JPH07326284A - Electron source, control method thereof, and image forming method and device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To offset effects at the time of forming of wiring resistance and at the time of driving, and reduce irregularity of emitted electron quantity of an electron source at the time of driving by forming by applying a voltage from one end of row-direction wirings in a display panel, and applying a drive voltage from the other end at the time of driving. CONSTITUTION:At the time of forming, an X-driver 2001 for forming is connected to an electron source panel 2010, and forming is performed by use of the X-driver 2001 and a Y-driver 2000. At the time of normal driving, an X- driver 2002 for display is connected to the panel 2010, and driving is performed by the X-driver 2002 and the Y-driver 2000. Emission of surface conduction type emitted electrons generated by the wiring resistance of the surface conduction type electron emission element is thus corrected to be uniform, thereby high quality image formation can be performed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electron source and an image forming apparatus using the electron source, and more particularly to an electron source having a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices, an image forming method using the electron source and an apparatus therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, two types of electron-emitting devices are known, a thermoelectron source and a cold cathode electron source. The cold cathode electron source includes a field emission type (hereinafter abbreviated as FE type), metal / insulating layer /
There are a metal type (hereinafter abbreviated as MIM type), a surface conduction electron-emitting device (hereinafter abbreviated as SCE), and the like.

The following documents are known as documents describing the FE type example.

1 WPDyke & WWDolan, “Field emiss
ion ”, Advance in ElectronPhysics, 8, 89 (1956); 2 CASpindt,“ PHYSICAL Properties of thin-film
field emissioncathodes with molybdenium cones ”,
J.Appl.Phys., 47, 5248 (1976) Further, as a document regarding the example of the MIM type, CAMead, “The tunnel-emission
amplifier, J.Appl.Phys., 32, (1961) is known.

[0005] The literature on the SCE type example is MI.
Ellinson, Radio Eng. Electron Phy., 10, (1965).

The SCE type utilizes a phenomenon in which electron emission occurs when a current is passed through a thin film having a small area formed on a substrate in parallel with the film surface. As this surface conduction electron-emitting device, one using the SnO ₂ thin film by MI Ellinson and one using the Au thin film [G.
Dittmer: “Thin Solid Films”, 9, 317 (1972)], In ₂
O ₃ / SnO ₂ thin film [M.Hartwell and CGFons
tad: “IEEETrans. ED Conf.”, 519 (1975)], by a carbon thin film [Haraki Araki et al .: Vacuum ,. Volume 26, Volume 1
No., p. 22 (1983)] and the like are reported.

As a typical device configuration of these surface conduction type emission devices, the above-mentioned M. FIG. 17 shows an element structure according to the document of M. Hartwell. In FIG. 17, 5
01 is an insulating substrate. Reference numeral 502 denotes a thin film for forming an electron emitting portion, which is formed of a metal oxide thin film or the like formed by sputtering on an H-shaped pattern, and the electron emitting portion 503 is formed by an energization process called forming described later.
504 will be referred to as a thin film including an electron emitting portion. 5
02 is an element electrode.

Conventionally, in these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, the electron-emitting portion forming thin film 502 is generally formed with an electron-emitting portion 503 by an energization process called forming before the electron emission. Met. That is, the forming means the thin film 5 for forming the electron emitting portion.
A voltage is applied across both ends of 02 to locally destroy, deform or alter the electron emission part forming thin film to form the electron emission part 503 in an electrically high resistance state. In the electron emitting portion 503, a crack is generated in a part of the electron emitting portion forming thin film 502, and electrons are emitted from the vicinity of the crack. Hereinafter, the electron emitting portion forming thin film 502 including the electron emitting portion formed by forming is referred to as a thin film 504 including an electron emitting portion. The surface-conduction type electron-emitting device that has undergone the forming process is one in which electrons are emitted from the electron-emitting unit 503 described above by applying a voltage to the thin film 504 including the electron-emitting unit and applying a current to the device. . However, although these conventional surface conduction electron-emitting devices have various problems in practical use, the present applicants have studied various improvements as will be described later and made practical use of them. It has solved various problems.

The above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device has an advantage that a large number of devices can be arranged over a large area because it has a simple structure and is easy to manufacture. Therefore, various applications that can make full use of this feature are being researched. For example, a charged beam source, a forming device, etc. may be mentioned. An example of arranging a large number of surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices is an electron source in which surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices are arranged in parallel, and a large number of rows in which both ends of each element are connected by wiring are arranged (for example, , JP-A-1-031332). Further, in particular, in image forming apparatuses such as forming apparatuses, in recent years, flat plate type forming apparatuses using liquid crystal have become popular in place of CRTs, but since they are not self-luminous, they must have a backlight or the like. Therefore, the development of a self-luminous forming apparatus has been desired. An image forming apparatus, which is a combination of an electron source having a large number of surface-conduction type emission elements and a phosphor that emits visible light by electrons emitted from the electron source, is relatively easy to use even in a large-screen apparatus. It is a self-luminous forming apparatus that can be manufactured and is excellent in forming quality.

[0010]

Needless to say, high-definition and high-definition images are desired in various image-forming panels to which surface conduction electron-emitting devices are applied, including the above-mentioned flat panel CRT. To realize this, for example, a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices with simple matrix wiring are used. For this reason, an extremely large number of device arrays in which the number of rows and columns reaches hundreds to thousands are required, and it is desired that each surface conduction electron-emitting device has uniform electron emission characteristics.

However, when these elements are applied to an image forming apparatus, the surface conduction type is formed by m row direction (or X direction) wirings and n column direction (or Y direction) wirings. In the case where a simple matrix configuration is adopted in which a pair of device electrodes facing each other of the electron-emitting device are respectively connected to form an electron source in which a large number of surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix, in a row direction and a column direction. Due to the voltage effect generated by the wiring resistance in the direction, the voltage applied to each element electrode varies. As a result, the effective voltage applied to each element varies, which causes a problem of variation in forming. Furthermore, since the surface conduction electron-emitting device is driven by current instead of driven by voltage like liquid crystal, the influence of wiring resistance when line driven is significant.

FIGS. 18, 19 and 20 are diagrams for explaining this problem in more detail. FIG. 18 is a plan view showing a part of the electron source, and FIG. 19 is a view showing an electron-emitting device and wiring resistance. FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a voltage applied to each electron-emitting device electrode when driving all electron-emitting devices connected to one line in the row direction. Here, the column on the horizontal axis is a column wiring number (1, 2, 3, ..., N) connected to each electron-emitting device, and is connected to a certain line in the row direction. Device number (D
₁ , D ₂ , D ₃ , ..., D _n ).

