JP3241340B2 - Method for manufacturing display panel and 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, an electron source substrate, an electron source, a display panel, and an image forming apparatus using the device, and a method of manufacturing the same.

[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. Field emission type (hereinafter referred to as FE type) cold metal electron sources, metal / insulating layer /
There are a metal type (hereinafter, referred to as an MIM type) and a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

As an example of the FE type, a report by Dyke et al.
P. Dyke and WW Dolan, "Field emission", Advance
in Electron Physics, 8, 89 (1956)), S
pindt report (CA Spindt, "Physical Properties of
thin-film field emission cathodes with molybdeniu
m cones ", J. Appl. Phys., 47, 5248 (1976)).

As an example of the MIM type, a report by Mead (C.
A. Mead, J. Appl. Phys., 32, 646 (1961)) are known.

As an example of a surface conduction electron-emitting device, a report by Elinson (MI Elinson, Radio Eng. Electron
Phys., 10 (1965)).

[0006] The surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes the phenomenon that electron emission occurs when a current flows through a small-area thin film formed on a substrate in parallel with the film surface. Examples of the surface conduction electron-emitting device include a device using an SnO ₂ thin film described in the report of Elinson, and a device using an Au thin film (G. Dittmer, Thin Solid Films, 9, 317 (197)
2)), using an In ₂ O ₃ / SnO ₂ thin film (M. Hartwell
and CG Fonstad, IEEE Trans.ED Conf., 519 (197
5)), using carbon thin film (Araki et al., Vacuum, 26th edition)
Vol. 1, No. 22, p. 22 (1983)).

FIG. 39 shows a configuration of the Hartwell device described above as a typical device configuration of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a substrate. Reference numeral 4 denotes a conductive thin film, which is formed of a metal oxide thin film or the like formed by sputtering in an H-shaped pattern, and the electron emitting portion 5 is formed by an energization process called energization forming described later. Note that the element electrode interval L in the figure is 0.5 to 1
mm and W ′ are set to 0.1 mm. Since the position and the shape of the electron emitting portion 5 are unknown,
This is shown as a schematic diagram.

Heretofore, in these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, it has been general that the electron-emitting portion 5 is formed beforehand by performing an energization process called energization forming on the conductive thin film 4 before electron emission. That is, the energization forming is to apply a DC voltage or a very slowly increasing voltage, for example, about 1 V / min, to both ends of the conductive thin film 4 and to energize the conductive thin film 4 to locally destroy, deform or alter the conductive thin film, To form the electron-emitting portion 5 in a high resistance state. In the electron emitting portion 5, a crack is generated in a part of the conductive thin film 4, and electrons are emitted from the vicinity of the crack. The surface conduction electron-emitting device that has been subjected to the energization forming process applies a voltage to the conductive thin film 4,
By passing a current through the element, electrons are emitted from the above-described electron emitting portion 5.

The above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device has an advantage that a large number of devices can be arranged and formed in a large area because the structure is simple and the production is easy. Therefore, various applications that make use of the characteristics are being studied. For example,
Display devices such as a charged beam source and an image display device are exemplified.

The present applicant has paid attention to a surface conduction electron-emitting device, and has proposed a novel method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-56822. FIG. 38 shows an element disclosed in the publication. In the figure, 1 is a substrate, 2 and 3 are device electrodes, 4 is a conductive thin film, and 5 is an electron emitting portion. In the method of manufacturing the electron-emitting device, for example, the device electrodes 2 and 3 are formed on the substrate 1 by a general vacuum deposition technique and a photolithography technique. Next, the conductive thin film 4 is formed by applying a conductive material on the substrate by a dispersion coating method or the like and then patterning. Thereafter, a voltage is applied to the device electrodes 2 and 3 to perform an energization process, thereby forming the electron-emitting portions 5.

[0011]

However, in the manufacturing method according to the above-mentioned conventional example, since the manufacturing is performed mainly by a semiconductor process, the current technology forms a large number of electron-emitting devices over a large area. This is difficult and requires special and expensive manufacturing equipment. Further, since a plurality of steps required for patterning are required, simplification of these steps is desired. That is, at present, when a large number of electron-emitting devices are formed over a large area on a substrate, the production cost is actually increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the technical problems described above. An object of the present invention is to provide a display panel in which a large number of electron-emitting devices can be formed on a substrate at low cost.

[0013]

According to the present invention, there is provided a rear plate on which a plurality of electron-emitting devices each having a pair of device electrodes and a conductive thin film including an electron-emitting portion are provided between the pair of device electrodes. A method for manufacturing a display panel, comprising: a face plate having a fluorescent film disposed to face the electron-emitting device, wherein the plurality of electron-emitting devices contain a metal element after forming the pair of device electrodes. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a display panel, comprising forming a plurality of conductive thin films by applying a liquid to be applied as droplets onto a substrate by an inkjet method. Further, the present invention provides a rear plate in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices each having a pair of device electrodes and a conductive thin film including an electron-emitting portion are provided between the pair of device electrodes, and a rear plate facing the electron-emitting devices. A display panel comprising: a face plate having a fluorescent film disposed thereon;
Also, the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus including a drive circuit for performing display, wherein the manufacturing of the display panel is performed by the above method.

[0014]

[0015]

[0016]

[0017]

[0018]

In the display panel manufactured according to the present invention,
Since the thin-film member constituting the electron-emitting device is formed by applying a liquid containing the components constituting the thin-film member in the form of droplets, the thin-film member is a uniform thin film with extremely few defects. The uniformity is dramatically improved. Even if the display panel has a large area, the yield does not decrease.

Further, according to the manufacturing method of the present invention, since a desired amount is given to a predetermined position, the manufacturing process of the electron-emitting device can be greatly reduced.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing one example of a method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device used for a display panel of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 show one example of a surface conduction electron-emitting device manufactured by the present invention. FIG.

1, 2 and 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a substrate, 2
Reference numerals 3 and 3 denote device electrodes, 4 denotes a conductive thin film, 5 denotes an electron-emitting portion, 7 denotes a droplet applying device, and 24 denotes a droplet.

In this embodiment, first, device electrodes 2 and 3 are formed on a substrate 1 at a distance of L1 (FIG. 1).
(A)). Next, droplets 24 made of a solution containing a metal element are discharged from a droplet applying device (inkjet recording device) 7 (FIG. 1B), and the conductive thin film 4 is formed so as to be in contact with the device electrodes 2 and 3. (FIG. 1C). next,
For example, a crack is generated in the conductive thin film by a forming process described later, and the electron-emitting portion 5 is formed.

By using such a droplet applying method, minute droplets of the contained solution can be selectively formed only at desired positions, so that the material constituting the element portion is wasted. Absent. In addition, a vacuum process that requires an expensive apparatus and patterning by photolithography including a large number of steps are not required, so that the production cost can be significantly reduced.

To give a specific example of the droplet applying device 7,
Any device may be used as long as it can form an arbitrary droplet, but in particular, it can be controlled in the range of about ten to several ng to about several tens of ng and has a very small amount of about 10 to several tens of ng. It is preferable to use an ink-jet type apparatus which can easily form droplets of the ink.

[0027] The ink-jet apparatus is an ink-jet injection apparatus using a piezoelectric element or the like, or a method in which bubbles are formed in a liquid by thermal energy and the liquid is discharged as droplets (hereinafter, referred to as a bubble jet method). An ink jet injection device and the like can be mentioned.

The conductive thin film 4 is particularly preferably a fine particle film composed of fine particles in order to obtain good electron emission characteristics. The film thickness depends on the step coverage of the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the gap between the device electrodes 2 and 3. It is appropriately set depending on the resistance value, the energizing forming conditions described later, and the like, but is preferably several to several thousand, and particularly preferably 10 to 500. The sheet resistance is 10 ³ to 10 ⁷ Ω / □.

The material constituting the conductive thin film 4 is Pd, P
t, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, In, Cu, Cr, F
e, metal such as Zn, Sn, Ta, W, Pb, PdO, S
oxides such as nO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO, Sb ₂ O ₃ , Hf
Borides such as B ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , CeB ₆ , YB ₄ , GdB ₄ , TiC, ZrC, HfC, TaC, SiC, W
Carbides such as C, nitrides such as TiN, ZrN, HfN, S
semiconductors such as i, Ge, etc., and carbon.

The fine particle film described here is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are gathered, and has a fine structure not only in a state where the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged, but also in a state where the fine particles are adjacent to each other or overlap each other (an island). The particle diameter of the fine particles is several to several thousand, preferably 10 to 200.

The solution on which the droplets 24 are based may be a solution in which the above-mentioned constituent material of the conductive thin film is dissolved in water, a solvent, or the like, or an organic metal solution. It is necessary.

It is preferable that the amount of the liquid applied between the device electrodes does not exceed the volume of the concave portion formed by the substrate and the pair of device electrodes as shown by the following (formula).

The volume of the concave portion = the length of the device electrode × the width of the device electrode (W 1) × the space between the device electrodes (L 1) (Formula) As the substrate 1, quartz glass, glass containing a small amount of impurities such as Na, etc. Blue plate glass, a glass substrate having SiO ₂ formed on its surface, and a ceramic substrate such as alumina are used.

As a material of the device electrodes 2 and 3, a general conductive material is used, for example, Ni, Cr, Au,
Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu, metal or alloy such as Pd, and Pd, Ag, Au, RuO _2, Pd-
It is appropriately selected from a printed conductor composed of a metal such as Ag or a metal oxide and glass, a transparent conductor such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ , and a semiconductor material such as polysilicon.

The element electrode interval L is preferably several hundreds of μm to several hundred μm. Further, it is desirable that the voltage applied between the device electrodes is low, and it is required to manufacture the device with good reproducibility. Therefore, the preferable device electrode interval is several μm to several tens μm.

The device electrode length W ′ is several μm to several hundred μm from the viewpoint of the resistance value of the electrode and the electron emission characteristics.
Further, the thickness d of the device electrodes 2 and 3 is preferably several hundreds to several μm.

The electron-emitting portion 5 is a high-resistance crack formed in a part of the conductive thin film 4 and is formed by energization forming or the like. In addition, the crack may have conductive fine particles having a particle size of several to several hundreds of mm. The conductive fine particles contain at least some of the elements constituting the conductive thin film 4. Further, the electron emitting portion 5 and the conductive thin film 4 in the vicinity thereof may include carbon and a carbon compound.

The electron emitting portion 5 is formed by performing an energization process called energization forming of an element formed with the conductive thin film 4 and the element electrodes 2 and 3. The energization forming is to energize a power supply (not shown) between the element electrodes 2 and 3 to locally destroy, deform, or alter the conductive thin film 4 to form a portion having a changed structure. The site where the structure is locally changed is referred to as an electron emitting portion 5. FIG. 4 shows an example of the voltage waveform of the energization forming.

The voltage waveform is particularly preferably in a pulse shape. When a voltage pulse having a constant pulse peak value is continuously applied (FIG. 4A), when a voltage pulse is applied while increasing the pulse peak value ( FIG. 4B). First,
The case where the pulse crest value is a constant voltage (FIG. 4A) will be described.

In FIG. 4, T1 and T2 are the pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform, T1 is 1 to 10 milliseconds, T2 is 10 to 100 milliseconds, and the peak value of the triangular wave (peak during energization forming). Voltage) is appropriately selected according to the form of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, and a suitable degree of vacuum,
For example, under a vacuum atmosphere of about 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ Torr, application is performed for several seconds to several tens of minutes. Note that the waveform applied between the electrodes of the element need not be limited to a triangular wave, and a desired waveform such as a rectangular wave may be used.

T1 and T2 in FIG.
As in the case of (a), the peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage at the time of energization forming) is increased, for example, by about 0.1 V step and applied under an appropriate vacuum atmosphere.

In the energization forming process in this case, the element current is measured during the pulse interval T2 at a voltage that does not locally destroy or deform the conductive thin film 4, for example, a voltage of about 0.1 V. The resistance value is obtained, and when the resistance is, for example, 1 MΩ or more, the energization forming is completed.

Next, it is desirable to perform a process called an activation process on the device after the energization forming.

The activation step is, for example, 10 ^-4 to 10 ^-5
A process of repeatedly applying a voltage pulse having a constant pulse peak value at a degree of vacuum of about Torr, similar to energization forming, and depositing carbon and carbon compounds resulting from organic substances present in a vacuum on a conductive thin film. Element current If,
This is a process for significantly changing the emission current Ie. The activation process ends while measuring the device current If and the emission current Ie, for example, when the emission current Ie is saturated. Further, it is preferable that the voltage pulse to be applied is performed by an operation drive voltage.

Here, the carbon and the carbon compound are:
Graphite (refers to both monocrystalline and polycrystalline) amorphous carbon (refers to a mixture of amorphous carbon and polycrystalline graphite) having a film thickness of preferably 500 ° or less, more preferably 300 ° or less .

