JP3423600B2 - Image display method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drive circuit for an image display device, an image display device using the same, and a driving method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, research and development of thin large-screen display devices have been actively conducted. The present inventor is conducting research using a cold cathode as an electron source as a thin large-screen display device.

Conventionally, two types of electron-emitting devices are known, a hot cathode device and a cold cathode device. Among these, as the cold cathode device, for example, a surface conduction type emission device, a field emission type device (hereinafter referred to as FE type), a metal / insulating layer / metal type emission device (hereinafter referred to as MIM type), etc. are known. .

As the surface conduction type emitting device, for example, M.
I. Elinson, Radio E-ng. Electron Phys., 10, 1290,
(1965) and other examples described later are known.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes a phenomenon in which electron emission occurs in a small-area thin film formed on a substrate by passing a current in parallel with the film surface. The surface conduction electron-emitting device is made of an Au thin film in addition to the SnO2 thin film made by Elinson et al. [G. Dittmer: "Thin Solid Films", 9,317 (1
972)], and In2O3 / SnO2 thin films [M. Hart
well and CG Fonstad: “IEEE Trans. ED Conf.”,
519 (1975)] and carbon thin film [Haraki Araki
Others: Vacuum, Vol. 26, No. 1, 22 (1983)] and the like are reported.

As a typical example of the device structure of these surface conduction type electron-emitting devices, FIG. 19 shows a plan view of the device by M. Hartwell et al. In the figure, 3001 is a substrate, and 3004 is a conductive thin film made of metal oxide formed by sputtering. The conductive thin film 3004 is formed in an H-shaped plane shape as illustrated. An electron-emitting portion 3005 is formed by subjecting this conductive thin film 3004 to an energization process called energization forming described later. The interval L in the figure is 0.5 to 1 [mm], and the width W is
It is set to 0.1 [mm]. For convenience of illustration, the electron emitting portion 3005 is shown in a rectangular shape in the center of the conductive thin film 3004, but this is a schematic one, and the actual position and shape of the electron emitting portion is faithfully expressed. It doesn't mean that.

In the above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device including the device by M. Hartwell et al., The electron-emitting portion 3005 is formed by subjecting the conductive thin film 3004 to an energization process called energization forming before electron emission. Was common. That is, the energization forming is
The electron emitting portion is formed by energization, and for example, a constant DC voltage is applied to both ends of the conductive thin film 3004, or a DC voltage that is boosted at a very slow rate of, for example, about 1 V / min is applied to conduct electricity. The conductive thin film 30
04 locally destroyed or deformed or altered,
That is, the electron emitting portion 3005 having an electrically high resistance is formed. A crack occurs in a part of the conductive thin film 3004 which is locally destroyed, deformed or altered.
When an appropriate voltage is applied to the conductive thin film 3004 after this energization forming, electrons are emitted near the crack.

The above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device has an advantage that a large number of devices can be formed over a large area because it has a simple structure and is easy to manufacture. Therefore, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-31332 by the present applicant, a method for arranging and driving a large number of elements has been studied.

As an example of the FE type, for example, WP Dyke
& WW Dolan, “Field emission”, Advance in Ele
ctron Physics, 8, 89 (1956) or CA Spind
t, “Physical properties of thin-film field emissi
on cathodes with molybdeniumcones ”, J. Appl. Phy
s., 47, 5248 (1976) are known.

As a typical example of this FE type element structure, FIG. 20 shows a sectional view of the element by the above-mentioned CA Spindt et al. In the figure, 3010 is a substrate, 3011 is an emitter wiring made of a conductive material, 3012 is an emitter cone, 3013 is an insulating layer, and 3014 is a gate electrode. This device includes an emitter cone 3012 and a gate electrode 3
By applying an appropriate voltage during 014, field emission is caused from the tip of the emitter cone 3012. Further, as another element structure of the FE type, as shown in FIG.
There is also an example in which the emitter and the gate electrode are arranged substantially parallel to the substrate plane on the substrate instead of the above laminated structure.

As an example of the MIM type, for example, C.I.
A. Mead, “Operation of tunnel-emission Devices,
J. Appl. Phys., 32,646 (1961) and the like are known.
FIG. 21 shows a typical example of this MIM type element configuration.
This figure is a cross-sectional view, and in the figure, 3020 is a substrate,
Reference numeral 3021 denotes a lower electrode made of metal, and 3022 has a thickness of 100.
A thin insulating layer of about angstrom, 3023 has a thickness of 8
The upper electrode is made of a metal having a thickness of about 0 to 300 angstroms. In the MIM type, electrons are emitted from the surface of the upper electrode 3023 by applying an appropriate voltage between the upper electrode 3023 and the lower electrode 3021.

The cold cathode device described above can obtain electron emission at a lower temperature than the hot cathode device, and therefore does not require a heater for heating. Therefore, the structure is simpler than that of the hot cathode device, and a fine device can be manufactured. Even if a large number of elements are arranged on the substrate with high density, problems such as heat melting of the substrate are unlikely to occur. In addition, unlike the slow response speed because the hot cathode element operates by heating the heater,
In the case of a cold cathode device, there is also an advantage that the response speed is fast. Therefore, research for applying the cold cathode device has been actively conducted.

For example, the surface conduction electron-emitting device has an advantage that a large number of devices can be formed over a large area because it has a particularly simple structure and is easy to manufacture among cold cathode devices. Therefore, for example, JP-A-64-313 by the present applicant
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 32, a method for arranging and driving a large number of devices has been studied.

Regarding the application of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, for example, an image forming apparatus such as an image display device and an image recording device, a charged beam source, and the like have been studied.

In particular, as an application to an image display device, as disclosed in, for example, USP 5,066,883 by the present applicant, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-257551, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-28137, surface conduction. An image display device using a combination of a die-emitting device and a phosphor that emits light when irradiated with electrons has been studied. An image display device using a combination of a surface conduction electron-emitting device and a phosphor is expected to have better characteristics than other conventional image display devices. For example, it can be said that it is superior in that it does not require a backlight because it is a self-luminous type and that it has a wide viewing angle, even compared with liquid crystal display devices that have become popular in recent years.

Further, a method of driving a large number of FE type elements side by side is disclosed in, for example, USP 4,904,89 by the present applicant.
5 are disclosed. As an example of applying the FE type to an image display device, for example, a flat panel display device reported by R. Meyer et al. Is known. [R. Meyer: “Recent D
evelopment on Microtips Display at LETI ”, Tech.Di
gest of 4th Int. Vacuum Microelectronics Conf., Na
gahama, pp. 6-9 (1991)].

An example in which a large number of MIM types are arranged and applied to an image display device is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-5.
It is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5738.

The inventors of the present application have tried surface-conduction type emission devices having various materials, manufacturing methods and structures, including those described in the above-mentioned prior art. Further, research has been conducted on a multi-electron source in which a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged and an image display device to which the multi-electron source is applied. For example, a multi-electron source has been tried by the electric wiring method shown in FIG. That is, two surface conduction electron-emitting devices are used.
This is a multi-electron source in which a large number of elements are arranged in a dimension and these elements are wired in a matrix as shown.

