JPH08148101A - Container for display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a container for a display device in which consists of a cathode substrate and an anode substrate and which, ever when a spacer is disposed between a cathode substrate and an anode substrate, an electron source is not polluted and also a fluorescent material layer is not deteriorated in a container for a display device. CONSTITUTION: Electron released from tip of an emitter cone 9 are accelerated by an anode conductor 6-1 applied with positive voltage against a gate conductor 8, and thus impinge on a fluorescent material layer 6-2, so that the fluorescent material layer 6-2 is excited and makes luminescence. This luminescence is observed through a transparent, anode substrate 5. A spacer 3 is melt attached only its end on the side of the cathode substrate with seal glass 4, so that without irradiation of electrons released to seal glass, lead within seal glass is not liberated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display device container comprising two substrates, and is particularly suitable for application to a field emission display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The applied electric field on the surface of a metal or semiconductor is reduced to 10
^At about ⁹ [V / m], electrons pass through the barrier due to the tunnel effect, and electrons are emitted in vacuum even at room temperature.
This phenomenon is known as field emission and is a phenomenon that has been known for a long time. However, a cathode that emits electrons using such a principle is used as a field emission cathode.
d Emission Cathode). In recent years, it has become possible to make micron-sized field emission cathodes by making full use of semiconductor microfabrication technology. By forming a large number of field emission cathodes on a substrate, it is possible to make a surface emission type field emission array. It is possible. It has been proposed to apply such a field emission array as an electron source of a display device, a CRT, an electron microscope or an electron beam device.

FIG. 5 shows a conventional display device which is an example of an application example. In this display device (hereinafter, referred to as FED), a cathode substrate 1 on which a field emission array 10 is formed and an anode substrate 5 are arranged to face each other with a predetermined interval to form a container for maintaining a high vacuum inside. There is. The field emission array 10 formed on the cathode substrate 1 is formed by a cathode conductor 2 formed by sputtering or the like, a plurality of conical emitter cones 9 formed on the cathode conductor 2, and a tip end of the emitter cone 9. And a gate conductor 8 and a field emission array 10 of Spindt type. Further, inside the anode substrate 5, an anode conductor 6-1 and a phosphor layer 6-2 are laminated thereon to form a light emitting section 6.

The pitch between the emitter cones 9 can be made to have a size of 10 μm or less, and tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of such emitter cones 9 are provided on one cathode substrate 1. There is. In this field emission array, since the distance between the gate and the cathode can be made submicron, electrons are emitted from the emitter cone 9 by applying a voltage V _GE of only several tens of volts between the gate and the cathode. You can do it.

By the way, since a positive voltage V _A is applied to the anode conductor 6-1 with respect to the gate conductor 8, the electrons emitted from the emitter cone 9 are accelerated in the trajectory of the broken line shown in the figure, and the anode conductor 6 is subjected to the acceleration. -1 will be captured. At this time, the captured electrons collide with the phosphor layer 6-2 laminated on the anode conductor 6-1 and excite it, so that the phosphor layer 6-2 emits light. This light emission can be observed through the transparent anode substrate 5.

By the way, a side plate, or glass beads or glass fiber is sandwiched at the peripheral edge so that the distance between the anode substrate 5 and the cathode substrate 1 is several hundreds of microns. Since the container composed of the anode substrate 5 and the cathode substrate 1 is bent due to the atmospheric pressure because of being pulled, the spacers 3 are arranged at a predetermined interval between the anode substrate 5 and the cathode substrate 1. In this way, a predetermined space is maintained over the entire container.

One end of the spacer 3 is welded to the inside of the anode substrate 5 by the seal glass 4, and the other end of the spacer 3 is welded to the cathode substrate 1 by the seal glass 4. The spacers 3 are spaced apart by about 2 mm and
A plurality of ECs 10 are provided at a predetermined interval in a portion where they are not formed.

Now, a method of disposing the spacer 3 in the container will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. First, as shown in FIG. 3A, hundreds of glass fibers 101 having a diameter of about 50 μm, which is a material of the spacer 3, are fixed on the glass base 100 with an adhesive so as to be in close contact with each other. In this case, the glass fiber 101 is fixed so as to be parallel to the long axis of the glass base 100. Then, it is repeatedly cut with a dicing saw along a cutting line so as to have a predetermined length, for example, 200 μm.

The cut glass fiber 101 is positioned with respect to the anode substrate 5 by the jig 110 so as to become the spacer 3 after the adhesive is dissolved in the solvent and washed. The jig 110 has a box shape as shown in FIG. 3B, and has an upright portion having an opening 114 for upstanding the cut glass fiber 101, and a porous material made of a porous material. Quality part 112 and jig 1
10 and an exhaust unit 113 for exhausting the inside. The position of the opening 114 is provided corresponding to the position where the spacer 3 is arranged on the cathode substrate 5.

In the jig 110 thus formed, while exhausting the inside of the jig 110 from the exhaust portion 113,
When the cut glass fiber 101 is sprinkled on the standing portion 111 of the jig 110, the gas drawn from the opening 114 passes through the porous portion 112 and is exhausted from the exhaust portion 113. Glass fiber 101
The glass fiber 101 enters into the opening 114 having a diameter slightly larger than that of the glass fiber 101 so as to stand up, and the glass fiber 101 is sucked into the opening 114 and maintains the standing state as shown in FIG. 3B. Like

In this state, as shown in FIG. 3C, the glass substrate 120 coated with the transfer paste 121 is placed on the jig 110, and the transfer paste is applied to the upper end of the glass fiber 101 held by the jig 110. Glass substrate 120 so that 121 is transferred.
Contact. Next, the anode substrate 5 is aligned and placed on the jig 110 holding the glass fiber 101 to which the transfer paste 121 has been transferred, so that one end of the glass fiber 101 is attached to the anode substrate 5 at a predetermined position. . Then, the transfer paste 121 is melted by firing the anode substrate 5 at a predetermined temperature, and one end of the glass fiber 101 is welded to the anode substrate 5.

The transfer paste 121 is mainly composed of a seal glass 4 having a low softening point, which is mixed with lead so as to have a thermal expansion coefficient close to that of the glass anode substrate 5, and a resin or the like may be added thereto if necessary. Is mixed to form a paste having adhesiveness. Further, the light emitting portion 6 is formed on almost the entire surface of the anode substrate 5, and the glass fiber 101
The part to which one end of is welded is between the light emitting parts 6.

In the anode substrate 5 in which one end of the glass fiber 101 is thus welded as the spacer 3 at a predetermined interval, the transfer paste 1 is applied to one end of the spacer 3.
The glass substrate 120 coated with the transfer paste 121 is brought into contact with one end of the spacer 3 so as to transfer 21. Next, after aligning the cathode substrate 1 with the anode substrate 5 and sealing them in an overlapping sealing furnace, the transfer paste 121 is melted so that the other end of the spacer 3 and the cathode substrate 1 are welded. become. In this case, the cathode substrate 1 and the anode substrate 5 should face each other at a predetermined interval.
A container is formed by sandwiching and sealing a side plate having a predetermined thickness, or glass beads, glass fibers, or the like on the peripheral portions of both substrates 1 and 5, and the inside of the container is evacuated to a vacuum after sealing. A display device as shown in FIG. 5 is manufactured.

[0014]

However, in the conventional display container having a spacer as shown in FIG. 5, electrons emitted from the emitter cone 9 excite the phosphor layer 6-2 of the light emitting section 6. However, since electrons are emitted from the emitter cone 9 at a considerably wide angle, electrons are emitted to the seal glass 4 where the spacer 3 is fused to the anode substrate 5 as shown in FIG. It may be irradiated. When the lead glass having a low softening point is irradiated with electrons, Pb ²⁺ is reduced and oxygen (O) is released. The released oxygen O causes the emitter cone 9
Will be oxidized. Therefore, there is a problem that the emission of the emitter cone 9 is reduced.

When transferring the transfer paste 121 to the spacer 3, a large amount of the transfer paste may adhere to the tip of the spacer 3 due to variations in the coating state of the transfer paste 121. In this case, the paste pattern size when the spacers 3 are transferred onto the anode substrate 5 becomes large, and there is a risk of contact with the pattern of the phosphor layer 6-2. When the paste comes into contact with the pattern of the phosphor layer 6-2 as described above, there is a problem that the contact portion is deteriorated during firing.

Therefore, the present invention provides a container for a display device comprising a cathode substrate and an anode substrate, which does not contaminate an electron source even if a spacer is arranged between them and does not deteriorate the phosphor layer. The purpose is to do.

[0017]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a container for a display device of the present invention comprises a cathode substrate on which an electron source is formed, and light emission excited by electrons emitted from the electron source. An anode substrate on which a portion is formed,
A spacer is provided between the cathode substrate and the anode substrate so that the cathode substrate and the anode substrate face each other and maintain a predetermined distance, and one end of the spacer serves as a cathode substrate with a seal glass. It is welded and the other end of the spacer is brought into contact with the anode substrate.

More specifically, the upright angle of the spacer is 90 ° ± 5 ° with respect to the cathode substrate, and the seal glass contains a lead component. Is. Further, a plurality of glass fibers are fixed on a glass substrate so as to be in close contact with each other, and the glass fibers are cut into a predetermined length with a dicing saw to form the spacer.

[0019]

According to the present invention, since the spacer is welded only to the cathode substrate, it is possible to almost eliminate the possibility that the welded portion made of the seal glass is irradiated with the electron beam, and the deterioration of the phosphor layer is prevented. Can be prevented.

[0020]

EXAMPLE FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of an example of a container for a display device according to the present invention. In this figure, 1 is a cathode substrate, 2 is a cathode conductor formed on the cathode substrate 1 by sputtering or the like, 3 is a spacer for maintaining a distance between the cathode substrate 1 and the anode substrate 5, and 4 is a spacer 3 for the cathode substrate. Seal glass fused to the 1 side, 5 is an anode substrate that constitutes a container whose inside is maintained in a high vacuum together with the cathode substrate 1, 6 is a light emitting portion including an anode conductor 6-1 and a phosphor layer 6-2, 6 -1 is an anode conductor formed on the anode substrate 5 by sputtering or the like, 6-2 is a phosphor layer which is excited by electrons to emit light, 7 is an insulating layer laminated on the cathode conductor 2, and 8 is an insulating layer A gate conductor laminated on the layer 7, 9 is an emitter cone formed on the cathode conductor 2 in a conical shape so that its tip faces the gate conductor 8, and 10 is the cathode conductor 2, Edge layer 7, the gate conductor 8, a Spindt-type field emission cathodes (FEC) array comprised of emitter cones 9.

The operation of the display device housed in the container composed of the cathode substrate 1 and the anode substrate 5 will be described below.
When a positive voltage of a predetermined magnitude is applied to the gate conductor 8 with respect to the cathode conductor 2, electrons are emitted from the tip of the emitter cone 9. The electrons are accelerated by the electric field generated by the anode conductor 6-1 to which a positive voltage is applied to the gate conductor 8 and collide with the phosphor layer 6-2. As a result, the phosphor layer 6-2 is excited and emits light. This light emission can be observed through the transparent anode substrate 5.

In the display device container of this embodiment,
One end of the spacer 3 is welded by the seal glass 4 onto the insulating layer 7 formed on the cathode substrate 1 side.
The other end of the spacer 3 is only in contact with the anode substrate 5 without being welded. Therefore, even if electrons are emitted from the emitter cone 9 at a wide angle as shown by a broken line in the figure, there is almost no possibility that electrons are emitted to the seal glass 4 that fuses the spacer 3 to the cathode substrate 1 side. Therefore, oxygen is not released from the seal glass 4 containing lead oxide, and the tip of the emitter cone 9 can be prevented from being contaminated as much as possible.

Further, since the seal glass 4 is not provided at the end portion of the spacer 3 on the anode substrate 5 side, the pattern of the seal glass 4 and the pattern of the phosphor layer 6-2 do not come into contact with each other, and the seal glass 4 is sealed. It is possible to prevent the phosphor layer 6-2 from being deteriorated when the glass 4 is baked.

Next, a method of arranging the spacer 3 in the container will be described. Since the process up to the middle of FIG. 3 is the same as the conventional process, the subsequent process shown in FIG. Will be described with reference to. The seal glass (transfer paste) 4 is transferred to the tip of the spacer (glass fiber) 3 which is erected and held in the opening 114 provided in the erected portion 111 of the jig 110. Then, as shown in FIG. 1A, after the cathode substrate 1 is aligned with the spacer 3, the cathode substrate 1 is brought into contact with the spacer 3 and the exhaust from the exhaust unit 113 of the jig 110 is stopped. The spacers 3 are attached to the substrate 1.

When the cathode substrate 1 is fired in this state,
The seal glass is melted and one end of the spacer 3 is fused to the cathode substrate 1. Next, as shown in FIG. 1B, the anode substrate 5 is aligned with the cathode substrate 1 having one end of the spacer 3 fused, and the anode substrate 5 is placed on the cathode substrate 1. In this case, although not shown in the drawings, a side substrate provided with a seal glass or a seal glass at the peripheral edge of the cathode substrate 1 and the anode substrate 5 so that the cathode substrate 1 and the anode substrate 5 maintain a predetermined distance. Glass beads and glass fibers are sandwiched so that the cathode substrate 1 and the anode substrate 5 are opposed to each other with a predetermined gap.

Then, the anode substrate 5 is formed on the cathode substrate 1.
The container is sealed by loading it into a sealing furnace and heating it to melt the peripheral seal glass. After the sealing is completed, the inside of the container is evacuated to a vacuum through an exhaust pipe or an exhaust port (not shown) after cooling. Then, since the inside of the container is evacuated, the cathode substrate 1 and the anode substrate 5 are pressed by the atmospheric pressure, and the spacers arranged between the cathode substrate 1 and the anode substrate 5 at a predetermined interval. 3 is firmly sandwiched between both the substrates 1 and 5, and the cathode substrate 1 and the anode substrate 5 are opposed to each other while stably maintaining a predetermined gap.

Although the height of the spacer 3 has some variation, this variation can be absorbed by melting the seal glass 4 attached to one end of the spacer 3 during sealing.

By the way, the main function of the spacer 3 is to secure the pressure resistance of the container, and this pressure resistance has a great relationship with the inclination of the spacer 3. The relationship between the compressive strength and the inclination of the spacer 3 obtained by the experiment is shown in FIG. In this figure, the horizontal axis is the upright angle shown in FIG. 7B, and the vertical axis is the compressive strength. However, in this case, one end of the spacer 3 is assumed to be fixed to the fixed object. Referring to this figure, the compression strength is maximum when the upright angle is 90 °, but it is about 1/100 when the upright angle is 80 °.
A compressive strength of 5 is obtained. Then, it can be seen that there is no significant change in compressive strength at the upright angle of 85 °.
Therefore, in the present invention in which only one side of the spacer 3 is welded, the upright angle is defined as 90 ° ± 5 °,
The pressure resistance of the container is guaranteed.

The height variation of the spacer 3 has been described above. However, when the spacer 3 is made of a glass having a low softening point, the spacer 3 itself is softened by the heat at the time of sealing, and the spacer 3 is about 10 μm or less. It becomes possible to absorb variations in height. As described above, the method of forming the spacer 3 in which the inclination of the spacer 3 can be set within 90 ° ± 5 ° and the variation in the spacer length can be set within 10 μm is shown in FIG. Such conventional methods can be used.

Further, as another method, the thickness is about 200.
A glass fiber for a spacer is prepared by exposing and etching a photosensitive glass plate of μm with a circular mask pattern having a diameter of about 50 μm. In this case, the length is determined by the variation in the thickness of the photosensitive glass plate,
It can be suppressed to a range of about 5 μm in the range of a 100 mm square photosensitive glass plate. Moreover, since the inclination angle of the spacer 3 is determined by the incident angle of the exposure light with respect to the photosensitive glass plate, it can be set as a highly accurate angle.

In the above description, the spacer is welded on the insulating layer formed on the cathode substrate.
The present invention is not limited to this, and the spacer may be directly welded to the cathode substrate by providing a portion where the insulating layer and the cathode conductor are not formed, or the spacer may be welded on the cathode conductor by providing a portion where the insulating layer is not formed.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the spacer is welded only to the anode substrate, it is possible to almost eliminate the risk that the welded portion is irradiated with the electron beam, and the deterioration of the phosphor layer is prevented. Can be prevented. In addition, since the inclination angle of the spacer is within a predetermined range, the spacer can have a size that satisfies the pressure resistance of the display device container.
Furthermore, since the spacer length variation is small, it is possible to eliminate the spacer that is destroyed or played in the container.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a method for producing a container for a display device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a display device container according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a conventional method for producing a container for a display device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a conventional method for producing a container for a display device.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an example of a conventional display container.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between a tilt angle and a compression strength.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Cathode substrate 2 Cathode conductor 3 Spacer 4 Seal glass 5 Anode substrate 6 Light emitting part 6-1 Anode conductor 6-2 Phosphor layer 7 Insulating layer 8 Gate conductor 9 Emitter cone 10 FEC 110 Jig

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Satoshi Yoshimura 629 Futaba Electronics Industrial Co., Ltd., Mobara City, Chiba Prefecture (72) Inventor Kenichi Honda 629 Futaba Electronic Industry Co., Ltd., Mobara City, Chiba Prefecture

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cathode substrate on which an electron source is formed, an anode substrate on which a light emitting portion excited by electrons emitted from the electron source is formed, and the cathode substrate and the anode substrate are opposed to each other. A spacer disposed between the cathode substrate and the anode substrate so as to maintain a predetermined distance between the cathode substrate and the anode substrate, one end of the spacer is welded to the cathode substrate by a seal glass, and the other end of the spacer is provided. Is in contact with the anode substrate. 2. The display device container according to claim 1, wherein the upright angle of the spacer is 90 ° ± 5 ° with respect to the cathode substrate. 3. The spacer is produced by fixing a plurality of glass fibers on a glass substrate so as to be in close contact with each other, and cutting the glass fibers into a predetermined length with a dicing saw. 1. The container for a display device according to 1. 4. The container for a display device according to claim 1, wherein the sealing glass contains a lead component.