JP2976137B2 - Electron beam generator, image forming apparatus and recording apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electron beam generator including an electron-emitting device and a modulation electrode for modulating an electron beam emitted from the electron-emitting device. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a recording apparatus applicable to a fluorescent display tube and the like.

[Prior art] Conventionally, as an element which can obtain electron emission with a simple structure, for example, MIElinson
And the like are known. [Radio Engineering Electron Phys. Vol. 10, 1290-1296
P. 1965] Examples of this type of electron-emitting device include a device using a SnO ₂ (Sb) thin film developed by Elinson et al. And a device using an Au thin film [G. Diittmer, “Sin Solid Films” : “Thin Solid Films”), 9, 317
Page, (1972)], using ITO thin film [M. Hartwell and CGFonstad: “IEEE Trans.ED C”
onf. ") p. 519, (1975)], using a carbon thin film [Hisashi Araki et al .:" Vacuum ", Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 22, (1983)
Year)].

In addition to the above, many promising electron-emitting devices such as a thin-film thermal cathode and a MIM-type electron-emitting device have been reported.

With the rapid progress of film formation technology and photolithography technology, it is becoming possible to form a large number of devices on a substrate.
Application to various image forming apparatuses such as a flat panel type CRT is expected.

When these elements are applied to an image forming apparatus, generally, a large number of elements are arranged on a substrate, and each element is electrically wired with a thin or thick film electrode, and used as a multi-electron beam source. .

These electron beam display devices basically have the following structure.

FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 show an outline of a conventional display device. In this figure, 51 is a substrate, 52 is a support, 53 is a wiring electrode, 54 is an electron emission portion, 55 is an electron passage hole, 56 is a modulation electrode, 57 is a glass plate, 58 is a transparent electrode, and 59 is an image forming member. For example, a member such as a phosphor or a resist material that emits light, changes its color, charges, deteriorates, or the like due to collision of electrons.

Numeral 60 denotes a face plate, and numeral 61 denotes a luminescent spot of the phosphor. The electron emitting portion 54 is formed by a thin film technology, and is formed on a substrate (glass).
Reference numeral 51 denotes a hollow structure that does not contact.
The wiring electrode 53 may be formed using the same material as that of the electron-emitting member, or may be formed using another material. Generally, an electrode having a high melting point and a small electric resistance is used. The support 52 is formed of an insulator material or a conductor material.

In these electron beam display devices, a voltage is applied to a wiring electrode 53 to emit electrons from an electron emission portion having a hollow structure, and a voltage is applied to a modulation electrode 56 that modulates these electron flows according to an information signal, thereby obtaining an electron. Is taken out, and the taken out electrons are accelerated to collide with the phosphor 59. Further, an XY matrix is formed by the wiring electrode 53 and the modulation electrode 56, and an image is displayed on the phosphor 59 as an image forming member.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the above-mentioned conventional electron beam display includes:
There were the following problems.

. As shown in FIG. 11, the modulation electrode 56 is an electron-emitting device (consisting of a support 52, a wiring electrode 53, and an electron-emitting portion 54).
Therefore, it is difficult to align the electron passage hole 55 of the modulation electrode 56 with the electron emission portion 54 of the electron emission element, and it is difficult to manufacture a large-screen and high-definition image display device.

. As shown in the same figure, since it is arranged side by side with a space between the modulation electrode 56 and the electron-emitting portion 54 of the electron-emitting device,
The distance between the modulation electrode 56 and the electron-emitting portion 54 of the electron-emitting device is
It is difficult to align all of the modulation electrodes 56 and the electron emission portions 54, and it is difficult to manufacture a large-screen, high-definition image display device.

. When an attempt is made to produce a large-screen, high-definition image display device, the luminance unevenness of the displayed image becomes remarkable.

On the other hand, in the conventional electron beam display shown in FIG. 12, the above-mentioned problem is solved because the modulation electrode 62 is disposed on the side opposite to the electron emission direction of the linear cathode 64 (electron emission element). However, the above-mentioned problem cannot be solved.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to easily align the modulation electrode and the electron-emitting device. To provide an image forming apparatus and a recording apparatus.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electron beam generating apparatus which has less modulation unevenness between electron beams, has a high modulation efficiency, and can be driven at a low potential, and an image forming apparatus and a recording apparatus using the same. .

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus which is excellent in contrast of a displayed image and has no luminance unevenness, and a recording apparatus which is excellent in contrast of a recorded image and can obtain a clear image.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The configuration of the present invention achieved to achieve the above object is as follows.