The electron-emitting device manufactured in this manner is preferably operated and driven in an atmosphere having a degree of vacuum higher than the degree of vacuum in the energization forming step and the activation step. Further, under an atmosphere of a higher degree of vacuum, 80 ° C. to 150 ° C.
It is desirable to drive the operation after heating.

The degree of vacuum higher than the degree of vacuum in the energization forming step and the activation treatment is, for example, about 10 ⁻⁶ Torr.
r or higher, more preferably an ultra-high vacuum system, in which carbon and carbon compounds are hardly newly deposited on the conductive thin film. This makes it possible to stabilize the element current If and the emission current Ie.

As the electron-emitting device used in the present invention, a surface-conduction electron-emitting device which has a simple structure and is easy to manufacture is preferable.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device that can be manufactured according to the present invention is basically a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device.

The most characteristic feature of the method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device of the present invention is that a solution containing a metal element is applied as droplets on a substrate to form a conductive thin film. There are various modes that satisfy this requirement.

I. The present invention also includes a method of detecting the applied state of the droplet applied on the substrate and performing the application of the droplet again based on information obtained on the applied state. Less than,
The mode will be described.

FIGS. 14, 16 and 17 are schematic diagrams showing various embodiments of an apparatus for manufacturing an electron-emitting device which can be used in this embodiment. FIG. 15 shows a method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device of this embodiment. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to one embodiment.

In FIG. 14, FIG. 16 and FIG.
Denotes an inkjet ejecting device (droplet applying device), 8 denotes a light emitting unit, 9 denotes a light receiving unit, 10 denotes a stage, 11 denotes a controller, and 12 denotes a control unit. In the light emitting means and the light receiving means referred to herein, the object to be generated and received is not limited to light, and any object can be used as long as it can be recognized as a signal. There are diodes and infrared lasers. The light receiving means may be any one that can receive a signal in accordance with the light emitting means. Further, the light emitting means and the light receiving means may have a configuration for generating or receiving a signal transmitted or reflected by the insulating substrate.

The items relating to the state of droplets detected in the method and apparatus for manufacturing an electron-emitting device of this embodiment are as follows.
The information includes the amount of liquid droplets provided in the gap, which is a concave portion between the pair of element electrodes, the position of the liquid droplets, and the presence or absence of the liquid droplets. Based on the acquired information on such items, the control unit controls the ejection parameters of the inkjet ejection device including the number of ejections, the ejection position, and the driving conditions in the inkjet ejection device using the piezoelectric element.

Further, means for performing the above detection include:
It is preferable to include a droplet information detecting unit for detecting the presence and amount of a droplet discharged from a nozzle in a gap between electrodes by an inkjet method, and a landing position detecting unit for detecting a position where the droplet lands.

In this case, the landing position detecting means may be realized by optically detecting an electrode pattern or a dedicated alignment mark before ejection, or by optically detecting the modulation of the transmittance by the droplet after ejection. This is to detect the position of the droplet after landing. The position detection of the droplet is performed by detecting the transmittance at a plurality of points in the gap and in the region near the gap, and taking a correlation between them.

Further, in the manufacturing apparatus of this embodiment, the above-described detection of the droplet information and the detection of the landing position are performed by the same optical detection system so that there is no need to provide an optical system dedicated to position detection. Is preferred. More preferably, the droplet information detection and the position detection are performed continuously or simultaneously by the same optical system.

As shown in FIG. 15, in the manufacturing method of this example, the light-applying position is detected by detecting the light passing or reflected between the electrodes by the light emitting means and the light receiving means using the electrode interval. The head of the ink jet apparatus is detected and moved to a position where a droplet can be applied between the electrodes (positioning step). Next, droplets are applied between the electrodes by an inkjet ejecting apparatus (droplet applying step). For example, whether or not the droplets are applied between the electrodes is determined by a signal passing or reflecting between the electrodes as in the alignment step. (Information on the presence or absence of the above-mentioned droplet itself) is detected (droplet detecting step).
Then, if a droplet is applied to a desired region at a desired position in the droplet detection step, the process proceeds to the next electrode alignment step, and if no droplet is applied, the droplet is applied again.

In the movement / transportation of the inkjet ejecting apparatus and the stage, the X / Y / θ movement / transportation can be performed in any combination of the stage alone, the inkjet ejecting apparatus alone, or both. Good.

During the droplet applying step, the ink jet ejecting apparatus or the stage may be moved, transported, or stopped. It is preferable to move and convey such that the landing position does not shift.

The optical detection means in the manufacturing apparatus of this embodiment can have various variations. FIG. 18 shows a type in which the relative positions of the optical axis of the optical system and the ejection direction axis of the ejection nozzle intersect at the focal point of the detection optical system. In this type, a discharge nozzle 301, a detection optical system 302, an element substrate (insulating base) 1
It is possible to continuously and alternately repeat the ejection of the solution and the detection of the information on the applied droplets while keeping the relative position of. 18A is a vertical reflection type in which the emission system and the detection system can be compactly integrated, and FIG. 18B is an oblique reflection type in which the emission system and the detection system are arranged with the discharge nozzle interposed therebetween. 18 (c) is a vertical transmission type in which an emission system and a detection system are arranged with an element substrate interposed therebetween.

FIGS. 19 and 20 show a type in which the optical axis of the detection optical system does not have an intersection with the ejection direction axis.
19 shows a reflection type, and FIG. 20 shows a transmission type. When the ejection of droplets and the detection of information are repeated in this type, it is necessary to drive the displacement control mechanism 403 or 503 in the direction of the arrow as shown in the figure to alternately move each axis so as to match the center of the gap. There is.

As a method of controlling the ejection condition, parameters such as a driving pulse height, a pulse width, a pulse timing, and a pulse number are used so that a detection signal difference component of the droplet information is used as a correction signal so that the detection value is maintained at an optimum value. At least one of
One method is to perform feedback control in real time, and the other is to correct at least one of the parameters according to a predetermined algorithm according to the amount of deviation of the detected value from the optimum value.

In these figures, the case where a droplet to be subjected to information detection is formed in a gap between element electrodes is shown. May be preliminarily ejected to a place other than between the element electrodes, the ejection conditions may be set to appropriate ones based on the detection result, and then the droplet may be ejected between the element electrodes. .

As another aspect of the present embodiment, a droplet removing means for removing at least a part of the applied droplet is provided, and as a result of detecting the droplet information, the amount of the droplet in the gap is set to an optimum value. When it is determined that the number of the droplets is larger, it is possible to remove a part of the droplets to return to the optimum value, or to perform the re-discharge after removing all the droplets.

As such a droplet removing means, there is one provided with a nozzle dedicated to removal having a function of injecting a gas such as nitrogen to scatter droplets from within the gap. It is desirable that the nozzle dedicated to removal be disposed near the discharge nozzle so that it is not necessary to provide a dedicated position control mechanism. For example, when the ejection nozzles are arranged in a multi-array, a nozzle dedicated for removal may be periodically provided in the array. By providing a means that can not only apply but also remove the solution by ejection, more strict control of the liquid volume is realized.

In the manufacturing apparatus of this embodiment, means for optically detecting information on the position where the liquid droplet lands, and means for performing position control such as ejection position adjustment and position fine adjustment based on the detected position information. Is provided.

The position detecting means detects the electrode pattern before ejection by optically detecting an electrode pattern or a dedicated alignment mark, or optically detects the modulation of the transmittance by the droplet after ejection to thereby detect the droplet after landing. Detect the position of. In this case, the position detection of the droplet is performed by detecting the transmittance at a plurality of points in the gap and in the region near the gap, and correlating them.

In this embodiment, it is preferable that the detection of the information on the droplet and the detection of the landing position of the droplet are performed by the same optical detection system so that there is no need to provide an optical system dedicated to position detection. More preferably, the information detection and the position detection are performed continuously or simultaneously by the same optical system.

II. Next, a description will be given of a mode in which the dot diameter of the droplet and the position where the droplet is applied are devised.

FIG. 32 is a view showing a multi-pattern (pad) of a surface conduction electron-emitting device manufactured by the manufacturing method of this embodiment. 32A is a diagram showing a distance between adjacent dots and a dot diameter, and FIG. 32B is a diagram of an example of the pad. Here, the expression “adjacent dots” means, for example, dots vertically and horizontally adjacent to each other in FIG. 32A, and is not applied to dots which are obliquely adjacent to each other.

In FIG. 32, 1 is a substrate, 2 and 3 are device electrodes, 4 is a conductive thin film, 5 is an electron emitting portion, 28 is a liquid or solid circular shape formed after applying a droplet to the substrate. It is a film (dot).

First, the diameter φ of a dot formed of the above-described material is determined in advance. That is, dots are formed using a droplet applying device on an insulating substrate which has been sufficiently washed with an organic solvent or the like and dried, and the diameter φ thereof is measured.

Next, after washing the substrate, a plurality of dots as shown in FIG. 32B are applied to the substrate on which the element electrodes are formed by using a vacuum deposition technique and a photolithography technique to form a multi-pattern (pad). To form Here, the center-to-center distances P ₁ and P ₂ of each dot are set to be equal to or less than the diameter φ of one dot, and are provided so that adjacent dots overlap.
By doing so, the droplet spreads over the substrate to a width W ₂
Can be obtained. The size of the pad is such that the width W ₂ is equal to or less than the element electrode width W ₁ and the pad length T
Preferably is the gap distance L ₁ or more, still more resistance to determine the width of the device electrodes is determined by the gap width and alignment accuracy.

After applying the thin film by the above method,
A heat treatment is performed at a temperature of 600 ° C. to evaporate the solvent to form a conductive thin film. Subsequent forming and the like are performed in the same manner as described above.

III. The present invention also includes those in which the surface state of the substrate to which the droplet is applied is devised. The present invention includes a method in which a hydrophobic treatment is performed on the surface of a substrate to which a droplet is applied.

In this example, when applying the droplet onto the substrate provided with the device electrodes, the surface treatment of the substrate is performed so that the surface state of the substrate is hydrophobic. Specifically, HMDS (hexamethyldisilazane), PHAMS, GMS, MA
A hydrophobizing treatment with a silane coupling agent such as P or PES is performed.

For the method of hydrophobizing treatment, for example, the above-mentioned silane coupling agent is applied using a spinner or the like, and then heated to 100 ° C. to 300 ° C., for example, 200 ° C. with an oven, for several tens minutes to several hours, for example, 15 minutes. Bake for a minute.

By performing the above-described surface treatment, the shape stability of the droplet on the substrate is improved when the droplet is applied to the substrate by the droplet applying device. As a result, the droplet does not spread in an irregular shape on the substrate, and the shape and shape of the conductive thin film can be easily controlled by the amount and shape of the droplet. Reproducibility and uniformity are improved. As a result, even when a large number of electron-emitting devices are formed over a large area, an electron-emitting device having good uniformity of electron-emitting characteristics can be obtained.

Next, the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described.

The electron source substrate used in the image forming apparatus is formed by arranging a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices on the substrate.

The arrangement of the surface-conduction electron-emitting devices is based on a ladder-type arrangement in which the surface-conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in parallel, and both ends of each element are connected by wiring (hereinafter referred to as a ladder-type arrangement electron source substrate). ), And a simple matrix arrangement (hereinafter, referred to as a matrix-type arrangement electron source substrate) in which a pair of element electrodes of a surface conduction electron-emitting device are connected to an X-direction wiring and a Y-direction wiring, respectively. Note that an image forming apparatus having a ladder-type arranged electron source substrate requires a control electrode (grid electrode) which is an electrode for controlling the flight of electrons from the electron-emitting devices.

Hereinafter, the configuration of an electron source manufactured based on this principle will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, 91 is an electron source substrate, 92 is an X-direction wiring, 93 is a Y-direction wiring, 9
4 is a surface conduction electron-emitting device, and 95 is a connection. The surface conduction electron-emitting device 94 may be of the above-mentioned flat type or vertical type.

In the figure, the substrate used as the electron source substrate 91 is the above-mentioned glass substrate or the like, and the shape is appropriately set according to the application.

The m X-directional wirings 92 include Dx1, Dx2,
... Dxm, and the Y-direction wiring 93 is Dy1, Dy
2,..., Dyn.

The material, film thickness, and wiring width are appropriately set so that a substantially uniform voltage is supplied to many surface conduction electron-emitting devices. A matrix wiring is formed by electrically separating the m X-directional wirings 92 and the n Y-directional wirings 93 by an interlayer insulating layer (not shown) (m and n are both positive integers).

The interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is formed on the entire surface of the electron source substrate 91 on which the X-directional wiring 92 is formed or on a desired region of a part thereof. The X-direction wiring 92 and the Y-direction wiring 93 are respectively drawn as external terminals.

Further, the device electrodes (not shown) of the surface conduction electron-emitting device 94 are electrically connected to the m X-direction wires 92 and the n Y-direction wires 93 by connection 95.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device may be formed on either the substrate or an interlayer insulating layer (not shown).

