In addition, the material and the material are so set that the voltage is supplied to the many surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104 almost uniformly.
The film thickness and the wiring width are set.

Each of the n Y-directional wirings 103 has external terminals Dy1, Dy2,..., Dyn, and is formed in the same manner as the X-directional wiring 102.

These m X-directional wires 102 and n Y wires
An interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is provided between the direction wirings 103, and is electrically separated to form a matrix wiring. Note that both m and n are positive integers.

The interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is, for example, SiO ₂ formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like, and has a desired shape on the entire surface or a part of the substrate 1 on which the X-directional wiring 102 is formed. In particular, the film thickness, material, and manufacturing method are appropriately set so as to withstand the potential difference at the intersection of the X-direction wiring 102 and the Y-direction wiring 103.

Further, the device electrodes (not shown) facing the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 are provided with m X-direction wirings 102.
, N Y-directional wirings 103, a vacuum deposition method, a printing method,
Connection 1 made of conductive metal or the like formed by sputtering or the like
05 are electrically connected.

Here, the m X-directional wires 102, the n Y-directional wires 103, the connection 105, and the opposing element electrodes may have some or all of the same constituent elements. Further, they may be different from each other, and are appropriately selected from the above-described materials of the device electrodes and the like. The wires to these device electrodes may be collectively referred to as device electrodes when the material is the same as the device electrodes. Further, the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104
May be formed on the substrate 1 or on an interlayer insulating layer (not shown).

As will be described in detail later, a scanning signal is applied to the X-direction wiring 102 in order to scan a row of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104 arranged in the X-direction in accordance with an input signal. A scanning signal applying unit (not shown) is electrically connected.

On the other hand, a modulation signal (not shown) for applying a modulation signal is applied to the Y-direction wiring 103 in order to modulate each of the rows of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104 arranged in the Y direction according to an input signal. The signal generating means is electrically connected. Further, the driving voltage applied to each surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 is supplied as a difference voltage between a scanning signal and a modulation signal applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104.

Next, an example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention using the electron source of the present invention having the simple matrix arrangement as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 is a diagram showing the basic configuration of the display panel 201, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the fluorescent film 114, and FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the display panel 201 of FIG.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a driving circuit for performing television display in accordance with a TSC television signal.

In FIG. 8, reference numeral 1 denotes a substrate of an electron source on which the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present invention is disposed as described above;
Reference numeral 111 denotes a rear plate on which the substrate 1 is fixed, and 116 denotes a fluorescent film 114 and a metal back 11 on the inner surface of a glass substrate 113.
5 is a face plate on which a frit glass or the like is formed, 112 is a support frame, and frit glass or the like is applied to the rear plate 111, the support frame 112, and the face plate 116, and is heated at 400 to 500 ° C. for 10 minutes or more in the air or nitrogen. The envelope 118 is sealed by firing.

In FIG. 8, reference numeral 2 corresponds to the electron-emitting portion in FIG. Reference numerals 102 and 103 denote X-direction wirings and Y-direction wirings connected to a pair of device electrodes 4 and 5 of the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104, respectively, and external terminals Dx1 to Dx, respectively.
m, Dy1 to Dyn.

The envelope 118 includes the face-plate 116, the support frame 112, and the rear plate 111 as described above. However, the rear plate 111 is provided mainly for the purpose of reinforcing the strength of the substrate 1. If the substrate 1 itself has sufficient strength, the separate rear plate 111 is unnecessary, and the support frame is directly attached to the substrate 1. Seal 112,
The envelope 118 may be constituted by the face plate 116, the support frame 112, and the substrate 1. Further, by further providing a support (not shown) called a spacer between the face plate 116 and the rear plate 111, the envelope 118 having sufficient strength against atmospheric pressure can be obtained.

The fluorescent film 114 is composed of only the phosphor 122 in the case of monochrome, but in the case of the color fluorescent film 114, depending on the arrangement of the phosphor 122, a black stripe (FIG. 9A) or a black matrix (FIG. 9
(B)) a black conductive material 121 and a phosphor 122 called
It is composed of The purpose of providing the black stripes and the black matrix is to make the color separation between the phosphors 122 of the three primary colors necessary for color display black so that color mixing and the like become inconspicuous, and to reflect external light on the fluorescent film 114. Is to suppress a decrease in contrast due to As a material of the black conductive material 121, not only a material mainly containing graphite, which is often used, but also a material having conductivity and low light transmission and reflection may be used. it can.

As a method of applying the phosphor 122 to the glass substrate 113, a precipitation method or a printing method is used regardless of monochrome or color.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A metal back 115 is usually provided on the inner surface side of 4.
The purpose of the metal back 115 is to convert the light emitted from the phosphor 122 (see FIG. 9) toward the inner surface into the face plate 11.
Improving the brightness by specular reflection to the 6 side, acting as an electrode for applying an electron beam acceleration voltage, and protecting the phosphor 122 from damage due to collision of negative ions generated in the envelope 118 And so on. The metal back 115 can be manufactured by performing a smoothing process (usually called filming) on the inner surface of the fluorescent film 114 after manufacturing the fluorescent film 114, and then depositing Al by vacuum evaporation or the like.