FIG. 19 shows an m × n simple matrix circuit in which a voltage Vin of the same potential is applied to _n Y-direction wirings DY ₁ , DY ₂ , ... DX _n
Shows the characteristics when the is grounded. Further, the row wiring and the column wiring are assumed to have a resistance component of rx and ry in each element.

Incidentally, in the image forming apparatus, the pixels which are the targets of the electron beam are usually arranged at an equal pitch.
The electron-emitting devices are also arranged at equal intervals in the row direction and the column direction. Therefore, by suppressing variations in the width and film thickness of the wiring during manufacturing, it can be expected that the element units have the same resistance value in the row direction and the column direction. In addition, all electron-emitting devices have substantially the same resistance value.

As is apparent from FIG. 20, in the case of the circuit as shown in FIG. 19, a larger voltage is applied to an element closer to the voltage applying terminal, and an applied voltage is lower to an element farther from the voltage applying terminal. Therefore, the applied voltage varies.

Due to the variation of the applied voltage due to the wiring resistance, the element characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device formed after forming and the variation of the applied voltage of the forming vary the electron emission characteristics of each element. That is, in general, an element closer to the forming voltage applying terminal has an applied electric field-
The electron emission efficiency is good, and the efficiency becomes worse as the distance from the voltage application terminal increases.

According to the present invention, during the forming, the electron emission from each surface conduction electron-emitting device having non-uniform input / output characteristics caused by the wiring resistance of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is made uniform. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming method and an apparatus for forming a high quality image by performing correction so as to achieve the above.

[0018]

In order to achieve the above object, an electron source of the present invention, an image forming method using the same, and an apparatus thereof have the following configurations. That is, a plurality of surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices are laid out in a matrix, and one electrode of the surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices laid out in the same row is connected to a wiring in the row direction and laid out in the same column. The other electrode of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is
In the electron source connected to the wiring in the column direction, one end of the wiring in the row direction to which a forming voltage for forming the surface conduction electron-emitting device is applied, and a drive for causing the surface conduction electron-emitting device to be electronically discharged. An electron corresponding to the drive voltage from the surface conduction electron-emitting device that is connected to the other end by applying a drive voltage to the other end of the wiring in the row direction to which a voltage is applied. Release the amount.

Further, another invention comprises the above-mentioned electron source and a light emitting means for emitting light based on the amount of electrons emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the electron source.

According to another invention, a plurality of surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices are laid out in a matrix, and one electrode of the surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices laid out in the same row is a wiring in a row direction. In the control method, the other electrode of the surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices connected and laid out in the same column emits electrons from a predetermined surface-conduction type electron-emitting device of the electron source connected to the wiring in the column direction. The one end of the wiring in the row direction to which a forming voltage for forming the surface conduction electron-emitting device is applied, and the row direction to which a drive voltage for electron-discharging the surface conduction electron-emitting device is applied. The other end of the wiring is provided, and a drive voltage corresponding to a predetermined amount of emitted electrons is applied to the other end so that the drive voltage is applied from the surface conduction electron-emitting device corresponding to the other end. Comprising a step of emitting electrons amount corresponding to.

According to another invention, a step of emitting electrons from a surface conduction electron-emitting device based on the above electron source control method, and a step of causing a light emitting means to emit light based on the emitted electrons. Equipped with.

[0022]

In the above structure, a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are laid out in a matrix, and one electrode of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices laid out in the same row is connected to the wiring in the row direction. , The other electrode of the surface conduction electron-emitting device laid out in the same column is applied with a forming voltage for forming the surface conduction electron-emitting device in an electron source connected to a wiring in a column direction. Direction wiring, and the other end of the wiring in the row direction to which a drive voltage for causing the surface conduction electron-emitting device to be electrically discharged is applied, and by applying a drive voltage to the other end, An electron quantity corresponding to the drive voltage is emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device connected to the other end.

Another aspect of the present invention is to emit electrons from the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the electron source, and the light emitting means is based on the amount of electrons emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the electron source. , Emits light.

According to another invention, a plurality of surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices are laid out in a matrix, and one electrode of the surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices laid out in the same row has wiring in a row direction. In the control method, the other electrode of the surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices connected and laid out in the same column emits electrons from a predetermined surface-conduction type electron-emitting device of the electron source connected to the wiring in the column direction. The one end of the wiring in the row direction to which a forming voltage for forming the surface conduction electron-emitting device is applied, and the row direction to which a drive voltage for electron-discharging the surface conduction electron-emitting device is applied. The other end of the wiring is provided, and a drive voltage corresponding to a predetermined amount of emitted electrons is applied to the other end so that the drive voltage is applied from the surface conduction electron-emitting device corresponding to the other end. Emit electrons amount corresponding to.

According to another aspect of the invention, the surface conduction electron-emitting device emits electrons based on the method for controlling the electron source, and the light emitting means emits light based on the emitted electrons.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the image forming method and apparatus according to the embodiments of the present invention, voltage application terminals are provided at both ends of row-direction wirings or column-direction wirings of a display panel having surface conduction electron-emitting devices arranged in a matrix. Forming is performed by applying a voltage from one of the voltage applying terminals, and at the time of driving, the other voltage applying terminal is used to cancel the influence of the wiring resistance during the forming and the driving, thus It is characterized by reducing the variation in the amount of electrons emitted from the source.

[First Embodiment] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the outline and manufacturing method of the surface conduction electron-emitting device according to this embodiment will be described.

The features of the structure and manufacturing method of the surface conduction electron-emitting device according to this embodiment are as follows. Please refer to FIG. 2 below. 1) The electron emission portion forming thin film 202 before energization processing called forming is a thin film made of fine particles formed by dispersing a fine particle dispersion, or a thin film made of fine particles formed by heating and burning an organic metal or the like. , Basically composed of fine particles.

2) The thin film 204 including an electron emitting portion after energization processing called forming, including the electron emitting portion 203, is basically composed of fine particles. Board 201
Examples thereof include quartz glass, glass having a reduced content of impurities such as Na, soda lime glass, a glass substrate in which SiO ₂ formed by a sputtering method or the like is laminated on soda lime glass, a ceramic such as alumina, a silicon substrate and the like. .

There are two basic configurations of the surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present embodiment, a planar type and a vertical type. First, the planar surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described.

FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b) are a plan view and a sectional view, respectively, showing the structure of a basic planar surface conduction electron-emitting device according to this embodiment. The basic configuration of the element according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 3, 201 is a substrate, and 205 and 2
Reference numeral 06 is a device electrode, 204 is a thin film including an electron emitting portion, 20
3 is an electron emitting portion.