That is, a first aspect of the present invention is to provide an electron-emitting device having an electron-emitting portion to which a voltage is applied via electrodes between electrodes arranged side by side on a substrate and the electron-emitting device. Modulate the electron beam emitted from the information signal according to the information signal, the electron emitting device and a modulation electrode provided independently electrically, in the electron beam generator, the electron emitting element and the modulation electrode, The electron beam generator is arranged on the same surface of the substrate, wherein a thickness of the modulation electrode is larger than a thickness of an electrode of the electron-emitting device.

The first electron beam generator of the present invention further has a feature that the modulation electrode has a thickness gradient such that the modulation electrode becomes thicker as the distance from the electron-emitting device increases with respect to the electron-emitting device. In this case, the thickness gradient is formed by a step provided in the modulation electrode, and the modulation electrode is thicker in the length direction of the electron emission portion of the electron emission element. In this case, the thickness gradient is formed by a step provided on the modulation electrode, and the modulation electrode has a thickness of 0.05 μm to 3000 μm. And the thickness of the electrode of the electron-emitting device is 0.01 μm to 500 μm.
m, and the electron-emitting device is a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, further comprising an image forming member on the electron emission side of the first electron beam generating apparatus for forming an image by collision of electrons.

Also, a third aspect of the present invention is a luminous element which emits light by collision of electrons and an image to be recorded on the electron emission side of the first electron beam generator of the present invention by irradiating light from the luminous element. The recording device has a body.

In a fourth aspect of the present invention, a luminous body which emits light due to collision of electrons and an image to be recorded on the electron emission side of the first electron beam generator according to the first aspect of the present invention by irradiating light from the luminous body. A recording apparatus having a body support means.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an electron beam generator according to the present invention, in which 1 is a substrate (rear plate), 2 is a modulation electrode (grid electrode), 3 is an element electrode, and 4 is an electron emitting portion. is there. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA 'of FIG.

Here, the material of the substrate 1 may be any material such as metal, glass, and ceramics as long as it has excellent heat resistance and solvent resistance.

In addition, regarding the formation of the electron-emitting portion 4 in the present invention, a conventionally known method can be used, and any material having high conductivity may be used as a material of the electrode, for example, Au, Ag, Al, In, and the like. Numerous materials, such as metals such as Pt, Pt, Pd, Sn, and Pb, and alloys thereof, can be considered.

Next, regarding the specific dimensions of the components described above,
The thickness of the substrate 1 does not particularly affect the element characteristics, but is preferably 0.8 mm to 1 mm in terms of mechanical strength and the like.

In the present invention, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, the electron-emitting device has an electron-emitting device in which an electron-emitting portion to which a voltage is applied via electrodes between electrodes arranged in parallel along the substrate surface The thickness of the modulation electrode 2 is designed to be larger than the thickness of the electrode of the electron-emitting device. Here, the thickness of the electrode of the electron-emitting device refers to the thickness of the electrode portion adjacent to the electron-emitting portion of the electron-emitting device. Normally, the modulation electrode thickness (L in FIG. 2) is 0.05 to 3000 μm, and the element electrode thickness (1 in FIG. 2) is 0.01 to 500 μm. The distance between the modulation electrode and the device electrode (S in FIG. 2) is preferably 5 to 500 μm.

In addition, as shown in FIGS.
Forming, converging, and modulating the electron beam can be made easier by forming the modulation electrode in a stepped shape.

That is, in the present invention, first, the above-described arrangement of the electron-emitting device and the modulation electrode causes the problem of alignment between the electron-passing hole of the conventional modulation electrode and the electron-emitting portion, and the gap between the modulation electrode and the electron-emitting portion. The problem of distance fluctuation and the problem of irregularity could be solved at the same time. Also, it is originally desirable that the modulation electrode is arranged in the emission path of the electron beam in terms of modulation efficiency. In the present invention, with the above arrangement, an electron beam generator can be further improved in terms of electron beam modulation efficiency and low voltage driving.

Next, the electron-emitting device according to the present invention will be described in more detail.