The face plate 116 may be provided with a transparent electrode (not shown) on the outer surface of the fluorescent film 114 in order to further enhance the conductivity of the fluorescent film 114.

When the above-mentioned sealing is performed, in the case of color, since the phosphors 122 of each color must correspond to the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104, it is necessary to perform sufficient alignment.

The inside of the envelope 118 is evacuated to a degree of vacuum of about 10 −7 torr through an exhaust pipe (not shown) and sealed. Also, a getter process may be performed immediately before or after sealing the envelope 118. This is a getter (not shown) arranged at a predetermined position in the envelope 118.
Is a process of forming a vapor-deposited film by heating. The getter is usually composed mainly of Ba, etc.,
For example, 1 × 10 −5 or 1 × 10 −7 to
This is for maintaining the vacuum degree of rr.

The above-described forming and subsequent manufacturing steps of the surface conduction electron-emitting device are usually performed immediately before or after sealing of the envelope 118, and the contents thereof are as described above. is there.

The display panel 201 described above is, for example, shown in FIG.
Can be driven by a driving circuit as shown in FIG.
In FIG. 10, 201 is a display panel, 202 is a scanning circuit, 203 is a control circuit, 204 is a shift register,
205 is a line memory, 206 is a synchronization signal separation circuit, 2
07 is a modulation signal generator, and Vx and Va are DC voltage sources.

As shown in FIG. 10, the display panel 20
1 is connected to an external electric circuit via external terminals Dx1 to Dxm, external terminals Dy1 to Dyn, and a high voltage terminal Hv. Of these, the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm
The surface conduction electron-emitting devices provided in the display panel 201, that is, a group of surface conduction electron-emitting devices arranged in a matrix of m rows and n columns are sequentially driven by one row (each n element). The scanning signal for going forward is applied.

On the other hand, a modulation signal for controlling the output electron beam of each surface conduction electron-emitting device in one row selected by the scanning signal is applied to the terminal Dy1 to the external terminal Dyn. Further, a DC voltage of, for example, 10 kV is supplied to the high voltage terminal Hv from the DC voltage source Va. This is an accelerating voltage for applying sufficient energy to the electron beam output from the surface conduction electron-emitting device to excite the phosphor.

The scanning circuit 202 includes m switching elements (symbols S1 to Sm in FIG. 10) therein, and each of the switching elements S1 to Sm outputs the output voltage of the DC voltage power supply Vx or 0V. (Ground level) to be electrically connected to the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm of the display panel 201. Each of the switching elements S1 to Sm includes a control circuit 203
Operates on the basis of the control signal Tscan output by the device, and in fact, it can be easily configured by combining elements having a switching function such as an FET, for example.

In this embodiment, the DC voltage source Vx has a driving voltage applied to the surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices that are not scanned based on the characteristics (threshold voltage) of the surface-conduction electron-emitting devices. It is set to output a constant voltage that is equal to or lower than the value voltage.

The control circuit 203 has a function of coordinating the operation of each unit so that appropriate display is performed based on an image signal input from the outside. A synchronization signal Tsyn sent from a synchronization signal separation circuit 206 described below.
Based on c, each control signal of Tscan, Tsft, and Tmry is generated for each unit.

The synchronizing signal separating circuit 206 is a circuit for separating a synchronizing signal component and a luminance signal component from an NTSC television signal input from the outside. As is well known, a frequency separating (filter) With the circuit,
It can be easily configured. Sync signal separation circuit 206
The sync signal separated by is composed of a vertical sync signal and a horizontal sync signal, as is well known. here,
It is illustrated as Tsync for convenience of explanation. On the other hand, the luminance signal component of the image separated from the television signal is referred to as D for convenience.
This is illustrated as an ATA signal. This DATA signal is input to the shift register 204.

The shift register 204 is for serially / parallel converting the DATA signal input serially in time series for each line of an image, and is based on a control signal Tsft sent from the control circuit 203. Operate. This control signal Tsft is supplied to the shift register 20
4 may be rephrased as the shift clock. Also,
One line of serial / parallel converted image (equivalent to drive data for n elements of surface conduction electron-emitting device)
Are output from the shift register 204 as n parallel signals of Id1 to Idn.

The line memory 205 is a storage device for storing data for one line of an image for a required time.
The contents of Id1 to Idn are stored as appropriate according to the control signal Tmry sent from the control circuit 203. The stored contents are output as Id′1 to Id′n and input to the modulation signal generator 207.

The modulation signal generator 207 is a signal source for appropriately driving and modulating each of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices in accordance with each of the image data Id′1 to Id′n. Are applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting devices in the display panel 201 through the terminals Doy1 to Doyn.