As will be described later in detail, the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 94 arranged in the X direction
Are electrically connected to a scanning signal generating means (not shown) for applying a scanning signal for scanning the corresponding row according to an input signal.

On the other hand, a not-shown modulation for applying a modulation signal for modulating each of the rows of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 94 arranged in the Y direction according to an input signal is applied to the Y-direction wiring 93. It is electrically connected to the signal generating means.

The driving voltage applied to each element of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is supplied as a difference voltage between the scanning signal and the modulation signal applied to the element.

In the above configuration, individual elements can be selected and driven independently only by simple matrix wiring.

Next, an image forming apparatus using the electron source of the simple matrix wiring manufactured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. 7 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of the image forming apparatus, FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a fluorescent film, and FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a driving circuit for displaying according to an NTSC television signal, including the driving circuit. Represents an image forming apparatus.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 91 denotes an electron source substrate on which electron-emitting devices are formed, 1081 denotes a rear plate on which the electron source substrate 91 is fixed, and 1086 denotes a glass substrate 1083.
A face plate in which a fluorescent film 1084 and a metal back 1085 are formed on the inner surface; and 1082, a support frame;
An envelope 1088 is configured by these members. 9
Reference numeral 4 denotes an electron-emitting device, and reference numerals 92 and 93 denote an X-direction wiring and a Y-direction wiring connected to a pair of device electrodes of the surface conduction electron-emitting device.

The envelope 1088 includes the face plate 1086, the support frame 1082, and the rear plate 10 as described above.
However, since the rear plate 1081 is provided mainly for the purpose of reinforcing the strength of the electron source substrate 91, if the electron source substrate 91 itself has sufficient strength, the separate rear plate 1081 No need, electron source substrate 9
1, the support frame 1082 is directly joined to the face plate 1
086, the support frame 1082, and the electron source substrate 91 may constitute an envelope 1088.

In FIG. 8, reference numeral 1092 denotes a phosphor. The phosphor 1092 is made of only a phosphor in the case of monochrome, but a color phosphor film is composed of a black conductive material 1091 called a black stripe or a black matrix depending on the arrangement of the phosphors and the phosphor 1092. The purpose of providing the black stripes (black matrix) is to make the color separation between the respective phosphors 1092 of the necessary three primary color phosphors black in the case of color display so that mixed colors and the like are inconspicuous, and that the phosphor film 1084 is provided. Is to suppress a decrease in contrast due to reflection of external light in the above. 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 used. As a method of applying the fluorescent substance to the glass substrate 1093, a precipitation method or a printing method is used regardless of whether it is monochrome or color.

A metal back 1085 (FIG. 7) is usually provided on the inner side of the fluorescent film 1084 (FIG. 7). The purpose of the metal back is to improve the brightness by mirror-reflecting light toward the inner surface side of the phosphor emission toward the face plate 1086 side, 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 1086 may further be provided with a transparent electrode (not shown) on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 1084 in order to increase the conductivity of the fluorescent film 1084.

When performing the above-mentioned sealing, in the case of color, the phosphors of each color and the electron-emitting devices must be opposed to each other, and it is necessary to perform sufficient alignment.

The envelope 1088 is connected to an exhaust pipe (not shown) through
The degree of vacuum is set to about 0 ^-7 Torr, and sealing is performed. Further, a getter process may be performed in order to maintain the degree of vacuum of the envelope 1088 after sealing. This is the envelope 108
This is a process of heating a getter disposed at a predetermined position (not shown) immediately before or after the sealing of No. 8 to form a vapor deposition film. A getter typically contains Ba as a principal component, by the adsorption action of the evaporated film, for example, 1 × 10 ^-5 Torr
It maintains a degree of vacuum of about 1 × 10 ⁻⁷ Torr.
Steps after the energization forming of the surface conduction electron-emitting device are appropriately set.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a measuring device for evaluating electron emission characteristics. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 81 denotes a power supply for applying a device voltage Vf to the device, 80 denotes an ammeter for measuring a device current If flowing through the conductive thin film 4 between the device electrodes 2 and 3, and 84 denotes electron emission of the device. An anode electrode for measuring an emission current Ie emitted from the unit; 83, a high-voltage power supply for applying a voltage to the anode electrode 84;
Reference numeral 2 denotes an ammeter for measuring an emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission portion of the device, 85 denotes a vacuum device, and 86 denotes an exhaust pump.

Next, regarding an image forming apparatus constituted by using an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement type substrate, NTS
A schematic configuration of a driving circuit for performing television display based on a C-system television signal will be described with reference to a block diagram of FIG. Reference numeral 1101 denotes the display panel.
Is a scanning circuit, 1103 is a control circuit, 1104 is a shift register, 1105 is a line memory, 1106 is a synchronization signal separation circuit, 1107 is a modulation signal generator, and Vx and Va are DC voltage sources.

The function of each section will be described below.

First, the display panel 1101 is connected to the terminals Dox1 to Dox
oxm, terminals Doy1 to Doyn and a high voltage terminal Hv are connected to an external electric circuit. Of these, the terminal Dox1
To Doxm, the electron sources provided in the display panel, that is, the surface conduction electron-emitting device groups arranged in a matrix of m rows and n columns are sequentially driven by one row (n elements). A scanning signal is applied to the scan.

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

Next, the scanning circuit 1102 will be described. This circuit has m switching elements inside (indicated by S1 to Sm in the figure), and each switching element is an output voltage of a DC voltage source Vx or 0 (V).
(Ground level) is selected and electrically connected to the terminals Dx1 to Dxm of the display panel 1101. Each of the switching elements S1 to Sm operates based on the control signal Tscan output from the control circuit 1103, but can be actually configured by combining switching elements such as FETs.

Note that the DC voltage source Vx is controlled at a constant voltage such that the drive voltage applied to the unscanned element is equal to or less than the electron emission threshold based on the characteristics (electron emission threshold voltage) of the surface conduction electron emission element. Is set to output.

The control circuit 1103 has a function of matching the operations of the respective units so that an appropriate display is performed based on an image signal input from the outside. The synchronization signal Tsy sent from the synchronization signal separation circuit 1106 described below
Based on nc, Tscan, Tsft, and Tmry control signals are generated for each unit.

The synchronizing signal separating circuit 1106 is a circuit for separating a synchronizing signal component and a luminance signal component from an NTSC television signal input from the outside, and can be formed by using a frequency separating (filter) circuit. As is well known, the synchronization signal separated by the synchronization signal separation circuit 1106 is composed of a vertical synchronization signal and a horizontal synchronization signal, but is shown here as a Tsync signal for convenience of explanation. On the other hand, a luminance signal component of an image separated from the television signal is referred to as a DATA signal for convenience, and this signal is input to a shift register 1104.

A shift register 1104 is for serially / parallel-converting the DATA signal input serially in time series for each line of an image, and operates based on a control signal Tsft sent from the control circuit 1103. (Ie, the control signal Tsft may be rephrased as the shift clock of the shift register 1104).

The data for one line of the image which has been subjected to the serial / parallel conversion (corresponding to drive data for n electron-emitting devices) is outputted from the shift register 1104 as n parallel signals Id1 to Idn. .

The line memory 1105 is a storage device for storing data of one line of an image for a necessary time only, and stores the contents of Id1 to Idn as appropriate according to a control signal Tmry sent from the control circuit 1103. The stored contents are output as Id1 to Idn, and the modulated signal generator 1
107 is input.

A modulation signal generator 1107 is a signal source for appropriately driving and modulating each of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices in accordance with each of the image data Id1 to Idn. The output signal is output through terminals Doy1 to Doyn. Display panel 1101
Is applied to the surface conduction type electron-emitting device in the inside.

As described above, the electron-emitting device according to the present invention has the following basic characteristics with respect to the emission current Ie. That is, as described above, electron emission has a clear threshold voltage Vth, and electron emission occurs only when a voltage higher than Vth is applied.

For a voltage equal to or higher than the electron emission threshold, the emission current changes in accordance with the change in the voltage applied to the element. By changing the material, configuration, and manufacturing method of the electron-emitting device, the value of the electron emission threshold voltage Vth and the degree of change in the emission current with respect to the applied voltage may be changed.
In any case, the following can be said.

That is, when a pulse voltage of the present element is applied, for example, when a voltage lower than the electron emission threshold is applied, no electron emission occurs, but when a voltage higher than the electron emission threshold is applied, the electron beam is output. Is done. At that time, first, it is possible to control the intensity of the output electron beam by changing the peak value Vm of the pulse. Second, it is possible to control the total amount of charges of the output electron beam by changing the pulse width Pw.

Therefore, as a method of modulating the electron-emitting device in accordance with the input signal, a voltage modulation method, a pulse width modulation method, or the like can be cited. A voltage modulation type circuit that generates a voltage pulse having a length but appropriately modulates the peak value of the pulse according to input data is used.

In order to implement the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 1107 generates a voltage pulse having a constant peak value, but modulates the width of the voltage pulse appropriately according to input data. A circuit using a width modulation method is used.

Through the series of operations described above, the image display device of the present invention can display a television using the display panel 1101. Although not particularly described in the above description, the shift register 1104 and the line memory 11
Numeral 05 may be a digital signal type or an analog signal type. In short, serial / parallel conversion and recording of an image signal may be performed at a predetermined speed.

When the digital signal type is used, the output signal DATA of the synchronizing signal separation circuit 1106 needs to be converted into a digital signal.
This is possible if a converter is provided. In connection with this, the circuit used for the modulation signal generator 1107 is slightly different depending on whether the output signal of the line memory 1105 is a digital signal or an analog signal.

First, the case of a digital signal will be described. In the voltage modulation method, for example, a well-known D / A conversion circuit may be used as the modulation signal generator 1107, and an amplification circuit or the like may be added as necessary.

In the case of the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 1107 includes, for example, a high-speed oscillator, a counter (counter) for counting the number of waves output from the oscillator, an output value of the counter, and an output value of the memory. It can be configured by using a circuit in which a comparator for comparison is combined. If necessary, an amplifier for amplifying the voltage of the pulse width modulated signal output from the comparator to the drive voltage of the surface conduction electron-emitting device may be added.

Next, the case of an analog signal will be described. In the voltage modulation method, a modulation signal generator 1107
For example, a well-known amplifier circuit using an operational amplifier may be used, and a level shift circuit or the like may be added as necessary. In the case of the pulse width modulation method, for example, a well-known voltage controlled oscillator (VCO)
And an amplifier for amplifying the voltage up to the drive voltage of the surface conduction electron-emitting device may be added as necessary.

In the image display device completed as described above, each of the electron-emitting devices thus has external terminals Dox1 to Dox1.
Electrons are emitted by applying a voltage through Doxm and Doy1 to Doyn, and a high voltage is applied to a metal back 1085 or a transparent electrode (not shown) through a high voltage terminal Hv to accelerate an electron beam and collide with a fluorescent film. Then, an image can be displayed by exciting and emitting light.

The configuration described above is a schematic configuration necessary for manufacturing a suitable image forming apparatus used for display or the like. For example, detailed portions such as materials of each member are not limited to those described above. Instead, it is appropriately selected so as to be suitable for the use of the image forming apparatus. Also, the NTSC system has been described as an example of the input signal, but the present invention is not limited to this, and PAL,
Various systems such as the SECAM system may be used, and a TV signal (for example, a high-definition TV including the MUSE system) including a larger number of scanning lines may be used.

Next, the above-described ladder-type arrangement electron source substrate and an image display device using the same will be described with reference to FIGS.
1 will be described.

In FIG. 10, reference numeral 1110 denotes an electron source substrate;
Reference numeral 1111 denotes an electron-emitting device; 1112, Dx1 to Dx10 are common wirings connected to the electron-emitting device. A plurality of electron-emitting devices 1111 are arranged on the substrate 1110 in parallel in the X direction (this is called an element row). A plurality of such element rows are arranged on a substrate to form a ladder-type electron source substrate. By appropriately applying a drive voltage between the common lines of each element row,
Each element row can be driven independently. That is, an electron beam having a voltage equal to or higher than the electron emission threshold may be applied to an element row that emits an electron beam, and a voltage equal to or lower than the electron emission threshold may be applied to an element row that does not emit an electron beam. Further, the common wirings Dx2 to Dx9 between the element rows, for example, Dx2 and Dx3 may be the same wiring.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the structure of an image forming apparatus provided with a ladder-type electron source. 1120 is a grid electrode, 1211 is a hole through which electrons pass, 112
2 is a terminal outside the container made of Dox1, Dox2,.
123, G1 and G2 connected to the grid electrode 1120
.., The outer terminal 1124 made of Gn is an electron source substrate in which the common wiring between the element rows is the same as described above. 7 and 10 indicate the same members. The difference from the above-described image forming apparatus having the simple matrix arrangement (FIG. 7) is that a grid electrode 1120 is provided between the electron source substrate 1110 and the face plate 1086.