As described above, the electron-emitting device of the present invention may be any one of a so-called hot cathode and a cold cathode as long as it satisfies the above-mentioned conditions. Since the electron emission efficiency and the response speed are lower than the case of the cold cathode due to the thermal diffusion to the conductive substrate, a cold cathode such as a surface conduction electron-emitting device and a semiconductor electron-emitting device described later is preferably used. In particular, among the cold cathodes, the use of an electron-emitting device called a surface conduction electron-emitting device is advantageous in that: 1) higher electron emission efficiency is obtained; 2) the structure is simpler, and the production is easier; 3). It is particularly preferable because it has such advantages that a large number of elements can be arranged on the same substrate at high density, 4) the response speed is fast, and 5) the luminance contrast is more excellent. Here, the surface conduction electron-emitting device is, for example, MI Elinson (M.
I. Elinson, et al. [Cold cathode devices [Radio Engineering Electron Physics (Ra
dio Eng. Electron. Phys.) Volume 10, 1290-1296, 1965
In this method, a voltage is applied to a small-area thin film (electron-emitting portion) formed between electrodes (device electrodes) provided on the substrate surface, and a voltage is applied between the electrodes so as to be parallel to the thin-film surface. Is a device that emits electrons by passing a current through the device. In addition to the device using a SnO ₂ (Sb) thin film developed by Elinson et al.,
By Au thin film [G. Dittmer: “Thin Solid Films”
s "), Vol. 9, p. 317, (1972)], using ITO thin film [M. Hartwell and C. G. Fonstad:" I.E.E.E.Trans.E.E. "
Dee Konf (M. Hartwell and CGFonstad: “IEE
E Trans. ED Conf. ") P. 519, (1975)], using a carbon thin film [Hisashi Araki et al .:" Vacuum ", Vol. 26, No. 1, 2,
2 (1983)]. As a result of our intensive studies, we have disclosed a new type of surface conduction electron-emitting device.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the present invention may be one in which the electron-emitting portion is formed by dispersion of metal fine particles as described later in addition to the above. Generally, the distance between the electrodes is 0.01 μm with a surface conduction electron-emitting device.
100100 μm, the sheet resistance of the electron-emitting portion is 10 ³ Ω / □□
It refers to 10 ⁹ Ω / □.

Further, in the present invention, voltage applying means for applying a voltage to the electron-emitting device and the modulation electrode are provided separately and independently,
Each of the voltage applying means also has an applied voltage varying means.

In the present invention, although it depends on its use, preferably, the electron-emitting device is a linear electron-emitting device having a plurality of electron-emitting portions in a line, and a plurality of the linear electron-emitting devices and the modulation electrode Of the XY matrix. As described above, in the multi-electron beam generator having a large number of electron-emitting portions, in particular, having the constitutional requirements as in the present invention prevents unevenness in the amount of electron emission and unevenness in modulation between electron beams. It is preferable in doing.

The electron beam generator of the present invention has been described in detail above, but such an electron beam generator is particularly suitably used as an electron source of an image forming apparatus and a recording apparatus.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of an image forming apparatus using the electron beam generator of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of the display panel. In the figure, reference numeral 17 denotes a vacuum vessel made of glass, and a part 11 thereof denotes a face plate on the display surface side. Transparent electrodes made of, for example, ITO are formed on the inner surface of the face plate 11, and red, green, and blue phosphors (image forming members) are separately painted in a mosaic shape on the inner side thereof, and are used in the field of CRT. A known metal back treatment is performed. (Transparent electrode,
Phosphor and metal back are not shown. Also, the transparent electrode is electrically connected to the outside of the vacuum vessel through a terminal 13 for applying an acceleration voltage.

The electron beam generator of the present invention is fixed to the bottom surface of the vacuum vessel 17. Reference numeral 1 denotes a glass substrate (insulating substrate), on the upper surface of which electron emitting elements are arranged and formed in N × 1 rows. Electron-emitting device group is electrically connected in parallel for each column, positive-side wiring of each row 14 (the negative-side wiring 15), a terminal D _p1 to D _p l (terminal D _m1 to D _m l) Is electrically connected to the outside of the vacuum vessel.

A modulation electrode (grid electrode) is provided on the upper surface of the substrate 1.
Is provided. Such a modulation electrode (grid electrode) 2
Are provided N at right angles to the element row.
Each modulation electrode (grid electrode) 2 is electrically connected to the outside of the vacuum vessel by terminals 16 (G _{1 to} G _N ).

In this display panel, an XY matrix is constituted by one electron emission element row (line electron emission element) and N modulation electrode (grid electrode) rows. By simultaneously applying a modulation signal for one line of an image to a modulation electrode (grid electrode) in accordance with an information signal in synchronization with sequentially driving (scanning) the electron emission element rows one by one, the fluorescence of each electron beam is increased. The irradiation to the body is controlled, and the image is displayed line by line.

The above-described image forming apparatus has high resolution, especially, because of the advantages of the electron beam generator of the present invention described above.
The image forming apparatus is capable of obtaining a display image with high brightness and high contrast without uneven brightness.