As described above, the surface conduction electron-emitting device has a distinct threshold voltage for electron emission, and electron emission occurs only when a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage is applied. Also, for a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage, the emission current also changes according to the change in the voltage applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device. Materials for surface conduction electron-emitting devices,
By changing the configuration and the manufacturing method, the value of the threshold voltage and the degree of change of the emission current with respect to the applied voltage may change, but in any case, the following can be said.

That is, when a pulse-like voltage is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device, electron emission does not occur even if a voltage lower than the threshold voltage is applied, but a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage is applied. In this case, electron emission occurs. At that time, first, it is possible to control the intensity of the output electron beam by changing the peak value of the voltage pulse. Second, by changing the width of the voltage pulse, it is possible to control the total amount of charges of the output electron beam.

Therefore, as a method of modulating the surface conduction electron-emitting device according to an input signal, there are a voltage modulation method and a pulse width modulation method. In the case of performing the voltage modulation method, the modulation signal generator 207 generates a voltage pulse having a fixed length, and uses a voltage modulation circuit capable of appropriately modulating the pulse peak value according to input data. In the case of performing the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 207 generates a voltage pulse having a constant peak value, but a pulse width modulation method circuit capable of appropriately modulating the pulse width according to input data. Used.

The shift register 204 and the line memory 20
Reference numeral 5 may be a digital signal type or an analog signal type, as long as it can perform serial / parallel conversion and storage of an image signal at a predetermined speed.

When the digital signal type is used, it is necessary to convert the output signal DATA of the synchronization signal separation circuit 206 into a digital signal. This can be achieved by providing an A / D converter at the output of the synchronization signal separation circuit 206.

In connection with this, the line memory 20
Depending on whether the output signal of 5 is a digital signal or an analog signal,
The circuit provided in modulation signal generator 207 is slightly different.

That is, in the case of a voltage modulation method using a digital signal, a well-known D / A conversion circuit may be used as the modulation signal generator 207, and an amplification circuit or the like may be added as necessary. In the case of a pulse width modulation method using a digital signal, the modulation signal generator 207 includes, for example, a high-speed oscillator, a counter (counter) for counting the number of waves output from the oscillator, and an output value of the counter and an output value of the memory. It can be easily configured by using a circuit in which comparators for comparison are combined. Further, if necessary, an amplifier may be added for amplifying the voltage of the pulse-width-modulated signal output from the comparator to the drive voltage of the surface-conduction electron-emitting device.

On the other hand, in the case of the voltage modulation method using an analog signal, an amplification circuit using a well-known operational amplifier or the like may be used as the modulation signal generator 207, and a level shift circuit or the like may be added as necessary. You may. In the case of a pulse width modulation method using an analog signal, for example, a well-known voltage-controlled oscillation circuit (VCO) may be used, and a voltage is amplified to a drive voltage of a surface conduction electron-emitting device as necessary. May be added.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention having the display panel 201 and the driving circuit as described above has terminals Dx1 to Dx
By applying a voltage from m and Dy1 to Dyn,
Electrons can be emitted from the required surface conduction electron-emitting device, and the metal back 115 can be emitted through the high voltage terminal Hv.
Alternatively, a high voltage is applied to a transparent electrode (not shown) to accelerate the electron beam, and the excited electron beam collides with the phosphor film 114 to generate and emit light, thereby displaying a television signal according to an NTSC television signal. Is what you can do.

The configuration described above is a schematic configuration necessary for obtaining the image forming apparatus of the present invention used for display or the like. For example, detailed portions such as materials of each member are limited to those described above. Instead, it is appropriately selected so as to be suitable for the use of the image forming apparatus. Although the NTSC system has been described as an input signal, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to this, and may employ another system such as a PAL or SECAM system. For example, a high-definition TV system such as a MUSE system may be used.

Next, an example of the above-described ladder-shaped electron source and an image forming apparatus of the present invention using the same will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12. FIG.

In FIG. 11, reference numeral 1 denotes a substrate; 104, a surface conduction electron-emitting device; and 304, ten common wirings for connecting the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104, each having external terminals D1 to D10. doing.

The surface conduction type electron-emitting device 104 is
A plurality is arranged in parallel above. This is called an element row. These element rows are arranged in a plurality of rows to constitute an electron source.

By applying an appropriate drive voltage between the common wiring 304 of each element row (for example, the common wiring 304 of the external terminals D1 and D2), each element row can be driven independently. That is, a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage may be applied to an element row where electron beams are to be emitted, and a voltage lower than the threshold voltage may be applied to an element row where electron beams are not desired to be emitted. The application of such a drive voltage is performed by applying common lines 304 adjacent to each other between the element rows, that is, common lines 304 adjacent to each other, that is, external terminals D2 and D3 and D4 and D5 and D6 and D7 and D8 respectively adjacent to each other. The common wiring 304 of D9 and D9 can be formed as a single integrated wiring.

