JP2961486B2 - Electron emitting element, 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 an electron-emitting device ,
The present invention relates to an electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices and a method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus such as a display device using the electron source .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, two types of electron emitting devices, a thermionic electron source and a cold cathode electron source, are known. The cold cathode electron sources include a field emission type, a metal / insulating layer / metal type, and a surface conduction type electron emission element (hereinafter referred to as SCE).

[0003] The SCE utilizes the phenomenon that electron emission occurs when a current flows in a small area thin film formed on a substrate in parallel with the film surface. As a typical configuration, a pair of device electrodes is provided on an insulating substrate, and a thin film of a metal oxide or the like (hereinafter, referred to as “electron emission portion forming thin film”) is formed so as to connect the electrodes. The electron-emitting portion is formed by locally breaking the thin film in advance by an energizing process called forming, and the thin film before and after the forming is basically formed of a fine particle film. Hereinafter, a thin film for forming an electron emitting portion including an electron emitting portion formed by forming is referred to as a thin film including an electron emitting portion.

The SCE is a non-linear element in which the emission current increases sharply when an element voltage higher than a certain voltage (threshold voltage) is applied, while the emission current is hardly detected below the threshold voltage. The emission current of the SCE can be controlled by the device voltage, and the emission charge can be controlled by the application time of the device voltage. Further, various display devices are configured by combining an electron source having a plurality of SCEs arranged therein and a phosphor that emits visible light by electrons emitted from the electron source. However, since it is a self-luminous display device that can be manufactured relatively easily and has excellent display quality, it is expected as an image forming device replacing a CRT.

The material of the thin film for forming the electron-emitting portion is not limited to metal oxide, but includes metal and carbon.
Many things are available. Among these, a method of forming a metal oxide film by forming an organometallic thin film and then heating and sintering it in the air to form a metal oxide film is a production method using a metal oxide in comparison with other thin film formation techniques. Research is being promoted because of the great advantages of the technology.

Here, an example of a method in which an organic metal complex is applied to form an organic metal thin film and then heated and fired is taken as an example, and a conventional method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device has been outlined with reference to FIG. I do. The following steps a to k correspond to (a) to (k) in FIG.

Step a: Device electrodes 5 on insulating substrate 1
6 is formed.

Step b: A film of Cr or the like is formed on the entire surface.

Step c: A resist is applied thereon.

Step d: Exposure is performed using a photomask having a pattern of a thin film for forming an electron-emitting portion.

Step e: The resist is developed.

Step f: A portion of the resist-free portion of Cr is removed by etching with an acid etchant.

Step g: The resist is removed using an organic solvent.

Step h: An organometallic solution is applied by a method such as a spinner to form an organometallic thin film 7.

Step i: A heating and baking treatment is performed in a furnace at 300 ° C. for about 10 minutes to turn the organometallic thin film 7 into a metal oxide.

Step j: The remaining Cr film is lifted off to form a thin film 2 for forming an electron emission portion having a desired pattern.

Step k: The electron-emitting portion 3 is formed by the forming.

[0018]

However, the conventional manufacturing method has the following problems.

That is, since the entire surface of the organic metal thin film is heated and baked, it is necessary to perform patterning using a technique such as photolithography or dry etching. For this reason,
In particular, when a large number of elements are two-dimensionally arranged and formed over a large area, there are difficulties such as an increase in the size of an optical device used for photolithography and an increase in the size of a vacuum device in dry etching.

Further, photolithography uses a large amount of resist and solvent, which is not preferable in terms of cost and environment.

When a plurality of electron-emitting devices are used as an electron source for a high-definition display device or the like, it is important to reduce the failure rate of each element and increase the yield. In order to reduce the number, it is expected that the device can be manufactured with fewer steps.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel manufacturing method with a small number of steps in an electron-emitting device having a thin film including an electron-emitting portion and an image forming apparatus using the same.

[0023]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device having a thin film including an opposing electrode and an electron-emitting portion extending over the electrode. In the step of forming a thin film including the electron emitting portion, the step of forming an organometallic thin film, the step of patterning the organometallic thin film, including the step of forming an electron emitting portion in the patterned thin film, The step of patterning the organic metal thin film includes a step of heating and firing by contacting or approaching a high-temperature plate to a predetermined area of the organic metal thin film, and a step of removing organic metal in a non-fired area. In the method of manufacturing the electron-emitting device,

An electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices having a thin film including an electron-emitting portion extending between opposing electrodes.
In the method of manufacturing, the step of forming a thin film including an electron emitting portion of the plurality of electron-emitting devices, forming an organic metal thin film, a step of patterning the organic metal thin film, electrons in thin films the patterned Forming an emission portion, wherein the step of patterning the organometallic thin film comprises: heating the contacting or approaching a high-temperature plate to a predetermined area of the organometallic thin film; and removing the organometallic in the non-fired area. A method for manufacturing an electron source , characterized by having a step of:

Furthermore, electron emission straddling between the opposing electrodes
A plurality of electron-emitting devices having a thin film including
An image is formed by irradiating an electron beam emitted from the
Manufacturing method of an image forming apparatus having an image forming member
And a thin film including an electron-emitting portion of the plurality of electron-emitting devices.
Forming a metalorganic thin film,
Patterning an organic metal thin film;
Forming an electron emitting portion on the thin film,
Patterning the organic metal thin film,
Bring the hot plate into contact with or close to a given area of the membrane
Heating and firing, and removing the organic metal in the non-fired area.
Of an image forming apparatus, comprising:
In the way .