The substrate 1110 and the face plate 1086
A grid electrode 1120 is provided in the middle of.
The grid electrode 1120 can modulate an electron beam emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device.
In order to allow an electron beam to pass through stripe-shaped electrodes provided orthogonally to the ladder-shaped element rows, one circular opening 1121 is provided for each element. The shape and installation position of the grid are not necessarily those shown in FIG. 11, and a large number of passage openings may be provided in a mesh shape as openings, and may be provided around or near a surface conduction electron-emitting device, for example. Good.

The outer container terminal 1122 and grid outer terminal 1123 are electrically connected to a control circuit (not shown).

In the present image forming apparatus, a modulation signal for one line of an image is simultaneously applied to the grid electrode rows in synchronization with the sequential driving (scanning) of the element rows one by one, so that each electron beam is emitted. By controlling the irradiation of the phosphor, one image
Can be displayed line by line.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus suitable not only for a display device for television broadcasting but also for a display device such as a video conference system and a computer. Further, it can be used as an image forming apparatus as an optical printer including a photosensitive drum or the like.

[0134]

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

(Example 1) By using the substrate (X wiring 72 and Y wiring 73) on which the device electrodes as shown in FIG. An electron emission portion was formed in 1201 to manufacture an electron source substrate on which a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices were arranged. Note that the X wiring and the Y wiring are electrically insulated by an insulating member (not shown) at the intersection.
FIG. 1 is a view showing a manufacturing procedure of the surface conduction electron-emitting device. FIG. 2 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view of the surface conduction electron-emitting device manufactured according to this embodiment.

The device electrodes were formed on the substrate by photolithography in the following procedure. (1) A quartz substrate is used as the insulating substrate 1, and after sufficiently washing the substrate with an organic solvent, a general vacuum film forming technique and a photolithography technique are used on the substrate 1.
Electrodes 2 and 3 made of Ni were formed (FIG. 1).
(A)). At this time, the interval L1 between the device electrodes was 2 μm, the width W1 of the electrode was 600 μm, and the thickness was 1000 °.

(2) Next, an organic palladium-containing solution (ccp-4230, manufactured by Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) was applied to the liquid drop applying device 7 using an ink jet ejecting apparatus using a piezoelectric element, and the width W 2 of the thin film 4 was measured. One droplet 24 (1 dot) having a volume of 60 μm ³ was applied between the electrodes 2 and 3 so that the droplet diameter became 300 μm (FIG. 1B). The volume of the concave portion between the insulating substrate 1 and the electrodes 2 and 3 in this embodiment is 120 μm.
³

(3) Next, a heat treatment was performed at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes to form a fine particle film composed of fine particles of palladium oxide (PdO), thereby forming a thin film 4 (FIG. 1C). Note that the fine particle film described here is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated as described above, and has a fine structure not only in a state where the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged, but also in a state where the fine particles are adjacent to each other or overlap each other. (Including islands).

(4) Next, a voltage was applied between the electrodes 2 and 3, and the thin film 4 was subjected to an energization process (an energization forming process), thereby forming an electron-emitting portion 5 (FIG. 1D).

Using the electron source substrate thus manufactured,
As described above, the face plate 1086, the support frame 10
82, an envelope 1088 is formed with the rear plate 1081, sealed, a display panel, and an image having a drive circuit for performing television display based on an NTSC television signal as shown in FIG. A forming apparatus was manufactured.

As a result, the electron-emitting device manufactured by the above-described manufacturing method of the present example and the electron source substrate, the display panel, and the image forming apparatus manufactured by using the electron-emitting device exhibited good performance without any problem. Further, as described above,
In the method of manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention,
By applying the droplets to form the thin film 4, the pattern formation of the thin film 4 could be omitted. Also, one (1
Since it can be formed only by droplets of (dots), waste of the solution can be eliminated.

(Example 2) The device electrode width (W1) was set to 600.
μm, a device electrode interval (L1) of 2 μm, and a substrate having a device electrode (thickness of 1000 °) having element electrodes wired in a ladder shape (FIG. 13). An electron-emitting device was manufactured. In FIG. 13, 13
01 is a substrate, 1302 is wiring.

Using the obtained electron source substrate, the face plate 1086 and the support frame 108 were formed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
2. An enclosure 1088 is formed by the rear plate 1081, sealing is performed, a display panel, and a driving circuit for performing television display based on NTSC television signals as shown in FIG. An image forming apparatus having the same was manufactured. As a result, the same effect as in Example 1 was obtained.

(Example 3) A substrate on which device electrodes wired in a matrix were formed by the method described above (FIG. 12).
And a surface conduction electron-emitting device was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 by using the above-described bubble jet type inkjet ejecting apparatus.

Using the obtained electron source substrate, the face plate 1086 and the support frame 108 are formed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
2. An enclosure 1088 is formed by the rear plate 1081, sealing is performed, a display panel, and a driving circuit for performing television display based on NTSC television signals as shown in FIG. An image forming apparatus having the same was manufactured. As a result, the same effect as in Example 1 was obtained.

(Example 4) Using a substrate (FIG. 13) in which element electrodes wired in a ladder shape were formed by the above-described method, and using a bubble jet type ink jet ejecting apparatus, the surface was changed in the same manner as in Example 1. A conduction electron-emitting device was manufactured.

Using the obtained electron source substrate, a face plate 1086 and a support frame 108 are formed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
2. An enclosure 1088 is formed by the rear plate 1081, sealing is performed, a display panel, and a driving circuit for performing television display based on NTSC television signals as shown in FIG. An image forming apparatus having the same was manufactured. As a result, the same effect as in Example 1 was obtained.

Example 5 Example 1 was repeated except that a 0.05 wt% aqueous solution of Pd acetate was used as the solution for forming the thin film 4.
A surface conduction electron-emitting device was formed in the same manner as described above. As a result, despite the fact that the solutions used were different, Example 1
A good device similar to that described above could be formed.

Using the obtained electron source substrate, the face plate 1086 and the support frame 108 were formed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
2. An enclosure 1088 is formed by the rear plate 1081, sealing is performed, a display panel, and a driving circuit for performing television display based on NTSC television signals as shown in FIG. An image forming apparatus having the same was manufactured. As a result, the same effect as in Example 1 was obtained.

Example 6 A surface conduction electron-emitting device was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the amount of the droplet was 30 μm ³ and two droplets (2 dots) were applied. as a result,
Since a good device similar to that of Example 1 could be formed, it became clear that a desired thin film could be formed by applying a predetermined amount of liquid.

Using the obtained electron source substrate, the face plate 1086 and the support frame 108 were formed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
2. An enclosure 1088 is formed by the rear plate 1081, sealing is performed, a display panel, and a driving circuit for performing television display based on NTSC television signals as shown in FIG. An image forming apparatus having the same was manufactured. As a result, the same effect as in Example 1 was obtained.

Example 7 A surface conduction electron-emitting device was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the amount of liquid droplets was changed to 200 μm ³ .

As a result, as shown in FIG.
Although the width of the thin film 4 was wider than the width between the three, an electron-emitting device having no problem in electron emission characteristics was obtained.

Using the electron source substrate thus obtained, the face plate 108 is formed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
6, the envelope 1088 is formed by the support frame 1082 and the rear plate 1081, sealed, and a television is displayed on the display panel based on an NTSC television signal as shown in FIG. An image forming apparatus having the above driving circuit was manufactured. As a result, the same effect as in Example 1 was obtained.

However, the image quality of the first to sixth embodiments is higher than that of the first embodiment because of the variation in the formation of the electron emitter due to the length of the electron emitter 5 exceeding the length of the device electrode. Was better.

Example 8 An electron-emitting device was manufactured by using the apparatus shown in FIG. The droplet applying process followed the flowchart of FIG. Description will be made with reference to these figures.

In these figures, 1 is an insulating substrate, 2
And 3 are electrodes, 24 is a droplet, 7 is an inkjet ejecting device, 8 is a light emitting means, 9 is a light receiving means, 10 is a stage,
Reference numeral 11 denotes a controller.

The manufacturing steps in this example are as follows.

(1) Electrode forming step Using blue plate glass as the insulating substrate 1 and sufficiently washing it with an organic solvent, the element electrodes 2 and 3 made of Ni are formed by vacuum film forming technology and photolithography technology. did. At this time, the interval between the device electrodes was 3 μm, the width of the device electrodes was 500 μm, and the thickness was 1000 °.

(2) Positioning Step As the ink jet ejecting apparatus 7, an ink jet ejecting recording head for ejecting liquid by air bubbles was used, and an optical sensor for detecting light as an electric signal was provided on the light receiving means 9. The insulating substrate 1 provided with the device electrodes 2 and 3 was fixed on the stage 10, and light was emitted from the back surface of the insulating substrate 1 to the light emitting means 8 using a light emitting diode. Then
The stage 10 was conveyed by the controller 11, and the light passing from between the element electrodes 2 and 3 was received by the light receiving means 9, and the position between the element electrodes 2 and 3 was aligned with the ink jet.

(3) Droplet applying step A solution containing organic palladium (ccp-4230, manufactured by Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) as a material of the thin film (fine particle film) 4 was used. Was applied with droplets 24.

(4) Droplet Detection Step Whether or not the droplet 24 was applied was detected in the same manner as in the positioning step.

In this example, the droplet 24 is formed at a predetermined position. However, if the droplet 24 is not applied between the element electrodes 2 and 3, the droplet applying step is performed again to detect the droplet. By repeating the process until it is detected and confirmed that the droplet 24 has been applied in the process, it is possible to reduce defects at the time of applying and forming the thin film 4.

(5) Heating Step The insulating substrate 1 on which the droplets 24 are formed is subjected to a heating treatment at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes to form a fine particle film made of palladium oxide (PdO) fine particles (average particle diameter: 70 °). The thin film 4 was formed. The thin film had a diameter of 150 μm and was formed almost at the center of the device electrodes 2 and 3. The film thickness is 100
Å, the sheet resistance was 5 × 10 ⁴ Ω / □.

The fine particle film described here is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated, as described above, and has a fine structure not only in a state where the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged, but also in a state where the fine particles are adjacent to each other. It refers to a film in an overlapping state (including an island shape), and the particle size refers to a diameter in a state where the particle shape can be recognized in the above state.

When the surface conduction electron-emitting device thus manufactured was subjected to an electric current treatment, a device having good device characteristics was obtained.

(Embodiment 9) FIG. 16 shows a droplet applying step by the manufacturing apparatus used in this embodiment.

In this example, an electrode was formed in the same manner as in Example 8. Next, a control means 12 for moving the ink jet 7 and the light receiving means 9 provided together is provided.
The alignment was performed in the same manner as in Example 8, except that the ink jet 7 and the light receiving means 9 were moved and transported without moving and transporting the insulating substrate 1 fixed to 0. Then, the subsequent droplet application step, droplet detection step, and heat treatment step were performed in the same manner as in Example 8 to obtain a surface conduction electron-emitting device.
The light emitting means 8 in this example is provided with a mechanism (not shown) which moves in synchronization with the light receiving means 9.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device manufactured in this manner also showed the same good device characteristics as in Example 8.

(Embodiment 10) FIG. 17 shows a droplet applying step by the manufacturing apparatus used in this embodiment.

In this example, an electrode was formed in the same manner as in Example 8. Eighth Embodiment Next, a light emitting means is provided in the ink jet 7 and the light receiving means 9 in parallel with each other, and between the element electrodes 2 and 3 is detected by reflected light of light emitted from the light emitting means 8.
Alignment was performed in the same manner as described above. The subsequent droplet application step, droplet detection step, and heat treatment step are performed in Example 8.
In the same manner as in the above, a surface conduction electron-emitting device was obtained.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device manufactured in this manner also showed the same good device characteristics as in Example 8.

Embodiment 11 In this embodiment, an electron beam generator using the electron source substrate shown in FIG. 21 was manufactured.

First, a plurality of electron-emitting devices were formed on the insulating substrate 1 by the same manufacturing method as in the eighth embodiment. Next, a grid (modulation electrode) 13 having an electron passage hole 14 above the insulating substrate 1 was arranged in a direction orthogonal to the element electrodes 2 and 3 to obtain an electron beam generator.

When the electron source manufactured as described above was operated, on-off control of the electron beam emitted from the electron-emitting device in accordance with the information signal of the grid 13 and continuous change of the electron amount of the electron beam were performed. Not only was it possible to obtain an electron beam generator with a very small variation in the amount of electrons of the electron beam emitted from each electron-emitting device.

Example 12 An image forming apparatus having a grid shown in FIG. 11 was formed using a substrate on which a plurality of electron-emitting devices were manufactured in the same manner as in Example 11. As a result, an image forming apparatus showing good performance without any problem was obtained.

(Example 13) An image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 7 was formed using a substrate on which a plurality of electron-emitting devices were manufactured in the same manner as in Example 11. As a result, an image forming apparatus showing good performance without any problem was obtained.