Next, FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of a recording apparatus using the electron beam generator of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic structure of an optical printer. In the figure, reference numeral 47 denotes a vacuum container made of glass, in which 41, a part of which is a face plate, which emits a light beam toward a recording medium 45. On the inner surface of the face plate 41, for example, ITO
Is formed, and a phosphor (light-emitting body) is further provided inside the transparent electrode, and a metal back treatment known in the field of CRT is performed. (The transparent electrode, the phosphor, and the metal back are not shown.) The transparent electrode is electrically connected to the outside of the vacuum vessel through a terminal 43 for applying an acceleration voltage.

The above-described electron beam generator of the present invention is fixed to the bottom surface of the vacuum container 47. Reference numeral 1 denotes a glass substrate (insulating base) on which electron-emitting devices are arranged in a row. Positive-side wiring of the electron-emitting element group (the negative-side wiring) 44 is electrically connected to the vacuum chamber outside the terminal D _p, D _m.

A modulation electrode (grid electrode) is provided on the upper surface of the substrate 1.
Is provided. Such a modulation electrode (grid electrode) 4
Are provided N at right angles to the element row.
Each modulation electrode (grid electrode) 4 is electrically connected to the vacuum chamber outside the terminal 46 (G ₁ ~G _N).

In this optical printer, the modulation signal for one line of the image is simultaneously applied to the modulation electrode (grid electrode) in accordance with the information signal in synchronization with the driving of the above-mentioned electron emission element array, so that the phosphor of each electron beam is emitted. The irradiation of the (light emitting body) is controlled to form a light emitting pattern for one line of the image. According to the light emission pattern, the light emitted from the light emitter is irradiated on the recording medium, and when the recording medium is a photosensitive material, a photosensitive pattern is formed, and the recording medium is a heat-sensitive material. In this case, a heat-sensitive pattern is formed on the surface of the recording medium. The above operation is sequentially repeated for all image lines while scanning the recording medium or the light emitting source 51 (FIG. 7, 48) line by line as shown in FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b). Then, image recording is performed on the surface of the recording medium. Here, the recording medium may be a photosensitive (heat-sensitive) sheet 54 as shown in FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b), and in this case, the recording apparatus uses a support ( For example, it has a drum 52 and a transport roller 53). The recording medium is a photosensitive drum as shown in FIG.
It may be 64.

9, the developing device 65, the static eliminator 66, the cleaner 67, and the charger 68 are arranged around the drum-shaped recording medium 64 along the rotation direction in addition to the light emitting source 61. Is provided.

First, an image is represented by light emission of the light emitting source 61, and light of this image is irradiated on the recording medium 64 to expose the recording medium 64. The photosensitive portion of the recording medium 64 is neutralized, and the non-photosensitive portion adsorbs the toner supplied from the developing device 65.

The portion on which the toner is adsorbed moves with the rotation of the recording medium 64, and when the charge is released by the charge remover 66, the adsorbed toner drops. At this time, a paper 69 on which an image is to be formed is located between the recording medium 64 and the static eliminator 66,
The toner is dropped on the paper 69.

The paper 69 having received the toner moves to a fixing device (not shown), where the toner is fixed on the paper 69,
An image represented by the light emitting source 61 is reproduced and recorded on 69.

On the other hand, the drum-shaped recording medium 64 further rotates and moves to the cleaner 67, where the remaining toner is removed,
Further, a charged state is formed by the charger 68.

The recording apparatus described above is particularly excellent in high resolution, high speed, has no exposure unevenness, and can obtain a clear and high-contrast recorded image due to the advantages of the electron beam generator of the present invention described above. .

[Examples] Hereinafter, specific examples of the present invention and the effects thereof will be described by examples according to the present invention.

Example 1 An electron beam generator of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 was manufactured.

 First, the manufacturing process will be described in detail.

Quartz glass as rear plate 1 (Corning)
Was sufficiently cleaned by rubbing with a neutral detergent, ultrasonic cleaning with an organic solvent, and the like, and then forming a resist pattern by photolithography.

Next, by a resistance heating method, Ti, which is an undercoating material for improving adhesion, was deposited on the resist pattern so as to have a thickness of 50 mm, and Ni, which was an element electrode material, to have a thickness of 950 mm. Thereafter, an element electrode pattern was formed by a lift-off method. At this time, the width of the device electrode 3 is 15 μm, and the thickness is 0.
1 μm and the electrode gap was 2 μm.

Next, Cr for patterning the emission material was vapor-deposited on the entire surface by a resistance heating method so as to have a thickness of 1000 mm.

Using the following photolithography technology, the emission area (25
A resist pattern for removing only Cr (μm × 150 μm) was formed.

Next, desired Cr was removed by etching. Cerium ammonium nitrate and perchloric acid aqueous solution were used as an etchant.

Next, organic palladium (CCP-4230 manufactured by Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) was dispersed and applied, and then baked at 300 ° C. in the air for 12 minutes to form palladium as a release material on the entire surface.

For patterning emission material using next etchant
Cr was etched out.

Next, EB evaporation was used instead of the resistance heating method,
A modulation electrode 2 having a thickness of 1 μm and a thickness of 1 μm was formed in the same manner as in the formation of the element electrode pattern. At this time, the distance between the element electrode 3 and the modulation electrode 2 was 25 μm.

The electron beam generator manufactured by the above method was applied to a fluorescent plate placed 5 mm above the device together with a fluorescent plate placed at 5 mm above, and a voltage of 1 KV was externally applied to the fluorescent plate under a 2 × 10 ^-6 Torr environment, and a 14 V voltage pulse was applied between the device electrodes. Was applied.

As a result, spot light corresponding to the electron beam emitted to the phosphor plate was observed. -30V to + 20V for modulation electrode
When the voltage was applied, the amount of electron beam changed continuously in accordance with the modulation voltage. At this time, the modulation voltage is -30V
Below, the ON control was possible with the OFF control + 30 V or more.

Further, in the above, the device electrodes (width 15 μm, thickness 0.1 μm)
m) was fixed, and the cut-off voltage when the width and thickness of the modulation electrode were changed was as follows.

That is, by increasing the thickness of the modulation electrode,
In the case of F control, the cutoff voltage can be reduced. In the case of ON control, the convergence improved as the width increased.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an image display device as another embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a glass substrate, 2 is a modulation electrode, 3 is an element electrode, 4 is an electron emitting portion, 11 is a face plate, 12
Is a rear plate.

A plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a line at a pitch of 2 mm,
In addition, except that the plurality of modulation electrodes 2 are orthogonal to the line-shaped electron-emitting devices while maintaining the insulation property with respect to the wiring electrodes, a blue plate glass (Ichikawa special glass An electron beam generator was formed on the same. Note that the wiring electrodes were formed in the same manner as the modulation electrodes in Example 1, and the insulating layer was mask-deposited with SiO ₂ only on necessary portions by sputtering.

Next, a face plate 11 having a phosphor as an image forming member was provided at a distance of 5 mm (= h) from the substrate 1 to produce an image display device.

 Next, a driving method of the present embodiment will be described.

The voltage of the phosphor surface is set to 0.8 kV to 1.5 kV through the EV terminal 13. A voltage pulse (14 V in this embodiment) is applied to the pair of element wiring electrodes through the wirings 14 and 15, and electrons are emitted from the plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in a line. The emitted electrons are connected to a line modulation electrode group in accordance with the information signal.
ON / OFF the electron beam by applying voltage through
Control. The electrons extracted by the modulation electrode 2 accelerate and collide with the phosphor. The phosphor displays one line according to the information signal. Next, a voltage pulse (14 V in this embodiment) is applied to the adjacent wiring electrode, and the above-described one-line display is performed. By sequentially performing this, an image of one screen was formed. That is, an image was displayed by forming an XY matrix with the scanning electrodes and the modulation electrodes using the wiring electrode group as the scanning electrodes. The pulse voltage applied to the device depends on the material and structure of the device, but is generally in the range of 8 to 20 V.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device of this embodiment can be driven in response to a voltage pulse of 100 picoseconds or less, so that one screen
When an image is displayed in a fraction of a second, 10,000 or more scanning lines can be formed.

Also, the voltage applied to the modulation electrode group was controlled to OFF when the electron beam was -30 V or less, and the ON control was performed when the voltage was 20 V or more. Also, -30
The amount of electron beam changed continuously between V and 20V. Therefore, gradation display was possible by the voltage applied to the modulation electrode 2.

The reason that the electron beam can be controlled by the voltage applied to the modulation electrode 2 is based on the fact that the voltage near the electron emission portion 4 changes from plus to minus by the voltage of the modulation electrode, and the electron beam accelerates or decelerates. Further, in the present embodiment, the modulation electrode 2 is provided at a position sandwiching the electron emission portion 4, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the electron beam can be similarly controlled by increasing the modulation voltage with only one modulation electrode. .

As described above, since the electron-emitting device and the modulation electrode are formed on the same substrate by the same process, alignment is easy, and since the thin-film manufacturing technology is used, a large-screen, high-definition display is provided. I could get it cheaply. Further, the interval between the electron emitting portion 4 and the modulation electrode 2 can be manufactured with extremely high precision, and a high-resolution image display device can be obtained.

