JP3472016B2 - Drive circuit for multi-electron beam source and image forming apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a driving circuit for a multi-electron beam source in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged and an image forming apparatus using the same, and more particularly to an electron generation device in which a plurality of surface-conduction-type emitting devices are arranged. The present invention relates to an apparatus and an image forming apparatus using the apparatus.

[0002]

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

As an example of the FE type, for example, W. P.
Dyke & W. W. Dolan, "Field emi
ssion ”, Advance in Electro
nPhysics, 8, 89 (1956) or C.I. A. Spindt, “Physical pr
operations of thin-film pie
ld emission cathodes with
mollybdenium cones ”, J. App.
l. Phys. , 47, 5248 (1976) and the like are known.

As an example of the MIM type, for example,
C. A. Mead, "Operation of tu
nnel-emission Devices ", J.
Appl. Phys. , 32,646 (1961) and the like are known.

Further, as the surface conduction electron-emitting device, for example, M. I. Elinson, Radio Eng.
Electron Phys. , 10, 1290, (1
965) 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 includes Sn by Erlinson et al.
In addition to the one using an O ₂ thin film, the one using an Au thin film [G. Dittmer: "Thin Solid Fi
lms ”, 9, 317 (1972)], In ₂ O / S
nO ₂ thin film [M. Hartwell and
C. G. Fonstad: “IEEE Trans.
Ed Conf. , 519 (1975)] and carbon thin films [Hiraki Araki et al .: Vacuum, Vol. 26, No. 1
No., 22 (1983)] and the like.

As a typical example of the device configuration of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, FIG. Hartwel
1 shows a plan view of the element according to I. In the figure, 300
Reference numeral 1 is a substrate, and 3004 is a conductive thin film made of a 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 the 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 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.

M. In the above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device including the device by Hartwell et al., The electron-emitting portion 3005 is formed by performing an energization process called energization forming on the conductive thin film 3004 before the electron emission.
Was commonly formed. That is, the energization forming energizes by applying a constant DC voltage or a DC voltage boosting at a very slow rate of, for example, about 1 V / min to both ends of the conductive thin film 3004,
The conductive thin film 3004 is locally destroyed, deformed, or altered so that the electron emitting portion 30 is in an electrically high resistance state.
05 is to be formed. In addition, in a part of the conductive thin film 3004 which is locally destroyed, deformed or altered,
A crack occurs. When an appropriate voltage is applied to the conductive thin film 3004 after the 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 Application Laid-Open No. 64-31332 by the present applicant, a method for arranging and driving a large number of elements has been studied.

Regarding the application of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, for example, an image forming apparatus such as an image display apparatus and an image recording apparatus, a charged beam source, and the like have been studied. Particularly, as an application to an image display device, for example, USP 5,066,883 by the present applicant and JP-A-2-2575.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 51, an image display device using a combination of a surface conduction electron-emitting device and a phosphor that emits light when irradiated with an electron beam 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 has a wide viewing angle, even compared with a liquid crystal display device that has become widespread in recent years.

[0011]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The inventors of the present invention have described various materials including those described in the above prior art,
We have tried surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices with manufacturing method and structure. Furthermore, we have conducted research on a multi-electron beam source in which a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged, and an image display device to which this multi-electron beam source is applied.

The inventors have tried a multi-electron beam source by an electrical wiring method shown in FIG. 20, for example. That is, it is a multi-electron beam source in which a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged two-dimensionally and these devices are arranged in a matrix as shown in the drawing.

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 in the drawing, the wiring resistances 4004 and 4005.
As shown. 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. For example, in the case of a multi-electron beam source for an image display device, a desired image is displayed. The elements are arranged and wired in a quantity sufficient for displaying.

In the multi-electron beam source in which the surface conduction electron-emitting devices are wired in a simple matrix, appropriate electric signals are applied to the row wiring 4002 and the column wiring 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 400 of the non-selected row.
A non-selection voltage Vns is applied to 2. 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 400
Neglecting the voltage drop due to Nos. 4 and 4005, a voltage of Ve-Vs is applied to the surface conduction type emission devices of the selected row, and Ve-Vs is applied to the surface conduction type emission devices of the non-selected row.
A voltage of Vns is applied. If Ve, Vs, and Vns are set to appropriate voltages, an electron beam of a desired intensity should be output only from the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the selected row, and different driving voltage is applied to each of the column-direction wirings. When Ve is applied, an electron beam of different intensity should be output from each of the elements in the selected row. Further, 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 outputting the electron beam should be changed.

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

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

When driving the above multi-electron beam source, the inventors have studied the following driving method.

One is a case where a power source is connected as shown in FIG. That is, the voltage Vns applied to the non-selected row is made equal to the potential Vg applied to the column wiring corresponding to the element which is not driven by the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the selected row. At this time, the applied voltage (Ve-Vn) to the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the non-selected row
s) is set to a certain threshold voltage Vth, which will be described later, that is, a voltage at which the emission current Ie is hardly detected. This voltage applied state is called a semi-selected state. In the half-selected state, the device current also becomes very small but does not become zero at all.

The current Ifm flowing in the column-direction wiring is the sum Ifn of the currents flowing in the half-selected elements on the non-selected rows,
This is a current obtained by adding the element current If flowing in the element on the selected row. For example, as shown in FIG. 21, when driving the element at position (N, M) with respect to the matrix of m rows and n columns, the current flowing through the Nth column is the element current I flowing through the element at position (N, M).
In addition to f (N, M), m− connected to the Nth column direction wiring
Approximately Vth for one surface-conduction type electron-emitting device in a semi-selected state
It is the sum of the element currents that flow when a voltage of (Ve-Vns) is applied. That is

[0021]

[Outer 1] However, If (N, K, Vth) is an element current flowing through the element in the semi-selected state at the position (N, K) to which the voltage of Vth is applied.

The element current flowing through each element in the half-selected state is very small, but when the scale of the simple matrix becomes large, the total Ifn of the currents becomes very large. For example, each device current in the half-selected state is about 0.00
Even in the case of a very small value of 1 mA, when the row-direction wiring is a matrix of 1000 rows, the total sum is about 1 mA, which is larger than the current flowing in the element on the selected row, for example, 0.5 mA. This current does not contribute to drive the selected element and becomes an ineffective current. When Ve is applied to all column wirings, the ineffective current greatly increases power consumption.

Separately from this, when the power source is connected as shown in FIG. 22, that is, the voltage Vns applied to the non-selected rows.
Is made equal to the potential Ve applied to the column wiring connected to the element for emitting electrons. According to this, among the elements connected to the column-direction wiring having the elements for emitting electrons, the element on the wiring to which the selected scanning signal is applied is approximately Ve-.
Although the potential of Vs is applied, the applied voltage to the elements on the unselected row-direction wirings becomes almost zero. Therefore, all the current injected into the column-direction wiring for driving each surface conduction electron-emitting device flows into the device that emits electrons, and does not flow into other devices. However, for example, when electrons are not emitted from any element in the selected row, that is, when Vg is applied to all column wirings, half selection in the direction opposite to the normal voltage application direction is applied to all elements in the non-selected row. A voltage is applied and a corresponding current flows. These currents are ineffective currents, and at this time, these reactive currents greatly increase power consumption.

Therefore, an electron generating device which solves the above problems and minimizes the reactive element current of an electron-emitting device to reduce power consumption, an image forming apparatus using the same, a driving method thereof, and a driving circuit are provided. It is an object of the present invention to do so.

[0025]

As a result of earnest efforts by the present inventors to solve the above problems, the following inventions were obtained. That is, the drive circuit of the present invention is a drive circuit that drives a multi-electron beam source in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are matrix-wired with a plurality of data wirings and a plurality of scanning wirings based on an input video signal. And outputs a non-selection potential during the non-selection period and a selection potential during the selection period, and the non -selection potential responds to a signal on the data line.
The highest and lowest potentials output to the data wiring
It is characterized by being variable between and . Further, the non-selection potential is Vns, the maximum potential to be output to the data wiring is Ve, the minimum potential to be output to the data wiring is Vg, the selection potential is Vs, and the number of data wirings connected to the scanning wirings. Is n and the number of data lines outputting the highest potential Ve is L, Vns is said to satisfy Vns = Vg + (Ve−Vg) × L / n. The drive circuit of the present invention and the multi-electron beam source in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are matrix-wired by a plurality of data wirings and scanning wirings may be combined to make the present invention an electron generator. At this time, it is desirable that the electron emitting device is a surface conduction type emitting device. Further, the present invention can also be used as an image forming apparatus by combining the electron generating device of the present invention and a phosphor that excites and emits light when irradiated with electrons.

The present invention also includes the invention of a method for driving an electron generator. That is, the driving method of the electron generating device of the present invention is the driving method of an electron generating device having a multi-electron beam source in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are matrix-wired with a plurality of data wirings and a plurality of scanning wirings. The potential is changed to a non-selection potential during the non-selection period and a selection potential during the selection period, and the non-selection potential is changed. The present invention can also be used as a driving method for an image forming apparatus in combination with this electron generating device and a phosphor that is excited and emits light when irradiated with electrons.

[0027]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION FIG. 5 shows an electron generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 501 represents a multi-electron beam source having a simple matrix configuration in which electron emitters are connected to intersections of data and scanning wirings to form electron sources in a matrix. Fifty
Reference numeral 2 represents means for performing a predetermined modulation based on the drive signal to generate a current signal and driving the multi-electron beam source 501. The scanning circuit fixes the selected scanning wiring to the potential Vs,
The potential Vns is applied to the scan wiring to which the scan signal is not applied. Further, there is provided means for fixing the drive potential of the data wiring connected to the selected scanning wiring but not emitting electrons to the potential Vg. Ve is applied to the wiring that applies the modulation signal to the element that emits electrons. Here, the potential difference between Ve and Vns is a potential difference with which a desired amount of electron emission is obtained from the element, and both the potential difference between Vns and Vg and the potential difference between Vg and Vs are set to be smaller than a threshold value at which electron emission of the element occurs. , Vns is Ve and Vg
Vns = Vg + (Ve−Vg) × L / n (1) (where n is the number of data lines and L is a device that emits electrons among the devices in the selected row). Number).

This setting is carried out by counting the number L of devices to emit electrons among the devices in the selected row and connecting a variable power source for generating a potential Vns satisfying the formula (1), or non-selection. There is a method of separating the row from the drive circuit. When the non-selected row is cut off from the drive circuit, the potential Vns of the non-selected row can be represented by an equivalent circuit as shown in FIG. Where R
_{Since both e-ns} and R _ns-g are equal to the resistance R _off when the element is not selected, the potential Vns obtained by dividing Ve and Vg is a potential satisfying the above formula (1).

The power consumption of the device portion when the configuration is P = L (Ve-Vs) 2 / R on + (m-1) L · (Ve-Vns) 2 / R off + (m-1) ( n-1) · (Vns−Vg) ² / R _off + (n−1) · (Vg−Vs) ² / R _off (2), which is a quadratic function with respect to Vns, and Vns is given by the equation (1). ) Takes the minimum value. Therefore, according to the above configuration, it is possible to easily minimize the power consumption.

[0030]

【Example】

(Embodiment 1) Next, a method of driving an image display device, which is the subject of the present invention, will be described. The configuration of the image display device including the surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure,
101 is a display panel, which includes terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy.
It is connected to an external electric circuit via 1 to Dyn. The high voltage terminal on the face plate is also connected to an external high voltage power supply Va to accelerate emitted electrons. Among them, the terminals Dxl to Dxm are for sequentially driving the multi-electron beam sources provided in the panel described above, that is, the surface conduction electron-emitting device groups matrix-wired in a matrix of m rows and n columns row by row. Scanning signal is applied. On the other hand, a modulation signal for controlling an output electron beam of each element of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices of one row selected by the scanning signal is applied to the terminals Dyl to Dyn.

Next, the scanning circuit 102 is shown in FIG.
Will be described. The circuit includes m switching elements inside, and each switching element selects either one of the two output voltages Vs of the DC voltage source or the output Vns of the variable output power source 120 to display the display panel 101.
The terminals Dxl to Dxm are electrically connected. Each switching element operates according to a control signal Tscan output from a timing signal generation circuit (described later), but in practice, by combining switching elements such as FETs, for example, as shown in FIG.
This can be easily realized with the push-pull 401 and 402 configurations as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4B, the output Vxm is switched between two values of the potentials Vs and Vns in synchronization with the timing signal Txm corresponding to each row wiring generated from the control signal Tscan.

Here, the potential of the variable power supply output Vns is as shown in FIG.
The number of devices that simultaneously emit electrons is counted by the counter 121 inside, and it is determined so as to satisfy the above formula (1) based on the number.

In the case of the present embodiment, the DC power supply voltage Vs is based on the characteristics (electron emission threshold voltage is 8 [V]) of the surface conduction electron-emitting device illustrated in FIG.
It was set to 7 [V]. Assuming that the current applied to the device for electron emission is 0.5 mA, the voltage applied to the device is 14.5.
Therefore, the applied voltage Ve to the column-direction wiring connected to the electron-emitting device is 7.5 [V]. In addition, the applied voltage Vg to the column-direction wiring to which the device is connected is set to 0 [V] so that the applied voltage to the device which does not emit electrons in the selected row becomes equal to or lower than the threshold voltage. Therefore, the applied voltage Vns to the row wiring not selected is 0.
The voltage is variable between [V] and 7.5 [V]. As a result, the drive voltage applied to the non-selected element becomes equal to or lower than the electron emission threshold voltage.

Next, the flow of the input video signal will be described. The input composite video signal is decoded by the decoder to the luminance signals of the three primary colors and the horizontal and vertical synchronization signals (HSYNC).
C, VSYNC). The timing signal generation circuit 104 generates various timing signals synchronized with the HSYNC and VSYNC signals. RGB luminance signal is S / H
It is sampled and held at an appropriate timing by a circuit or the like. The held signal is converted by the shift register circuit 106 into a parallel image signal for each row arranged in a corresponding order of the phosphors of the image forming panel, and the latch circuit 10 is operated.
5 is stored.

Subsequently, the pulse generation circuit 111 controls the presence / absence of a pulse corresponding to the image signal. During image formation, the voltage output is supplied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the display panel 101 through the terminals Dyl to Dyn of the display panel. In the panel supplied with the voltage output pulse, the scanning circuit 1
Only the surface conduction electron-emitting device connected to the row selected by 02 emits electrons for a period corresponding to the supplied pulse width,
The phosphor emits light. A two-dimensional image is formed by sequentially scanning the rows selected by the scanning circuit 102.

(Structure and Manufacturing Method of Display Panel) Next, the structure and manufacturing method of the display panel of the image display device to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to specific examples.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a display panel used in the embodiment, and a part of the panel is cut away to show the internal structure. In the figure, 1005 is a rear plate, 10
06 is a side wall, 1007 is a face plate, and 10
05 to 1007 form an airtight container for maintaining a vacuum inside the display panel. When assembling an airtight container, it is necessary to seal the joints of each member in order to maintain sufficient strength and airtightness.For example, frit glass is applied to the joints, and the joints are placed in the atmosphere or nitrogen atmosphere. Sealing was achieved by firing at 400-500 degrees 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.
Are fixed, but N × M surface conduction electron-emitting devices 1002 are formed on the substrate. (N and M are positive integers of 2 or more and are appropriately set in accordance with the target number of display pixels. For example, in a display device intended to display a high-definition television, N = 3000, M = 10
It is desirable to set a number of 00 or more. In this example, N = 3072 and M = 1024). The N
The xM surface conduction electron-emitting devices are simply matrix-wired by row-direction wirings 1003 which are M scanning wirings and column-direction wirings 1004 which are N data wirings. The portion composed of 1001 to 1004 is called a multi-electron beam source. The manufacturing method and structure of the multi-electron beam source will be described later in detail.

In this embodiment, the multi-electron beam source substrate 1001 is fixed to the rear plate 1005 of the airtight container. However, the multi-electron beam source substrate 100 is fixed.
1 has a sufficient strength, the substrate 100 of the multi-electron beam source is used as the rear plate of the airtight container.
You may use 1 itself.

A fluorescent film 1008 is formed on the lower surface of the face plate 1007. Since the present embodiment is a color display device, a CR film is provided on the fluorescent film 1008.
Phosphors of three primary colors of red, green and blue used in the field of T are separately coated. The phosphors of the respective colors are applied in stripes, for example, as shown in FIG. 8A, and black conductors 1010 are provided between the stripes of the phosphors. The purpose of providing the black conductor 1010 is to prevent the display color from deviating even if the electron beam irradiation position is slightly deviated, and to prevent the diplomatic reflection from reducing the display contrast. This is to prevent the fluorescent film from being charged up by the electron beam. Black conductor 10
Although graphite was used as the main component for the material 10, other materials may be used as long as they are suitable for the above purpose.

The method of separately coating the phosphors of the three primary colors is not limited to the stripe-shaped arrangement shown in FIG. 8 (a), and for example, the delta arrangement shown in FIG. 8 (b), Other arrangements may be used.

When producing a monochrome display panel, a monochromatic phosphor material may be used for the phosphor film 1008, and a black conductive material may not be necessarily 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
A part of the light emitted from the fluorescent film 1008 is specularly reflected to improve the light utilization rate, and the fluorescent film 100 is prevented from colliding with negative ions.
8 is to be protected, to act as an electrode for applying an electron beam accelerating voltage, and to act as a conductive path for excited electrons in the fluorescent film 1008. The metal back 1009 was formed by forming a fluorescent film 1008 on the face plate substrate 1007, smoothing the surface of the fluorescent film, and vacuum-depositing Al on the surface.
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 an accelerating voltage and improving the conductivity of the fluorescent film, a space between the face plate substrate 1007 and the fluorescent film 1008 is provided.
For example, a transparent electrode made of ITO may be provided.

Further, Dxl to Dxm and Dyl to Dy
Reference symbols n and Hv are terminals for electrical connection having an airtight structure provided to electrically connect the display panel and an electric circuit (not shown). Dxl to Dxm are electrically connected to the row direction wiring 1003 of the multi electron beam source, Dyl to Dyn are electrically connected to the column direction wiring 1004 of the multi electron beam source, and Hv is electrically connected to the metal back 1009 of the face plate.

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, and the inside of the airtight container is reduced to 10 −7 [T].
orr]. 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.
Due to the adsorption action of the getter film, the inside of the airtight container is 1 × 10 −5 or 1 × 10 −7 [Torr].
Maintained at a vacuum level of.

The basic structure and manufacturing method of the display panel of the embodiment of the present invention have been described above.

Next, a method of manufacturing the multi-electron beam source used in the display panel of the above embodiment will be described. The multi-electron beam source used in the image display device of the present invention is not limited in the material, shape or manufacturing method of the surface conduction electron-emitting device as long as it is an electron source in which surface conduction electron-emitting devices are wired in a simple matrix. However, the inventors 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 beam source of a high-luminance and large-screen image display device. Therefore, in the display panel of the above 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 beam source in which many devices are wired in a simple matrix will be described.

(Preferable Element Structure and Manufacturing Method of Surface Conduction Type Emitting Element) Typical structures of the surface conduction type emitting element in which the electron emitting portion or its peripheral portion is formed of a fine particle film include a planar type and a vertical type. 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 sectional view (b) for explaining the structure of a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device. In the figure, 1101 is a substrate, 1102 and 11
Reference numeral 03 is a device electrode, 1104 is a conductive thin film, 1105 is an electron emission portion formed by energization forming treatment, 111
3 is a thin film formed by the 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 an insulating layer made of, for example, SiO ₂ on the above various substrates. 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 to the substrate surface are made of a conductive material. For example, N
i, Cr, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Cu, Pd,
A material is appropriately selected from metals such as Ag, alloys of these metals, metal oxides such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ and semiconductors such as polysilicon. Good. To form the electrodes, film-forming techniques such as vacuum deposition and photolithography,
Although it can be easily formed by using a combination of patterning techniques such as patterning such as etching, it may be formed by using any other method (for example, printing technique).

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 ten micrometers. Further, regarding the thickness d of the device electrode,
Usually, an appropriate value is 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 is a film containing a large number of fine particles as constituent elements (including an island-shaped aggregate).
Refers to. A microscopic examination of the particulate film usually reveals that
A structure in which the 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 for the fine particle film is in the range of several angstroms to several thousand angstroms, but 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 device electrode 11
02 or 1103, conditions necessary for good electrical connection, conditions required for conducting the energization forming described below satisfactorily, conditions necessary for setting the electric resistance of the fine particle film itself to an appropriate value described below. , And so on. In particular,
The thickness is set within the range of several angstroms to several thousand angstroms, with 10 angstroms to 500 angstroms being particularly 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, etc., PdO, S
oxides such as nO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO, Sb ₂ O ₃ , etc., HfB ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , CeB ₆ ,
Borides such as YB ₄ and GdB ₄ , and Ti
Carbides such as C, ZrC, HfC, TaC, SiC, WC, etc., nitrides such as TiN, ZrN, HfN, etc., semiconductors such as Si, Ge, etc., carbon, etc. And can be 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 to fall within the range of 10 3 to 10 7 [ohm / sq].

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 overlapping is such that the substrate, the device electrode, and the conductive thin film are laminated in this order from the bottom.
In some cases, the substrate, the conductive thin film, and the device electrode may be stacked in this order from the bottom.

Further, the electron emission 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 crack is 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 made of single crystal graphite, polycrystalline graphite, amorphous carbon, or a mixture thereof, and the film thickness is 500 [angstroms] or less, but 300 [angstroms] or less. Is more preferable.

Since it is difficult to accurately illustrate the actual position and shape of the thin film 1113, it is schematically shown in FIG. In the plan view (a), the thin film 111
A device in which a part of 3 is removed is shown.

The basic structure of a preferable element has been described above, but the following elements were used in the examples.

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 electrodes was 1000 [angstrom], and the electrode interval L was 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 suitable flat surface-conduction type electron-emitting device will be described. (A) to (d) of FIG.
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. 10A, device electrodes 1102 and 1103 are formed on a substrate 1101.

Before forming, the substrate 1
101 is thoroughly washed with a detergent, pure water, and an organic solvent,
The material of the device electrode is deposited. (As a method for depositing, for example, a vacuum film forming technique such as a vapor deposition method or a sputtering method may be used.) After that, the deposited electrode material is patterned using a photolithography / etching technique and shown in (a). A pair of device electrodes (1102 and 11)
03) is formed.

2) Next, a conductive thin film 1104 is formed as shown in FIG.

In forming the film, first, the organometallic solution is applied to the substrate (a), dried, and heated and baked to form a fine particle film, which is 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 was used as the main element in this example. Further, although the dipping method was used as the coating method in the example, for example, a spinner method or a spray method other than this may be used).

Further, as a method for forming a conductive thin film formed of a fine particle film, other than the method of applying the organometallic solution used in this embodiment, for example, a vacuum evaporation method or a sputtering method,
Alternatively, a chemical vapor deposition method or the like may be used.

3) Next, as shown in FIG. 7C, the forming power supply 1110 to the device electrodes 1102 and 110
An appropriate voltage is applied between 3 and an energization forming process is performed to form the electron emitting portion 1105.

In the energization forming process, the electroconductive thin film 1104 made of a fine particle film is energized so that a part of it is appropriately destroyed, deformed or altered, and a structure suitable for electron emission is changed. It is a process that causes it. 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 explain the energizing 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 this embodiment, a triangular wave pulse having a pulse width T1 is continuously formed at a pulse interval T2 as shown in FIG. Applied to. At that time, the peak value Vpf of the triangular wave pulse was sequentially increased. Further, 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], for example, the pulse width T1 is 1 [millisecond] and the pulse interval T2 is 1.
0 [millisecond], and the peak value Vpf is set to 0.
The pressure was increased by 1 [V]. The monitor pulse Pm was inserted once every five pulses of the triangular wave were applied. The voltage Vpm of the monitor pulse was set to 0.1 [V] so as not to adversely affect the forming process. When the electric resistance between the element electrodes 1102 and 1103 reaches 1 × 10 6 [ohm], that is, the current measured by the ammeter 1111 when the monitor pulse is applied is 1 × 10 −7 [A]. ] At the stage below, the energization related to the forming process was terminated.

The above method is a preferable method for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present embodiment, and, for example, the design of the surface conduction electron-emitting device such as the material and 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. 10D, an appropriate voltage is applied between the activation power supply 1112 and the device electrodes 1102 and 1103, and an energization activation process is performed to obtain electron emission characteristics. Make improvements.

The energization activation process 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 treatment, the emission current at the same applied voltage is typically compared to that before the activation. Specifically, it can be increased 100 times or more.

Specifically, 10 to the minus 4th power or 1
By periodically applying a voltage pulse in a vacuum atmosphere within a range of 0 to the fifth power [torr], carbon or a carbon compound originating from an organic compound existing in the vacuum atmosphere is deposited. The deposit 1113 is one of single crystal graphite, polycrystalline graphite, amorphous carbon, or a mixture thereof, and has a film thickness of 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 of a constant voltage. Specifically, the rectangular wave voltage Vac is 14 [V],
The pulse width T3 is 1 [millisecond] and the pulse interval T4 is 10
[Millisecond]. The above-mentioned energization conditions are preferable conditions for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of this embodiment, and when the design of the surface conduction electron emission device is changed, it is desirable to appropriately change the conditions accordingly.

Reference numeral 1114 shown in FIG. 9D 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 the voltage is applied 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 11
12 operations are controlled. An example of the emission current Ie measured by the ammeter 1116 is shown in FIG. 12B. When the pulse voltage is started to be applied from the activation power supply 1112, the emission current Ie increases with the passage of time, but the emission current Ie saturates. Will almost never increase. As described above, when the emission current Ie is almost saturated, the voltage application from the activation power supply 1112 is stopped, and the energization activation process is ended.

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

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

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

FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the basic structure of the vertical type, in which 1201 is a substrate.
202 and 1203 are element 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 the energization forming process, 1
213 is a thin film formed by the 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. An electrically insulating material such as SiO ₂ is used for the step forming member 1206.

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.
It is the same as 06.

1) First, as shown in FIG. 14A, a device electrode 1203 is formed on a substrate 1201.

2) Next, as shown in FIG. 10B, an insulating layer for forming the step forming member is laminated. The insulating layer may be formed by stacking SiO ₂ , for example, by a sputtering method, but another film forming method such as a vacuum vapor deposition method or 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. 8E, 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, an energization forming process is performed to form an electron emitting portion.
(The same process as the planar energization forming process described with reference to FIG. 10C may be performed.)

7) Next, as in the case of the planar type, an energization activation process is performed to deposit carbon or a carbon compound in the vicinity of the electron emitting 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. Next, the characteristics of the element used in the display device will be described. I will describe.

FIG. 15 shows typical examples of (emission current Ie) vs. (device applied voltage Vf) characteristics and (device current If) vs. (device applied voltage Vf) characteristics of the device used in the display device. . The emission current Ie is significantly smaller than the device current If, and it is difficult to show the emission current Ie on the same scale.
Since these characteristics are changed by changing the design parameters such as the size and shape of the device, 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, a certain voltage (this is the threshold voltage Vth
The emission current Ie sharply increases when a voltage of the above magnitude is applied to the element, while the emission current Ie is hardly detected at a voltage lower than the threshold voltage Vth.

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 element, the emission current Ie at the voltage Vf.
The size of e can be controlled.

Thirdly, since the response speed of the current Ie emitted from the element is high with respect to the voltage Vf applied to the element, the charge amount of electrons emitted from the element depends on the length of time for which the voltage Vf is applied. 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 and display the front screen. That is,
A threshold voltage Vt is applied to the driven element according to the desired emission brightness.
A voltage of h or more is appropriately applied, and a voltage of less than the threshold voltage Vth is applied to the non-selected element. By sequentially switching the elements to be driven, it is possible to sequentially scan the display screen for display.

Further, by utilizing the second characteristic or the third characteristic, it is possible to control the light emission luminance, so that it is possible to perform the gradation display.

(Structure of multi-electron beam source in which a large number of elements are wired in a simple matrix) Next, the structure of a multi-electron beam source in which the above surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged on a substrate and wired in a simple matrix will be described.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of the multi-electron beam source used in the display panel of FIG. Surface conduction electron-emitting devices similar to those shown in FIG. 9 are arranged on the substrate, 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.
Shown in.

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.

Example 2 Next, another example of the present invention will be described. The configuration of the image display device including the surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, 201 is a display panel, which is connected to an external electric circuit through terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn as in the first embodiment, and a high voltage terminal on the face plate is also connected to an external high voltage power supply Va. , A scanning signal is applied to the terminals Dx1 to Dxm, and a modulation signal is applied to the terminals Dy1 to Dyn.

Next, the scanning circuit 202 is shown in FIG.
Will be described. The circuit includes m switching elements inside, and each switching element is connected to either a DC voltage source of the output voltage Vs or a wiring that is not connected to the drive circuit and is short-circuited with another non-selected row. It is selected and electrically connected to the terminals Dx1 to Dxm of the display panel 201. The short-circuited non-selected row-direction wiring is connected to the ground potential (V
g). This is to prevent the wiring potential from rising above the breakdown voltage of the element and causing element breakdown when discharge due to high voltage application occurs on the wiring in the non-selected direction. The breakdown voltage of this Zener diode is a voltage slightly higher than the applied voltage Ve to the column-direction wiring, which is 10 in this embodiment.
The one of [V] was used.

Each switching element operates according to the control signal Tscan output from the timing signal generation circuit, but in reality, for example, a push-pull configuration FET as shown in FIG. 4A is used. It can be easily realized by combining switching elements.

In the case of this embodiment, the DC power supply voltage Vs is based on the characteristics (electron emission threshold voltage is 8 [V]) of the surface conduction electron-emitting device illustrated in FIG.
It was set to 7 [V]. Assuming that the current applied to the device for electron emission is 0.5 mA, the voltage applied to the device is 14.5.
Therefore, the applied voltage Ve to the column-direction wiring connected to the electron-emitting device is 7.5 [V].
In addition, the applied voltage Vg to the column-direction wiring to which the device is connected is set to 0 [V] so that the applied voltage to the device which does not emit electrons in the selected row becomes equal to or lower than the threshold voltage. Therefore, the applied voltage Vns to the row wiring not selected is 0.
The voltage is variable between [V] and 7.5 [V]. As a result, the drive voltage applied to the non-selected element becomes equal to or lower than the electron emission threshold voltage.

Next, the flow of the input video signal will be described. The input composite video signal is decoded by the decoder to the luminance signals of the three primary colors and the horizontal and vertical synchronization signals (HSYNC).
C, VSYNC). The timing signal generation circuit 204 generates various timing signals synchronized with the HSYNC and VSYNC signals. RGB luminance signal is S / H
It is sampled and held at an appropriate timing by a circuit or the like. The held signal is converted by the shift register circuit 206 into parallel image signals for each row arranged in a corresponding order of the phosphors of the image forming panel, and the latch circuit 2
It is stored by 05.

Subsequently, the pulse width modulation circuit 211 converts into a drive pulse signal having a pulse width corresponding to the image signal strength. During image formation, the voltage output is supplied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the display panel 210 through the terminals Dy1 to Dyn of the display panel. In the panel supplied with the voltage output pulse, only the surface conduction electron-emitting device connected to the row selected by the scanning circuit 202 emits electrons for a period corresponding to the supplied pulse width, and the phosphor emits light. A two-dimensional image is formed by sequentially scanning the rows selected by the scanning circuit 202.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 18 shows a display panel using the surface conduction electron-emitting device described above as an electron beam source, and image information provided from various image information sources such as television broadcasting. It is a figure for showing an example of a display constituted so that it can display.

In the figure, 2100 is a display panel and 2 is a display panel.
101 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 a CPU, 2107 is an image generation circuit,
2108 and 2109 and 2110 are image memory interface circuits, 2111 is an image input interface circuit, 2112 and 2113 are TV signal receiving circuits, and 2114 is an input unit. (Note that this display device
For example, when a signal such as a television signal including both video information and audio information is received, the audio is naturally reproduced at the same time as the display of the video, but the audio information not directly related to the features of the present invention is used. Description of circuits, speakers, etc. related to reception, separation, reproduction, processing, storage, etc. is omitted).

The function of each unit will be described below along the flow of the image signal.

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 system) having 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 by using a wired 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 a video signal supplied from an image input device such as a TV camera or an image reading scanner. The captured image signal is a decoder 210.
4 is output.

The image memory interface circuit 2110 is a circuit for fetching a video signal stored in a video tape recorder (hereinafter abbreviated as VTR), and the fetched video signal is output to the decoder 2104.

The image memory interface circuit 2109 is a circuit for fetching the video signal stored in the video disc, and the fetched image signal is output to the decoder 2104.

The image memory interface circuit 2108 is a circuit for fetching an image signal from a device that stores still image data, such as a so-called still image disc.
It is output to 104.

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. Image data and characters
It is of course possible to input / output graphic information, and in some cases, input / output control signals and numerical data between the CPU 2106 of the 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 through the input / output interface circuit 2105.
2106 is a circuit for generating display image data based on the image data and character / graphic information output from the 2106. Inside this circuit, for example, rewritable memory for storing image data and character / graphic information, read-only memory for storing image patterns corresponding to character codes, processor for image processing, etc. And the circuits necessary for image generation are incorporated.

The display image data generated by this circuit is output to the decoder 2104, but in some cases, it may be output to an external computer network or printer via the input / output interface circuit 2105.

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 video signals to be displayed on the display panel. At that time, a control signal is generated for the display panel controller 2102 in accordance with a video signal to be displayed, and a screen display frequency, a 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 and character / graphic information may be directly output to the image generation circuit 2107, or an external computer or memory may be accessed via the input / output interface circuit 2105 to display the character / character of the image data. Enter graphic information.

It should be noted that the CPU 2106 may of course 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
06 is for the user to input commands, programs, data, etc., such as a keyboard, mouse, joystick, bar code reader,
It is possible to use various input devices such as a voice recognition device.

Further, the decoder 2104 has the above-mentioned 2107.
Is a circuit for reverse-converting various video signals input from 2 to 2113 into three primary color signals or luminance signals and I signals and Q signals. It is desirable that the decoder 2104 has an image memory therein, as indicated by a dotted line in the figure. This includes, for example, the MUSE method,
This is to handle a television signal that requires an image memory for reverse conversion. Further, the provision of the image memory facilitates the display of still images, 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 easily performed.

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 video signal from the inversely converted video signals input from the decoder 2104 and outputs it to the drive circuit 2101. In that case, by switching and selecting video 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. .

Further, 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, regarding 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, regarding 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 2100, and the image signal input from the multiplexer 2103 and the display panel controller 21.
It operates based on the control signal input from the signal 02.

The function of each section has been described above.
With the configuration illustrated in FIG. 5, the display device can display image information input from various image information sources on the display panel 2100.

That is, various image signals such as television broadcasts are inversely converted by the decoder 2104, appropriately selected by the multiplexer 2103, 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 applies a drive signal to the display panel 2100 based on the video signal and the control signal.

As a result, the display panel 2100
The image is displayed at. These series of operations are C
It is totally controlled by the PU 2106.

Further, in this display device, the image memory built in the decoder 2104 and the image generation circuit 21.
07 and the CPU 2106 are involved not only to display a selection of a plurality of pieces of image information, but also to enlarge, reduce, rotate, move, edge emphasize, thin out, and interpolate image information to be displayed. , Color conversion,
It is also possible to perform image processing such as image aspect ratio conversion, and image editing such as composition, deletion, connection, replacement, and fitting. 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 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 one unit,
It has a very wide range of applications for industrial or consumer use.

Note that FIG. 200 described above merely shows an example of the configuration of a display device using a display panel having a display conduction type emission device as an electron beam source, and the present invention is not limited to this. Needless to say. For example, of the constituent elements of FIG. 200, circuits relating to functions that are unnecessary for the purpose of use may be omitted. On the contrary,
Further components 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 this display device, in particular, since the display panel using the surface conduction electron-emitting device as the electron beam source can be easily thinned, the depth of the entire display device can be reduced. In addition, the display panel using the surface conduction electron-emitting device as the electron beam source has a large screen, easy brightness, and excellent viewing angle characteristics. It is possible to display with good performance.

[0148]

According to the present invention, there is provided an electron generating apparatus which consumes less power by reducing the reactive element current of an electron-emitting device, an image forming apparatus using the same, a driving method thereof, and a driving circuit. be able to. As a result, the current capacity of the drive circuit, the power supply capacity, the capacity of the cooling device, etc. can be reduced, and a very low cost electron generator and an image forming apparatus using the same can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a drive circuit according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a drive circuit according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of a scanning circuit according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of a push-pull configuration (a) and its timing chart (b).

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of an electron generator of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an equivalent circuit diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a display panel.

FIG. 8 is a phosphor array diagram of a face plate.

FIG. 9 is a plan view (a) and a cross-sectional view (B) of a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 11 is a time chart showing forming voltage.

FIG. 12 is a time chart of activation voltage and emission current.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing voltage-current characteristics of a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of a multi-electron beam substrate.

FIG. 17 is a partial sectional view of a multi-electron beam substrate.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a multiplex display.

19: M. Hartwell et al. FIG. 5 is a plan view of a conventional surface conduction electron-emitting device disclosed by K.K.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a problem of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a problem of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a view showing a problem of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 display panel 102 scanning circuit 104 Timing generation circuit 105 Latch circuit 106 shift register 111 pulse generation circuit 120 variable power supply 121 counter

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Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A drive circuit for driving a multi-electron beam source, in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix with a plurality of data wirings and a plurality of scanning wirings, on the basis of an input video signal, wherein the drive circuit comprises: the wiring, the non-selection period is the non-selection potential, the selection period and outputs the selected potential, the non-selection potential
Responds to the signal on the data line by
Must be variable between the highest and lowest potential output
A driving circuit for a multi-electron beam source characterized by: 2. The non-selection potential is Vns, the maximum potential output to the data line is Ve, and the maximum potential is output to the data line.
The de-connecting a lowest potential is Vg, to the scan lines
When the over data lines the number n, the number of data lines for outputting the highest potential Ve and L, Vns is Vns = Vg + (Ve-Vg ) × multi-electron beam source driving circuit according to claim 1 satisfying L / n . 3. The mulch according to claim 1 or 2.
An image forming apparatus comprising: a drive circuit for an electron beam source ; and a phosphor that emits light when irradiated with electrons.