Example 14 Next, as shown in FIG. 22, a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention was formed on a 10 × 10 matrix wiring electrode substrate by an ink-jet method. In FIG. 22, 140 is a surface conduction electron-emitting device, and 141 and 142 are wirings. FIG. 31A is an enlarged view of each unit cell. Each unit cell is composed of orthogonal wiring electrodes 241 and 242 and opposing element electrodes 2 and 3 drawn from each wiring electrode. The wiring electrodes 241 and 242 are formed by a printing method, and are electrically insulated at the intersections by an insulating member (not shown). The opposing device electrodes 2 and 3 are vapor-deposited films and are patterned by photolithography. The width of the gap between the device electrodes is about 10 μm, the gap length is 500 μm, and the film thickness is 30 nm. The organic palladium-containing solution (Pd concentration: 0.5 wt%) ink is ejected a plurality of times at the center of the gap between the electrodes by the inkjet method according to the present invention to form droplets 7, and then dried and fired (35).
(0 ° C., 30 minutes), a circular conductive thin film having a thickness of 20 nm and a diameter of 300 μm constituted by PdO fine particles is formed.

FIG. 23 is a schematic block diagram of a discharge control system for forming a thin film by the ink jet method.
1 is a substrate in each unit cell, and 2 and 3 are device electrodes facing each other. Reference numeral 1501 denotes a discharge nozzle of the inkjet ejecting apparatus, and 1502 denotes an optical system for detecting information of a droplet. Reference numeral 1503 denotes a displacement control mechanism that mounts an inkjet cartridge including a discharge nozzle, an ink tank, and a supply system, and a detection optical system, and includes a coarse movement mechanism that transports between unit cells on a matrix wiring electrode substrate, , And a fine movement mechanism for adjusting the distance between the substrate and the discharge nozzle. In this embodiment, a piezo-jet type device using a piezoelectric element was used as the ink jet ejecting device, and the above-described vertical reflection type was used as the detection optical system.

Hereinafter, a method of detecting droplet information and controlling ejection based on the detected information in this example will be described in detail.

In this example, a case will be described in which the amount of droplets is controlled by the number of ejections, and the amount of ejection per ejection is fixed at a constant amount. In a piezo-type inkjet apparatus, the discharge amount per discharge is determined by the pulse height and pulse width of a voltage pulse supplied to a piezo element that pushes ink. In this example, the driving conditions are selected such that the discharge amount per discharge nozzle is 10 ng, and 100
The formation of ng droplets by 10 ejections is set as a standard ejection condition.

The displacement control mechanism is driven according to preset coordinate information, and the tip of the discharge nozzle is set at a position 5 mm above the center of the element electrode gap in the unit. At the same time as the ejection is started in accordance with the predetermined driving conditions, the detection optical system starts detecting the droplet information at the center of the gap between the element electrodes.

FIG. 24 is a detailed view of the vertical reflection type detection optical system. The linearly polarized light emitted from the semiconductor laser 161 is
Reflected by the mirror 162, the beam splitters 163, 1
The light is transmitted through the / 4λ plate 174 and the condenser lens 165 and is vertically incident on the droplet. The light beam that has passed through the droplet is partially reflected on the substrate surface to become return light, and then passes through the droplet again and
/ 4λ164. The return light is a λλ plate 16
4, the light becomes a linearly polarized light rotated by 90 ° with respect to the incident light beam, and is incident on a photodetector 166 such as a photodiode after being deflected by 90 ° in a beam splitter 163. Since the intensity of the returned light is modulated by absorption and scattering that occur in the process of transmitting through the droplet twice, the thickness of the droplet can be detected by detecting the intensity of the reflected light. The photodiode output is amplified in the optical information detection circuit 1504 and sent to the reference signal ratio circuit 1505. In the reference signal ratio circuit 1505, a difference signal from the reference value is formed. As the reference value, the reflected light intensity corresponding to the thickness of the droplet so that the film thickness after firing becomes 20 nm is previously determined experimentally and set. Since the reflected light intensity decreases as the droplet thickness increases, the differential output defined by (detection signal-reference signal) becomes an optimal value of zero as the droplet thickness approaches an appropriate value, and is optimized. If the value is exceeded, the polarity will change to negative. The difference output output from the reference signal comparison circuit 1505 is sent to the ejection condition correction circuit 1506. The ejection condition correction circuit 1506 outputs a HI level signal when the differential output has a positive polarity, and a LOW level signal when the differential output has a negative polarity.
A level signal is output and sent to the ejection condition control circuit 1507. In the ejection condition control circuit 1507, while the level signal from the ejection signal correction circuit 1506 is HI, the ejection under the fixed condition is continuously performed at a constant interval, and the ejection ends when the level signal becomes LOW.

After the formation of the droplet, the 10 × 10 matrix wiring electrode substrate was fired at 350 ° C. for 30 minutes. As a result, the droplet became a thin film composed of PdO fine particles. When the resistance between the device electrodes was measured, a normal resistance value of about 3 kΩ was shown even in the cell showing the abnormal discharge count. Next, an electron emission portion was formed at the center of the device electrode gap of each cell by sequentially applying a voltage between the device electrodes and applying a current to the thin film (forming process).

The electron source substrate thus formed was mounted on the above-described electron emission characteristic evaluation apparatus shown in FIG. 5 and emitted electrons. As a result, the electron emission characteristics of all 100 elements were uniform.

Further, using a large-area substrate (for example, FIG. 12) having an increased number of elements, as in the case of a 10 × 10 substrate, FIG.
The droplets were applied over each cell by the ejection control system 3, the piezo jet type ink jet device, the vertical reflection type detection optical system, and the like. This was baked at 350 ° C. for 30 minutes to form PdO fine particle thin films on all cells. When the resistance between the device electrodes was measured, a normal resistance value of about 3 kΩ was shown even in a cell showing an abnormal number of ejections. Next, an electron emission portion was formed at the center of the device electrode gap of each cell by sequentially applying a voltage between the device electrodes and applying a current to the thin film (forming process).

Using the electron source substrate thus formed,
As described above with reference to FIG.
6. An envelope 1088 is formed by the support frame 1082 and the rear plate 1081, sealed, and used to perform television display based on a display panel and further an NTSC television signal as shown in FIG. An image forming apparatus having a drive circuit was created. As a result, all the elements, including the cell showing the abnormal number of ejections, emitted electrons, and the characteristics were uniform. As a result, a good TV image without luminance variation could be formed.

As described above, even in a cell showing an abnormal number of ejections due to an abnormality of an ejection nozzle, an abnormality of substrate wettability, an abnormal landing position, etc., a uniform composition, morphology, It was confirmed that a thin film having a film thickness was formed, and the effectiveness of the ejection control method according to the present invention was shown.

(Embodiment 15) In Embodiment 14, the case where the ejection parameter to be controlled is the number of ejections has been described. In this embodiment, the ejection drive pulse height or pulse width is set as another ejection parameter. The following shows the case where As described above, in the piezo-type inkjet apparatus, since the discharge amount per discharge is determined by the pulse height and the pulse width of the voltage pulse supplied to the piezo element for pushing out the ink, the pulse height and the pulse are determined based on the droplet information. By controlling at least one of the widths, the droplet volume can be corrected. In the present embodiment, the number of ejections is fixed to two, and ejection is performed twice under driving conditions such that the standard ejection amount per ejection nozzle is 50 ng, thereby forming 100 ng droplets. Is set to

Hereinafter, a method of detecting droplet information and controlling ejection based on the detected information in this embodiment will be described. Embodiments other than the control method are the same as those in the fourteenth embodiment. As the detection optical system, a vertical reflection type similar to that in the fourteenth embodiment is used. Driving the displacement control mechanism according to preset coordinate information,
The tip of the discharge nozzle is set at a position 5 mm above the center of the gap between the element electrodes in the unit. 50n predetermined
After the first ejection is performed in accordance with the driving conditions corresponding to the g droplet, the detection optical system detects the droplet information at the center of the gap between the element electrodes.

The photodiode output of the droplet information by the first ejection is amplified by the optical information detection circuit and sent to the reference signal comparison circuit. A reference signal comparison circuit forms a difference signal from the reference value. The reference value is set by experimentally obtaining the reflected light intensity corresponding to the thickness of the droplet after the first discharge under the condition that the film thickness after firing of the droplet by the two discharges becomes 20 nm. Since the reflected light intensity decreases as the droplet thickness increases, (detection signal-reference signal)
Has a one-to-one correlation with the amount of deviation of the droplet thickness from an appropriate value. The difference output output from the reference signal comparison circuit is sent to the ejection condition correction circuit. In the ejection condition correction circuit, correction signal data based on the correlation between the difference output and the deviation amount is experimentally obtained and stored in advance, and a correction signal corresponding to the difference output is output in accordance with the data, and the ejection condition control circuit Sent to The discharge condition control circuit corrects the pulse height or pulse width of the drive condition based on the correction signal from the discharge signal correction circuit, and performs the second discharge.

After the formation of the droplets, the 10 × 10 matrix wiring electrode substrate was baked at 350 ° C. for 20 minutes, and the droplets became thin films of PdO fine particles. When the resistance between the device electrodes was measured, a normal resistance value of about 3 kΩ was shown even in the cell showing an abnormality in the first ejection. Next, a voltage was sequentially applied between the device electrodes, and the thin film was subjected to an energization process (forming process) to form an electron emission portion at the center of the device electrode gap of each cell.

The electron source substrate thus formed was mounted on the above-described electron emission characteristic evaluation apparatus shown in FIG. 5 and emitted electrons. As a result, the electron emission characteristics of all 100 elements were uniform.

Further, by using a large-area substrate (for example, FIG. 12) having an increased number of elements, as shown in FIG.
With a discharge control method of 0, droplets were applied over each cell by a piezo-jet type ink-jet injection device or the like. This was baked at 350 ° C. for 30 minutes to form PdO fine particle thin films on all cells. When the resistance between the element electrodes was measured, a normal resistance value of about 3 kΩ was shown even in the cell showing an abnormality in the first ejection. Next, an electron emission portion was formed at the center of the device electrode gap of each cell by sequentially applying a voltage between the device electrodes and applying a current to the thin film (forming process).

Using the electron source substrate thus formed,
As described above with reference to FIG.
6. An enclosure 1088 is formed by the support frame 1082 and the rear plate 1081, and the display panel is sealed and a driving circuit for performing television display based on an NTSC television signal as shown in FIG. Was formed. As a result, all the elements, including the cell showing the abnormal number of ejections, emitted electrons, and the characteristics were uniform. As a result, a good TV with no luminance variation
An image could be formed.

As described above, even in a cell showing an abnormality in the first ejection due to an abnormality of the ejection nozzle, an abnormality of the substrate wettability, an abnormal landing position, etc., the uniform composition and morphology in the element electrode gap. It was confirmed that a thin film having a thickness was formed.

(Embodiment 16) In Embodiments 14 and 15, an optical detection system is used as a means for detecting droplet information. In this embodiment, a case where an electrical detection system is used will be described.
Embodiments other than the detection method are the same as those in the seventh embodiment.

The method of forming a thin film by the ink jet method of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. In the figure,
1 is a substrate in each unit cell, and 2 and 3 are device electrodes facing each other. Reference numeral 1801 denotes a discharge nozzle of the ink jet ejecting apparatus, and 1808 denotes a system for measuring electrical properties of liquid droplets. Reference numeral 1803 denotes a displacement control mechanism that mounts an ink jet cartridge including a discharge nozzle, an ink tank, and a supply system. It is constituted by a fine movement mechanism for adjusting and adjusting the distance between the substrate and the discharge nozzle. In the present embodiment, an apparatus of a bubble jet system is used as an inkjet ejecting apparatus.

Hereinafter, a method of detecting droplet information and controlling discharge based on the detected information according to the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, as in the fourteenth embodiment, a case will be described in which the droplet amount is controlled by the number of ejections and the ejection amount per ejection is fixed at a constant amount. In this embodiment, 100
The formation of ng droplets by 10 ejections is set as a standard ejection condition.

The displacement control mechanism 1803 is driven in accordance with preset coordinate information, and the tip of the discharge nozzle is set at a position 5 mm above the center of the gap between the element electrodes 2 and 3 in the unit. At the same time as the ejection is started in accordance with the predetermined driving conditions, the detection of the droplet information in the gap between the element electrodes is started by the electrical property measurement system 1808.

In the electrical physical property measuring system 1808, the device electrode 2
A constant detection voltage is applied between the three, and the electrical current of the droplet is detected by measuring the response current. The detected electrical properties include the resistance of the droplet, the volume of the droplet, and the like. Based on the correlation between these physical properties and the amount of the droplet, an appropriate amount of the liquid in the gap between the device electrodes can be estimated. The detection voltage may be a DC voltage, but in order to suppress a chemical reaction such as gas generation in the solution. 100Hz-100kHz
A relatively high frequency, an AC voltage having a relatively small amplitude of about 10 mV to 500 mV is preferable. By detecting the AC voltage in phase and detecting a current component having the same phase as the applied voltage and a current component delayed by 90 °, the resistance and the capacitance of the droplet can be simultaneously detected. In this embodiment, a case where only the droplet resistance is detected will be described. The ink is not particularly limited as long as the solution resistance can be measured. In this embodiment, an aqueous organic palladium-containing aqueous solution (Pd concentration: 0.5 wt%) having excellent ionic conductivity is used.