FIG. 12 is a view showing the structure of a display panel 301 provided with the above-described trapezoidal arrangement of electron sources, which is another example of the electron source of the present invention.

In FIG. 12, reference numeral 302 denotes a grid electrode; 303, an opening through which electrons pass; D1 to Dm, external terminals for applying a voltage to each surface conduction electron-emitting device;
Gn is an external terminal connected to the grid electrode 302. Further, the common wiring 304 between each element row is formed on the substrate 1 as an integral same wiring.

[0121] Incidentally, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 8 in FIG. 12 shows the same member, a large difference between the display panel 201 using the electron source of the simple matrix arrangement shown in Figure 8, the substrate 1 and the face plate The point is that a grid electrode 302 is provided between the electrodes 116.

The grid electrode 302 is provided between the substrate 1 and the face plate 116 as described above. The grid electrode 302 is capable of modulating the electron beam emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104. In order to pass
One circular opening 303 is provided for each surface conduction electron-emitting device 104.

The shape and arrangement position of the grid electrode 302
It is not always necessary that the openings 303 are as shown in FIG. 12. A large number of openings 303 may be provided in a mesh shape, and the grid electrodes 302 may be provided, for example, around or near the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104. Good.

The external terminals D1 to Dm and G1 to Gn are connected to a drive circuit (not shown). Then, by applying a modulation signal for one image line to the column of the grid electrode 302 in synchronization with sequentially driving (scanning) the element rows one by one, each electron beam is irradiated on the fluorescent film 114. And images can be displayed line by line.

As described above, the image forming apparatus of the present invention
It can be obtained by using any of the electron sources of the present invention in a simple matrix arrangement or a trapezoidal arrangement, and is suitable not only for the above-described television broadcast display device, but also as a video conference system and a display device such as a computer. A device is obtained. Furthermore, the present invention can be used as an exposure device of an optical printer including a photosensitive drum.

[0126]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples.

Example 1 As a surface conduction electron-emitting device of this example, FIG.
A surface conduction electron-emitting device of the type shown in FIGS. In FIG. 1, 1 is a substrate, 4 and 5 are device electrodes, 2 is an electron emitting portion, 3 is a conductive thin film including the electron emitting portion 2, L is a device electrode interval, W is a device electrode width, and d is a device electrode thickness. is there.

Hereinafter, the preparation procedure will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 .

A quartz substrate 1 is used as the dielectric substrate 1,
After thoroughly washing this with an organic solvent, the substrate 1
Element electrodes 4 and 5 made of Pt were formed (FIG.3
(A)). At this time, the element electrode interval L is 3 microns
, Device electrode width W is 500 microns, device electrode
The thickness d was 1000 angstroms.

[0130] Then, as an organic metal compound, and palladium acetate in 0.1 mol (22.49 g), the mixture <br/> spin donor and di-n- propylamine 0.2 mol (20.24 g) After application (800 rpm, 30 seconds), baking was performed in a clean oven at 300 ° C. for 12 minutes to form a PdO film as the conductive thin film 3. (FIG. 3 (b)). In this embodiment, by repeating the application / firing twice,
A film resistance of ５5 × 10 4 ohm / □ was obtained.

With a turbo pump and a rotary pump, -10
Forming was performed in a vacuum vessel evacuated to −6 torr to form the electron-emitting portion 2.

Here, the forming in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 13, reference numeral 401 denotes a charge accumulator,
02 is a power supply, and 403 and 404 are changeover switches.

First, as shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, the changeover switch 404 is closed, and one of the pair of device electrodes 4 and 5 is connected to a common terminal. At this time, the changeover switch 403 is set to the charge storage
Closed to the first side, a power source 402 was connected to the charge storage body 401 to accumulate and charge. The capacity of the charge storage body 401 was 1 nF, and the voltage of the power supply 402 was 450 V.

Next, as shown in FIG. 13C, the changeover switch 403 was switched to connect the element electrode 4 and one electrode of the charge storage body 401. As a result, the energy of the charge stored in the charge storage body 401 is consumed as Joule heat in the conductive thin film 3 made of the PdO film, whereby the electron emission portion 2 is formed.

The time variation of the discharge voltage between the device electrodes 4 and 5 is as shown in FIG. 4, and the initial charge voltage V1 is 4
At 50 V, the discharge time constant T1 was 0.2 microsecond.

The forming in this embodiment was completed in one operation, and the forming was completed in an extremely short time as compared with the related art.

The electron emission characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device obtained as described above were measured by the above-described measurement evaluation system shown in FIG. The measurement was performed on the anode electrode 54.
The distance L between the substrate and the surface conduction electron-emitting device was 4 mm, the potential of the anode electrode 54 was 1 kV, and the degree of vacuum in the vacuum device 55 at the time of measuring the electron emission characteristics was 1 × 10 −6 torr.