The basic structure of the electron-emitting device according to the present invention is as shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, 1 is an insulating substrate, 5 and 6 are electrodes (device electrodes), and 4 is an electron-emitting device. The thin film 3 including the portion is an electron emitting portion. Further, the element according to the present invention may have a configuration in which the vertical relationship between the electrode and the thin film is reversed as shown in FIG.

The manufacturing method of the present invention will be described below with reference to the manufacturing process diagram of FIG. 2 using the element shown in FIG. 1 as an example. The following steps a to e correspond to (a) to (e) of FIG.

Step a: After sufficiently washing the insulating substrate 1 with a detergent, pure water and an organic solvent, the device electrodes 5 are formed on the insulating substrate 1 by a vacuum deposition technique and a photolithography technique.
6 is formed. The material of the device electrode may be any material as long as it has conductivity,
For example, Ni, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, C
Metals or alloys such as u and Pd can be used.

Step b: An organometallic solution is applied over the entire surface of the insulating substrate on which the device electrodes 5 and 6 have been formed and left to form an organometallic thin film 7. The organic metal solution is Pd, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, In, Cu, C
This is a solution of an organic compound containing r, Fe, Zn, Sn, Ta, W, Pb and the like as a central metal. The organic metal thin film is thermally decomposed at a certain temperature when heated, and becomes a metal oxide film when the temperature is further increased.

Step c: The high temperature plate 8 having the pattern shape of the electron emission portion forming thin film is brought into contact with (or close to) the organic metal thin film 7, and the organic metal thin film 7 is partially heated and baked. The condition of this heating and baking treatment is that the temperature of the organometallic thin film rises to the oxidation temperature of the central metal or more,
After the treatment, a fine particle film mainly composed of the central metal and its oxide is obtained.

If the above conditions are satisfied, the temperature of the high-temperature plate 8 during the firing, the firing time, the contact pressure between the high-temperature plate 8 and the organic metal thin film 7, and the like are not particularly limited. For example,
In order to bake an organic metal thin film having Pd as a central metal, the temperature of the thin film needs to be 250 ° C. or higher. In order to satisfy this condition, for example, a high-temperature plate at 350 ° C. may be contacted with a contact pressure of 10 mg / cm ² for several seconds.

As long as the material of the high-temperature plate 8 can withstand the temperature, a material having a large heat capacity is desirable so that the temperature does not change extremely by heating the organic metal thin film. In addition, the shape of the high-temperature plate, that is, the pattern shape of the thin film for forming the electron-emitting portion can be any shape, for example, 500 μm × 300 μm.

The contact (proximity) surface of the high-temperature plate with the organometallic thin film is, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, (a) a plate-like object, (b) a net-like object, and (c) an end surface of a firing region. And a frame-shaped object that allows only the contact.

When a plurality of elements are simultaneously or sequentially formed on a substrate, for example, a method using a high-temperature plate having a plurality of contact (proximity) surfaces as shown in FIG. 13 or a method as shown in FIG. In this method, a single hot plate is used to move the substrate relatively, or as shown in FIG. 15, a hot plate having a contact (proximity) surface on a roller is rotated to relatively move the substrate. A plurality of regions can be baked by the method of moving to the above.

Step d: The organic metal in the non-fired portion is removed by a method such as washing away with an organic solvent, and the thin film 2 for forming an electron emitting portion having a desired pattern shape is formed.

Step e: A voltage is applied between the device electrodes 5 and 6 by a power supply (not shown) to perform an energization process referred to as the above-described forming. The part 3 is formed. The present inventors have confirmed that the electron-emitting portion 3 formed in this way is made of metal fine particles.

The electron-emitting device obtained through the above steps emits electrons from the electron-emitting portion 3 by applying a voltage to the thin film 4 including the electron-emitting portion and causing a current to flow through the device surface.

According to the method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device of the present invention described above, the number of steps is greatly reduced as compared with the conventional manufacturing method described with reference to the manufacturing process diagram of FIG.

That is, while the step of forming the electron-emitting-portion-forming thin film 2 having a desired pattern shape using the organometallic thin film conventionally required steps b to j in FIG. Only the steps b to d in FIG. 2 are performed.

Further, in the present invention, since techniques such as photolithography and dry etching are not required for patterning the thin film for forming the electron-emitting portion, the cost can be greatly reduced, and the amount of solvent used is reduced. To be reduced,
It is also preferable in terms of environment.

Next, a method for evaluating an electron-emitting device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a measurement evaluation device for measuring the electron emission characteristics of the device having the configuration shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, 1 is an insulating substrate, 5 and 6 are device electrodes, 4 is a thin film including an electron emitting portion, and 3 is an electron emitting portion. Reference numeral 41 denotes a power supply for applying a device voltage Vf to the device; 40, an ammeter for measuring a device current If flowing through the thin film 4 including an electron-emitting portion between the device electrodes 5 and 6;
44 is an anode electrode for capturing the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission portion of the device, 43 is an anode electrode 44
Is a high-voltage power supply for applying a voltage to the device, and 42 is an ammeter for measuring an emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission section 3 of the device. In measuring the device current If and the emission current Ie of the electron-emitting device, the power supply 41 is connected to the device electrodes 5 and 6.
And an ammeter 40, and an anode 44 connected to a power supply 43 and an ammeter 42 is disposed above the electron-emitting device. In addition, the present electron-emitting device and the anode electrode 44
Is installed in a vacuum apparatus so that measurement and evaluation of the element can be performed under a desired vacuum.

The voltage of the anode electrode ranges from 1 kV to 10 kV.
kV, the distance H between the anode electrode and the electron-emitting device is 3 mm
Measure in the range of ８8 mm.

FIG. 5 shows a typical example of the relationship between the emission current Ie, the device current If, and the device voltage Vf measured by the measurement and evaluation apparatus shown in FIG. Note that FIG. 5 is shown in arbitrary units, and the emission current Ie is approximately 1% of the device current If.
It is about one thousandth.

Next, an image forming apparatus using a substrate on which a plurality of the above-described electron-emitting devices are mounted as an electron source will be described.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an example of an electron source in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices according to an embodiment of the present invention are formed by simple matrix wiring. Reference numeral 71 denotes an insulating substrate made of a glass substrate or the like. The size and thickness are determined by the number of electron-emitting devices provided on the insulating substrate 71 and the design shape of each device, and when forming a part of the container when the electron source is used, the container is evacuated. Is set as appropriate depending on conditions for holding the data.

The m X-direction wirings 72 are DX 1, DX
2, ... DX m on the insulating substrate 71
Formed by vapor deposition, printing, sputtering, etc.
Made of conductive metal, etc.
Material, film thickness,
The wiring width is set. The Y direction wiring 73 is DX 1, D
X 2, ... DX n wirings in the X direction
Similarly to 72, it is formed by vacuum deposition, printing, sputtering, etc.
Made of conductive metal, etc.
Voltage is supplied to as many electron-emitting devices as possible
Thus, the material, film thickness, and wiring width are set. These m
An unillustrated space between the X-directional wiring 72 and the n Y-directional wirings 73
Matrix wiring is electrically separated by interlayer insulation layers.
Constitute. Note that m and n are both positive integers. Unfortunate
The interlayer insulating layer shown is a vacuum evaporation method, printing method, sputtering method
Formed by SiO etc._TwoAnd so on.

Further, device electrodes (not shown) facing the electron-emitting devices 74 are formed on the m X-directional wires 72 and the n Y-directional wires 73 by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. Are electrically connected by a connection 75 made of a conductive metal or the like.

The plurality of electron-emitting devices 74 are formed by the above-described manufacturing method of the present invention, and a plurality of thin films for forming an electron-emitting portion having a desired pattern are formed on the insulating substrate 71 simultaneously or continuously. It was done.

The X-direction wiring 72 is electrically connected to scanning signal generating means (not shown) for applying a scanning signal for arbitrarily scanning a row of the electron-emitting devices 74 arranged in the X-direction. Have been.

On the other hand, the Y direction wiring 73 is electrically connected to a modulation signal generating means (not shown) for applying a modulation signal for arbitrarily modulating each column of the electron emitting elements 74 arranged in the Y direction. Have been.

Further, the drive voltage applied to each electron-emitting device is supplied as a difference voltage between a scanning signal and a modulation signal applied to the device. In the electron source of the above example, a large number of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a simple MTX shape. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a plurality of electron sources are arranged between wirings arranged in parallel with a ladder. It may be provided in a shape.

An image forming apparatus using a plurality of electron sources (simple MTX arrangement as an example) manufactured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a basic configuration diagram of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 9 is a pattern of a fluorescent film used in the image forming apparatus. Reference numeral 81 denotes an unformed electron source for which an electron-emitting device is manufactured as described above, reference numeral 82 denotes a rear plate to which the electron source 81 is fixed, and reference numeral 90 denotes a glass substrate 8.
7, a face plate on which a fluorescent film 88 and a metal back 89 are formed, and 83 is a support frame. The rear plate 82 and the face plate 90 are sealed with frit glass or the like to form an envelope 91. .

The envelope 91 is composed of the face plate 90, the support frame 83 and the rear plate 82 as described above.
Since the rear plate 82 is provided mainly for the purpose of reinforcing the strength of the electron source 81, if the electron source 81 itself has sufficient strength, the separate rear plate 82 is unnecessary, and the support frame is directly attached to the electron source 81. 83 and the face plate 9
0, the support frame 83 and the electron source 81 may constitute the envelope 91.

The fluorescent film 88 is composed of only a phosphor in the case of monochrome, but is a black conductive material called a black stripe or a black matrix depending on the arrangement of the phosphor as shown in FIG. 9 in the case of a color fluorescent film. 9
2 and a phosphor 93. Black stripe,
The purpose of providing the black matrix is to make the mixed colors inconspicuous by making the painted portions between the phosphors 93 of the three primary color phosphors required for color display black.
The purpose is to suppress a decrease in contrast due to reflection of external light on the fluorescent film 88. As a material for the black stripe, not only a material mainly containing graphite, which is often used, but also a material having conductivity and low transmission and reflection of light can be applied.

The method of applying the phosphor on the glass substrate 87 is not limited to monochrome or color, but a precipitation method or a printing method is used.

A metal back 89 is usually provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 88. The purpose of the metal back is to improve the brightness by specularly reflecting the light toward the inner surface side of the fluorescent light of the phosphor toward the face plate 90, to act as an electrode for applying an electron beam acceleration voltage, This is to protect the phosphor from damage due to collision of negative ions generated in the enclosure. The metal back can be produced by performing a smoothing process (usually called filming) on the inner surface of the phosphor film after producing the phosphor film, and then depositing Al by vacuum deposition or the like. The face plate 90 has a fluorescent film 88 to further enhance the conductivity of the fluorescent film 88.
May be provided with a transparent electrode (not shown) on the outer surface side.

At the time of performing the above-mentioned sealing, in the case of color, since the phosphors of each color must correspond to the electron-emitting devices, it is necessary to perform sufficient alignment.

The envelope 91 communicates with an exhaust pipe (not shown),
The degree of vacuum is reduced to about 0 to the sixth power [Torr], and the envelope 91 is sealed.

The external terminals Dox1 to Doxm
Then, a voltage is applied between the opposing device electrodes through Doy1 to Doyn, the above-described forming is performed, and an electron-emitting portion is formed to manufacture the electron-emitting device 74. In addition, getter processing may be performed to maintain the degree of vacuum of the envelope 91 after sealing. This is because the getter disposed at a predetermined position (not shown) in the envelope 91 is heated by resistance heating or high-frequency heating or the like immediately before or after the envelope 91 is sealed, and the vapor deposition film is formed. Is a process of forming The getter usually contains Ba as a main component, and maintains a vacuum degree of, for example, 1 × 10 −5 or 1 × 10 −7 [Torr] by the adsorption action of the deposited film.

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention completed as described above, each of the electron-emitting devices emits electrons by applying a voltage through the external terminals Dox1 to Doxm and Doy1 to Doyn, thereby causing high-voltage emission. A high voltage of several kV or more is applied to the metal back 89 or a transparent electrode (not shown) through the terminal Hv to accelerate the electron beam, collide with the fluorescent film 88, and excite and emit light to display an image. is there.

The configuration described above is a schematic configuration necessary for producing a suitable image forming apparatus used for image display and the like. For example, the detailed portions such as the materials of the respective members are limited to those described above. Instead, it is appropriately selected so as to be suitable for the use of the image forming apparatus.

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

[0064]

The present invention will be described below with reference to examples.

Example 1 As the electron-emitting device of this example, an electron-emitting device of the type shown in FIG. 1 was manufactured. FIG. 1A is a plan view of the device, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view. Note that L in FIG.
1 is the distance between the device electrodes 5 and 6, W1 is the width of the device electrode, d
Represents the thickness of the device electrode, L2 represents the length of the thin film 4 including the electron emitting portion, and W2 represents the width of the thin film 4 including the electron emitting portion.

A method for manufacturing the electron-emitting device of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The following steps a to e correspond to (a) to (e) of FIG.

Step a: A quartz substrate was used as the insulating substrate 1 and this was sufficiently washed with an organic solvent, and then device electrodes 5 and 6 made of Ni were formed on the surface of the substrate 1. At this time,
The element electrode interval L1 is 2 μm, and the element electrode width W1 is 5 μm.
00 μm, and the thickness d was 500 °.

Step b: Organic palladium (Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.)
Co., Ltd., ccp-4230) -containing solution was applied to form an organic palladium thin film 7.

Step c: A flat plate-shaped high-temperature plate 8 heated to 350 ° C. was contacted for 10 seconds at a contact pressure of 10 mg / cm ² . The shape of the contact surface of the hot plate 8 used is 30
It is 0 μm × 500 μm.

The position of the fired part is such that the fired part has a width W of the device electrode.
1 and straddling between the electrodes.

By this heat treatment, palladium oxide (P
dO) It was confirmed that a fine particle film composed of fine particles (average particle size: 70 °) was formed.

Step d: The organic palladium in the non-heated portion was removed with an organic solvent, and the thin film 2 for forming an electron-emitting portion was patterned.

The thin film 2 for forming the electron-emitting portion has W2 = 30.
Confirm that the desired shape is 0 μm, L2 = 500 μm
did. The thin film 2 has a thickness of 100 ° and a sheet resistance.
Is 5 × 10^Four Ω / □.

Step e: A voltage was applied between the device electrodes 5 and 6, and the electron emitting portion 3 was formed by applying a current to the electron emitting portion forming thin film 2 (forming process). FIG. 3 shows a voltage waveform used in the forming process.

In FIG. 3, T ₁ and T ₂ are the pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform. In this embodiment, T ₁ is 1 millisecond, T ₂
Was set to 10 milliseconds, the peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage during forming) was set to 5 V, and the forming process was performed for 60 seconds in a vacuum atmosphere of about 10 −6 Torr. In the electron-emitting portion 3 thus prepared, fine particles mainly composed of palladium element were dispersed and arranged, and the average particle diameter of the fine particles was 30 °.

The electron emission characteristics of the electron-emitting device manufactured as described above were measured using the measurement and evaluation apparatus shown in FIG.

The measurement conditions were as follows: the distance H between the anode electrode 44 and the electron-emitting device was 4 mm, and the potential of the anode electrode was 1
kV, the degree of vacuum in the vacuum device at the time of measuring the electron emission characteristics is about 1
0 minus 6th power Torr. As a result, in the device of this example, current-voltage characteristics as shown in FIG. 6 were obtained. In this device, the emission current Ie rapidly increases from a device voltage of about 8 V, and the device current If becomes 2.2 at a device voltage of 14 V.
mA, the emission current Ie was 1.1 μA, and the electron emission efficiency η = Ie / If (%) was 0.05%.

Example 2 As the electron-emitting device of this example, an electron-emitting device of the type shown in FIG. 16 was manufactured. FIG. 16A is a plan view of the device, and FIG. 16B is a cross-sectional view. In the drawing, L1 is the distance between the device electrodes 5 and 6, W1 is the width of the device electrode, d is the thickness of the device electrode, L2 is the length of the thin film 4 including the electron emitting portion, and W2 is the electron emitting portion. 5 shows the width of the thin film 4 including the thin film.

A method for manufacturing the electron-emitting device of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the following steps a to f correspond to (a) to (f) of FIG.

Step a: A quartz substrate was used as the insulating substrate 1, and after thoroughly washing the substrate with an organic solvent, organic palladium (ccp-42, manufactured by Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) was placed on the surface of the substrate.
30) The containing solution was applied with a spinner to form an organic palladium thin film 7.

Steps b and c: A plate-like high-temperature plate 8 heated to 300 ° C. was contacted for 10 seconds at a contact pressure of 10 mg / cm ² . The shape of the contact surface of the hot plate 8 used is 30
It is 0 μm × 500 μm.

The position of the fired portion was set so as to enter the width W1 of the device electrode formed later by the fired portion and to straddle between the electrodes.

By this heat treatment, palladium oxide (P
dO) It was confirmed that a fine particle film composed of fine particles (average particle size: 70 °) was formed.

Step d: The organic palladium in the non-heated portion was removed with an organic solvent, and a pattern was formed on the thin film 2 for forming an electron-emitting portion.

The thin film 2 for forming an electron emission portion has a thickness W2 = 30.
It was confirmed that it had a desired shape of 0 μm and L2 = 500 μm. The thin film 2 had a thickness of 100 ° and a sheet resistance of 5 × 10 ⁴ Ω / □.

Step e: Device electrodes 5 and 6 made of Ni were formed. At this time, the element electrode interval L1 was 2 μm, the element electrode width W1 was 500 μm, and its thickness d was 500 °.

Step f: The same energization process (forming process) as in Example 1 was performed to form the electron-emitting portion 3.

The electron-emitting portion 3 thus created
Was in a state where fine particles mainly composed of palladium element were dispersed and arranged, and the average particle diameter of the fine particles was 30 °.

The device current If and the emission current Ie of the electron-emitting device manufactured as described above were measured using the same measurement and evaluation apparatus as in Example 1. Its characteristics are shown in Example 1.
The same tendency was shown. In the device of this embodiment, the device current If becomes 2.2 mA and the emission current Ie becomes 1.1 μA at the device voltage of 14 V, and the electron emission efficiency η = Ie / If (%).
Was 0.05%.

Example 3 An electron-emitting device was manufactured in exactly the same manner as in Example 2 except that the following method was used in Step b of Example 2.

After the step a in the second embodiment, as a heating and baking treatment in the steps b and c, a flat plate-like high-temperature plate 8 at 700 ° C. is brought into contact with the thin film 7 for 1 minute without being in contact with the thin film 7. The method was used. Under these conditions, the organic palladium thin film is heated up to about 300 ° C.

Thereafter, an electron-emitting device was obtained in the same manner as in steps d to f of Example 2. The device of this example exhibited the same characteristics as the device of Example 2. In addition, the thin film 2 for forming an electron emission portion
Had a thickness of 100 ° and a sheet resistance of 5 × 10 ⁴ Ω / □.

Embodiment 4 In this embodiment, an image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. 8 was manufactured using an electron source as shown in FIG. 7 having a large number of electron-emitting devices arranged in a matrix. An example will be described. FIG. 18 shows a plan view of a part of the electron source. FIG. 19 is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ in the figure. However, in FIGS. 7, 18 and 19,
The components denoted by the same reference numerals indicate the same components. Where 7
1 is a substrate, 72 is an X-direction wiring (also called lower wiring), 73
Is a Y-direction wiring (also referred to as an upper wiring), 4 is a thin film including an electron-emitting portion, 5 and 6 are device electrodes, 194 is an interlayer insulating layer, 19
Reference numeral 5 denotes a contact hole for electrical connection between the element electrode 5 and the lower wiring 72.

First, a method of manufacturing an electron source will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. In addition, the following steps a to h
Corresponds to (a) to (h) of FIG.

Step a: A 50 ° Cr-thickness, 60 mm-thickness film is formed on a substrate 1 made of cleaned blue glass by vacuum evaporation.
After successively laminating Au of 00 °, the photoresist (AZ
1370 Hoechst) by spinner,
After baking, the photomask image is exposed and developed to form a resist pattern of the lower wiring 72, and the Au / Cr deposited film is wet-etched to form the lower wiring 72 of a desired shape.

Step b: Next, an interlayer insulating layer 194 made of a silicon oxide film having a thickness of 0.1 μm is deposited by RF sputtering.

Step c: A photoresist pattern for forming a contact hole 195 is formed in the silicon oxide film deposited in the step b.
The contact hole 195 is formed by etching 94. Etching was performed using CF ₄ and H ₂ gas (React
iv Ion Etching) method.

Step d: Thereafter, a pattern to be a gap between the device electrodes and the device electrode is formed by photoresist (RD-2).
000N-41 manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.), and a Ti film having a thickness of 50 ° and a Ni film having a thickness of 1000 ° were sequentially deposited by a vacuum evaporation method. Dissolve the photoresist pattern with an organic solvent,
The Ni / Ti deposited film was lifted off to form device electrodes 5 and 6 having a device electrode interval L1 of 3 μm and a device electrode width W1 of 300 μm.

Step e: Upper wiring 73 on device electrodes 5 and 6
After a photoresist pattern of No. 5 was formed, Ti with a thickness of 50 ° and Au with a thickness of 5000 ° were sequentially deposited by vacuum evaporation, and unnecessary portions were removed by lift-off to form an upper wiring 73 having a desired shape.

Step f: A solution containing organic palladium (ccp-4230, Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) was applied thereon to form an organic palladium thin film 7.

Step g: Next, as shown in FIG. 13, a high-temperature plate 8 having a plurality of contact surfaces having a pattern of a thin film for forming an electron emission portion is heated to 350 ° C.
The contact was performed at 10 mg / cm ² for 10 seconds. Subsequently, the non-fired portion of the organic palladium thin film 7 is removed with an organic solvent,
The thin film 2 for forming an electron emission portion was obtained.

Step h: A resist is applied to the entire surface, developed after exposure using a mask, and the resist is removed only in the contact hole 195. Thereafter, Ti with a thickness of 50 ° and Au with a thickness of 5000 ° were sequentially deposited by vacuum evaporation.
Unnecessary portions were removed by lift-off to bury the contact holes 195.

Through the above steps, the lower wiring 72, the interlayer insulating layer 194, the upper wiring 73, the element electrode 5,
6. The thin film 2 and the like for forming an electron emission portion were formed.

An example in which a display device is formed by using the unformed electron source manufactured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, after the unformed electron source 81 is fixed to the rear plate 82, the face plate 90 (the fluorescent film 88 which is an image forming member and the metal Back 8
9 are formed. ) Is disposed via the support frame 83, frit glass is applied to the joint between the face plate 90, the support frame 83, and the rear plate 82, and the frit glass is applied in the atmosphere.
Sealing was performed by baking at 0 ° C. to 500 ° C. for 10 minutes or more (see FIG. 8). Also, the electron source 81 to the rear plate 82
Was also fixed with frit glass.

The fluorescent film 88 serving as an image forming member
Is made of only a phosphor in the case of monochrome, but in the present embodiment, the phosphor was employed in a stripe shape (see FIG. 9), and a phosphor film 88 was produced. As a material for the black stripe, a material mainly containing graphite, which is commonly used, was used. A slurry method was used as a method of applying the phosphor on the glass substrate 87.

The metal back 89 provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 88 is subjected to a smoothing process (usually called filming) of the inner surface of the fluorescent film after the fluorescent film is formed.
Thereafter, Al was produced by vacuum evaporation. In the face plate 90, a transparent electrode may be provided on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 88 in order to further increase the conductivity of the fluorescent film 88. However, in this embodiment, sufficient conductivity can be obtained only by the metal back. Omitted. At the time of performing the above-mentioned sealing, in the case of color, since the phosphors of each color must correspond to the electron-emitting devices, sufficient alignment was performed.

The atmosphere in the glass container completed as described above is evacuated by a vacuum pump through an exhaust pipe (not shown) to reach a sufficient degree of vacuum, and then through the external terminals Dox1 to Doxm and Doy1 to Doyn. A voltage was applied between the device electrodes in the manner described in Example 1, and the above-described energization process (forming process) was performed to form an electron-emitting portion to manufacture an electron-emitting device.

Next, at a degree of vacuum of about 10 ⁻⁶ Torr, an exhaust pipe (not shown) is welded by heating with a gas burner to form an envelope 9.
The sealing of No. 1 was performed.

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

In the image display device completed as described above, a scanning signal and a modulation signal are applied to each electron-emitting device through signal terminals (not shown) through terminals outside the container Dox1 to Doxm and Doy1 to Doyn. Thereby, electrons were emitted, a high voltage of several kV or more was applied to the metal back 89 through the high voltage terminal Hv, and the electron beam was accelerated to collide with the fluorescent film 88 to excite and emit light, thereby displaying an image.

Embodiment 5 FIG. 10 shows a configuration in which image information provided from various image information sources such as a television broadcast can be displayed on the display device (display panel) manufactured in Embodiment 4. It is a figure for showing an example of an image display device. In the figure, 100 is a display panel, 101 is a display panel driving circuit, 102 is a display controller, 103 is a multiplexer, 104 is a decoder,
105 is an input / output interface circuit, 106 is a CP
U and 107 are image generation circuits, 108, 109 and 110
Is an image memory interface circuit, 111 is an image input interface circuit, 112 and 113 are TV signal receiving circuits, and 114 is an input unit. (In addition, this display device,
For example, when receiving a signal including both video information and audio information, such as a television signal, the audio is reproduced simultaneously with the display of the video, but the audio information is not directly related to the features of the present invention. Descriptions of circuits, speakers, and the like relating to reception, separation, reproduction, processing, storage, and the like are omitted. )

Hereinafter, each part will be described along the flow of the image signal.

First, the TV signal receiving circuit 113 is a circuit for receiving a TV image 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, and may be, for example, various systems such as the NTSC system, the PAL system, and the SECAM system. Further, a TV signal (for example, a so-called high-definition TV including the MUSE system) composed of a larger number of scanning lines than the above is suitable for taking advantage of the display panel suitable for a large area and a large number of pixels. Signal source. TV received by the TV signal receiving circuit 113
The signal is output to the decoder 104.

The image TV signal receiving circuit 112 is a circuit for receiving a TV image signal transmitted using a wired transmission system such as a coaxial cable or an optical fiber. As with the TV signal receiving circuit 113, the type of the TV signal to be received is not particularly limited, and the TV signal received by this circuit is also output to the decoder 104.

The image input interface circuit 11
Reference numeral 1 denotes a circuit for capturing an image signal supplied from an image input device such as a TV camera or an image reading scanner, and the captured image signal is output to the decoder 104.

The image memory interface circuit 1
10 is a video tape recorder (hereinafter abbreviated as VTR)
Is a circuit for taking in the image signal stored in the decoder 104. The taken image signal is output to the decoder 104.

The image memory interface circuit 1
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 104.

The image memory interface circuit 108 is a circuit for taking in an image signal from a device storing still image data, such as a so-called still image disk.
4 is output.

The input / output interface circuit 105
Is a circuit for connecting the present display device to an output device such as an external computer, a computer network, or 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 106 provided in the display device and the outside in some cases.

The image generation circuit 107 is provided with image data, character / graphic information input from the outside via the input / output interface circuit 105, or the CPU 106.
This is a circuit for generating display image data based on the image data and character / graphic information output from the display unit. 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 circuit necessary for generating an image such as a processor for performing image processing is incorporated therein.

The display image data generated by this circuit is output to the decoder 104. In some cases, the display image data can be output to an external computer network or printer via the input / output interface circuit 105.

The CPU 106 mainly performs operations related to operation control of the display device and generation, selection, and editing of a display image.

For example, a control signal is output to the multiplexer 103, 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 102 in accordance with the image signal to be displayed, and the display frequency, the scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced), the number of scanning lines on one screen, and the like are displayed. The operation of the device is appropriately controlled.

Further, image data, character / graphic information is directly output to the image generation circuit 107, or an external computer or memory is accessed via the input / output interface circuit 105 to access the image data / character / graphic information.
Enter graphic information.

The CPU 106 may, of course, be involved in operations for other purposes. For example, like a personal computer or word processor,
It may be directly related to the function of generating and processing information.

Alternatively, the computer may be connected to an external computer network via the input / output interface circuit 105 as described above, and operations such as numerical calculation may be performed in cooperation with an external device.

The input unit 114 is connected to the CPU 106.
The user inputs commands, programs, data, or the like, and various input devices such as a joystick, a barcode reader, and a voice recognition device can be used, for example, in addition to a keyboard and a mouse.

The decoder 104 converts various image signals input from the above 107 to 113 into three primary color signals,
Alternatively, it is a circuit for inversely converting a luminance signal into an I signal and a Q signal. As shown by the dotted line in FIG.
It is desirable that the image processor 04 has an image memory therein. This is for handling television signals that require an image memory when performing inverse conversion, such as the MUSE method. Further, the provision of the image memory facilitates the display of a still image, or the image generation circuit 10
7 and the CPU 106 in cooperation with the image processing, such as thinning, interpolating, enlarging, reducing, and combining images.

The multiplexer 103 is connected to the CPU
A display image is appropriately selected based on a control signal input from the control unit 106. That is, the multiplexer 103 selects a desired image signal from the inversely converted image signals input from the decoder 104 and outputs the selected image signal to the drive circuit 101. 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 TV. .

The display panel controller 1
A circuit 02 controls the operation of the drive circuit 101 based on a control signal input from the CPU 106.

First, as a signal related to the basic operation of the display panel, for example, a signal for controlling an operation sequence of a drive power source (not shown) for the display panel is output to the drive circuit 101.

Further, as a signal relating to the driving method of the display panel, a signal for controlling, for example, a screen display frequency and a scanning method (for example, interlace or non-interlace) is output to the drive circuit 101.

In some cases, a control signal relating to image quality adjustment such as brightness, contrast, color tone, and sharpness of a display image may be output to the drive circuit 101.

The drive circuit 101 is a circuit for generating a drive signal to be applied to the display panel 100. The drive circuit 101 converts the image signal input from the multiplexer 103 and the control signal input from the display panel controller 102. It operates on the basis of:

The function of each unit has been described above. With the configuration illustrated in FIG. 10, in this display device, image information input from various image information sources is displayed on the display panel 1.
00 can be displayed. That is, various image signals including television broadcasts are inversely converted by the decoder 104, are appropriately selected by the multiplexer 103, and are input to the drive circuit 101. On the other hand, the display controller 102 generates a control signal for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 101 according to an image signal to be displayed. The drive circuit 101 applies a drive signal to the display panel 100 based on the image signal and the control signal. Thus, an image is displayed on the display panel 100. These series of operations are performed by the CPU 1
06.

In the present display device, an image memory built in the decoder 104, an image generation circuit 107
And the involvement of the CPU 106, not only displays the image information selected from the plurality of image information, but also displays, for example, enlargement, reduction, rotation, movement, edge emphasis, thinning, interpolation, It is also possible to perform image processing such as color conversion and image aspect ratio conversion, and image editing such as combining, erasing, connecting, exchanging, and fitting. In the description of the present embodiment,
Although not particularly mentioned, 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 display device is a television broadcast display device, a video conference terminal device, an image editing device that handles still and moving images, a computer terminal device, an office terminal device including a word processor, a game terminal device, and the like. It is possible to combine the functions of a single machine, etc., and has a very wide range of applications for industrial or consumer use.

It is to be noted that FIG. 10 merely shows an example of the configuration of a display device using a display panel using the electron-emitting device according to the present invention as an electron source, and it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this. No. For example, among the components shown in FIG. 10, circuits relating to functions that are not necessary 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 display device is applied to 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 display device, in particular, it is easy to reduce the thickness of the display panel using the electron-emitting device according to the present invention as an electron source, so that the depth of the display device can be reduced. In addition, since the screen can be easily enlarged, the luminance is high, and the viewing angle characteristics are excellent, the present display device can display an image full of presence and full of power with good visibility.

[0141]

As described above, the present invention has the following effects.

1) The manufacturing process of the electron-emitting device and the image forming apparatus can be greatly simplified.

2) Since techniques such as photolithography and dry etching are not required for patterning the thin film for forming the electron-emitting portion, the cost can be greatly reduced and the amount of solvent used is reduced. Therefore, it is also excellent in environmental aspects.

3) It can be said that this method is particularly effective when a large number of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a plurality to form the devices over a large area. In the production of a large-screen image forming apparatus, the prevention of image defects and the production Yield can be greatly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a process chart for explaining a method for manufacturing the electron-emitting device shown in Example 1.

FIG. 3 is an example of a voltage waveform during a forming process.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an apparatus for measuring and evaluating electron emission characteristics of an electron emission element.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing current-voltage characteristics of an electron-emitting device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing current-voltage characteristics of the electron-emitting device shown in Example 1.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an electron source in which a large number of electron-emitting devices are arranged by simple matrix wiring.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a configuration example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a fluorescent film in the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a process chart for explaining a conventional method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the shape of a high-temperature plate.

FIG. 13 is a view showing an example of a heating and firing method using a high-temperature plate when forming a plurality of electron-emitting devices.

FIG. 14 is a view showing another example of a heating and firing method using a high-temperature plate when forming a plurality of electron-emitting devices.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing another example of a heating and firing method using a high-temperature plate when forming a plurality of electron-emitting devices.

FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of an electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a process chart for explaining the method for manufacturing the electron-emitting device shown in Example 2.

FIG. 18 is a partial plan view showing an example of an electron source according to the present invention.

19 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of the electron source in FIG.

20 is a cross-sectional view for describing a manufacturing process of the electron source in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 insulating substrate 2 thin film for forming electron emitting portion 3 electron emitting portion 4 thin film including electron emitting portion 5, 6 element electrode 7 organometallic thin film 8 high temperature plate 40 ammeter 41 power supply 42 ammeter 44 anode electrode 43 high voltage power supply Reference Signs List 71 Insulating substrate 72 X direction wiring 73 Y direction wiring 74 Electron emitting element 75 Connection 81 Electron source 82 Rear plate 83 Support frame 87 Glass substrate 88 Fluorescent film 89 Metal back 90 Face plate 91 Envelope 92 Black conductive material 93 Phosphor

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H01J 1/30 H01J 9/02 H01J 31/12

Claims (15)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device having a thin film including an opposing electrode and an electron-emitting portion straddling the electrode, wherein the step of forming the thin film including the electron-emitting portion includes forming an organic metal thin film. Performing the step of patterning the organometallic thin film, and forming an electron emission portion in the patterned thin film. A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device, comprising: a step of heating and firing a plate by contacting or approaching the plate; and a step of removing an organic metal in a non-fired region. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the temperature of the high-temperature plate is equal to or higher than the oxidation temperature of the central metal of the organic metal. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the organic metal is organic Pd. 4. An electron emission portion extending between opposed electrodes.
Of an electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices having a thin film
In production method, forming a thin film including an electron emitting portion of the plurality of electron-emitting devices
Forming the organic metal thin film,
Patterning a metal thin film;
Forming an electron-emitting portion in the thin film.
Contact or close the hot plate to the specified area of the metal thin film
And heating to remove the organic metal in the non-fired region.
A method for manufacturing an electron source, comprising the steps of: 5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature of the high-temperature plate is the
A temperature higher than the oxidation temperature of the central metal of the genus
A method for manufacturing an electron source according to claim 4. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the organic metal is organic Pd.
The method for manufacturing an electron source according to claim 4 or 5, wherein: 7. A hot press having one contact or proximate surface.
In the sheet, the organic metal thin film of each electron-emitting device is
7. The method according to claim 4, wherein heating and firing are performed.
A method for manufacturing an electron source according to any one of the above. 8. A hot press having a plurality of contact or proximity surfaces.
In the sheet, the organic metal thin film of each electron-emitting device is
7. The method according to claim 4, wherein heating and firing are performed.
A method for manufacturing an electron source according to any one of the above. 9. A high with contact or proximity surface on a roller
On a warm plate, the organometallic for each electron-emitting device
7. The method according to claim 4, wherein the thin film is heated and fired.
A method for manufacturing the electron source according to any one of the above. 10. An electron emission portion extending between opposed electrodes.
Plural electron-emitting devices having a thin film including the same, and the electron-emitting devices
Image forming by irradiation of electron beam emitted from
Method for manufacturing image forming apparatus having image forming member
hand, Forming a thin film including the electron-emitting portions of the plurality of electron-emitting devices
Forming the organic metal thin film,
Patterning a metal thin film;
Forming an electron emitting portion on the thin film, Patterning the organic metal thin film,
Contact or approach a hot plate to a predetermined area of the metal thin film
Heating and firing, and removing the organic metal in the non-fired region.
And removing the image forming apparatus.
Production method. 11. The method according to claim 11, wherein the temperature of the hot plate is the
Characterized by being above the oxidation temperature of the central metal of the metal
A method for manufacturing the image forming apparatus according to claim 10. 12. The organic metal is organic Pd.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein:
Manufacturing method. 13. A hot plug having one contact or proximity surface.
At a rate, the organometallic thin film for each electron-emitting device
The method according to claim 10, wherein heating and firing are performed.
A method for manufacturing the image forming apparatus according to any one of the above. 14. A hot press having a plurality of contact or proximate surfaces.
At a rate, the organometallic thin film for each electron-emitting device
The method according to claim 10, wherein heating and firing are performed.
A method for manufacturing the image forming apparatus according to any one of the above. 15. Having a contact or proximity surface on a roller
On a hot plate, the organic gold for each electron-emitting device
The heating and firing of the metal thin film is performed.
13. The method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to any one of 12.