The resistance value is output from the response current output of the electrical property measurement system 1808 through a process of current-voltage conversion, amplification, phase detection by a lock-in amplifier and calculation in an electrical information detection circuit 1809, and a reference signal comparison circuit 181 is output.
Sent to 0. The reference signal comparison circuit 1810 forms a difference signal from the reference value. The standard value is 20 after firing.
A resistance value corresponding to the thickness of the liquid droplet having a thickness of nm is obtained and set experimentally in advance. The standard value of the droplet by the aqueous solution containing organic palladium (Pd concentration 0.5 wt%) is 7
0 kΩ. Since the resistance value decreases as the amount of liquid droplets in the gap increases, the differential output defined by (detection signal-reference signal) decreases as the liquid droplet thickness approaches an appropriate value and becomes 0 at the optimal value. If it exceeds, it turns to negative polarity. The difference output output from the reference signal comparison circuit 1810 is sent to the ejection condition correction circuit 1811. In the ejection condition correction circuit 1811, if the difference output has a positive polarity, H
When the I level signal has a negative polarity, a LOW level signal is output and sent to the ejection condition control circuit 1807.
The ejection condition control circuit 1807 includes an ejection signal correction circuit 181
While the level signal from 1 is HI, the ejection under the fixed condition is continuously performed at a constant interval, and the ejection ends when the level signal becomes LOW.

The electron source substrate thus formed was attached to the above-described electron emission characteristic evaluation apparatus shown in FIG. 5 and emitted electrons. As a result, the electron emission characteristics of all 100 elements were uniform.

Further, by using a large-area substrate (for example, FIG. 12) having an increased number of elements, FIG.
The droplets were applied over each cell by the ejection control system 3, the piezo jet type ink jet device, the vertical reflection type detection optical system, and the like. This was baked at 350 ° C. for 30 minutes to form PdO fine particle thin films on all cells. When the resistance between the device electrodes was measured, a normal resistance value of about 3 kΩ was shown even in a cell showing an abnormal number of ejections. Next, an electron emission portion was formed at the center of the device electrode gap of each cell by sequentially applying a voltage between the device electrodes and applying a current to the thin film (forming process).

As described above, even in a cell showing an abnormal number of ejections due to an abnormality of an ejection nozzle, an abnormality of substrate wettability, an abnormal landing position, etc., a uniform composition, morphology, It was confirmed that a thin film having a film thickness was formed, and the effectiveness of the ejection control method according to the present invention was shown.

(Embodiment 17) FIG. 26 is a block diagram of discharge condition control by a two-system droplet information detection system of electrical detection and optical detection. Although a detailed description will be omitted, an algorithm that complements the error based on the correlation between the two systems of information makes it possible to perform ejection control with more accurate hybrid information.

(Embodiment 18) In this embodiment, a droplet amount correction system including a removal nozzle will be described. Drop amount correction provided with a removal nozzle is roughly classified into the following two methods. If it is determined that the amount of droplets in the gap is greater than the optimal value as a result of droplet information detection, a method of removing some of the droplets to return to the optimal value and re-ejecting after removing all the droplets It is a method that performs. As a removal method, there is a method of sucking a droplet or injecting a gas such as nitrogen to scatter the droplet from the gap. In the present embodiment, a method of providing a suction type removal nozzle and removing all droplets will be described.

Referring to FIG. 27, a method of detecting droplet information and controlling ejection based on the detected information according to the present invention will be described below. Embodiments other than the removal nozzle are the same as those in the fourteenth embodiment. The removal-dedicated nozzle 2012 is mounted on the same position control mechanism 2003 as the ejection nozzle and the detection optical system so that a dedicated position control mechanism need not be provided. In this embodiment, the ejection is performed under the driving condition such that the standard ejection amount per ejection nozzle 2001 is 100 ng.
Forming 0 ng droplets in one ejection is set as a standard ejection condition.

The displacement control mechanism 2103 is driven according to preset coordinate information, and the tip of the discharge nozzle 2001 is set at a position 5 mm above the center of the gap between the element electrodes 2 and 3 in the unit. After the ejection is performed in accordance with a predetermined driving condition, the detection optical system 2002 detects the droplet information at the center of the gap between the element electrodes. The photodiode output is amplified in the optical information detection circuit 2004 and sent to the reference signal comparison circuit 2005. In the reference signal comparison circuit 2005, a difference signal from the reference value is formed. The reference value is set by experimentally obtaining the reflected light intensity corresponding to the thickness of the droplet at which the film thickness of the droplet after firing becomes 20 nm. Since the reflected light intensity decreases as the droplet thickness increases, the differential output defined by (detection signal-reference signal) has a one-to-one correlation with the amount of deviation from the proper value of the droplet thickness, As the droplet thickness approaches an appropriate value, it decreases and reaches an optimal value of 0. When the thickness exceeds the optimal value, the polarity changes to a negative polarity. The difference output output from the reference signal comparison circuit 2005 is sent to the ejection condition correction circuit 2006.
The ejection condition correction circuit 2006 outputs a LOW level signal when the difference output has a positive polarity, and outputs an HI level signal when the difference output has a negative polarity, and sends it to the removal nozzle control circuit 2013. At the same time, the ejection condition correction circuit 2006 outputs a correction signal corresponding to the difference output in accordance with the correction signal data based on the correlation between the difference output and the deviation amount, and sends it to the ejection condition control circuit 2007. In the case of the HI level signal, the removal nozzle control circuit 2013 does not operate, and the discharge condition control circuit 2007 determines the pulse height or pulse width of the assist condition based on the correction signal, and performs the corrected discharge. L
In the case of the OW level signal, first, the removal nozzle control circuit 2
After 013 is operated and all of the liquid droplets are suctioned and removed by the removal nozzle 2012, the correction discharge is performed in the discharge condition control circuit 2013.

When droplet formation was performed on 100 unit cells on the 10 × 10 matrix wiring electrode substrate as described above, the droplet thickness of most cells showed an appropriate value after one discharge, % Cells showed a droplet thickness exceeding the appropriate value. FIG. 28 (a) shows a case where the amount of one ejection becomes abnormally large due to the ejection abnormality and the thickness of the droplet exceeds an appropriate value. After all the droplets are sucked by the removal nozzle, re-ejection is performed under the corrected condition. This is an example in which a droplet having an appropriate thickness is obtained as a result of performing the above. FIG. 28 (b) shows a cell in which the substrate wettability is abnormally low, and the ejection amount was appropriate but the droplet thickness became abnormally large. The same procedure as in FIG. Showed a normal value for the droplet thickness.

When the 10 × 10 matrix wiring electrode substrate was fired at 350 ° C. for 30 minutes after the formation of the droplet, the droplet became a thin film composed of PdO fine particles. When the resistance between the device electrodes was measured, a normal resistance value of about 3 kΩ was shown even in the cell showing an abnormality in the first ejection. Next, a voltage was sequentially applied between the device electrodes, and the thin film was subjected to an energization process (forming process) to form an electron emission portion at the center of the device electrode gap of each cell.

The electron source substrate thus formed was mounted on the above-described electron emission characteristic evaluation apparatus shown in FIG. 5 and emitted electrons. As a result, the electron emission characteristics of all 100 elements were uniform.

Further, using a large-area substrate (for example, FIG. 12) having an increased number of elements, as in the case of a 10 × 10 substrate, FIG.
The droplets were applied over each cell by a discharge control system having a removing nozzle of No. 7, a piezo jet type ink jet device, or the like. This was baked at 350 ° C. for 30 minutes to form PdO fine particle thin films on all cells.
When the resistance between the device electrodes was measured, a normal resistance value of about 3 kΩ was shown even in a cell showing an abnormal number of ejections. Next, an electron emission portion was formed at the center of the device electrode gap of each cell by sequentially applying a voltage between the device electrodes and applying a current to the thin film (forming process).

Using the electron source substrate thus formed,
As described above with reference to FIG.
6. An enclosure 1088 is formed by the support frame 1082 and the rear plate 1081, and the display panel is sealed and a driving circuit for performing television display based on an NTSC television signal as shown in FIG. Was formed. As a result, all the elements, including the cell showing the abnormal number of ejections, emitted electrons, and the characteristics were uniform. As a result, a good TV with no luminance variation
An image could be formed.

As described above, even in a cell showing an abnormality in the first ejection due to an abnormality in the ejection nozzle, an abnormality in the wettability of the substrate, an abnormality in the landing position, etc., the uniform composition and morphology in the element electrode gap. It was confirmed that a thin film having a thickness was formed.

(Embodiment 19) In this embodiment, in addition to the ejection condition control based on the detection information of the droplet information, a means for optically detecting the landing position information of the droplet, and a method based on the detected position information The following describes a system including means for performing position control such as ejection position adjustment and position fine adjustment.

FIG. 29 is a block diagram of the detection of droplet information and the position control and ejection control system based on the detection information according to the present invention. Embodiments other than the optical detection system are the same as in Embodiment 14. Since the ejection control has been described in detail in other embodiments, in this embodiment, only the position control will be particularly described.

The detection optical system 2202 used in this embodiment
Is a vertical reflection type similar to that of the fourteenth embodiment, but is a multi-beam system including a position detection sub-beam in addition to a droplet information detection beam, and is a system common to a tracking detection optical system of a compact disc. The beam emitted from the semiconductor laser is divided into three beams in a row by a diffraction grating, reflected and modulated at three different positions, and the split sensor detects the correlation of each reflected light intensity to obtain position information. There is a feature that can be.

The detection and control of the position may be performed on the electrode pattern or the alignment mark provided exclusively before the discharge, or may be performed on the droplet after the discharge. Regarding the method for detecting the landing position of a droplet,
The reflected light intensity between the beams may be compared, or the intensity change before and after ejection may be compared. Regarding the timing of the position detection and the ejection, the main ejection may be performed after the preliminary ejection is performed and the ejection position is corrected, or the position may be detected and corrected each time the ejection is performed.

FIG. 30 shows the state of position control and ejection control for droplets. After the first ejection, the reflected light intensities of the three beam trains arranged in a direction orthogonal to the gap between the element electrodes 2 and 3 are detected and compared by the split sensor, and the deviation amount of the droplet landing position from the center of the element electrode gap is calculated. Is detected. The displacement was corrected by the displacement control mechanism 2203 (FIG. 29) using the displacement amount as a correction signal, and the second and subsequent ejections were performed at appropriate positions, and droplets of appropriate thickness were formed at the center of the gap.

(Embodiment 20) The embodiment 14 described above.
19 to 19, the ejection position is fixed, and the element structure in which the electron emission portion thin film is formed by one droplet is not limited to this element formation, and various variations can be considered. FIG. 31 shows some examples of other element configurations. FIG. 31 (a) shows a device configuration in Examples 14 to 19, and FIG. 31 (b) shows a case where a droplet row is formed by an ink jet method in a device electrode gap by changing a discharge position.
(C) shows a case where not only the electron-emitting portion thin film but also a part of the device electrode is formed by a droplet arrangement by an ink-jet method. In each case, Examples 14 to 19 were applied to each droplet.
It is possible to perform the same discharge control and position control as described above.
In the embodiments 14 to 19, the matrix wiring type configuration is described as the wiring electrode. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to various wiring configurations such as a ladder wiring type. The details are as described above.

(Embodiment 21) Wiring is performed in a matrix,
Using the substrate on which the device electrodes were formed as described above, a surface conduction electron-emitting device was manufactured. The procedure will be described below.

FIG. 33A is a plan view of a surface conduction electron-emitting device manufactured according to this embodiment. This will be described with reference to FIGS. 32 and 33. (1) A quartz substrate was used as an insulating substrate, which was sufficiently washed with an organic solvent or the like, and then dried at 120 ° C. (2) Dropping an organic palladium-containing solution (Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. ccp-4230) onto the substrate that has been subjected to the above-described cleaning step, using an ink jet ejecting apparatus using a piezoelectric element as a liquid drop applying apparatus. Was performed to determine the diameter of the droplet (FIG. 32 (a)).
μm. (3) The device electrodes 2 and 3 made of Ni are formed on the substrate 1 by using a general vacuum film forming technique and a photolithography technique.
1 is 200 μm, the electrode width W 1 is 600 μm, and its thickness d
Was set to 1000 °. (4) Next, the above-mentioned organic palladium-containing solution (Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. ccp-4230) was adjusted so that the dot diameter became 50 μm using an ink jet ejecting device using a piezoelectric element as a droplet applying device. , Device electrodes 2 and 3
During this time, droplet application was performed as shown in FIG. 200
For a gap of μm, a dot having a diameter (φ) of 50 μm described in the above (2) is set to φ / 2, that is, a center distance P1 between adjacent dots is set to φ / 2, that is, 25 μm. And 11 were provided while overlapping with each other by 25 μm. After the application of the droplets, the overlapped portion became wide and the edge in the length direction became linear. That is, one dot row (pad) having a width W2 = 50 μm and a length T = 300 μm was formed. (5) Next, a heat treatment was performed at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes to form a fine particle film composed of palladium oxide (PdO) fine particles, thereby forming a thin film 4. (6) Next, a voltage was applied between the electrodes 2 and 3, and the thin film 4 was subjected to an energizing process (forming process) to form the electron-emitting portion 5.