As a result, a current-voltage characteristic as shown in FIG. 6 was obtained. The average characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device are as follows.
When the device voltage Vf = 16 V, the device current If becomes 2.2 mA, the emission current Ie becomes 1.1 μA,
The electron emission efficiency η = Ie / If (%) was 0.05%, and a substantially uniform surface conduction electron-emitting device was obtained regardless of the forming voltage.

Embodiment 2 A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 14, 1 is a substrate, 4 and 5 are device electrodes, 2 is an electron emitting portion, 3 is a conductive thin film including an electron emitting portion 2, and is formed basically in the same manner as in the first embodiment. It is.

In FIG. 14, reference numeral 501 denotes a changeover switch, 502 and 503 denote capacitance components formed between the electrodes 505 and 506, and 504 denotes an externally supplied electric charge from an electron source (not shown). The electron emitted toward 506 is shown. The electrode 505 was formed by attaching a conductive tape.

First, as shown in FIG. 14A, the change-over switch 501 is opened, and the electron beam 504 is emitted toward the electrode 506. The irradiated electrons form a negative potential on the surfaces of the electrodes 505 and 506 because the change-over switch 501 is in the open state,
Electric charge Q is accumulated in capacitance components 502 and 503. The amount of charge accumulated at this time depends on the irradiation current density of the irradiation electron beam, the irradiation time, the dielectric constant of the substrate 1 used, and the electrode 50.
25 kV, current density 2 depending on the area of 5,506
Electron beam irradiation was performed at 000 A / cm ² for 5 seconds.

Next, the switch 501 was switched to connect the element electrode 4 to the electrode 506. At this time, the electric charge accumulated in the electrode 506 was discharged through the conductive thin film 3 to generate Joule heat in the conductive thin film 3 as a resistor, and forming was performed, thereby forming the electron-emitting portion 2. Finally, to remove the unnecessary charge storage material,
The conductive tape constituting the electrode 505 attached to the back side of was removed to remove the effect of the stray capacitance component.

Embodiment 3 FIG. 15 shows a display panel using an electron source of the present invention having a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices of the present invention, for example, from various image information sources such as television broadcasting. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus of the present invention configured to display provided image information.

In the figure, reference numeral 16100 denotes a display panel, 1
Reference numeral 6101 denotes a display panel driving circuit;
Is a display controller, 16103 is a multiplexer, 16104 is a decoder, 16105 is an input / output interface circuit, 16106 is a CPU, 16107 is an image generation circuit, 16108, 16109 and 1611
0 is an image memory interface circuit, 16111 is an image input interface circuit, 16112 and 161
13 is a TV signal receiving circuit, and 16114 is an input unit.

When the image forming apparatus receives a signal including both video information and audio information, such as a television signal, it naturally reproduces the audio simultaneously with the display of the video. Descriptions of circuits, speakers, and the like related to reception, separation, reproduction, processing, storage, and the like of audio information that are not directly related to the features of the present invention are omitted.

Hereinafter, the function of each section will be described along the flow of image signals.

First, the TV signal receiving circuit 16113 is a circuit for receiving a TV signal transmitted using a wireless transmission system such as radio waves or spatial optical communication.

The format of the received TV signal is not particularly limited. For example, NTSC, PAL, SEC
Any method such as the AM method may be used. Further, a TV signal comprising a larger number of scanning lines than these, for example, a so-called high-definition TV including the MUSE system is a signal suitable for taking advantage of the display panel suitable for a large area and a large number of pixels. Source.

[0150] The TV signal received by TV signal receiving circuit 16113 is output to decoder 16104.

The TV signal receiving circuit 16112 is a circuit for receiving a TV signal transmitted using a wired transmission system such as a coaxial cable or an optical fiber. Similarly to the TV signal receiving circuit 16113, the TV
The signal system is not particularly limited, and the TV signal received by this circuit is also output to the decoder 16104.

Image input interface circuit 16111
Is a circuit for capturing an image signal supplied from an image input device such as a TV camera or an image reading scanner. The captured image signal is output to the decoder 16104.

Image memory interface circuit 161
10 is a video tape recorder (hereinafter abbreviated as VTR)
Is a circuit for capturing the image signal stored in the decoder 1610, and the captured image signal is output to the decoder 16104.

Image memory interface circuit 161
Reference numeral 09 denotes a circuit for capturing an image signal stored in the video disk, and the captured image signal is output to the decoder 16104.

Image memory interface circuit 161
08 is a circuit for taking in an image signal from a device storing still image data, such as a still image disk,
The captured still image data is input to the decoder 16104.

Input / output interface circuit 16105
Is a circuit for connecting the image forming apparatus to an external computer, a computer network, or an output device such as a printer. In addition to inputting and outputting image data and character / graphic information, control signals and numerical data can be input and output between the CPU 16106 provided in the image forming apparatus and the outside in some cases. .

The image generation circuit 16107 is provided with image data, character / graphic information input from the outside via the input / output interface circuit 16105, or the CPU 1
A circuit for generating display image data based on the image data and character / graphic information output from 6106. Inside this circuit, for example, a rewritable memory for storing image data and character / graphic information, a read-only memory storing an image pattern corresponding to a character code, a processor for performing image processing, etc. And other circuits necessary for generating an image.

The display image data generated by this circuit is output to the decoder 16104, but may be output to an external computer network or printer via the input / output interface circuit 16105 in some cases.

The CPU 16106 mainly performs operation control of the image forming apparatus and operations related to generation, selection, and editing of a display image.

For example, a control signal is output to the multiplexer 16103, and image signals to be displayed on the display panel are appropriately selected or combined. At that time, a control signal is generated to the display panel controller 16102 in accordance with the image signal to be displayed, and the image forming apparatus determines the screen display frequency, the scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced), and the number of scanning lines on one screen. Is appropriately controlled. In addition, image data and character / graphic information are directly output to the image generation circuit 16107, or an external computer or memory is accessed via the input / output interface circuit 16105 to output image data or character / graphic information. input.

It should be noted that the CPU 16106 may be involved in work for other purposes. For example, it may directly relate to a function of generating and processing information, such as a personal computer or a word processor. Alternatively, as described above, the input / output interface circuit 161
The computer may be connected to an external computer network via the external computer 05 to perform operations such as numerical calculations in cooperation with external devices.

The input unit 16114 is connected to the CPU 1610
6 is for the user to input commands, programs, data, and the like. For example, in addition to a keyboard and a mouse, various input devices such as a joystick, a barcode reader, and a voice recognition device can be used. .

The decoder 16104 is a circuit for inversely converting various image signals input from the above 16107 to 16113 into three primary color signals, or a luminance signal, an I signal, and a Q signal. As shown by a dotted line in the figure, it is desirable that the decoder 16104 includes an image memory therein. This is for handling a television signal that requires an image memory when performing inverse conversion, such as the MUSE method.

The provision of the image memory facilitates the display of a still image. Alternatively, the image generation circuit 1610
7 and the CPU 16106, an advantage is obtained in that image processing and editing including image thinning, interpolation, enlargement, reduction, and synthesis are facilitated.

The multiplexer 16103 is connected to the CPU
A display image is appropriately selected based on a control signal input from 16106. That is, the multiplexer 16
103 selects a desired image signal from the inversely converted image signals input from the decoder 16104 and outputs the selected image signal to the drive circuit 16101. In that case, by switching and selecting an image signal within one screen display time, it is also possible to divide one screen into a plurality of areas and display different images depending on the areas, as in a so-called multi-screen television. .

Display panel controller 1610
Reference numeral 2 denotes a circuit for controlling the operation of the driving circuit 16101 based on a control signal input from the CPU 16106.

As a signal related to the basic operation of the display panel, for example, a signal for controlling an operation sequence of a display panel driving power supply (not shown) is output to the driving circuit 16101. As a driving method of the display panel, for example, a signal for controlling a screen display frequency or a scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced) is supplied to the driving circuit 16101.
Output to In some cases, a control signal related to image quality adjustment such as luminance, contrast, color tone, and sharpness of a display image may be output to the driving circuit 16101.

The drive circuit 16101 is a circuit for generating a drive signal to be applied to the display panel 16100.
The operation is based on a control signal input from 102.

The function of each unit has been described above. With the configuration illustrated in FIG. 15, in the present image forming apparatus, image information input from various image information sources can be displayed on the display panel 16100. . That is, various image signals such as television broadcasts are inversely converted by a decoder 16104, and then converted by a multiplexer 16104.
The signal is appropriately selected at 103 and input to the driving circuit 16101. On the other hand, the display controller 16102
Generates a control signal for controlling the operation of the driving circuit 16101 in accordance with an image signal to be displayed. Drive circuit 16
101 applies a drive signal to the display panel 16100 based on the image signal and the control signal. Thus, an image is displayed on display panel 16100. These series of operations are totally controlled by the CPU 16106.

In the present image forming apparatus, an image memory built in the decoder 16104, an image generation circuit 16
107 and information selected from the information, as well as image information to be displayed, for example, enlargement, reduction,
Image processing including rotation, movement, edge enhancement, thinning, interpolation, color conversion, image aspect ratio conversion, etc.
It is also possible to perform image editing including connection, replacement, fitting, and the like. Although not specifically mentioned in the description of the present embodiment, a dedicated circuit for processing and editing audio information may be provided as in the above-described image processing and image editing.

Therefore, the present image forming apparatus can be used as a television broadcast display device, a video conference terminal device, an image editing device for handling still images and moving images, a computer terminal device,
It can be equipped with the functions of a word processor and other office terminal equipment, game machines, and the like, and has a very wide range of applications for industrial or consumer use.

FIG. 15 shows only an example of the configuration of an image forming apparatus using a display panel in which a surface conduction electron-emitting device is used as an electron beam source. It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this.

For example, of the components shown in FIG. 15, circuits relating to functions that are unnecessary for the purpose of use may be omitted.
Conversely, additional components may be added depending on the purpose of use. For example, when the present image forming apparatus is applied as a videophone, it is preferable to add a transmission / reception circuit including a television camera, an audio microphone, an illuminator, and a modem to the components.

In the present image forming apparatus, since the surface conduction electron-emitting device is used as the electron source, the thickness of the display panel can be easily reduced, and the depth of the image forming apparatus can be reduced. In addition, a display panel using a surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron beam source is easy to enlarge the screen, has high brightness, and has excellent viewing angle characteristics, so that the image forming apparatus is full of a sense of reality and has a powerful image. Can be displayed with good visibility.

[0175]

The present invention is as described above, and has the following effects.

(1) Since the forming is performed by discharging the accumulated charges, the forming can be performed in an extremely short time corresponding to the discharge time. In particular, it is possible to reduce the increase in the forming time associated with the large-area display.

(2) An extremely large current is generated when the accumulated charge is discharged, but since the discharge is completed in a very short time,
Heat generation of the wiring can be suppressed to a very small level, and damage due to heat generation of the wiring can be prevented.

(3) When a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are connected in parallel to one line, and when a potential is supplied to one end of the line by energization to perform forming, a forming current flows. The potential decreases as the distance from the potential supply point increases due to the wiring resistance component. However, according to the present invention, the inside of the line can be kept at a constant potential during charge accumulation . After that, each surface conduction electron-emitting device is grounded and subjected to forming by electric discharge.
And the first potential in the line should be large
Thus, the ratio of the amount of potential decrease due to the wiring resistance can be reduced with respect to the initially formed potential. Therefore,
Dispersion of the discharge energy of each surface conduction electron-emitting device within the line is small, and uniform forming can be performed within the line.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device which is an example of the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device which is another example of the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a manufacturing procedure of the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a voltage waveform at the time of forming by discharging accumulated charges according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a measurement evaluation system for measuring and evaluating electron emission characteristics.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing typical IV characteristics at a degree of vacuum of about 1 × 10 −6 Torr.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of the electron source of the present invention in a simple matrix arrangement.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of a display panel used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention using an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a fluorescent film in the display panel of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a drive circuit that drives the display panel of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a schematic plan view of the electron source of the present invention in a trapezoidal arrangement.

FIG. 12 is a schematic configuration diagram of a display panel used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention using a trapezoidal arrangement of electron sources.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of the first embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2 Electron emission part 3 Thin film 4, 5 element electrode 21 Step forming member 50 Ammeter for measuring element current If 51 Power supply 52 Ammeter for measuring emission current Ie 53 High voltage power supply 54 Anode electrode 55 Vacuum device 56 Exhaust pump 102 X-directional wiring (lower wiring) 103 Y-directional wiring (upper wiring) 104 Surface conduction electron-emitting device 105 connection 111 rear plate 112 support frame 113 glass substrate 114 fluorescent film 115 metal back 116 face plate 118 envelope 121 Black conductive material 122 Phosphor 201 Display panel 202 Scanning circuit 203 Control circuit 204 Shift register 205 Line memory 206 Synchronous signal separation circuit 207 Modulation signal generator 301 Display panel 302 Grid electrode 303 Opening 304 Common wiring 401 Charge storage 402 power supply 403,404 changeover switch 501 changeover switch 502,503 capacitance component 504 electron 505,506 electrode 16100 display panel 16101 drive circuit 16102 display controller 16103 multiplexer 16104 decoder 16105 input / output interface circuit 16106 CPU 16107 image generation circuit 16108 image memory interface circuit 16109 Image memory interface circuit 16110 Image memory interface circuit 16111 Image input interface circuit 16112 TV signal receiving circuit 16113 TV signal receiving circuit 16114 Input section

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masato Yamanobe 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-4-28139 (JP, A) JP-A-7 −176265 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H01J 9 / 02,1 / 30

Claims (24)

(57) [Claims] 1. A step of forming a pair of device electrodes on a substrate and forming a conductive thin film communicating between the device electrodes, and a process in which a dielectric is interposed between electrodes separate from the device electrodes. A forming step of forming an electron-emitting portion in the conductive thin film by discharging the charge accumulator. 2. A method for manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to claim 1, further comprising the step of forming an electrode at a position facing the front and back of a surplus portion of the dielectric substrate to form a charge storage body. . 3. The surface conduction electron-emitting device according to claim 1, further comprising a step of forming electrodes facing each other with a dielectric therebetween on a surplus portion of the substrate to form a charge storage body. Production method. 4. In a forming step, one of the device electrodes of the surface conduction electron-emitting device and one of the electrodes of the charge accumulator are grounded, and both device electrodes are electrically connected via a conductive thin film.
4. The surface conduction type electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein after charging the charge accumulator in the first state , the other device electrode is connected to the other electrode of the charge accumulator. Production method. 5. In a forming step, one device electrode of the surface conduction electron-emitting device and one electrode of the charge accumulator are connected to each other, and both device electrodes are connected to each other via a conductive thin film.
After charging the charge storage body at the potential , the other
4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device electrode is grounded.
A method of manufacturing any of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices. After wherein the forming step, claims 1 to 5 or of the surface conduction characterized by having a stabilizing step of applying a voltage to the surface conduction electron-emitting device under high vacuum than the forming process A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device. After 7. forming process, claims 1, characterized in that it has an activation step of applying a voltage to the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the presence of an organic substance 5 either surface conduction electron-emitting Device manufacturing method. 8. The surface conduction method according to claim 7 , further comprising, after the activation step, a stabilization step of applying a voltage to the surface conduction electron-emitting device under a higher degree of vacuum than the forming step and the activation step. Manufacturing method of an electron-emitting device. 9. planar to form an element electrode on the same plane
The method for manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein 10. An insulation provided adjacent to one element electrode.
The other element electrode is position on the layer, containing the side surface of the insulating layer
The process according to claim 1 to 7 or of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, characterized in <br/> be vertical to form a conductive thin film to contact between hand electrodes. 11. A method for manufacturing an electron source having a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices, comprising: forming a plurality of pairs of device electrodes on a substrate; and forming a conductive thin film communicating between each pair of device electrodes. Forming an electron-emitting portion in each conductive thin film by discharging a charge accumulator formed by sandwiching a dielectric between electrodes separate from the device electrode. Source manufacturing method. 12. The method of manufacturing an electron source according to claim 11, further comprising a step of forming a charge storage body by forming an electrode at a position opposite to the front and back of a surplus portion of the dielectric substrate. 13. The method of manufacturing an electron source according to claim 11, further comprising a step of forming a charge storage body by forming electrodes facing each other with a dielectric on an excess portion of the substrate. 14. In the forming step, all of one of the device electrodes of the selected plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices and one of the electrodes of the charge accumulator are grounded, and each of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices is grounded.
The potential of both device electrodes of the electron-emitting device is
14. The method for manufacturing an electron source according to claim 11, wherein after charging the charge accumulator in the following condition, all the other element electrodes are connected to the other electrode of the charge accumulator. 15. In the forming step, the selected
Of the device electrodes of a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices
One electrode of the hand and the charge storage element and connected to each other, each surface Den
Both device electrodes of a conduction electron-emitting device are the same via a conductive thin film.
After charging the charge storage body at the potential, the other
12. The device according to claim 11, wherein all of the device electrodes are grounded.
13. A method for manufacturing an electron source according to any one of Items 13 to 13. After 16. forming process, of claims 11 to 15 or the electron source, characterized in that it has a stabilizing step of applying a voltage to the surface conduction electron-emitting device under high vacuum than the forming process Production method. After 17. forming step, to claims 11, characterized in that it has an activation step of applying a voltage to the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the presence of an organic substance 15
Manufacturing method of any of the electron sources. 18. The electron source according to claim 17 , further comprising, after the activation step, a stabilizing step of applying a voltage to the surface conduction electron-emitting device under a higher degree of vacuum than the forming step and the activation step. Manufacturing method. 19. The device electrodes of each surface conduction electron-emitting devices
It was formed on the same plane, to claims 11, characterized in that each surface conduction electron-emitting devices and flat <br/> surface mold 18 Izu
Manufacturing method of these electron sources. 20. One element of each surface conduction electron-emitting device
The other element electrode is positioned on an insulating layer provided adjacent to the element electrode, and a conductive thin film that connects between the element electrodes is formed on a side surface of the insulating layer. to the element and the vertical
Claims 11 to 18 method of any one electrostatic <br/> child source, characterized in that that. 21. At least one element row in which a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged is formed, and wiring for driving each surface conduction electron-emitting element is arranged in a matrix. 21. The method for manufacturing an electron source according to claim 11, wherein: 22. The plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices arrayed was element row formed of at least one row or more, and this <br/> the wiring for driving the surface conduction electron-emitting devices arranged ladder 21. The electron source according to claim 11, wherein:
Manufacturing method . 23. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, comprising: combining the electron source manufactured by the manufacturing method according to claim 21 with an image forming member that forms an image by irradiating an electron beam from the electron source. 24. An electron source manufactured by the manufacturing method according to claim 22, modulation means for modulating an electron beam emitted from the electron source according to an information signal, and image formation by irradiation of the electron beam from the electron source. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, comprising: combining an image forming member for forming an image.