The material of the opposing device electrodes 205 and 206 is basically one having excellent conductivity, such as N.
i, Cr, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu,
Metals or alloys such as Pd and Pd, Ag, Au, Ru
Examples thereof include a printed conductor composed of a metal or a metal oxide such as O ₂ and Pd-Ag and glass, a transparent conductor such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ and a semiconductor material such as polysilicon.

The device electrode interval L1 is, for example, several hundred angstroms to several hundreds of micrometers, and is a photolithography technique which is the basis of the device electrode manufacturing method, that is,
It is set depending on the performance of the exposure device and the etching method, the voltage applied between the device electrodes, the electric field strength capable of emitting electrons, and the like, but it is preferably 1 μm to 10 μm. Device electrode length W1, device electrode 20
The film thickness d of 5,206 is the resistance value of the electrode, the above-mentioned X, Y
The device electrode length W1 is normally several micrometers to several hundreds of micrometers, which is appropriately designed in consideration of the connection with the wiring and the arrangement of a large number of electron sources, and the film thickness of the device electrodes 205 and 206. d is preferably from a few hundred angstroms to a few micrometers.

The opposing element electrodes 205 provided on the substrate 201, between the element electrodes 206 and between the element electrodes 205, 2
The thin film 204 including the electron emitting portion, which is installed on the substrate 06, includes the electron emitting portion 203. 3B shows the case where the thin film 204 including the electron emitting portion is provided on the device electrodes 205 and 206, but the thin film 204 including the electron emitting portion is not provided on the device electrodes 205 and 206. There is also. That is, it is a case where the electron emission part forming thin film 202 is laminated on the substrate 201, and then the opposing device electrodes 205 and 206 are laminated in this order.

Further, depending on the manufacturing method, the entire space between the opposing device electrodes 205 and 206 may function as an electron emitting portion. The film thickness of the thin film 204 including the electron emitting portion is from several angstroms to several thousand angstroms,
It is preferably several tens angstroms to 200 angstroms, and the step coverage to the device electrodes 205 and 206, the electron emission portion 203 and the device electrodes 205 and 206.
It is set as appropriate according to the resistance value between them, the particle size of the conductive fine particles of the electron emission portion 203, the energization processing conditions described later, and the like. The resistance value shows a sheet resistance value of 10 ³ to 10 ⁷ Ω / □.

Pd, Ru, Ag, Au, T will be given as specific examples of the material constituting the thin film 204 including the electron emitting portion.
i, In, Cu, Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, Ta, W,
Metals such as Pd, PdO, SnO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO,
Oxides such as Sb ₂ O ₃ , HfB ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , C
borides such as eB ₆ , YB ₄ , and GdB ₄ , TiC, ZrC,
Carbides such as HfC, TaC, SiC, WC, TiN, Z
Examples include nitrides such as rN and HfN, semiconductors such as Si and Ge, carbon, AgMg, NiCu, Pb and Sn.
These consist of fine particle films.

The fine particle film described here is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated, and its fine structure is not only a state in which the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged but also a state in which the fine particles are adjacent to each other or overlap each other ( (Including island-shaped) film.

The electron emitting portion 203 is composed of a large number of conductive fine particles having a particle diameter of several angstroms to several thousand angstroms, preferably 10 angstroms to 200 angstroms, and the thickness of the thin film 204 including the electron emitting portion, which will be described later. It depends on the manufacturing method such as energization processing conditions and is appropriately set. It is the same as some or all of the elements of the material forming the thin film 204 including the electron emitting portion. <Basic Manufacturing Method> Various methods are conceivable as a method of manufacturing the surface conduction electron-emitting device having the electron emitting portion 203, and one example thereof is shown in FIG. Reference numeral 202 denotes a thin film for forming an electron emitting portion, which is, for example, a fine particle film.

The manufacturing method will be described below step by step with reference to FIG.
And it demonstrates based on FIG.

1) After thoroughly cleaning the substrate 201 with a detergent, pure water and an organic solvent, after depositing an element electrode material by a vacuum deposition technique, a sputtering method or the like, an element is formed on the surface of the substrate 201 by a photolinography technique. Electrodes 205, 20
6 is formed ((a) of FIG. 2).

2) An organometallic thin film is formed by applying an organometallic solution between the element electrodes 205 and 206 provided on the substrate 201 and on the substrate on which the element electrodes 205 and 206 are formed, and leaving it to stand. To form. The organometallic solution means Pd, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, I
It is a solution of an organic compound containing a metal such as n, Cu, Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, Ta, W, or Pb as a main element. After that, the organic metal thin film is heated and baked, and patterned by lift-off, etching, etc. to form a thin film 202 for forming an electron emission portion (FIG. 2B).

Although the coating method of the organic metal solution is used here, the method is not limited to this, and the vacuum deposition method,
It may be formed by a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition method, a dispersion coating method, a dipping method, a spinner method, or the like.

3) Subsequently, energization processing called forming is performed. Here, between the device electrodes 205 and 206,
When the energization process with a pulsed voltage from a power source (not shown) is performed, an electron emitting portion 203 having a changed structure is formed in the portion of the electron emitting portion forming thin film 202 ((c) of FIG. 2).

By this energization treatment, the thin film 202 for forming the electron emitting portion is locally destroyed, deformed or altered.
The portion of which the structure is changed by forming is called an electron emitting portion 203. As described above, the electron emitting portion 203 is composed of conductive fine particles.

Next, the voltage waveform of the forming process will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 4, T1 and T2 are the pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform, respectively. For example, T1
Is 1 microsecond to 10 milliseconds, T2 is 10 microseconds to 100 milliseconds, the peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage during forming) is about 4V to 10V, and the forming process is about several tens of seconds in a vacuum atmosphere. Select as appropriate.

When forming the electron emitting portion described above,
The forming process is performed by applying a triangular wave pulse between the electrodes of the element, but the waveform applied between the electrodes of the element is not limited to the triangular wave, and a desired waveform such as a rectangular wave may be used. Further, the peak value, the pulse width, the pulse interval, etc. are not limited to the above values, and it goes without saying that a desired value is selected if the electron emitting portion is formed well. <Basic Characteristics> Next, a method for evaluating the characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device according to this example, which is produced by the above device structure and manufacturing method, will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a measurement / evaluation apparatus for measuring electron emission characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device having the configuration shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, 201 is a substrate, 205 and 206 are device electrodes, 204 is a thin film including an electron emitting portion, 2
Reference numeral 03 is an electron emitting portion. Reference numeral 231 denotes a power supply, which applies a device voltage Vf to the device. An ammeter 230 measures the device current If flowing through the thin film 204 including the electron emitting portion between the device electrodes 205 and 206. Reference numeral 234 denotes an anode electrode, which is an emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission unit 203.
To capture. 233 is a high-voltage power supply, and the anode electrode 2
A voltage is applied to 34. 232 is an ammeter that measures the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission unit 203.

To measure the device current If and the emission current Ie of the electron-emitting device, the power supply 31 is applied to the device electrodes 5 and 6.
And an ammeter 30 are connected to each other, and an anode electrode 34 to which a power source 33 and an ammeter 32 are connected is arranged above the electron-emitting device. Further, the electron-emitting device and the anode electrode 34
Is installed in a vacuum device, and the vacuum device is equipped with equipment necessary for the vacuum device such as an exhaust pump and a vacuum gauge, which are not shown, so that the measurement and evaluation of this element can be performed under a desired vacuum. Has become.

The voltage of the anode electrode 234 is 1 kV.
-10 kV, and the distance H between the anode electrode 234 and the surface conduction electron-emitting device was measured in the range of 3 mm to 8 mm.

Incidentally, in the surface conduction electron-emitting device in which conductive fine particles are dispersed in advance, a part thereof is changed within the range of the basic manufacturing method of the basic device structure of the above-mentioned embodiment. May be.

Next, a vertical type surface conduction electron-emitting device, which is a surface conduction electron emission device having another structure according to this embodiment, will be described.

FIG. 6 is a view showing the basic structure of a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device according to this embodiment.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 251 designates substrates 255, 2 and 2.
Reference numeral 56 is a device electrode, 254 is a thin film including an electron emitting portion, 25
Reference numeral 3 is an electron emitting portion and 257 is a step forming portion. The electron emitting portion 253 has a thickness of the step forming portion 257, a manufacturing method, and
The position varies depending on the thickness of the thin film 254 including the electron emitting portion, the manufacturing method, etc., and is not limited to the position shown in FIG.

The substrate 251, the device electrodes 255 and 256, the thin film 254 including the electron emitting portion, and the electron emitting portion 253 are made of the same material as that of the above-mentioned plane type surface conduction electron emitting device. Therefore, here, the step forming portion 257 and the thin film 254 including the electron emitting portion which characterize the vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described in detail.

The step forming portion 257 is made of an insulating material such as SiO 2 formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method or the like. The thickness of the step forming portion 257 corresponds to the device electrode interval L1 of the flat surface conduction electron-emitting device described above, and is several hundred angstroms to several tens of micrometers. The thickness of the step forming portion 257 is set depending on the manufacturing method of the step forming portion 257, the voltage applied between the device electrodes and the electric field strength capable of emitting electrons, and preferably 10 μm to 1,000 angstroms.

Since the thin film 254 including the electron emitting portion is formed after the device electrodes 255 and 256 and the step forming portion 257 are formed, it is laminated on the device electrodes 255 and 256, and in some cases, the device electrodes 255 and 256 are formed. It is formed into a desired shape except for a part of the overlap which is responsible for the electrical connection. In addition, the film thickness of the thin film 254 including the electron emitting portion is often different between the film thickness at the step portion and the film thickness of the portion stacked on the element electrodes 255 and 256 depending on the manufacturing method, Generally, the film thickness of the step portion is thin. As a result, as compared with the above-mentioned flat surface-conduction type electron-emitting device, the electron-emitting portion 3 is often subjected to the energization process more easily. <Matrix> Next, an electron source in which the above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix will be described.

The structure of the electron source substrate will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 7, 271 is a substrate, 272 is X.
Directional wiring, 273 is a Y-directional wiring, 274 is a surface conduction electron-emitting device, and 275 is a connection.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device 274 may be either of the above-mentioned plane type or vertical type.

The substrate 271 is a silicon substrate or the like, and its size is appropriately set depending on the number of surface-conduction type elements installed on the substrate 271 and the design shape of each element.

The m number of X-direction wirings 272 are DX ₁ , DX ₂ ,
, DX _m , which is formed on the substrate 271 by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like, and which is made of a conductive metal or the like having a desired pattern, and supplies a substantially uniform voltage to a large number of surface conduction elements. As described above, the material, the film thickness, and the wiring width are set. The Y-direction wiring 273 is composed of n wirings DY ₁ , DY ₂ , ..., DY _n , and is formed by a vacuum evaporation method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like in the same manner as the X-direction wiring 272, and has a desired pattern. The material, the film thickness, the wiring width and the like are set so that a large number of surface conduction type elements are supplied with a voltage that is as substantially uniform as possible. These m X-direction wirings 2
An interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is provided between the 72 and the n Y-direction wirings 273 and electrically separated to form a matrix wiring.

The interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is SiO2 or the like formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method or the like, and is formed on the whole or a part of the substrate 271 on which the X-direction wiring 272 is formed.
It is formed in a desired shape. In addition, the X-direction wiring 272 and Y
The direction wirings 273 are drawn out as external terminals.

In the above example, m X-direction wirings 27 are used.
In the above description, an example in which n Y-direction wirings 273 are installed on top of No. 2 via an interlayer insulating layer has been described. However, m X-direction wirings 272 are provided on n Y-direction wirings 273 via an interlayer insulating layer. There are also cases where it is installed.

Further, similarly to the above, the opposing electrodes (not shown) of the surface conduction electron-emitting device 274 and the connection 275 made of a conductive metal or the like formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method or the like are provided. . That is, the surface conduction electron-emitting device 274 is connected to the connection line 275 so that m X-direction wirings 27 are formed.
2 and n Y-direction wirings 273 are electrically connected.

It should be noted that m X-direction wirings 272, n Y-directions
Directional wiring 273 and connecting wire 275 which is an opposing element electrode
The conductive metal of is part or all of its constituent elements
May be one or different, N
i, Cr, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu,
Metals or alloys such as Pd and Pd, Ag, Au, Ru
O₂, Metal such as Pd-Ag or metal oxide and glass
Printed conductor composed of In ₂O₃-SnO₂Transparent guidance
It is appropriately selected from the body and semiconductor materials such as polysilicon.
It In addition, the surface conduction electron-emitting device is a substrate 271 or
It may be formed on any of the illustrated interlayer insulating layers.

Further, the X-direction wiring 272 is electrically connected to a scan signal generator (not shown) for applying a scan signal for arbitrarily scanning the row of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 274 arranged in the X-direction. It is connected.

On the other hand, the Y-direction wiring 273 is provided with a modulation signal generator (not shown) for applying a modulation signal for arbitrarily modulating each row of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 274 arranged in the Y direction. It is electrically connected. Further, the drive voltage applied to each element of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is supplied as a difference voltage between the scanning signal and the modulation signal applied to the element. <Basic Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus> Next, an image forming apparatus used for formation and the like using the electron source created as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. FIG. 8 is a basic configuration diagram of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a fluorescent film.

271 is a substrate, and the electron-emitting device is formed on the substrate 271 as described above. Hereinafter, this is referred to as an electron source substrate. Reference numeral 281 is a rear plate to which the electron source substrate is fixed, and 286 is a face plate in which the fluorescent film 284, the metal back 285 and the like are formed on the inner surface of the glass substrate 283. Reference numeral 282 denotes a support frame, and the rear plate 281 and the face plate 286 are sealed with frit glass or the like to form an envelope 288.

In the above structure, the envelope 288 is composed of the face plate 286, the support frame 282, and the rear plate 281, but the rear plate 281 is provided mainly for the purpose of reinforcing the strength of the electron source substrate. Therefore, when the electron source substrate itself has sufficient strength, the separate rear plate 281 is not necessary, and the support frame 282 is directly sealed to the electron source substrate, and the face plate 286, the support frame 282, the electron source substrate The envelope 288 may be configured with.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the structure of the fluorescent film.
If the fluorescent film 284 (see FIG. 8) is monochrome,
In the case of a color phosphor film, which is composed of only phosphors, a black conductive material 291 and a phosphor 29 called a black stripe or a black matrix depending on the arrangement of the phosphors.
2 and.

The purpose of providing the black stripes and the black matrix is to make the color mixture of the three primary color phosphors necessary for color formation inconspicuous by mixing the colored portions between the phosphors. This is to suppress a decrease in contrast due to reflection of external light on the film 284. The material of the black stripe is not limited to the commonly used material containing graphite as a main component, but is not limited to this as long as it is a material having conductivity and little light transmission and reflection.

As a method of applying the phosphor to the glass substrate 283, a precipitation method or a printing method is used regardless of monochrome or color.

A metal back 285 is usually provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 284. The purpose of the metal back is to improve the brightness by specularly reflecting the light toward the inner surface side of the light emission of the phosphor toward the face plate 286 side, to act as an electrode for applying an electron beam acceleration voltage, and This is to protect the phosphor from damage due to collision of negative ions generated in the enclosure.

After the fluorescent film 284 is formed, the metal back is
It can be manufactured by performing a smoothing process (usually called filming) on the inner surface of the fluorescent film 284 on the inner surface side, and then vacuum-depositing A1.

The face plate 286 may be provided with a transparent electrode (not shown) on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 284 in order to further enhance the conductivity of the fluorescent film 286. When performing the above-mentioned sealing, it is necessary to perform sufficient alignment because the color locations must correspond to the phosphors of each color and the electron-emitting device.

The inside of the envelope 288 is evacuated through an exhaust pipe (not shown) to a vacuum degree of about 10 −6 torr, and the envelope 288 is sealed.

The terminals outside the container DoxL _{1 to} DoxL _m and Doy ₁ to
Through Doy _n, a voltage is applied between the device electrodes 205 and 206, performs the forming of above, The electron-emitting device form an electron emission portion 203. In addition, a getter process may be performed in order to maintain the degree of vacuum after the envelope 288 is sealed. This is done by heating the getter placed at a predetermined position (not shown) in the envelope 288 by a heating method such as resistance heating or high frequency heating immediately before or after the envelope 288 is sealed. , A process of forming a vapor deposition film. The getter usually has Ba or the like as a main component, and is, for example, 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ or 1 × 10 ⁻⁷ due to the adsorption action of the deposited film.
It maintains the vacuum level of Torr.

In the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment manufactured as described above, each electron-emitting device has an element characteristic as it separates from the external terminals DOXL _{1 to} DOXL _m by forming due to the influence of the voltage drop due to the wiring. become worse. In order to more uniformly emit electrons from each element having such non-uniform element characteristics, the terminals outside the container DOXR ₁ -D
By applying a voltage having a voltage drop in the wiring through OXR _m and DOY _{1 to} DOY _n , the voltage applied to each electron-emitting device is lowered as the distance from the external terminals DOXR _{1 to} DOXR _m is reduced. By applying a voltage that corrects such a device characteristic distribution, a substantially uniform amount of electrons is emitted.

Further, the emitted electrons are applied with a high voltage of several kV or more to the metal back 85 or the transparent electrode (not shown) through the high voltage terminal Hv to accelerate the electron beam and collide with the fluorescent film 84. The image is displayed by exciting and emitting light.

In the above, the terminals outside the container DOXL _{1 to} DOXL _m
Forming is performed by using the external terminals DOXR _{1 to} DOX
Although the electrons are emitted by applying a voltage from R _{m, the} electrons may be emitted by applying a voltage from the external terminals DOXL _{1 to} DOXL _m .

The structure described above is a schematic structure necessary for manufacturing a suitable image forming apparatus used for forming, but the detailed parts such as the material of each member are not limited to the above contents. Instead, it goes without saying that it can be appropriately selected to be applied to the purpose of the image device.

Further, the present embodiment is not limited to a suitable image forming apparatus used for forming, but as an alternative light emitting source such as a light emitting diode of an optical printer including a photosensitive drum and a light emitting diode, for example. Can also be used. Further, at this time, by appropriately selecting the above-mentioned m number of X-direction wirings 272 and n number of Y-direction wirings 273, it can be applied not only as a linear light emitting source but also as a two-dimensional light emitting source.

Although the basic structure and manufacturing method of the surface conduction electron-emitting device have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described structure and the like described in this embodiment, and may be applied to an image forming apparatus such as an electron source and a forming apparatus described later. It can also be applied at <Forming and Driving> Next, the forming and driving method of this embodiment will be described. The forming and driving method will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 10, and 11.

FIG. 1A shows a forming driver for applying a forming voltage during forming, that is,
A method of connecting the forming X driver (2001), the Y driver (2000) and the electron source panel (2010) is shown. DOXL _{1 to} DOXL _m are electron source panels (2010)
The Y driver (2000) is a driver for applying a voltage to the wiring in the Y direction. Forming X driver (2001) and Y driver (2)
000), an X drive control signal 8002 and a Y drive control signal 8001 which give drive timings to each of them.
Are supplied from the forming control circuit 8000.

FIG. 1B shows a display driver, that is, an electron emission X driver (2002), a Y driver (2000), and an electron source when driving the electron source panel (2010) after the forming. Panel (2010)
The connection method with is shown. DOXR _{1 to} DOXR _m are the right end terminals outside the container of the electron source panel. X driver for electron emission (200
2) and the Y driver (2000), the X drive control signal 8004 and Y which give the drive timing to each of them.
The drive control signal 8003 is supplied from the display control circuit 8100. The display control circuit 8100 synchronizes with the input image signal 8005 and the X drive control signal 8004 and Y
The drive control signal 8003 is generated.

FIG. 10A shows the voltage applied to each element of one line (one line of the electron-emitting device connected to the X-direction wiring) during forming.

FIG. 10B shows the emission current characteristics of the device after forming.

FIG. 11C shows the voltage applied to each element on one line during driving.

FIG. 11D shows the amount of electron emission when all the one lines are driven at the same time. Here, the element number means that the electron emitting element at the left end of one line of electron emitting elements connected to a certain X-direction wiring is D _1, and D ₂ , D ₃ ,.
.., D _n are shown as the element numbers.

Referring to FIG. 1A, first, at the time of forming, an X driver for forming (2001) is connected to the left terminal outside the container of the electron source panel (2010),
Forming is performed using the forming driver (a) and the Y driver (2000). At this time, due to the voltage drop of the wiring resistance, a voltage as shown in FIG. 10A is applied to each of the elements in one line. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10B, the electron emission characteristic of each element of the one-line element is such that the amount of electron emission decreases as the distance from the left end which is the voltage supply end during forming decreases. Electron emission characteristics are degraded.

On the other hand, at the time of normal driving, the X driver (2002) which is a display driver is connected to the right terminal outside the container of the electron source panel (2010) and driven by the X driver (2002) and the Y driver (2000). To do. At this time, due to the voltage drop of the wiring resistance, the voltage drop of the wiring resistance in each element of one line is high at the right end, which is the voltage supply end, and low at the left end, as shown in FIG. 11C. A voltage is applied. By applying the voltage to each element in this way, a higher driving voltage is applied to the right end having lower element characteristics, and a lower driving voltage is applied to the left end having higher element characteristics. As a result, the emission current during driving becomes as shown in FIG.
Near-uniform electron emission can be performed on the line.

Here, although the left terminal is used for forming and the right type terminal is used for driving, the right terminal may be used for forming and the left terminal may be used for driving. <Method of Manufacturing Electron Source> Next, a method of manufacturing the electron source of this embodiment will be described. The manufacturing method will be specifically described in the order of steps with reference to FIGS. [Step-a] (see (a) of FIG. 12) A silicon oxide film having a thickness of 0.5 μm is formed on the cleaned blue plate glass on the substrate 1 formed by the sputtering method to a thickness of 50 Å by vacuum deposition. Cr, thickness 600
After sequentially stacking Au of 0 angstrom, a photoresist (for example, AZ1370, manufactured by Hoechst) is spin-coated by a spinner and baked, and then a photomask image is exposed and developed to form a resist pattern of the lower wiring 72. The / Cr deposited film is wet-etched to form the lower wiring 72 having a desired shape. [Step-b] (See FIG. 12B) Next, the interlayer insulating layer 111 made of a silicon oxide film having a thickness of 1.0 micron is deposited by the RF sputtering method. [Step-c] (see (c) of FIG. 12) A photoresist pattern for forming the contact hole 112 is formed in the silicon oxide film deposited in the step b,
Using this as a mask, the interlayer insulating layer 111 is etched to form a contact hole 112. Etching is performed by RIE (Reactive) using CF4 and H2 gas.
e Ion Etching) method. [Step-d] (see (d) of FIG. 12) After that, a pattern to be the device electrode 5 and the gap G between the device electrodes is formed with a photoresist (for example, RD-2000N).
-41, manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.), and Ti having a thickness of 50 Å and Ni having a thickness of 1000 Å are sequentially deposited by a vacuum evaporation method. The photoresist pattern is dissolved in an organic solvent, the Ni / Ti deposition film is lifted off, the device electrode spacing L1 is 3 microns, and the device electrode width W1.
To form device electrodes 5 and 6 of 300 μm. [Step-e] (see (e) in FIG. 13) After forming the photoresist pattern of the upper wiring 73 on the device electrodes 5 and 6, Ti having a thickness of 50 Å and Au having a thickness of 5000 Å are sequentially vacuum-deposited. Then, unnecessary portions are removed by lift-off to form the upper wiring 73 having a desired shape. [Step-f] (Refer to (f) of FIG. 14) FIG. 15 shows a part of a plan view of the mask of the thin film 2 for forming the electron-emitting portion of the electron-emitting device involved in this step. This is a mask having an inter-element electrode gap L1 and an opening in the vicinity thereof. With this mask, a Cr film 121 having a film thickness of 1000 Å is deposited and patterned by vacuum evaporation, and an organic Pd (for example, ccp4230, Okuno Seiyaku ( Co., Ltd.) spin coated with a spinner, 300
A heating and baking treatment is performed at 10 ° C. for 10 minutes. Further, the film thickness of the electron emitting portion forming thin film 4 formed of fine particles of Pd as the main element thus formed is 100 angstrom, and the sheet resistance value is 5 × 10 4 Ω / □.

Incidentally, the fine particle film described here is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated as described above, and as a fine structure thereof, not only the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged, but the fine particles are adjacent to each other. Alternatively, it also refers to overlapping films (including islands), and the particle size refers to the diameter of fine particles whose particle shape is recognizable in the above state. [Step-g] (See (g) of FIG. 14) The Cr film 121 and the baked electron-emitting-portion-forming thin film 4 are etched with an acid etchant to form a desired pattern. [Step-h] (see (h) of FIG. 14) A pattern is formed such that a resist is applied, except for the contact hole 112 portion, and Ti having a thickness of 50 Å and Au having a thickness of 5000 Å are sequentially deposited by vacuum evaporation. accumulate. Contact holes 112 are buried by removing unnecessary portions by lift-off.

Through the above steps, the lower wiring 72, the interlayer insulating layer 111, the upper wiring 73, the device electrodes 5 and 6, the electron emitting portion forming thin film 4 and the like were formed on the insulating substrate 1.

Next, an example in which a display device is configured using the electron source created as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

As described above, after fixing the substrate 1 on which a large number of plane type surface conduction electron-emitting devices were manufactured on the rear plate 81, the face plate 86 (on the inner surface of the glass substrate 83) was placed 5 mm above the substrate 1. (A fluorescent film 84 and a metal back 85 are formed) are arranged via a support frame 82, and frit glass is applied to the joint portion of the face plate 86, the support frame 82, and the rear plate 81, in the atmosphere or Is sealed by baking in a nitrogen atmosphere at 400 ° C. to 500 ° C. for 10 minutes or more. Also, the rear plate 881
The frit glass is also used to fix the substrate 1 to the substrate.

In FIG. 8, 74 is an electron-emitting device and 7
Reference numerals 2 and 73 are wirings in the X direction and the Y direction, respectively.

In the case of monochrome, the fluorescent film 84 is made of only the fluorescent material. In this embodiment, the fluorescent material has a stripe shape, a black stripe is first formed, and the fluorescent material of each color is applied to the gap. The fluorescent film 84 is manufactured. As the material for the black stripe, a material that is commonly used and has graphite as a main component is used. As a method of applying the phosphor to the glass substrate 83, the slurry method is used in this embodiment.

A metal back 85 is usually provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 84. The metal back is manufactured by performing a smoothing process (usually called filming) on the inner surface of the fluorescent film after manufacturing the fluorescent film, and then vacuum-depositing Al.

The face plate 86 is further provided with a fluorescent film 8
A transparent electrode (not shown) may be provided on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 84 in order to increase the conductivity of No. 4, but in this embodiment, it was omitted because sufficient conductivity was obtained only by the metal back.

In the case of the above-mentioned sealing, in the case of a color, the phosphors of the respective colors and the electron-emitting devices had to correspond to each other, so that sufficient alignment was performed.

The atmosphere in the glass container completed as described above is exhausted by a vacuum pump through an exhaust pipe (not shown), and after reaching a sufficient degree of vacuum, the external terminals DOXL _{1 to} DOX.
The electrode 5 of the electron-emitting device 74 through L _m and DOY ₁ to DOY _n ,
A voltage is applied between 6 and the electron emitting portion 3 is formed by energizing (forming) the electron emitting portion forming thin film 2.

FIG. 4 shows the voltage waveform of the forming process. In FIG. 4, T1 and T2 are the pulse width and the pulse interval of the voltage waveform, respectively, and in this embodiment, T1 is 1 ms and T2 is 10 ms, and the peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage during forming). Was 5 V, and the forming treatment was performed for 60 seconds in a vacuum atmosphere of about 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ torr.

In the electron-emitting portion 3 thus formed, fine particles containing palladium as a main component were dispersed and arranged, and the average particle diameter of the fine particles was 30 Å.

As described above, the electron emitting portion 3 can be formed by forming and the electron emitting device 74 can be formed.

Next, at a vacuum degree of about 10 ^-6 torr, an exhaust pipe (not shown) is heated and welded by a gas burner to seal the envelope.

Finally, a getter process is performed in order to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing. This is just before the sealing
The getter arranged at a predetermined position (not shown) in the image forming apparatus is heated by a heating method such as high frequency heating to form a vapor deposition film. The getter is, for example, Ba
Etc. as the main component.

As described above, in the completed image forming apparatus of the present invention, a scanning signal and a modulation signal are supplied to each electron-emitting device through the external terminals DOXR _{1 to} DOCR _m and DOY _{1 to} DOY _n of FIG. Electrons are emitted by applying each from a signal generating unit (not shown), a high voltage of several kV or more is applied to the metal back 84 through the high voltage terminal Hv, the electron beam is accelerated, and the fluorescent film 85 is collided. An image is displayed by exciting and emitting light.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described basic manufacturing method, and even if a part of the basic manufacturing method of the electron source of the embodiment according to the present invention is modified, the gist of the present invention is not limited. And does not depart from its composition.

Example 2 In Example 1, forming was performed from one side of the display panel and normal driving was performed from the other side, but in Example 2, another forming drive line and a normal drive line are configured. Show the method.

The forming and normal driving method of the second embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG.

The structure of the display panel 2010 is similar to that of the first embodiment. The forming X driver (2001), the X driver (2002), and the Y driver (2000) connected from the display panel 2010 are not shown, but are the same as those shown in the first embodiment.

DOXL _{1 to} DOXL _m and DOXR _{1 to} DOXR _m are terminals on the outside of the container of the display panel containing the electron source, ◯ indicates a forming terminal, and Δ indicates a driving terminal.

First, at the time of forming, the left odd terminals (DOXL ₁ , DOXL ₃ , ..., D) which are forming terminals are formed.
OXL _m-1 ) and right even terminals (DOXR ₂ , DOXR ₄ , ...
・ DOXR _m ) is connected to a forming driver, and the forming driver and Y driver perform forming.

During driving, the left even terminals (DOXL ₂ , DOXL ₄ , ..., DOXL _m ) and right odd terminals (DOXR ₁ , DOXR ₃ , ..., DOXR _m-1 ) which are drive terminals are driven. Connect the display driver, that is, the X driver (2002),
This X driver (2002) and Y driver (200
0) to drive.

With the structure described above, in normal driving after the end of forming, an electron source element characterized by a lower voltage-electron emission efficiency is applied with a higher driving voltage, and an electron source characterized by a higher voltage-electron emission efficiency is applied. A lower drive voltage is applied to the element.

As a result, at the time of driving, almost uniform electron emission can be performed on each line. Further, even if the distribution of one line is not completely uniform, forming and driving are alternately changed line by line, so that the distributions are visually offset and each electron source element can be driven more uniformly in the entire panel. .

In this case, the left odd terminals (DOXL ₁ , DOX
L ₃ , ..., DOXL _m-1 ) and right even terminals (DOXR ₂ , D)
OXR ₄ , ..., DOXR _m )
Left odd-numbered terminals (DOXL ₂ , DOXL ₄ , ..., DOXL _m ) and right even-numbered terminals (DOXR ₁ , DOXR ₃ , ..., DOXR _m-1 )
It was driven by, but conversely, the left odd terminal (DOX
L ₂ , DOXL ₄ , ..., DOXL _m ) and right even terminal (D
Forming is performed from OXR ₁ , DOXR ₃ , ..., DOXR _m-1 ) and left odd terminals (DOXL ₂ , DOXL ₄ ,.
L _m-1 ) and right even terminals (DOXR ₂ , DOXR ₄ , ..., D
It is also possible to drive from OXR _m ).

Further, here, the feeding end is alternately changed for each line, but in some cases, a plurality of lines may be set as one group and the feeding end may be changed for each group.

The forming driver described above can be removed from the electron source after forming the electron source.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
A variation in the characteristics of the emission electron element due to a variation in the effective voltage applied to each element during forming, which is caused by the voltage effect due to the wiring resistance, and a non-uniform luminance distribution corresponding to the variation should be made substantially uniform. It can be easily corrected and high-quality image formation can be performed.

[0126]

As described above, according to the present invention, the non-uniform electron emission of each surface conduction electron-emitting device caused by the wiring resistance of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is made uniform. By correcting so as to achieve high quality image formation.

[0127]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a forming driver, a display driver, and an electron source panel according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a basic manufacturing process of a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 3 is a basic configuration diagram of a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a voltage waveform in a forming process of the surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a measuring device for measuring characteristics of a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a matrix configuration of a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram of an image forming apparatus including a surface conduction electron-emitting device and a fluorescent film.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a fluorescent film.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing respective element characteristics in the row direction during forming.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing each element characteristic in the row direction during driving.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a manufacturing process of the electron source.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a manufacturing process of the electron source.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a manufacturing process of the electron source.

FIG. 15 is a plan view of an electron source.

FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram of a forming terminal and a drive terminal according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a basic configuration diagram of a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 18 is a plan view of a display panel including electron sources arranged in a matrix.

FIG. 19 is a circuit diagram of a display panel including electron sources arranged in a matrix.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a voltage distribution when a voltage on one side of a row wiring is applied to a matrix circuit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2000 Y driver 2001 X driver for forming 2002 X driver 2010 Display panel

Claims (28)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices are laid out in a matrix, and one electrode of the surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices laid out in the same row is connected to a wiring in a row direction, and the same column is arranged. In the electron source in which the other electrode of the surface conduction electron-emitting device laid out in the column is connected to the wiring in the column direction, the row direction wiring to which a forming voltage for forming the surface conduction electron emission device is applied. One end and the other end of the wiring in the row direction to which a drive voltage for electron-discharging the surface conduction electron-emitting device is applied, and by applying a drive voltage to the other end, the other end is provided. An electron source which emits an amount of electrons corresponding to the drive voltage from the surface conduction electron-emitting device connected. 2. The electron according to claim 1, further comprising drive voltage applying means for applying a drive voltage for electronically discharging the surface conduction electron-emitting device to the other end of the wiring in the row direction. source. 3. One end of all the wirings in the row direction is laid out on the same side, and the other ends of all the wirings in the row direction are laid out on the opposite side with respect to the same side. The electron source according to claim 1. 4. One end of all the wirings in the row direction is opposite to an end on the same side of even-numbered wirings in the row direction and the same side of odd-numbered wirings in the row direction. And the other end of all the wirings in the row direction is the end of the same side of the odd-numbered wiring of the row-direction wiring and the even-numbered wiring of the row-direction wiring. The electron source according to claim 1, wherein the electron source is assigned to the same side and the opposite side end. 5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising forming voltage applying means for applying a forming voltage for forming the surface conduction electron-emitting device to one end of the line in the row direction. The electron source according to 2. 6. The surface conduction electron-emitting device emits electrons based on application of a voltage, and the relationship between the voltage and the amount of emitted electrons has a non-linear characteristic including an electron emission cutoff threshold electric field point. The electron source according to claim 1, wherein: 7. The electron source according to claim 1, wherein the waveform of the forming voltage is a ramp voltage waveform. 8. The electron source according to claim 1, wherein the waveform of the forming voltage is a rectangular voltage waveform. 9. The electron source according to claim 1, wherein the waveform of the forming voltage is a triangular waveform. 10. The electron source according to claim 1, wherein the surface conduction electron-emitting device is formed on a silicon substrate. 11. The electron source according to claim 10, wherein the silicon substrate is a P-type silicon substrate. 12. The electron source according to claim 10, wherein the silicon substrate is an N-type silicon substrate. 13. The electron source according to claim 1, wherein the surface conduction electron-emitting device is formed on an insulating substrate. 14. The electron source according to claim 13, wherein the insulating substrate is glass. 15. Any one of claims 1 to 15
7. An image forming apparatus, comprising: the electron source according to claim 1; and a light emitting unit that emits light based on electrons emitted from a surface conduction electron-emitting device of the electron source. 16. A plurality of surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices are laid out in a matrix, and one electrode of the surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices laid out in the same row is connected to a wiring in a row direction, and the same column is arranged. The other electrode of the surface conduction electron-emitting device laid out in the above is a control method for emitting electrons from a predetermined surface conduction electron-emitting device of an electron source connected to a wiring in a column direction, One end of the wiring in the row direction to which a forming voltage for forming the electron-emitting device is applied, and the other end of the wiring in the row direction to which a driving voltage for electron-discharging the surface conduction electron-emitting device is applied. A driving voltage corresponding to a predetermined amount of emitted electrons is applied to the other end, and the surface conduction electron-emitting device corresponding to the other end corresponds to the driving voltage. The method of the electron source, characterized in that it comprises a step of releasing the molecular weight. 17. One end of all the wirings in the row direction is
17. The method of controlling an electron source according to claim 16, wherein the wirings are laid out on the same side, and the other ends of all the wirings in the row direction are laid out on the opposite side with respect to the same side. 18. One end of all the wirings in the row direction is
The same-side end of the even-numbered wiring in the row-direction wiring and the end opposite to the same-side of the odd-numbered wiring in the row-direction wiring are assigned to the other side of all the row-direction wirings. An end is assigned to an end on the same side of an odd-numbered wire in the row direction and an end on the opposite side to the same side of an even-numbered wire in the row direction. Item 16. A method for controlling an electron source according to Item 16. 19. The surface conduction electron-emitting device emits electrons based on application of a voltage, and the relationship between the voltage and the amount of emitted electrons has a non-linear characteristic including an electron emission cutoff threshold electric field point. The method of controlling an electron source according to claim 16, wherein: 20. The method of controlling an electron source according to claim 16, wherein the waveform of the forming voltage is a ramp voltage waveform. 21. The method of controlling an electron source according to claim 16, wherein the waveform of the forming voltage is a rectangular voltage waveform. 22. The method of controlling an electron source according to claim 16, wherein the waveform of the forming voltage is a triangular waveform. 23. The method of controlling an electron source according to claim 16, wherein the surface conduction electron-emitting device is formed on a silicon substrate. 24. The method of controlling an electron source according to claim 23, wherein the silicon substrate is a P-type silicon substrate. 25. The method of controlling an electron source according to claim 23, wherein the silicon substrate is an N-type silicon substrate. 26. The method of controlling an electron source according to claim 16, wherein the surface conduction electron-emitting device is formed on an insulating substrate. 27. The method of controlling an electron source according to claim 26, wherein the insulating substrate is glass. 28. A step of emitting electrons from a surface conduction electron-emitting device based on the method of controlling an electron source according to claim 16, and based on the emitted electrons, And a step of causing the light emitting means to emit light.