In the electron source substrate prepared by the above-described method, the width W2 of the pad becomes constant by applying dots in a single pad, and the variation in the width W2 due to the displacement in the length direction. There was no. Furthermore, since the coating unevenness was small and the film thickness distribution was narrow, the variation in resistance was also small.

Further, since the pad of the fine particle film made of PdO has a margin of several tens of μm in both the vertical direction and the horizontal direction with respect to the gap of the device electrode, alignment becomes easy, and defects due to misalignment are reduced. Diminished.

The order of applying the droplets is not limited to the case where the droplets are applied in order from the end, and is applied every other dot, and the next droplet is applied between the dots formed every other dot. Any number of methods are possible, and there is no particular restriction on the order.

When the number of droplets per dot was set to 2, the film thickness was approximately doubled and the resistance was reduced to approximately half.
That is, it was found that a desired conductive thin film resistor could be obtained by changing the number of droplets per dot.

When the amount of droplets per dot is doubled, the same result as in the case where the number of droplets is 2 is obtained. By changing the amount of droplets per dot, a desired value can be obtained. It was found that a conductive thin film resistor could be obtained.

As described above, according to the method of the present invention, when a plurality of elements are formed, variations among the elements can be reduced, and the production yield is improved. Also thin film 4
Since the patterning can be omitted, the cost can be reduced.

Using the matrix wiring electron source substrate manufactured in this manner, an envelope is formed by the above-described face plate, support frame, and rear plate, sealed, and further sealed with the display panel (FIG. 7). When an image forming apparatus having a drive circuit for performing television display (FIG. 9) was manufactured, luminance unevenness and defects were small.

Example 22 The device electrode width W1 was set to 600 μm.
m, a device electrode gap interval L1 was 200 μm, and a device electrode formed with a device electrode thickness d of 1000 ° was ladder-shaped, and a surface conduction electron-emitting device was fabricated in the same manner as in Example 21. Produced. Using the obtained electron source substrate, an envelope was formed with a face plate, a support frame, and a rear plate in the same manner as in Example 21, and sealing was performed to produce an image forming apparatus. As a result, an effect similar to that of the example 21 was obtained.

Example 23 As in Example 21, the gap interval L1 was 200 μm, the electrode width W1 was 600 μm,
The thickness d is set on a substrate on which a device electrode of 1000 ° is formed.
An organic palladium-containing solution was applied using the same inkjet ejector. However, the shape of the pad is shown in FIG.
(B). For a 200 μm gap,
The diameter (φ) 5 as described in (2) of Example 21
Two 0-μm dots were provided, each with 11 rows and 11 dots so that the left and right and top and bottom dots overlap each other by 25 μm, with the center-to-center distances P1 and P2 of adjacent dots both set to 25 μm (φ / 2). That is, width W2 = 75 μm, length T =
A rectangular pad of 300 μm was formed. An electron-emitting device was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 21 except for the shape of the pad. As a result, a good device having the same small variation between devices as in Example 21 was obtained. In addition, the vertical dot crack row is 2
By queuing, the resistance was halved. That is,
By changing the number of dot rows, a desired resistance can be obtained. Accordingly, the pad width W2 can be determined to be equal to or less than the element electrode width W1, and to be determined by the required resistance value, element electrode width and gap width, and alignment accuracy.

Example 24 A substrate similar to that of Example 21 was used except that the gap between the device electrodes was set to 20 μm.
When droplet application was performed in a pad shape as shown in (c),
A good device having a small variation between devices similar to that of Example 21 was obtained. Further, since the gap interval between the device electrodes was short, alignment in the direction perpendicular to the gap was easier than in the case of Examples 21, 22 and 23. FIG.
Similar effects were obtained with the pad shown in FIG.

(Example 25) A bubble jet type droplet applying device was used in place of the ink jet ejecting device using the piezoelectric element used in Examples 21 to 24, and it was the same as in Examples 21 to 24. , And an image forming apparatus were obtained.

Example 26 A surface conduction electron-emitting device was formed using a substrate provided with device electrodes wired in a matrix by photolithography, and an electron source substrate was manufactured. FIG. 2 shows a plan view (a) and a sectional view (b) of the surface conduction electron-emitting device manufactured in this example. Hereinafter, the surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described according to manufacturing steps 1 to 4 with reference to FIG.

Manufacturing process 1: A quartz substrate was used as the insulating substrate (1), and this was sufficiently washed with an organic solvent.
Device electrodes (2, 3) made of Ni were formed on the substrate by a vacuum film forming technique and a photolithography technique. At this time, the interval (L) between the device electrodes was 2 μm, the width (W1) of the device electrode was 400 μm, and the thickness of the device electrode was 100 μm.
0 °.

Manufacturing process 2: The substrate on which the element electrodes (2, 3) were formed was ultrasonically cleaned with pure water, and then pulled up and dried with warm pure water. Next, a hydrophobic treatment was performed using HMDS (HMDS was applied by a spinner and baked in an oven at 200 ° C. for 15 minutes) to make the substrate surface hydrophobic. A droplet of a 0.05 wt% aqueous solution of palladium acetate (1%) was applied from a droplet applying device to an area between the device electrodes (2, 3) on the hydrophobized substrate using an ink jet ejecting device equipped with a piezoelectric element. Dot). At this time, the shape of the droplet on the substrate did not spread even after landing, and both stability and reproducibility were good.

Manufacturing step 3: After applying the droplets, at 300 ° C., 1
Heat treatment was performed for 0 minutes to form a fine particle film (conductive thin film 4) composed of fine particles of palladium oxide (PdO). Note that the fine particle film described here is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated. The structure of the fine particle film is not only a state in which the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged, but also a state in which the fine particles are adjacent to each other or overlap each other (an island). Shape). At this time, the width (W2) of the thin film is determined on a one-to-one basis from the shape of the droplet on the substrate, and the stability and reproducibility of the shape of the droplet described above were good. ) Also had a fixed value. According to the manufacturing method of the present invention, the step of forming the pattern of the conductive thin film 4 can be omitted.

Manufacturing Step 4: Electron emission portions 5 were formed by applying a voltage between the device electrodes (2, 3) and conducting (forming) the conductive thin film 4.

By using the electron source substrate formed by the matrix wiring provided with the surface conduction electron-emitting devices manufactured as described above, an envelope is formed by the face plate 1086, the support frame 1082, and the rear plate 1081 of FIG. 1088 is formed, sealed, and a display panel is manufactured.
An image forming apparatus having a drive circuit as shown in FIG. 9 for performing television display based on the SC television signal was manufactured.

The image obtained from the image forming apparatus of the present invention was uniform and good over the entire area of the large screen.

(Example 27) The width (W1) of the device electrodes (2, 3) was 600 μm, and the distance (L) between the device electrodes was 2 μm.
m, the thickness of the device electrode was formed to be 1000 Å, and a surface conduction electron-emitting device was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 21 by using a substrate (FIG. 13) provided with device electrodes wired in a ladder shape. An electron source substrate was formed. Using the obtained electron source substrate, an envelope is formed by the face plate 1086, the grid electrode 1120, the support frame 1082, and the rear plate 1124 in FIG. 11 described above, and sealing is performed to produce a display panel. Further, an image forming apparatus having a drive circuit as shown in FIG. 9 for performing television display based on NTSC television signals was manufactured.

As a result, the same effect as in the twenty-sixth embodiment was obtained.

Example 28 Using a substrate (FIG. 13) provided with element electrodes wired in a matrix by photolithography and using a bubble jet type ink jet apparatus, a surface conduction type An electron emission element was formed, and an electron source substrate was manufactured. Using the obtained electron source substrate, the face plate 1086, the support frame 1082, and the rear plate 108 are formed in the same manner as in the twenty-sixth embodiment.
1 to form an enclosure 1088, seal the display panel, and further form a display panel as shown in FIG. 9 for performing television display based on an NTSC television signal. The device was made.

As a result, the same effect as in the twenty-sixth embodiment was obtained.

Example 29 A substrate provided with device electrodes wired in a ladder shape by photolithography (FIG. 1)
Using 3), a surface conduction electron-emitting device was formed in the same manner as in Example 26 using an ink-jet apparatus of a bubble jet system, and an electron source substrate was manufactured. An image forming apparatus having a drive circuit as shown in FIG. 9 for producing a display panel as described above using the obtained electron source substrate and further performing television display based on an NTSC television signal. Was prepared.

As a result, the same effect as in the twenty-sixth embodiment was obtained.

Example 30 A surface conduction electron-emitting device was formed using a substrate (FIG. 12) provided with device electrodes wired in a matrix by photolithography, and an electron source substrate was manufactured. FIG. 34 is a plan view of the surface conduction electron-emitting device manufactured in this example. Hereinafter, the surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described in accordance with manufacturing steps 1 to 4.

Manufacturing process 1: A quartz substrate was used as the insulating substrate (1), and this was sufficiently washed with an organic solvent.
Device electrodes (2, 3) made of Ni were formed on the substrate by a vacuum film forming technique and a photolithography technique. At this time, the interval (L) between the device electrodes is 2 μm, the width (W1) of the device electrode is 600 μm, and the thickness of the device electrode is 100 μm.
0 angstrom.

Manufacturing process 2: The substrate on which the element electrodes (2, 3) were formed was ultrasonically cleaned with pure water, and then pulled up and dried with warm pure water. Next, a hydrophobic treatment was performed using HMDS (HMDS was applied by a spinner and baked in an oven at 200 ° C. for 15 minutes) to make the substrate surface hydrophobic. Aiming at between the device electrodes (2, 3) on the hydrophobized substrate, two droplets (2%) of a 0.05 wt% aqueous solution of palladium acetate (2 (Dots). At this time, the shape of the droplet on the substrate did not spread even after landing, and both stability and reproducibility were good.

Manufacturing process 3: After applying the droplets, at 300 ° C., 1
Heat treatment was performed for 0 minutes to form a fine particle film (conductive thin film 4) composed of fine particles of palladium oxide (PdO). Note that the fine particle film described here is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated. The structure of the fine particle film is not only a state in which the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged, but also a state in which the fine particles are adjacent to each other or overlap each other (an island). Shape). At this time, the width (W2) of the thin film is determined on a one-to-one basis from the shape of the droplet on the substrate, and the stability and reproducibility of the shape of the droplet described above were good. ) Also had a fixed value. According to the manufacturing method of the present invention, the step of forming the pattern of the conductive thin film 4 can be omitted.

Manufacturing Process 4: A voltage was applied between the device electrodes (2, 3), and the conductive thin film (4) was subjected to an energizing process (forming process) to form an electron-emitting portion (5).

Using the electron source substrate provided with the surface conduction electron-emitting device manufactured as described above, the envelope 1088 is formed by the face plate 1086, the support frame 1082, and the rear plate 1081 as shown in FIG. Was formed, sealing was performed to produce a display panel, and an image forming apparatus having a drive circuit as shown in FIG. 9 for performing television display based on an NTSC television signal was produced.

As a result, the same effects as in the twenty-sixth embodiment were obtained.

Example 31 Using a substrate (FIG. 12) provided with device electrodes wired in a matrix by photolithography, the number of droplets to be applied between the device electrodes was determined for forming one conductive thin film. Example 26 except for two
A surface conduction electron-emitting device was formed in the same manner as described above, and an electron source substrate was manufactured. In the droplet applying step, the droplet applying device and the conditions at the time of applying the droplet are the same as those in Example 26.
Further, the solution amount per one droplet (one dot) was the same as that in Example 26. The thickness of the conductive thin film formed at this time was twice that in Example 26. As described above, the thickness of the conductive thin film to be formed can be controlled by the amount of the applied droplets and the number of droplets.

A panel and an image forming apparatus were manufactured in the same manner as in Example 26, using the electron source substrate provided with the surface conduction electron-emitting device manufactured as described above.

As a result, the same effects as in the twenty-sixth embodiment were obtained.

(Example 32 : Reference Example ) As described above, the manufacturing procedure of all the electron-emitting devices described above is based on a method in which a droplet is formed after a device electrode (or both a device electrode and a wiring electrode) is formed on a substrate. It was in the order of applying and firing it to form a conductive thin film, but first applying and firing droplets to form a conductive thin film,
Even if an element electrode (or both an element electrode and a wiring electrode) is formed, it does not matter. In the method of forming a conductive thin film by applying and firing a droplet before forming the device electrode, it is possible to prevent the droplet from being sucked into the device electrode, and thus to form the conductive thin film with good controllability. be able to. An example according to this manufacturing procedure will be described below.