In a surface conduction electron-emitting device, electrons having an initial velocity of several volts are emitted into a vacuum. The present invention is extremely effective for modulation of such a device.

Further, the entire display image had high luminance and high contrast, and there was no luminance unevenness.

Embodiment 3 FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

The manufacturing process of this embodiment shown in FIG. 4 will be described in detail.

First, quartz glass is used for the insulating substrate 1 and rubbing and cleaning is performed using a neutral detergent. Then, ultrasonic cleaning and the like are sufficiently performed using an organic solvent such as acetone, IPA, and butyl acetate. A photoresist pattern was formed by the technique.

Next, Ti is used as a material for improving adhesion by using a resistance heating method, and a vacuum film is formed to a thickness of about 50 mm on the entire surface of the insulating substrate 1 and the photoresist formed as described above. Was used to form a film with a thickness of about 950 mm under vacuum. Then, the photoresist was removed by a lift-off method to form device electrodes 3, 3 '. In this embodiment, the element electrode width is set to 15 μm.
m, and the electrode spacing was 2 μm.

Next, in order to form the electron-emitting material only in the vicinity of the electron-emitting portion, Cr was used as the electron-emitting material forming material, and a vacuum film was formed to a thickness of about 1000 mm over the entire surface by a resistance heating method.

Next, a photoresist was formed by photolithography in order to remove Cr only in the vicinity of 25 μm × 150 μm near the electron-emitting portion.

Next, Cr was removed to a desired size by wet etching. The etchants used were cerium ammonium nitrate and aqueous perchloric acid.

Next, organic palladium (Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.)
CCP-4230) was dispersed and applied, and baked at about 300 ° C. for 12 minutes in the air to form an electron emission material on the entire surface.

Next, the electron-emitting material pattern forming Cr was etched using the etchant used in the above to form an electron-emitting material only at a desired position.

Next, a modulation electrode was formed. First, the modulation electrode of the first layer was formed by EB vapor deposition and lift-off (by the same method as the element electrode) using Cr as a material for improving the adhesion, and having a film thickness of approximately
A thickness of about 1.0 μm was formed at 50 ° using Cu as a modulation electrode material. At this time, the interval between the device electrode and the modulation electrode was 25 μm.

Next, the modulation electrode of the second layer was formed by the method, material, and configuration of the first layer to be 5 μm shorter than the electrode end of the first layer, as shown in FIG.

Then, the third-layer modulation electrode is connected to the second-layer electrode by 5 mm from the electrode end of the second-layer modulation electrode according to the method, material, and configuration of the second-layer modulation electrode.
It was formed shorter by μm.

As described above, together with the manufactured electron beam generator and the fluorescent plate 5 (not shown) composed of a transparent electrode, a phosphor material, and a metal back on a glass substrate arranged at a position 5 mm above the electron beam generator. Under a vacuum atmosphere of about 2 × 10 ⁻⁶ torr, a voltage of 1 KV was applied to the phosphor 5 from the outside, and a voltage pulse of 14 V was applied between the device electrodes 3 and 3 ′.

As a result, spot light corresponding to the electron beam emitted to the fluorescent screen 5 was observed. Further, −3 is applied to the modulation electrodes 2, 2 ′.
When a voltage from 0 V to +20 V was applied, the voltage beam amount continuously changed according to the modulation voltage.

Further, an effect of easily shaping and converging the electron beam in the longitudinal direction of the modulation electrodes 2, 2 ', that is, in the direction perpendicular to the electron emission portion, was obtained.

At this time, when the modulation voltage is -30 V or less, OFF control, +
ON control was possible at 30V or more.

Embodiment 4 FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention.

This example was manufactured by the same manufacturing process as the example shown in FIG. The configuration of the modulation electrode is such that the distance between the element electrode and the modulation electrode is 25 μm, and the second layer is 5 mm from the electrode end of the first layer.
At a position of μm, the third layer was a step-like electrode having three steps at a position of 5 μm from the electrode end of the second layer.

With the electron beam generator manufactured as described above, spot light corresponding to the electron beam emitted from the image display member (face plate) 5 was observed in the same manner and configuration as in Example 3. As a result, when a voltage of −30 V to +20 V was applied to the modulation electrodes 2 and 2 ′, the amount of the electron beam continuously changed according to the modulation voltage.

Further, although the electron beam in the third embodiment has a characteristic that shifts to the positive potential side with respect to the voltage applied to the element electrode, according to the present embodiment, the characteristic of the electron beam is corrected, The effect of turning the electron beam was obtained.

At this time, OFF control was possible when the modulation electrode voltage was −30 V or less, and ON control was possible when the modulation electrode voltage was +30 V or more.

Embodiment 5 FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the present invention.

This example was manufactured by the same manufacturing process as Example 3.
Note that the configuration of the modulation electrode is such that the distance between the element electrode and the modulation electrode is 25.
μm, a second layer is formed at a position of 5 μm from the electrode end of each side of the first layer, and a third layer is formed at a position of 5 μm from the electrode end similarly to the second layer. It was formed as a step as shown in FIG.

An image display member (face plate) is manufactured by using the electron beam generator manufactured as described above in the same manner and configuration as in the third embodiment.
The spot light corresponding to the electron beam emitted by 5 was observed. As a result, -30V to + 20V is applied to the modulation electrodes 2, 2 '.
When the voltage was applied, the amount of electron beam changed continuously in accordance with the modulation voltage.

Further, the shaping, convergence, and modulation of the electron beam could be easily changed.

That is, by making the modulation electrode thickness larger than the element electrode thickness and intentionally giving the modulation electrode thickness a distribution as described in the third to fifth embodiments, further beam shaping, convergence, and modulation are facilitated. I can do it.

Specifically, in the third embodiment, it is possible to correct the distortion of the electric field at a horizontal distance from the electron-emitting portion, in the fourth embodiment, it is possible to correct the electric field between the wiring electrodes, and in the fifth embodiment, it is possible to correct both of the distortion.

It should be noted here that the distortion can be corrected by the planar shape of the modulation electrode as shown in FIGS. 10 (a) and 10 (b), for example.

At this time, when the modulation electrode voltage is -30V or less, OFF control +30
ON control was possible above V.

Embodiment 6 FIG. 7 is a schematic structural view of an optical printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 47 is a glass vacuum container, 41 is a face plate, 43 is an electrode for applying a voltage to the phosphor, 42
Is a rear plate, 1 is a glass substrate (insulating substrate), 4 is an electron emission portion of a surface conduction electron-emitting device, 2 is a modulation electrode,
44 is an electrode (D _P ,
D _m ) and 46 are electrodes (G ₁ to G ₁ ) for applying a voltage to the modulation electrode 2.
G _N ), 48 is a light emission source, and 45 is a recording medium.

The recording medium 45 was prepared by uniformly applying a photosensitive composition having the following composition to a polyethylene terephthalate film to a thickness of 2 μm. The photosensitive composition comprises: a.
Polyethylene methacrylate (trade name: Dianal BR,
Mitsubishi Rayon) 10 parts by weight, b. Monomer: trimethylolpropene triacrylate (trade name: TMPTA, Shin-Nakamura Chemical)
10 parts by weight, c. Polymerization initiator: 2-methyl-2-morpholino (4-thiomethylphenyl) propan-1-one (trade name: Irgacure 907, Ciba-Geigy) 2.2 parts by weight, and a mixture of methyl ethyl ketone 70 as a solvent. Produced in parts by weight.

The phosphor of the face plate 41 is a silicate phosphor (B
a, Mg, Zn) ₃ Si ₂ O ₇ : Pb ²⁺ was used.

 The light emitting source 48 was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1.

Next, the driving method of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 51 denotes a light emitting source 48, 54 denotes a recording medium 45, 52 denotes a support for the recording medium 45, and 53 denotes a transport roller of the recording medium 45. Here, the light emitting source 51 is 1 mm opposite to the recording medium 54.
It is located at the following locations.

In this embodiment, irradiation of each electron beam to the phosphor is controlled by simultaneously applying a modulation signal for one line of an image to a modulation electrode in accordance with an information signal in synchronization with driving of the electron emission element array. Then, a light emission pattern for one line of the image is formed. The light emitted from the illuminant according to the light emission pattern is irradiated on the recording medium, and the irradiated recording medium is copolymerized and cured. Next, the same drive is performed by moving the transport roller 53. By performing such driving, a photopolymerization pattern corresponding to the information signal is formed on the recording medium as a photopolymerization pattern. The photopolymerization pattern was developed with methyl ethyl ketone to form an optical recording pattern on polyethylene terephthalate.

The optical printer of the present embodiment provided a clear optical recording pattern with uniformity, high speed, and high contrast.

Embodiment 7 FIG. 9 is a schematic structural view of an optical printer according to another embodiment. 61 is a light emitting source similar to that of Example 6, 64 is an electrophotographic photosensitive member which is a recording medium, 68 is a charging device, 65 is a developing device, 66 is a static eliminator, 67 is a cleaner, and 69 is an image forming device. It should be paper. Further, in the present embodiment, Zn ₂ SiO ₄ :
A yellow-green emitting phosphor of Mn (P1 phosphor) and an amorphous silicon photoreceptor were used as a photoreceptor for electrophotography.

Next, a driving method of the optical printer according to the present embodiment will be described.
First, the recording medium 64 is charged to a positive voltage by the charger 68. The charging voltage is suitably from 100 V to 500 V, but is not limited thereto. Next, the recording medium 64 is irradiated with a light emission pattern corresponding to the information signal by the light emission source 61, and the light irradiation part is discharged to form an electrostatic latent image pattern. Next, the recording medium 64 is developed with the toner particles by the developing device 65.

The portion on which the toner is adsorbed moves with the rotation of the recording medium 64, and when the charge is released by the charge remover 66, the adsorbed toner drops. At this time, a paper 69 on which an image is to be formed is located between the recording medium 64 and the static eliminator 66,
The toner is dropped on the paper 69.

The paper 69 having received the toner moves to a fixing device (not shown), where the toner is fixed on the paper 69,
An image represented by the light emitting source 61 is reproduced and recorded on 69.

On the other hand, the drum-shaped recording medium 64 further rotates and moves to the cleaner 67, where the remaining toner is removed,
Further, a charged state is formed by the charger 68.

The above-described recording apparatus is particularly excellent in high resolution, high speed, without exposure unevenness, and can obtain a clear and high-contrast recorded image due to the advantages of the electron beam generator of the present invention described above. Was.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the thickness of the modulation electrode disposed on the same surface of the electron-emitting device and the substrate is made larger than the thickness of the electrode of the electron-emitting device. Thus, low-voltage driving became possible, element damage was reduced, and beam convergence was improved. For this reason, the range of use for industrial or home use is greatly expanded.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the electron beam generator according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA 'in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the image display device of the present invention, and FIGS. 4 to 6 are perspective views showing examples of an image display device having a stepped modulation electrode. FIG. 7 shows a schematic structure of the optical printer. FIGS. 8A and 8B are explanatory diagrams showing an example of a process for recording an image on the surface of a recording medium. FIG. 9 shows an example in which the image display device according to the present invention is applied to a recording device that performs recording using light as a signal source. FIG. 10 (a),
(B) is an explanatory diagram showing that distortion correction can be performed by the planar shape of the modulation electrode. FIG. 11 shows an outline of a conventional display device, and FIG. 12 shows another example of the conventional display device.

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Ichiro Nomura 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Hidetoshi Suzuki 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Tetsuya Kaneko 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-57-5249 (JP, A) JP-A-3-20941 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H01J 1 / 30,3 / 08,29 / 04 H01J 31/12-31/15 H01J 29/52

Claims (10)

(57) [Claims] An electron-emitting device having an electron-emitting portion to which a voltage is applied via electrodes between electrodes arranged on a substrate along the surface of the substrate, and emitted from the electron-emitting device. In an electron beam generator having a modulation electrode that modulates an electron beam in accordance with an information signal and that is provided independently of an electron emission element, the electron emission element and the modulation electrode are the same as the substrate. An electron beam generator, which is disposed on a surface, wherein a thickness of the modulation electrode is larger than a thickness of an electrode of the electron-emitting device. 2. The electron according to claim 1, wherein the modulation electrode has a thickness gradient centering on the electron-emitting device and increasing with distance from the electron-emitting device. Line generator. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the thickness gradient is formed by a step provided on the modulation electrode.
An electron beam generator according to claim 1. 4. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein the modulation electrode has a thickness gradient such that the thickness of the modulation electrode becomes thicker in a length direction of an electron emission portion of the electron emission element. apparatus. 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the thickness gradient is formed by a step provided on the modulation electrode.
An electron beam generator according to claim 1. 6. The modulation electrode has a thickness of 0.05 μm to 3000 μm.
The thickness of the electrode of the electron-emitting device is 0.01μ
m to 500 [mu] m.
5. The electron beam generator according to any one of 5. 7. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein said electron-emitting device is a surface conduction electron-emitting device. 8. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image forming member for forming an image by collision of electrons on the electron emission side of the electron beam generating apparatus according to claim 1. 9. A light-emitting body which emits light by collision of electrons and an image to be recorded by irradiation of light from the light-emitting body on the electron emission side of the electron beam generator according to claim 1. A recording device having a body. 10. A luminous body which emits light by collision of electrons and an image to be recorded on the electron emission side of the electron beam generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 by irradiating light from the luminous body. A recording device comprising a body supporting means.