In the figure, 4001 schematically shows a surface conduction electron-emitting device, 4002 is a row direction wiring, and 4003 is a column direction wiring. The row wiring 4002 and the column wiring 4003 actually have a finite electric resistance, but they are shown as wiring resistances 4004 and 4005 in the drawing. The wiring method as described above is called simple matrix wiring. Although a 6 × 6 matrix is shown for convenience of illustration, the scale of the matrix is not limited to this, and in the case of a multi electron source for displaying an image, a desired image is displayed. This is to arrange and wire the elements that are sufficient.

In the multi-electron source in which the surface conduction electron-emitting devices are wired in a simple matrix as described above, appropriate electric signals are applied to the row-direction wirings 4002 and the column-direction wirings 4003 in order to output a desired electron beam. For example,
In order to drive the surface conduction electron-emitting device of any one row in the matrix, the selection voltage Vs is applied to the row-direction wiring 4002 of the selected row, and at the same time, the row-direction wiring 40 of the non-selected row.
A non-selection voltage Vns is applied to 02. In synchronization with this, a drive voltage Ve for outputting an electron beam is applied to the column-direction wiring 4003. According to this method, the wiring resistance 40
Ignoring the voltage effect due to 04 and 4005, a voltage of (Ve-Vs) is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the selected row, and (Ve-Vs) is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the non-selected row.
A voltage of e-Vns) is applied. Where Ve, Vs,
If Vns is set to a voltage of an appropriate magnitude, an electron beam of a desired intensity should be output only from the surface conduction electron-emitting devices of the selected row, and a different driving voltage Ve is applied to each of the column-direction wirings. Then, the electron beams of different intensities should be output from the elements of the selected row. Moreover, since the response speed of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is high,
If the length of time for applying the drive voltage Ve is changed, the length of time for which the electron beam is output should be changed.

Hereinafter, the element applied voltage (Ve-V) at the time of selection
s) is called Vf.

Further, as another method of obtaining an electron beam from the multi-electron source having the simple matrix wiring as described above, the driving current is supplied to the column-direction wiring instead of connecting the voltage source for applying the driving voltage Ve. To connect the current source for the selection, and the selection voltage Vs is applied to the row-direction wiring of the row to be selected.
There is also a method of driving by applying the non-selection voltage Vns to the row-direction wiring of the non-selected row at the same time. This allows
Due to the strong threshold characteristic of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, the electron beam can be obtained only from the devices in the selected row.
Here, the current flowing through the electron source will be referred to as an element current If, and the emitted electron beam current will be referred to as an emission current Ie.

Therefore, the multi-electron source in which the surface conduction electron-emitting devices are wired in a simple matrix has various applications. For example, by appropriately applying an electric signal according to image information, it can be used as an electron source for an image display device. It can be preferably used.

[0024]

However, the multi-electron source in which the surface conduction electron-emitting devices are wired in a simple matrix has the following problems in practice.

As described above, a desired beam output can be obtained by applying a driving voltage or a driving current and performing pulse width modulation, but it has a finite length from the driving means to the multi-electron source. Method to apply drive current or drive voltage to suppress ringing at pulse application (rise) due to resonance caused by wiring inductance component, capacitance component between adjacent wiring, stray capacitance component, etc. In many cases, the method of limiting the current is also applied. On the other hand, at the end of pulse application (falling edge), a switching means should be provided and a voltage bias with low impedance should be applied in order to quickly discharge the charge accumulated by the stray capacitance and shorten the falling edge time. There were many By these means,
Each element is driven while preventing the occurrence of ringing that exceeds the rated value of the applied voltage of the multi electron source.

However, another problem has occurred in the above structure.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, when a pulse signal having a different pulse width is applied between two (or more) adjacent wirings, the pulse having the longer width is adjacent to the wiring due to the capacitance between the wirings. A phenomenon occurs in which the signal level is reduced due to the influence of the pulse signal that has fallen earlier, and the effective application amount is reduced. Due to such a phenomenon, when the gradation is expressed by the pulse width, an error occurs in the gradation due to the influence of the adjacent wiring. In particular, when a large-screen panel is constructed, there is a problem in that the capacitance between the wirings increases and this error in gradation becomes large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and an image display capable of displaying an image by faithfully reproducing a predetermined brightness while suppressing a variation in signal level due to a stray capacitance between adjacent wirings. It is an object to provide a method and a device.

It is another object of the present invention to minimize the fluctuation of the signal level on the signal line due to the fall of the signal of the adjacent signal line, thereby making the fluctuation of the brightness of the displayed image inconspicuous. A method and apparatus are provided.

[0030]

In order to achieve the above object, the image display device of the present invention has the following configuration.
That is, a matrix with a plurality of row wirings and a plurality of column wirings
An electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices connected to each other , a signal generating unit that generates a signal to be applied to each of the plurality of column wirings according to an image signal, and a signal generated by the signal generating unit are displayed. When the signal is a signal, a current applying unit that causes a current from the first constant current source to flow into the corresponding column wiring, and when the signal generated by the signal generating unit is a non-display signal, the second constant current source is used. the column wiring to
Through it and having a driving means for driving to flow a current in the opposite direction to the current direction of pouring by the current applying means.

In order to achieve the above object, the image display method of the present invention comprises the following steps. That is, multiple lines
Multiple connected in a matrix by lines and multiple column wiring
An image display method for driving an electron source having an electron-emitting device to display an image, the signal generating step of generating a signal to be applied to each of the plurality of column wirings in accordance with an image signal; When the signal generated in the signal generating step is a display signal, a current applying step of flowing a current from the first constant current source into the corresponding column wiring, and the signal generated in the signal generating step is a non-display signal. , By the second constant current source,
Flowed by the current applying means through the corresponding column wiring
Drive to drive current in the direction opposite to the
And a moving step .

[0032]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an image display device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an effect of the circuit of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a waveform diagram showing signal timing of each part of FIG.

In FIG. 1, 11 is a display panel in which a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices having a device voltage-emission current characteristic described later are arranged in an m × n matrix. Reference numeral 1 is a video input signal terminal for inputting a video signal, 2 is an analog signal processing unit, and in order to digitize the video luminance signal in the A / D conversion unit 3 with a predetermined gradation number, the black of the analog video signal is input. Performs level clamping, amplitude level adjustment, band limitation, etc. Reference numeral 4 denotes a sync separation unit, which separates sync signals (horizontal, vertical sync signals, etc.) from the input video signal. Reference numeral 5 denotes a timing generation unit, which inputs the synchronization signal output from the synchronization separation unit 4 and supplies necessary timing signals to the A / D unit 3 and various parts.

The A / D unit 3 converts the video analog luminance signal into n serial digital signals per horizontal period and outputs the serial digital signals. This digital signal is output from the horizontal shift register 6
To the 1-line memory 7 and stored therein. Column wiring drive unit 10
For each column wiring, a current source I1 for applying a current to the column wiring via the switch circuit 103 when an output pulse signal of a PWM generator 101, which will be described later, according to the inputted luminance data is on, and a luminance A grounded base transistor 100 for giving a DC bias voltage (ground level) limited by the current source I2 through the switch circuit 103 when the data is off, and a signal having a pulse width proportional to the brightness data for switching on / off of them. Output PW
An M generator (PWN GEN) 101 is provided. That is, the switch circuit 103 includes a PWM generator (PWN GEN) 10
When the pulse signal from 1 (brightness data) is at high level, the current from the current source I1 is passed through the column wiring, and when the pulse signal becomes low level, the column wiring is switched to the transistor 1
The transistor 100 is turned on while being connected to the 00 side. Here, a diode 102 for clipping the voltage applied to the column wiring to Vm is also provided as protection to prevent the voltage applied to the element from exceeding the rated value when the brightness data is at a high level. The potential Vss connected to the current source I2 of the column wiring drive unit 10 may be at the ground level or at a level of −several V. See also Vdd
Is almost the same as the potential Ve in FIG.

The row wiring drive unit 9 has a switch circuit 110 for selecting, for each row of the display panel 11, whether to apply the DC voltage bias Vs to the row wiring or to ground the row wiring.
The connection of these switch circuits 110 is sequentially switched by the output signal from the vertical shift register 8 to display the display panel 1.
By sequentially applying the DC voltage bias Vs to each row of 1, the respective lines of the display panel 11 are sequentially scanned and driven. This vertical shift register inputs, for example, a horizontal synchronizing signal from the timing generator 5, and outputs a signal for sequentially switching and selecting row wirings each time the horizontal synchronizing signal is input.

The drive voltage waveform of the column wiring is switched to the ground level with low impedance by the transistor 100 when the pulse signal as shown in FIG. 2 is turned off (falls). As a result, the reduction of the effective voltage due to the stray capacitance between the adjacent row wirings is improved by the current limitation as shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of the circuit shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 401 denotes an analog video signal input to the video signal input terminal 1, and reference numeral 402 denotes A / D conversion of this analog video signal and a column is provided via the horizontal shift register 6 and the 1-line memory 7. The digital data for each line input to the wiring drive unit 10 is shown. Four
03 is for one line, that is, n pulse width modulation circuits 10
0 shows a pulse width modulation signal output from 0, and the pulse width of each of these pulse signals is a pulse width according to the brightness of the digital brightness data. Reference numeral 404 denotes an output signal of the vertical shift register 8, and the row wiring is sequentially switched and selected each time the horizontal synchronizing signal is input. Reference numeral 405 denotes the potential applied to each row wiring, and the potential Vs is applied to the row wiring selected by the output signal of the vertical shift register 8.
Is applied.

In this example, the rise time of the pulse is delayed because it is driven by the current source I1. However, for example, the voltage source is driven up to a certain voltage, and then the current source is activated. Even when the drive signal rise time is made steep, the same effect can be obtained.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an image display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
Portions common to those in FIG. 1 described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

The column wiring drive unit 10a has, for each column wiring, a current source I1 for applying a current when the brightness data (pulse signal) is on, and a direct current whose current is limited by the resistor 105 (r) when it is off. Give a bias voltage (ground level),
Alternatively, a switch circuit 104 that switches whether to apply the DC bias Vb is provided. PWM generator (PWMGE
N) 101 further applies the DC bias Vb first in the first short period at the time of the fall of the pulse signal, and thereafter applies the current-limited ground level bias via the resistor 105. It should be noted that when the current supply from the current source I1 is turned on, the voltage applied to the column wiring is set to V by the diode 102 to protect the voltage applied to the column wiring from exceeding the rating.
The point of clipping to m is the same.

With such a configuration, the voltage waveform applied to the column wiring rapidly falls to the voltage Vb as shown in FIG. 6, and then the time constant determined by the current limiting resistor 105 and the wiring stray capacitance. It slowly falls based on.
By this effect, it is understood that the decrease in effective voltage due to crosstalk becomes smaller and the decrease in effective voltage is improved as shown in FIG.

Although the structure of the second embodiment is more affected by the crosstalk than the first embodiment, the fall time of the luminance data (pulse signal) is made shorter than that of the first embodiment. be able to. In particular, in a display panel using a surface conduction electron-emitting device having a steep threshold characteristic of driving voltage-luminance (device emission current) described later, even if the voltage width (Ve-Vb) that sharply falls is small, It can sufficiently follow the displayed brightness.

Since the operation of the circuit of FIG. 5 is similar to that of the timing chart of FIG. 4, the description thereof will be omitted.

<Description of Manufacturing Method and Application of Surface Conduction Emitting Element of this Embodiment> FIG. 7 shows the display panel 1 of this embodiment.
000 is an external perspective view of the display panel 1000, and a part of the display panel 1000 is cut away to show its internal structure.

In the figure, 1005 is a rear plate, and 1006.
Is a side wall, 1007 is a face plate, and 1005
˜1007 form an airtight container for maintaining a vacuum inside the display panel. When assembling this airtight container, it is necessary to seal the joints of the respective members so as to maintain sufficient strength and airtightness, but for example, frit glass is applied to the joints, and in the atmosphere or nitrogen atmosphere, Sealing was achieved by baking at 400 ° C to 500 ° C for 10 minutes or more. A method of evacuating the inside of the airtight container will be described later.

The rear plate 1005 has a substrate 1001.
Is fixed, but N × M surface conduction electron-emitting devices 1002 are formed on the substrate 1001 (where N and M are positive integers of 2 or more, and the target number of display pixels). For example, in a display device intended for high-definition television display, N = 300.
It is desirable to set 0, M = 1000 or more.
In this embodiment, N = 3072, M = 1024
And). The N × M surface conduction electron-emitting devices 1002
Are M row direction wirings 1003 and N column direction wirings 10
Reference numeral 04 represents simple matrix wiring. 100 above
A portion composed of 1 to 1004 is called a multi electron source. The manufacturing method and structure of the multi electron source will be described in detail later.

Although the multi-electron source substrate 1001 is fixed to the rear plate 1005 of the airtight container in the present embodiment, when the multi-electron source substrate 1001 has sufficient strength, The multi-electron source substrate 1001 itself may be used as the rear plate of the airtight container.

A fluorescent film 1008 is formed on the lower surface of the face plate 1007. Since the display panel 1000 of the present embodiment is for color display, the phosphor film 1008 is provided with phosphors of three primary colors of red (R), green (G) and blue (B) used in the field of CRT. It is painted separately. The phosphors of the respective colors are applied in stripes as shown in FIG. 8A, for example, and black conductors 1010 are provided between the stripes of the phosphors of the respective colors. The purpose of providing the black conductor 1010 is to prevent the display color from deviating even if the electron irradiation position is slightly deviated, and to prevent the reflection of external light to prevent the display contrast from deteriorating. Therefore, it is also for preventing charge-up of the fluorescent film due to electrons. Although graphite was used as a main component for the black conductor 1010, other materials may be used as long as they are suitable for the above purpose.

FIG. 8 shows how to separately paint the phosphors of the three primary colors.
The arrangement is not limited to the stripe arrangement shown in FIG. 8A, but may be a delta arrangement as shown in FIG. 8B or an arrangement other than that. When a monochrome display panel is created, a monochromatic phosphor material may be used for the phosphor film 1008, and a black conductive material may not necessarily be used.

On the surface of the fluorescent film 1008 on the rear plate side, a metal back 1009 known in the field of CRT is used.
Is provided. The purpose of providing the metal back 1009 is to specularly reflect a part of the light emitted from the fluorescent film 1008 to improve the light utilization rate, so that the fluorescent film 1 is prevented from colliding with negative ions.
This is because it protects 008, acts as an electrode for applying an electron acceleration voltage, and acts as a conductive path for excited electrons in the fluorescent film 1008. The metal back 1009 is formed by a method in which a fluorescent film 1008 is formed on a face plate substrate 1007, the surface of the fluorescent film is smoothed, and aluminum is vacuum-deposited thereon. The metal back 1009 is not used when a low voltage fluorescent material is used for the fluorescent film 1008.

Although not used in this embodiment,
For the purpose of applying acceleration voltage and improving the conductivity of the fluorescent film,
A transparent electrode made of, for example, ITO may be provided between the face plate substrate 1007 and the fluorescent film 1008.

Further, Dx1 to DxM, Dy1 to DyN and Hv are terminals for electrical connection having an airtight structure provided for electrically connecting the display panel 1000 and an electric circuit (not shown). Dx1 to DxM are multi-electron source row wiring 1
003 and Dy1 to DyN are column direction wirings 10 of the multi-electron source.
04 and Hv are metal back 100 of face plate
9 are electrically connected to each.

To evacuate the inside of the airtight container to a vacuum, after assembling the airtight container, an exhaust pipe (not shown) and a vacuum pump are connected to each other, and the inside of the airtight container is reduced to 10 −7 [to].
Evacuate to a vacuum degree of about [rr]. Then, the exhaust pipe is sealed, but in order to maintain the degree of vacuum in the airtight container, a getter film (not shown) is formed at a predetermined position in the airtight container immediately before or after the sealing. The getter film is, for example, a film formed by heating a getter material containing Ba as a main component with a heater or high-frequency heating and vapor deposition, and the adsorption action of the getter film causes the inside of the airtight container to be 1 × 10 −5 or 1 The degree of vacuum is maintained at × 10 minus 7th power [torr].

As described above, the display panel 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention
The basic configuration and manufacturing method of 000 have been described.

Next, the display panel 100 of this embodiment.
A method of manufacturing the multi electron source used for No. 0 will be described.
The multi electron source used in the image display device of the present embodiment is
There is no limitation on the material, shape, or manufacturing method of the surface conduction electron-emitting device as long as it is an electron source in which the surface conduction electron-emitting device has a simple matrix wiring. Therefore, for example, a surface conduction electron-emitting device, an FE type, or a MIM type cold cathode device can be used. However, the inventors of the present application have found that among the surface conduction electron-emitting devices, those in which the electron-emitting portion or its peripheral portion is formed of a fine particle film have excellent electron-emitting characteristics and can be easily manufactured. Therefore,
It can be said that it is most suitable for use in a multi-electron source of an image display device of high brightness and large screen. Therefore, in the display panel of the above-described embodiment, the surface conduction electron-emitting device in which the electron emitting portion or its peripheral portion is formed of the fine particle film is used. Therefore, the basic configuration, manufacturing method, and characteristics of a suitable surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described first, and then the structure of a multi-electron source in which a large number of devices are wired in a simple matrix will be described.

(Preferable Element Structure and Manufacturing Method of Surface Conduction Type Emitting Element) As a typical structure of the surface conduction type emitting element in which the electron emitting portion or its peripheral portion is formed of a fine particle film, a planar type and a vertical type are used. There are different types.

(Plane Type Surface Conduction Type Emitting Element) First, the element structure and manufacturing method of the plane type surface conduction type emitting element will be described. FIG. 9 is a plan view (A) and a cross-sectional view (B) for explaining the configuration of the flat surface conduction electron-emitting device. In the figure, 1101 is a substrate, 1102 and 1
103 is an element electrode, 1104 is a conductive thin film, 1105 is an electron emission portion formed by an energization forming process, 11
Reference numeral 13 is a thin film formed by energization activation treatment.

As the substrate 1101, for example, various glass substrates such as quartz glass and soda lime glass, various ceramics substrates such as alumina, or the above-mentioned various substrates, an insulating layer made of, for example, SiO 2 is provided. A laminated substrate or the like can be used.

Further, the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 provided on the substrate 1101 so as to face each other in parallel with the substrate surface are made of a conductive material. For example, N
i, Cr, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Cu, Pd,
A material may be appropriately selected from metals such as Ag, alloys of these metals, metal oxides such as In2O3-SnO2, semiconductors such as polysilicon, and the like. The electrodes can be easily formed by combining a film forming technique such as vacuum deposition and a patterning technique such as photolithography and etching, but it can be formed by using another method (for example, a printing technique). It doesn't matter.

The shapes of the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 are appropriately designed according to the application purpose of the electron-emitting device.
Generally, the electrode interval L is designed by selecting an appropriate value from the range of several hundred angstroms to several hundreds of micrometers, but it is preferable that the electrode interval L is several micrometers or more for application to a display device. It is in the range of 10 micrometers. In addition, as for the thickness d of the device electrode, an appropriate numerical value is usually selected from the range of several hundred angstroms to several micrometers.

A fine particle film is used for the conductive thin film 1104. The fine particle film described here refers to a film (including an island-shaped aggregate) containing a large number of fine particles as a constituent element. When the fine particle film is examined microscopically, usually, a structure in which individual fine particles are arranged apart from each other, a structure in which the fine particles are adjacent to each other, or a structure in which the fine particles overlap each other are observed.

The particle diameter of the fine particles used in the fine particle film is in the range of several angstroms to several thousand angstroms, and the range of 10 angstroms to 200 angstroms is particularly preferable.
Further, the film thickness of the fine particle film is appropriately set in consideration of various conditions as described below. That is, the conditions required to make good electrical connection with the device electrode 1102 or 1103, the conditions required to perform favorable energization forming described later,
The conditions are necessary in order to make the electric resistance of the fine particle film itself to an appropriate value described later. Specifically, it is set within the range of several angstroms to several thousand angstroms, and among them, the range of 10 angstroms to 500 angstroms is preferable.

Materials that can be used to form the fine particle film include, for example, Pd, Pt, Ru, Ag,
Au, Ti, In, Cu, Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, T
Metals such as a, W, Pb, PdO, Sn
O2, In2O3, PbO, Sb2O3 and other oxides, HfB2, ZrB2, LaB6, CeB6, YB
4, boride such as GdB4, TiC, Zr
Carbides such as C, HfC, TaC, SiC, and WC; nitrides such as TiN, ZrN, HfN; semiconductors such as Si and Ge; and carbon. , Are appropriately selected from these.

As described above, the conductive thin film 1104 is formed of a fine particle film, and its sheet resistance value is
It was set so as to fall within the range of 10 3 to 10 7 [ohm / □].

The conductive thin film 1104 and the device electrode 11
Since 02 and 1103 are preferably electrically connected well, they have a structure in which some of them overlap each other. In the example of FIG. 9, the layers are stacked in the order of the substrate, the device electrode, and the conductive thin film from the bottom, but in some cases, the substrate, the conductive thin film, and the device electrode are stacked in this order from the bottom. It doesn't matter.

Further, the electron emitting portion 1105 is a crack-like portion formed in a part of the conductive thin film 1104, and has an electrically higher resistance than the surrounding conductive thin film. The cracks are formed by subjecting the conductive thin film 1104 to a later-described energization forming process.
Fine particles having a particle diameter of several angstroms to several hundred angstroms may be arranged in the cracks. Since it is difficult to accurately and accurately illustrate the actual position and shape of the electron-emitting portion, the electron-emitting portion is schematically shown in FIG.

The thin film 1113 is a thin film made of carbon or a carbon compound, and covers the electron emitting portion 1105 and its vicinity. The thin film 1113 is formed by performing the energization activation process described later after the energization forming process.

The thin film 1113 is any one of single crystal graphite, polycrystalline graphite, amorphous carbon, or a mixture thereof, and the film thickness is 500 [angstrom] or less, but 300 [angstrom] or less. Is more preferable. The actual thin film 1113
Since it is difficult to precisely illustrate the position and shape of the, it is schematically shown in FIG. Further, in the plan view (A), an element in which a part of the thin film 1113 is removed is shown.

The basic structure of a preferable element has been described above, but the following elements were used in the embodiments.
That is, soda lime glass was used for the substrate 1101, and Ni thin films were used for the device electrodes 1102 and 1103. The thickness d of the device electrode is 1000 [angstrom], and the electrode interval L
Was set to 2 [micrometer].

Pd or P as the main material of the fine particle film
The thickness of the fine particle film was about 100 [angstrom] and the width W was 100 [micrometer] using dO.

Next, a method for manufacturing a preferred flat surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described. 10 (a) to (d)
9A and 9B are cross-sectional views for explaining the manufacturing process of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, and the notation of each member is the same as in FIG.

(1) First, as shown in FIG.
The device electrodes 1102 and 1103 are formed on the substrate 1101. In forming these electrodes, the substrate 1101 is thoroughly washed beforehand with a detergent, pure water, and an organic solvent, and then the material of the element electrode is deposited (the deposition method may be, for example, a vapor deposition method or a sputtering method). Vacuum film forming technology should be used). Then, the deposited electrode material is patterned by using a photolithography / etching technique, and a pair of device electrodes (1102 and 110) shown in FIG.
3) is formed.

(2) Next, a conductive thin film 1104 is formed as shown in FIG. This conductive thin film 1104
In forming the film, first, the substrate of (a) is coated with an organic metal solution, dried, heated and baked to form a fine particle film, and then patterned into a predetermined shape by photolithography and etching. Here, the organometallic solution is a solution of an organometallic compound whose main element is the material of the fine particles used for the conductive thin film (specifically, Pd is used as the main element in the present embodiment. Although the dipping method is used as the coating method in the embodiment,
Other than that, for example, a spinner method or a spray method may be used).

Further, as a method of forming a conductive thin film formed of a fine particle film, other than the method of applying the organic metal solution used in the present embodiment, for example, a vacuum vapor deposition method, a sputtering method, or a chemical vapor phase method. A deposition method may be used in some cases.

(3) Next, as shown in FIG. 7C, the forming power supply 1110 to the device electrodes 1102 and 11
An appropriate voltage is applied during the period 03 to carry out energization forming processing to form the electron emitting portion 1105.

This energization forming treatment is a structure suitable for electron emission by electrically energizing the conductive thin film 1104 made of a fine particle film to appropriately destroy, deform, or alter a part of it. It is the process of changing.
A portion of the conductive thin film made of the fine particle film, which has been changed to a structure suitable for emitting electrons (that is, the electron emitting portion 110).
In 5), an appropriate crack is formed in the thin film.
Note that the electric resistance measured between the element electrodes 1102 and 1103 after the formation is significantly increased as compared with before the formation of the electron emission portion 1105.

In order to describe the energization method in more detail, FIG. 11 shows an example of an appropriate voltage waveform applied from the forming power supply 1110. When forming a conductive thin film made of a fine particle film, a pulsed voltage is preferable, and in the case of the present embodiment, a triangular wave pulse having a pulse width T1 is continuously provided at a pulse interval T2 as shown in FIG. Applied. In that case, the peak value Vpf of the triangular pulse is
The pressure was sequentially increased. Also, monitor pulses Pm for monitoring the formation state of the electron emission portion 1105 are inserted between the triangular wave pulses at appropriate intervals, and the current flowing at that time is measured by the ammeter 1.
Measured at 111.

In the embodiment, for example, in a vacuum atmosphere of about 10 −5 [torr], the pulse width T1 is 1 [millisecond] and the pulse interval T2 is 10, for example.
[Millisecond], and the peak value Vpf is set to 0.1 for each pulse.
The voltage was increased by [V]. The monitor pulse Pm was inserted once every five pulses of the triangular wave were applied.
In order not to adversely affect the forming process,
The voltage Vpm of the monitor pulse was set to 0.1 [V].
Then, when the electric resistance between the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 becomes 1 × 10 6 [ohm], that is, when the monitor pulse is applied, the current measured by the ammeter 1111 is 1
When the power became less than or equal to × 10 minus [7] [A], the energization related to the forming process was terminated.

The above method is a preferable method for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of this embodiment. For example, the design of the surface conduction electron-emitting device such as the material and film thickness of the fine particle film or the element electrode spacing L is changed. In this case, it is desirable to appropriately change the energization conditions accordingly.

(4) Next, as shown in FIG.
From the activation power source 1112 to the device electrodes 1102 and 1103
Appropriate voltage is applied between the two to perform energization activation treatment,
The electron emission characteristics are improved. This energization activation process is
This is a process of energizing the electron emitting portion 1105 formed by the energization forming process under appropriate conditions to deposit carbon or a carbon compound in the vicinity thereof.
(In the figure, a deposit made of carbon or a carbon compound is schematically shown as the member 1113). Note that by performing the energization activation process, the emission current at the same applied voltage can be increased typically 100 times or more as compared to before the energization activation process.

Specifically, 10 to the fourth power of 4 to 1
In a vacuum atmosphere within the range of 0 minus 5 [torr],
By periodically applying a voltage pulse, carbon or a carbon compound originating from an organic compound existing in a vacuum atmosphere is deposited. The deposit 1113 is any one of single crystal graphite, polycrystalline graphite, and amorphous carbon, or a mixture thereof, and the film thickness is 500 [angstrom] or less, more preferably 300 [angstrom] or less.

In order to explain the energization method in more detail, FIG. 12A shows an example of an appropriate voltage waveform applied from the activation power supply 1112. In the present embodiment, the energization activation process is performed by periodically applying a rectangular wave having a constant voltage. Specifically, the rectangular wave voltage Vac is 14
[V], pulse width T3 is 1 [millisecond], pulse interval T
4 was set to 10 [millisecond]. The above energization conditions are
This is a preferable condition for the surface-conduction type electron-emitting device of the present embodiment, and when the design of the surface-conduction type electron-emitting device is changed, it is desirable to change the condition accordingly.

Reference numeral 1114 shown in FIG. 10D is an anode electrode for capturing the emission current Ie emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device, to which a DC high voltage power supply 1115 and an ammeter 1116 are connected. (Note that the substrate 1101
In the case where the activation treatment is carried out after being incorporated into the display panel, the fluorescent surface of the display panel is set to the anode electrode 1114.
Used as). While applying the voltage from the activation power supply 1112, the emission current Ie is measured by the ammeter 1116 to monitor the progress of the energization activation process, and the activation power supply 111 is detected.
2 control the operation. An example of the emission current Ie measured by the ammeter 1116 is shown in FIG. Activation power supply 11
When the pulse voltage is started to be applied from 12, the emission current Ie increases with the lapse of time, but eventually saturates and hardly increases. In this way, when the emission current Ie is almost saturated, the voltage application from the activation power supply 1112 is stopped, and the energization activation process ends.

The above-mentioned energization conditions are preferable conditions for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present embodiment, and when the design of the surface conduction electron emission device is changed, the conditions should be changed accordingly. Is desirable.

As described above, the plane type surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 10E was manufactured.

(Vertical Surface Conduction Type Emitting Element) Next, another typical structure of the surface conduction type emitting element in which the electron emitting portion or its periphery is formed of a fine particle film, that is, vertical type surface conduction type emitting element. The configuration of the element will be described.

FIG. 13 is a schematic sectional view for explaining the basic structure of the vertical type of the present embodiment.
01 is a substrate, 1202 and 1203 are device electrodes, 1206
Is a step forming member, 1204 is a conductive thin film using a fine particle film, 1205 is an electron emission portion formed by an energization forming process, and 1213 is a thin film formed by an energization activation process.

The vertical type is different from the above-described flat type in that one of the element electrodes (1202) is provided on the step forming member 1206, and the conductive thin film 1204 covers the side surface of the step forming member 1206. The point is that they are covered. Therefore, the device electrode spacing L in the planar type shown in FIG.
Is the step height L of the step forming member 1206 in the vertical type.
is set as s. The substrate 1201 and the device electrode 1
202 and 1203, conductive thin film 1 using fine particle film
For 204, the materials listed in the description of the planar type can be similarly used. For the step forming member 1206, an electrically insulating material such as SiO2 is used.

Next, a method of manufacturing a vertical type surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described. 14A to 14F are cross-sectional views for explaining the manufacturing process, and the notation of each member is the same as in FIG.
Is the same as

(1) First, as shown in FIG.
A device electrode 1203 is formed on the substrate 1201.

(2) Next, as shown in FIG. 9B, an insulating layer for forming the step forming member is laminated. The insulating layer may be formed by laminating, for example, SiO2 by a sputtering method, but other film forming methods such as a vacuum deposition method and a printing method may be used.

3) Next, as shown in FIG. 9C, the device electrode 1202 is formed on the insulating layer.

4) Next, as shown in FIG. 9D, a part of the insulating layer is removed by using, for example, an etching method to expose the device electrode 1203.

5) Next, as shown in FIG. 6E, a conductive thin film 1204 using a fine particle film is formed. For formation, a film forming technique such as a coating method may be used as in the case of the flat type.

6) Next, as in the case of the flat type, the energization forming process is performed to form the electron emission portion (the same process as the flat type energization forming process described with reference to FIG. 10C). Just go).

(7) Next, as in the case of the flat type,
The energization activation process is performed to deposit carbon or a carbon compound in the vicinity of the electron emission portion (the same process as the planar energization activation process described with reference to FIG. 10D may be performed).

As described above, the vertical type surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 14 (f) was manufactured.

(Characteristics of Surface Conduction Type Emitting Element Used in Display Device) The element structure and manufacturing method of the plane type and vertical type surface conduction type emitting element have been described above. I will describe.

FIG. 15 shows characteristics of (emission current Ie) vs. (element applied voltage Vf) of the element used in the display device of this embodiment.
Typical examples of the (device current If) vs. (device applied voltage Vf) characteristics are shown. The emission current Ie is significantly smaller than the device current If, and it is difficult to illustrate them on the same scale. Moreover, these characteristics are changed by changing design parameters such as the size and shape of the device. For,
The two graphs are shown in arbitrary units.

The element used in the display device has the following three characteristics regarding the emission current Ie.

First, when a voltage larger than a certain voltage (which is called a threshold voltage Vth) is applied to the element, the emission current Ie rapidly increases. On the other hand, at a voltage lower than the threshold voltage Vth, the emission current Ie increases. Ie is hardly detected. That is, it is a non-linear element having a clear threshold voltage Vth with respect to the emission current Ie.

Secondly, since the emission current Ie changes depending on the voltage Vf applied to the device, the emission current Ie at the voltage Vf.
You can control the size of.

Thirdly, since the response speed of the current Ie emitted from the element is fast with respect to the voltage Vf applied to the element, the charge amount of the electrons emitted from the element depends on the length of time for applying the voltage Vf. You can control.

Due to the above characteristics, the surface conduction electron-emitting device could be preferably used in a display device. For example, in a display device provided with a large number of elements corresponding to the pixels of the display screen, by utilizing the first characteristic, it is possible to sequentially scan the display screen for display. That is,
A threshold voltage Vth is applied to the driven element according to the desired emission brightness.
The above voltages are applied as appropriate, and a voltage lower than the threshold voltage Vth is applied to the non-selected elements. By sequentially switching the elements to be driven, it is possible to sequentially scan the display screen for display.

Further, since the emission brightness can be controlled by utilizing the second characteristic or the third characteristic, gradation display can be performed.

(Structure of Multi Electron Source Having Many Elements Wiring in Simple Matrix) Next, the structure of a multi electron source having the above surface conduction electron-emitting devices arranged on a substrate and wiring in a simple matrix will be described.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of the multi electron source used in the display panel 1000 of FIG. Board 1
On surface 001, surface conduction electron-emitting devices similar to those shown in FIG. 9 are arranged, and these devices are wired in a simple matrix by row-direction wiring electrodes 1003 and column-direction wiring electrodes 1004. An insulating layer (not shown) is formed between the electrodes at the intersections of the row-direction wiring electrodes 1003 and the column-direction wiring electrodes 1004 to maintain electrical insulation.

A cross section taken along the line AA 'in FIG. 16 is shown in FIG.

The multi-electron source having such a structure is
After forming the row-direction wiring electrodes 1003, the column-direction wiring electrodes 1004, the interelectrode insulating layer (not shown), and the device electrodes of the surface conduction electron-emitting device and the conductive thin film on the substrate in advance,
Row-direction wiring electrode 1003 and column-direction wiring electrode 1004
The device was manufactured by supplying power to each element through the device and performing an energization forming process and an energization activation process.

FIG. 18 shows a structure in which image information provided from various image information sources such as television broadcasting can be displayed on a display panel using the surface conduction electron-emitting device described above as an electron source. It is a figure for showing an example of the multi-function display device. In the figure, 1000 is the above-mentioned display panel, 2101 is a display panel drive circuit, 2102 is a display controller, 2103 is a multiplexer, 2104 is a decoder,
2105 is an input / output interface circuit, 2106 is C
PU, 2107 is an image generation circuit, 2108 and 210.
9 and 2110 are image memory interface circuits,
Reference numeral 2111 is an image input interface circuit, 2112 and 2113 are TV signal receiving circuits, and 2114 is an input unit.

(When the display device receives a signal including both video information and audio information, such as a television signal, it naturally reproduces audio at the same time as displaying video. A description of circuits, speakers, and the like relating to reception, separation, reproduction, processing, and storage of audio information that are not directly related to the features of the present invention will be omitted.) Hereinafter, the functions of the respective parts will be described along the flow of image signals. go.

First, the TV signal receiving circuit 2113 is a circuit for receiving a TV image signal transmitted using a wireless transmission system such as radio waves or spatial optical communication. The system of the TV signal to be received is not particularly limited, and various systems such as NTSC system, PAL system and SECAM system may be used. Further, a TV signal (for example, a so-called high-definition TV such as the MUSE method) including a larger number of scanning lines than these is suitable for taking advantage of the display panel suitable for a large area and a large number of pixels. It is a signal source. The TV signal received by the TV signal receiving circuit 2113 is output to the decoder 2104.

The TV signal receiving circuit 2112 is a circuit for receiving a TV image signal transmitted using a wire transmission system such as a coaxial cable or an optical fiber. Similar to the TV signal receiving circuit 2113, the system of the TV signal to be received is not particularly limited, and the TV signal received by this circuit is also output to the decoder 2104.

Further, the image input interface circuit 21
Reference numeral 11 denotes a circuit for capturing an image signal supplied from an image input device such as a TV camera or an image reading scanner, and the captured image signal is output to the decoder 2104.

The image memory interface circuit 2
110 is a video tape recorder (hereinafter abbreviated as VTR)
The circuit for fetching the image signal stored in is output to the decoder 2104.

The image memory interface circuit 2
Reference numeral 109 is a circuit for capturing the image signal stored in the video disc, and the captured image signal is output to the decoder 2104.

The image memory interface circuit 2
Reference numeral 108 denotes a circuit for capturing an image signal from a device that stores still image data, such as a so-called still image disc. The captured still image data is decoded by the decoder 21.
It is output to 04.

Further, the input / output interface circuit 210
Reference numeral 5 is a circuit for connecting the present display device to an external computer, a computer network, or an output device such as a printer. It is of course possible to input and output image data, character data, and graphic information, and in some cases, input and output control signals and numerical data between the CPU 2106 of this display device and the outside. .

Further, the image generation circuit 2107 is provided with image data, character / graphic information, or CPU which is externally input via the input / output interface circuit 2105.
2106 is a circuit for generating display image data based on image data and character / graphic information output from the 2106.
Inside this circuit, for example, a rewritable memory for accumulating image data and character / graphic information, a read-only memory in which image patterns corresponding to character codes are stored, and a processor for performing image processing Etc. and the circuits necessary for image generation are incorporated. The display image data generated by this circuit is the decoder 2
Although it is output to 104, it is also possible to input / output to / from an external computer network or printer via the input / output interface circuit 2105 in some cases.

Further, the CPU 2106 mainly performs operations related to operation control of the display device and generation, selection and editing of a display image.

For example, a control signal is output to the multiplexer 2103 to appropriately select or combine image signals to be displayed on the display panel. At that time, a control signal is generated for the display panel controller 2102 according to the image signal to be displayed, and the screen display frequency, the scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced), the number of scanning lines in one screen, etc. are displayed. The operation of the device is controlled appropriately.

Image data or character / graphic information is directly output to the image generation circuit 2107, or an external computer or memory is accessed through the input / output interface circuit 2105 to generate image data or character / figure information. Enter graphic information.

Of course, the CPU 2106 may also be involved in work for other purposes. For example,
It may be directly related to the function of generating and processing information, such as a personal computer or a word processor.

Alternatively, as described above, the input / output interface circuit 2105 may be connected to an external computer network to perform work such as numerical calculation in cooperation with an external device.

The input unit 2114 is the CPU 21
A user inputs commands, programs, data, etc. at 06. For example, various input devices such as a joystick, a bar code reader, and a voice recognition device can be used in addition to a keyboard and a mouse.

Further, the decoder 2104 has the above-mentioned 2107.
Is a circuit for inversely converting various image signals input from the to 2113 into three primary color signals or luminance signals and I signals and Q signals. Note that it is desirable that the decoder 2104 includes an image memory therein, as indicated by a dotted line in the figure. This is to handle a television signal that requires an image memory for reverse conversion, such as the MUSE method. Further, the provision of the image memory facilitates the display of a still image, or cooperates with the image generation circuit 2107 and the CPU 2106 to perform image processing and editing such as image thinning, interpolation, enlargement, reduction, and composition. This is because there is an advantage that it can be done easily.

Further, the multiplexer 2103 has the C
The display image is appropriately selected based on the control signal input from the PU 2106. That is, the multiplexer 2103 selects a desired image signal from the inversely converted image signals input from the decoder 2104 and outputs it to the drive circuit 2101. In that case, by switching and selecting image signals within one screen display time, it is possible to divide one screen into a plurality of areas and display different images depending on the areas, as in a so-called multi-screen television. .

Also, the display panel controller 2
Reference numeral 102 is a circuit for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 2101 based on a control signal input from the CPU 2106.

First, as a device related to the basic operation of the display panel, for example, a signal for controlling an operation sequence of a power source (not shown) for driving the display panel is output to the drive circuit 2101. Further, as a method related to the driving method of the display panel, for example, a signal for controlling the screen display frequency and the scanning method (for example, interlace or non-interlace) is output to the drive circuit 2101.

In some cases, control signals relating to image quality adjustment such as brightness, contrast, color tone and sharpness of a display image may be output to the drive circuit 2101.

The drive circuit 2101 is a circuit for generating a drive signal to be applied to the display panel 1000, and the image signal input from the multiplexer 2103 and the display panel controller 21.
It operates on the basis of a control signal inputted from 02.

The functions of the respective parts have been described above. With the configuration illustrated in FIG. 18, the display panel 1 displays image information input from various image information sources in this display device.
000 can be displayed. That is, various image signals such as television broadcast are transmitted to the decoder 21.
After inverse conversion at 04, multiplexer 2103
Are selected as appropriate and input to the drive circuit 2101. On the other hand, the display controller 2102 generates a control signal for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 2101 according to the image signal to be displayed. The drive circuit 2101 controls the display panel 1 based on the image signal and the control signal.
The drive signal is applied to 000. As a result, the image is displayed on the display panel 1000. A series of these operations are controlled by the CPU 2106.

Further, in this display device, the image memory built in the decoder 2104 and the image generation circuit 21.
Due to the involvement of 07 and the CPU 2106, not only the one selected from a plurality of image information is displayed, but also the image information to be displayed is enlarged or reduced, for example.
It is also possible to perform image processing such as rotation, movement, edge enhancement, thinning, interpolation, color conversion, aspect ratio conversion of images, and image editing such as composition, deletion, connection, replacement, and fitting. is there. Although not particularly mentioned in the description of this embodiment, a dedicated circuit for processing and editing audio information may be provided as in the case of the above-mentioned image processing and image editing.

Therefore, the display device is a display device for television broadcasting, a terminal device for a video conference, an image editing device for handling still images and moving images, a computer terminal device, an office terminal device such as a word processor,
It is possible to combine the functions of a game console, etc., with a very wide range of applications for industrial or consumer use.

Note that FIG. 18 shows only an example of the configuration of a display device using a display panel having a surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron source, and it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this. Yes. For example, of the constituent elements in FIG. 18, circuits relating to functions that are unnecessary for the purpose of use may be omitted. On the contrary, the constituent elements may be added depending on the purpose of use. For example, when the display device is applied as a video telephone, it is preferable to add a television camera, a voice microphone, an illuminator, a transmission / reception circuit including a modem, and the like to the components.

In the present display device, in particular, since the display panel using the surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron source can be easily thinned, the depth of the entire display device can be reduced. In addition, a display panel using surface conduction electron-emitting devices as an electron source can easily enlarge the screen, has high brightness, and has excellent viewing angle characteristics, so this display device provides a realistic and powerful image with good visibility. It is possible to display.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the display panel using the surface conduction electron-emitting devices in the (m × n) matrix array driven by the pulse width modulation, the crossing between the adjacent wirings is performed. It is possible to suppress a decrease in the effective applied voltage on the wiring that is selectively driven due to the talk, and thus it is possible to display an image having good gradation characteristics.

[0140]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to suppress fluctuations in signal level due to stray capacitance between adjacent wirings, and to faithfully reproduce predetermined brightness to display an image. is there.

Further, according to the present invention, the fluctuation of the signal level on the signal line caused by the fall of the signal of the adjacent signal line is minimized, so that the fluctuation of the luminance of the displayed image can be made inconspicuous. There is.

[0142]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an image display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a problem of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an effect of the circuit of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation timing of the image display device according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an image display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an effect of the circuit of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view in which a part of the display panel of the image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention is cut away.

FIG. 8 is a plan view exemplifying an arrangement of phosphors on a face plate of the display panel of the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a plan view (A) and a cross-sectional view (B) of a flat surface-conduction type emission device used in the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a manufacturing process of a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing applied voltage waveforms during energization forming processing.

FIG. 12 is a waveform (a) of applied voltage during energization activation processing,
It is a figure which shows the change (b) of discharge current Ie.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of a vertical type surface conduction electron-emitting device used in this embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view showing a manufacturing process of a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing typical characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of the substrate of the multi-electron source used in this embodiment.

17 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A 'in FIG.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a multifunctional image display device using the image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a conventionally known surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a conventionally known FE type electron-emitting device.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a conventionally known MIM type electron-emitting device.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a wiring method of an electron-emitting device in which a problem occurs.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Analog signal processing unit 3 A / D section 4 Sync signal separation unit 5 Timing generator 6 Horizontal shift register 7 1-line memory 8 Vertical shift register 9 row wiring drive 10 column wiring drive 11 Display panel section 100 transistors 101 Pulse width modulation circuit (PWM GEN) 103, 104, 110 switch circuits 102 diode

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01J 31/12 G09G 3/20-3/22

Claims (13)

(57) [Claims] 1. A matrix using a plurality of row wirings and a plurality of column wirings.
An electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices connected in a ricks shape, a signal generating unit that generates a signal to be applied to each of the plurality of column wirings according to an image signal, and a signal generated by the signal generating unit Is a display signal, the current applying means for injecting a current from the first constant current source into the corresponding column wiring, and the second constant current source when the signal generated by the signal generating means is a non-display signal. , Through the corresponding column wiring
And a driving unit that drives the current to flow in a direction opposite to the direction in which the current is applied by the current applying unit. 2. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the signal generation unit generates a signal having a pulse width according to the brightness of the image signal. 3. An image display apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the current applying means, when the pulse signal generated by said signal generating means is ON, the first constant current source before
Serial corresponding connects the column wirings image display apparatus characterized by having a first switch circuit for flowing a current to the column wiring. 4. The image display device according to claim 2, wherein the driving means is arranged to connect to the second constant current source when the pulse signal generated by the signal generating means is off .
Connecting the column lines to respond, an image display device characterized by having a second switch circuit for supplying a current from the column wiring to the low potential side. 5. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of electron-emitting devices are m ×.
An image display device characterized by being arranged in a matrix of n pieces. 6. The image display device according to claim 5, further comprising: sequentially selecting and driving each of the plurality of row wirings in accordance with a display timing of the image signal. apparatus. 7. An image display apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the electron-emitting device is an image display device comprising an electron-emitting device of the FE type. 8. An image display apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the electron emission device, an image display device which is a MIM type electron-emitting device. 9. An image display apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the image display apparatus, wherein the electron-emitting device is a surface conduction electron-emitting device. 10. A plurality of row wirings and a plurality of column wirings are used as a matrix.
An image display method for displaying an image by driving an electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices connected in a trix shape, which is applied to each of the plurality of column wirings according to an image signal. A signal generating step of generating a signal; a current applying step of flowing a current from the first constant current source into a corresponding column wiring when the signal generated in the signal generating step is a display signal; and a signal generating step of When the generated signal is a non-display signal, the second constant current source causes a current to flow in a direction opposite to the direction of the current applied by the current applying unit via the corresponding column wiring. An image display method comprising: a driving step of driving. 11. The image display method according to claim 1 0, in the signal generating step image display method characterized by generating a signal having a pulse width corresponding to the luminance of the image signal. 12. The image display method according to claim 10 or 11 , wherein the plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix of m × n. 13. An image display method according to claim 1 0, further, it has a scan driving step sequentially selects and drives each of the plurality of row wirings in accordance with the display timing of the image signal Image display method characterized by.