FIG. 35 is a diagram showing a method for manufacturing a single element.

The quartz substrate 1 as the insulating substrate was used, and was thoroughly washed with an organic solvent. One drop of 0.05 wt% aqueous solution 24 of palladium acetate was applied from the inkjet ejecting apparatus 7 using a piezoelectric element to almost the center of the substrate (FIGS. 35 (a1) and (a2)). Or a plurality of drops so as to obtain a film).

After the application of the droplets, the substrate was heated and baked at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes to form a dot-shaped conductive thin film 4 of palladium oxide (PdO) fine particles (FIGS. 35 (b1) and (b2)).

The device electrodes 2 and 3 made of Ni were formed on the substrate on which the dot-shaped conductive thin film was formed as described above by vacuum film formation and photolithography (FIG. 3).
5 (c1), (c2)). At this time, the element electrode interval L1 was set to 10 μm, the element electrode width W1 was set to 400 μm, the element electrode film thickness was set to 1000 °, and the center of the element electrode interval was almost coincident with the center of the dot-shaped conductive thin film. did.

By applying a voltage between the device electrodes 2 and 3 and conducting (forming) the conductive thin film 4, an electron-emitting portion 5 was formed (FIGS. 35 (c1), (c)).
2)). Although the above method is a method for manufacturing a single element, it is also possible to similarly manufacture an electron source substrate using matrix wiring provided with a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices. FIG. 36 shows the manufactured electron source substrate. Here, the element electrodes of the matrix wiring are manufactured by vacuum film formation / photolithography, and the X wiring and the Y wiring are electrically insulated by an insulating member (not shown) at the intersection. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the envelope 1088 is formed by the face plate 1086, the support frame 1082, and the rear plate 1081.
Was formed and sealing was performed to produce a display panel. Further, an image forming apparatus having a drive circuit as shown in FIG. 9 for performing television display based on NTSC television signals was manufactured. Note that the electron source substrate shown in FIG. 37 can also be used.

The image formed by the image forming apparatus of this example was uniform and excellent over the entire area of the large screen, as in the case up to now.

(Example 33 : Reference example ) After forming a plurality of dot-like conductive thin films in exactly the same manner as in Example 32, the width W1 of the device electrodes 2 and 3 was 600 µm, the distance between the device electrodes was 10 µm, and the device electrodes were formed. An electron source substrate as shown in FIG. 37 was formed by vacuum film formation and photolithography so that a plurality of device electrodes with ladder-like wiring having a thickness of 1000 mm were placed on the dot-shaped conductive thin film. Further, as shown in FIG. 11 described above, an envelope was formed by the face plate 1086, the support frame 1082, and the rear plate 1124, and sealing was performed to produce a display panel. Furthermore, N
An image forming apparatus having a driving circuit as shown in FIG. 9 for performing television display based on a TSC system television signal was manufactured.

The image forming apparatus of the present example was also able to stably display excellent images in the same manner as in Example 32.

(Embodiment 34 : Reference Example ) In the above embodiments 32 and 33, a type using a piezoelectric element as the ink jet ejecting apparatus was used, but a bubble jet type ink jet apparatus which generates bubbles by heat may be used. . By the method, an image forming apparatus using an electron source substrate by matrix wiring, and
When an image forming apparatus using ladder-type wiring was manufactured,
The same products as in Examples 32 and 33 could be produced.

[0268]

As described above, in the display panel of the present invention, the conductive thin film constituting the electron-emitting portion is formed by applying the solution containing the metal element in the form of droplets. A desired amount is provided at the position, and the manufacturing process of the electron-emitting device is greatly reduced.

Further, the display panel of the present invention is formed by detecting the information of the droplets in the manufacturing process, correcting the ejection condition and the ejection position based on the droplets, and re-applying the droplets. Thus, a uniform thin film with extremely few defects is formed. As a result, a drastic improvement in the uniformity of the element characteristics can be realized, and the problem of a decrease in the yield due to the increase in the area can be solved.

Further, in the display panel of the present invention, in the step of applying a plurality of solutions containing the metal material constituting the electron-emitting portion in the form of droplets in the manufacturing process, the center of each dot is formed. By forming a multi-pattern (pad) with the distance between the dots being shorter than the diameter of one dot, a conductive film constituting the electron-emitting portion is formed with extremely high precision.

Further, in the display panel of the present invention, during the manufacturing process, the solution of the droplet to be applied is made hydrophilic, and when the solution is applied onto the substrate having the device electrodes, the surface of the substrate becomes hydrophobic. By conducting the surface treatment of the substrate so that a conductive thin film can be formed with good reproducibility and a uniform surface conduction electron-emitting device can be produced, a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices were produced over a large area. Even in this case, uniform electron emission characteristics can be obtained.

Further, the display panel of the present invention can stably exhibit excellent characteristics because the conductive thin film constituting the electron-emitting device is uniformly arranged at a proper position.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a process chart showing an example of a manufacturing procedure of an electron-emitting device.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing one example of an electron-emitting device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of another example of the electron-emitting device.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are graphs showing voltage waveforms during energization forming at the time of manufacturing an electron-emitting device. FIG. 4A shows a case where the pulse peak value is constant, and FIG. 4B shows a case where the pulse peak value increases.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a measurement evaluation device for measuring electron emission characteristics.

FIG. 6 is a schematic partial plan view showing an example of an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of an example of an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a schematic partial view showing a configuration of a fluorescent film,
(A) is provided with a black stripe, (b)
FIG. 3 is a diagram of a device provided with a black matrix.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a drive circuit in one example of the image forming apparatus, which performs display according to an NTSC television signal.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an electron source in a ladder arrangement.

FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an example of an image display device.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a substrate on which element electrodes are formed in a matrix.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of a substrate having element electrodes wired in a ladder shape.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing one example of a droplet applying step in the production of the display panel of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a flow of an example of a method for manufacturing a display panel of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a schematic view showing another example of the droplet applying step in the display panel manufacturing method of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a schematic view showing another example of the droplet applying step in the display panel manufacturing method of the present invention.

FIGS. 18A and 18B are schematic diagrams showing a configuration of a detection optical system / discharge nozzle in a manufacturing apparatus used for manufacturing a display panel of the present invention, wherein FIG. 18A is a vertical reflection type, FIG. c) is of the vertical transmission type.

FIGS. 19A and 19B are schematic diagrams showing the operation of a vertical reflection type detection optical system / ejection nozzle in a manufacturing apparatus used for manufacturing a display panel of the present invention, wherein FIG.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state at the time of ejection.

20A and 20B are schematic diagrams illustrating the operation of a vertical transmission type detection optical system / ejection nozzle in a manufacturing apparatus used for manufacturing a display panel according to the present invention. FIG.
Is a diagram at the time of ejection.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view schematically showing an example of an electron beam generator.

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram showing one example of an electron source substrate of the present invention in which electron-emitting devices are formed on a 10 × 10 simple matrix wiring substrate by an ink-jet method.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram of one example of an ejection control system in the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a configuration diagram of an example of a vertical reflection type optical detection system in the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an ejection control system in a manufacturing apparatus used for manufacturing a display panel according to the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an ejection control system in a manufacturing apparatus used for manufacturing a display panel according to the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an ejection control system in a manufacturing apparatus used for manufacturing a display panel according to the present invention.

FIG. 28 is a schematic diagram of abnormal cell correction by a removal nozzle in a manufacturing apparatus used for manufacturing a display panel of the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an ejection control system in a manufacturing apparatus used for manufacturing a display panel according to the present invention.

FIG. 30 is a schematic diagram of abnormal cell correction by the displacement correction combined discharge control system.

FIG. 31 is a schematic view showing a variation of a device configuration of a surface conduction electron-emitting device by an inkjet method.

FIG. 32 is a schematic diagram showing a basic pattern for forming dots and pads in the manufacturing method shown in the present application;
(A) is a diagram showing a distance between adjacent dots, and (b) is a diagram of a pad formed between element electrodes.

FIG. 33 is a schematic view illustrating an example of a pad formation pattern in the manufacturing method described in the present application.

FIG. 34 is a plan view showing one example of a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 35 is a process drawing showing one example of a method for manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 36 is a schematic view showing an example of an electron source substrate having matrix wiring.

FIG. 37 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an electron source substrate of ladder-type wiring.

FIG. 38 is a schematic view of an example of a conventional surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 39 is a schematic view of an example of a conventional surface conduction electron-emitting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2, 3 Element electrode 4 Conductive thin film 5 Electron emission part 7 Droplet provision device (ink jet ejection device) 8 Light emitting means 9 Light receiving means 10 Stage 11 Controller 12 Control means 24 Droplet 72 X wiring 73 Y wiring 80 Ammeter Reference Signs List 81 power supply 82 ammeter 83 high-voltage power supply 84 anode electrode 85 vacuum device 86 exhaust pump 91 electron source substrate 92 X-direction wiring 93 Y-direction wiring 94 surface conduction electron-emitting device 95 connection 1081 rear plate 1082 support frame 1083 glass substrate 1084 fluorescent film 1085 Metal back 1086 Face plate 1087 High voltage terminal 1088 Enclosure 1091 Black conductive material 1092 Phosphor 1093 Glass substrate 1101 Display panel 1102 Scanning circuit 1103 Control circuit 1104 Shift register 1105 Line memory 1106 Synchronization signal separation circuit 1107 Modulation signal generator 1110 Electron source substrate 1111 Electron emitting element 1112 Common wiring 1120 Grid electrode 1121 Vacancy 1122 Out-of-container terminal 1123 Out-of-container terminal 1124 Electron source substrate 1201 Electron emission part forming area 1301 Substrate 1302 Wiring

Continued on front page (31) Priority claim number Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 7-156321 (32) Priority date June 22, 1995 (June 22, 1995) (33) Priority claim country Japan (JP) (72) Inventor Mitsutoshi Hasegawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Etsuro Kishi 3-30-2, Shimomaruko 3-chome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. Masahiko 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-64-5095 (JP, A) JP-A-62-181490 (JP, A) JP-A-63-200041 (JP, A) JP-A-64-64290 (JP, A) JP-A-1-296532 (JP, A) JP-A-11-317160 (JP, A) JP-A-4-121702 (JP, A) ( 58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01J 9/02 H05K 3/10-3/12 H01B 13/00

Claims (15)

(57) [Claims] 1. A rear plate on which a plurality of electron-emitting devices each having a pair of device electrodes and a conductive thin film including an electron-emitting portion between the pair of device electrodes are arranged. A method of manufacturing a display panel, comprising: a face plate having a phosphor film disposed thereon, wherein the plurality of electron-emitting devices form a droplet containing a liquid containing a metal element by an inkjet method after forming the pair of device electrodes. Forming a plurality of conductive thin films on a substrate. 2. The ink jet method according to claim 1, wherein the liquid is ejected as droplets using a piezoelectric element.
The manufacturing method of the display panel described in the above. 3. The method of manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1, wherein the ink jet method is a method in which bubbles are formed in the liquid by thermal energy and the liquid is discharged as droplets. 4. The method of manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1, wherein the amount of liquid droplets applied between the pair of electrodes is equal to or less than the volume of a concave portion formed by the substrate and the electrode pair. 5. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1, wherein the liquid containing the metal element is a dispersion of a metal material. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the liquid containing the metal element is a solution in which a metal material is dissolved. 7. The conductive thin film is formed by applying a plurality of the droplets such that a center-to-center distance between a dot formed by the droplet and an adjacent dot is equal to or less than a diameter of the dot. 2. The method for manufacturing the display panel according to 1. 8. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 7, wherein the thickness of the conductive thin film is controlled by an amount and a number of droplets to be applied. 9. The method of manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1, wherein forming the electron-emitting portion includes applying a current to the conductive thin film. 10. The method of manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1, wherein the method includes a step of performing a surface treatment on the substrate to improve the shape stability of the droplet on the substrate. . 11. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 10, wherein the droplet is a droplet made of a solution containing an organometallic compound. 12. The display panel manufacturing method according to claim 10, wherein the step of performing the surface treatment is a hydrophobic treatment. 13. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 12, wherein the hydrophobic treatment includes a step using a silane coupling agent. 14. The process of performing the surface treatment is a process performed on a substrate provided with a pair of element electrodes.
The manufacturing method of the display panel described in the above. 15. A rear plate on which a plurality of electron-emitting devices each having a pair of device electrodes and a conductive thin film including an electron-emitting portion between the pair of device electrodes are arranged. 15. A method for manufacturing a display panel including a face plate having a fluorescent film disposed thereon, and an image forming apparatus including a drive circuit for performing display, wherein the display panel is manufactured. 9. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, the method comprising: