JPH087749A - Manufacture of electron emitting element, electron source and image forming device using this element manufactured by this method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manufacture electron emitting elements having excellent stability and a high efficiency quickly and easily by forming an electron emission part on a conductive film furnished between two opposing electrodes, and depositing carbon by the use of a carbonic compound having a specific vapor pressure. CONSTITUTION:By means of sputtering, etc., an electrode material is deposited on a base board 1, and element electrodes 2, 3 are formed using the photographic technique. Thereon a molten organic metal is applied followed by heating, baking, and etching or the like so that a conductive film 4 is formed between the two electrodes 2, 3 which are opposing. Then a reforming process is conducted, consisting of impressing a pulse voltage between the element electrodes 2, 3 and feeding current, and an electron emission part 5 whose structure has changed is formed on the conductive film 4. Then carbon or a carbonic compound is deposited on this film 4 as an activating process. The carbonic compound should have a vapor pressure of 5000hPa or less, more favorably between 2-5000hPa, in the temp. atmosphere specified for this process, and current is fed to between the electrodes so that activation is obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device and an image forming apparatus such as an electron source and a display device using the electron-emitting device manufactured by the manufacturing method.

[0002]

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

An example of the above-mentioned FE type is W.P.Dyk
e & W.W. Dolan, "Field emissi"
on ”, Advance in Electron P
hysics, 8, 89 (1956) or C.
A. Spindt, "PHYSIACL Proper
ties of thin-film field e
Mission cathodes with mol
ybdenum cones ”, J. Appl. Phy
S., 47, 5248 (1976) and the like.

An example of the above MIM type is CA Me.
ad, "The tunnel-emission a
mplifer, J. Appl. Phys., 32,
646 (1961) and the like are known.

As examples of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, MI Elinson and Radio Eng.
Electron Pys., 10, (1965) and the like.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes a phenomenon in which electron emission occurs when a current is passed through a thin film of a small area formed on a substrate in parallel with the film surface. As the surface conduction electron-emitting device, one using a SnO ₂ thin film according to the above-mentioned E. Elinson, one using an Au thin film [G. Dittme
r: "Thin Solid Films", 9, 31
7 (1972)], by In ₂ O ₃ / SnO ₂ thin films [M. Hartwell and C. G. Fons].
tad: "IEEE Trans. ED Conf.
, 519 (1975)], by carbon thin film [Hiraki Araki et al .: Vacuum, Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 22 (19)
83)] etc. have been reported.

As a typical device structure of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, the above-mentioned M. Hartwell (M.Ha
FIG. 21 shows the device configuration of rtwell).

In FIG. 21, 221 is a substrate, and 222 is a conductive film, which is composed of a metal oxide thin film or the like formed by sputtering on an H-shaped pattern, which is referred to as energization forming described later. Electron emission unit 223
Is formed. The element electrode spacing L1 in FIG.
5 to 1.0 mm, W'is set to 0.1 mm.
Further, since the position and shape of the electron emitting portion 223 are unknown, it is shown as a schematic diagram.

Conventionally, in these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, as described above, the electron-emitting portion 223 is generally formed on the conductive film 222 by an energization process called energization forming before the electron emission. Met.

That is, the energization forming means that a direct current voltage or a very slow rising voltage, for example, about 1 V / min is applied to both ends of the conductive film 222 to energize the conductive film 222 to locally destroy, deform or That is, the electron-emitting portion 223 is formed so as to have a high electrical resistance by being altered. Note that, for example, the electron emitting portion 223 is provided with the conductive film 224.
Has a crack generated in a part of it, and electrons are emitted from the vicinity of the crack. In the surface conduction electron-emitting device that has been subjected to the energization forming treatment, a voltage is applied to the conductive film 224, and a current is passed through the device, whereby the electron-emitting portion 2
The electron is emitted from 23.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device described above has an advantage that a large number of the devices can be arrayed over a large area because of its simple structure and easy manufacture. Therefore, various applications that can make use of such advantages are being studied. Examples thereof include a charged beam source and a display device.

As an example in which a large number of surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices are formed in an array, which is called a ladder-type arrangement as described later, surface-conduction type electron-emitting devices are arranged in parallel, and both ends of each device are wired ( An electron source in which a large number of rows, each of which is connected by a common line), is arranged (for example, JP-A-64-31332, JP-A-1-283).
749, JP-A-1-257552, etc.).

In particular, in image forming apparatuses such as display devices, in recent years, flat panel display devices using liquid crystals have
Although it has become popular in place of T, the flat panel display device using this liquid crystal has a problem that it must have a backlight because it is not a self-luminous type display device. Has been desired.

An example of a self-luminous display device is a display device in which a large number of surface-conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in an electron source and a phosphor that emits visible light by electrons emitted from the electron source is combined. The image forming apparatus is as follows (US Pat. No. 5,066,883).

[0015]

However, little is known about the behavior of the surface conduction electron-emitting device in a vacuum described above, and more stable and controlled electron emission characteristics and improvement of its efficiency are desired. It has been rare.

Here, the efficiency means that when a voltage is applied to a pair of device electrodes of a surface conduction electron-emitting device, a current (hereinafter, referred to as a device current If) flowing in the device (hereinafter, referred to as a device current If) is emitted in a vacuum (hereinafter, referred to as “current”). The current ratio of the emission current Ie).

That is, it is desirable that the device current If is as small as possible and the emission current Ie is as large as possible.

If a more stable and controlled electron emission characteristic and its efficiency are improved, for example, in an image forming apparatus using a phosphor as an image forming member, a bright and high quality image forming apparatus with low current, For example, a flat TV is realized. Further, it can be expected that the drive circuit and the like that form the image forming apparatus will be cheaper as the current becomes lower.

As described above, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device for obtaining an electron-emitting device with high efficiency, an electron source and an image forming apparatus using the electron-emitting device manufactured by the manufacturing method. It is intended to provide.

[0020]

The present invention for achieving the above object provides a method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device having a conductive film including an electron-emitting portion between opposing electrodes, and an electron-emitting device formed between the electrodes. The method has a step of depositing carbon or a carbon compound on the conductive film having an emission part, and the step of depositing the carbon or the carbon compound has a vapor pressure of 5000 hPa or less under a temperature atmosphere in the step. It is a method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device, which is a step performed using a compound.

Further, according to the present invention, in an electron source having an electron emitting element and emitting an electron in response to an input signal, the electron emitting element is an electron emitting element manufactured by the above manufacturing method. It is an electron source.

Further, the present invention is an image forming apparatus which has an electron source and an image forming member, and which forms an image based on an input signal, wherein the electron source is the electron source. is there.

The present invention will be described in more detail below.

As described above, in the surface conduction electron-emitting device, the electron-emitting portion is generally formed by subjecting the conductive film to an energization process called energization forming in advance. The Applicant has found that it is preferable to further perform an activation treatment on the element which has been subjected to the finishing treatment.

This activation step is carried out, for example, by applying a voltage similar to that for energization forming to the element after forming in a vacuum apparatus exhausted by a vacuum exhaust system containing oil, After the activation, carbon is deposited on the electron emitting portion (or in the vicinity thereof). Therefore, in the activation process, the presence or absence of the organic material in the vacuum atmosphere in which the element for applying the voltage is placed is important.

A method of exposing the electron-emitting device to a gas atmosphere containing the organic material can be considered for the adsorption of the organic material to the electron-emitting portion. Therefore, as the organic material,
A gaseous material was used that was easy to introduce into the vacuum device at room temperature and was less likely to condense (liquefy) on the device surface. However, an organic material that is gaseous at room temperature is more likely to be desorbed from the vicinity of the electron emission part. Since the amount of adsorption is small, it is difficult to activate,
Alternatively, there is a problem that activation takes time. Further, in order to adsorb such a material, it is possible to increase the partial pressure of the organic material around the element, but it requires a large amount of material or exhausts (removes) the organic material after the activation process. There was also a problem that it took time. It is also possible to lower the element temperature and increase the adsorption amount,
The device for the activation process becomes complicated.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application No. 4-1945 by the present applicant
As described in No. 64, 10 ^-4 to 10 ^-5 torr
When the electron emission is continued for a long time at a low vacuum of about r, it collides with a small amount of oil from the exhaust system existing in the vacuum, and contaminants are deposited in the vicinity of the electron emission portion, degrading the electron emission characteristics. The problem arises. Therefore, the excess organic material is exhausted (removed) as much as possible from the element atmosphere after the activation process.
It is desired to do.

According to the present invention, based on the above findings, a carbon compound having a specific vapor pressure is selected, and the activation treatment is performed using the selected carbon compound, whereby the carbon compound is easily adsorbed on the device surface. In addition to facilitating the activation treatment of the element, in a more preferable mode, facilitating the exhaust (removal) of the carbon compound from the element atmosphere after the activation treatment, and improving the durability of the electron-emitting element. Can be achieved.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below.

First, a method of manufacturing the electron-emitting device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 (a), 1 (b) and 1 (c). Incidentally, FIG. 1 is an element cross-sectional view showing the manufacturing method in the order of steps.

The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device of the present invention includes (A) first, a step of performing a forming process on a conductive film arranged between a pair of device electrodes on a substrate.

1) After the substrate 1 is thoroughly washed with a detergent, pure water, and an organic solvent, an electrode material is deposited by a vacuum vapor deposition method, a sputtering method or the like, and then on the substrate 1 by a photography technique. Element electrodes 2 and 3 are formed on the substrate (FIG. 1A).

2) An organic metal thin film is formed by applying an organic metal solution to the substrate 1 having the device electrodes 2 and 3 and leaving it to stand. After that, the organometallic thin film is heated and baked,
Further, patterning is performed by lift-off, etching or the like to form the conductive film 4 ((b) of FIG. 1). In addition, although the description has been given here by using the coating method of the organic metal solution, the present invention is not limited to this, and vacuum deposition method, sputtering method, chemical vapor deposition method, dispersion coating method, dipping method, spinner method, etc. It may be formed.

3) Next, a forming process is performed.

This forming process is a process for locally breaking, deforming or modifying the conductive film 4 to form a site having a changed structure in the conductive film 4, and for example, an element is formed. This is an energization forming process in which an electron-emitting portion 5 having a changed structure is formed in a region of the conductive film 4 by energizing a power source (not shown) between the electrodes 2 and 3 ((c) of FIG. 1). In this way, the portion where the conductive film 4 is locally destroyed, deformed or altered by the energization forming and the structure is changed is called an electron emission portion.

Examples of voltage waveforms of this energization forming are shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b).

The voltage waveform is particularly preferably a pulse waveform, and in the case of continuously applying a pulse whose pulse peak value is a constant voltage ((a) in FIG. 2), the voltage pulse is increased while increasing the pulse peak value. There is a case where it is applied ((b) in FIG. 2).

First, the case where the pulse peak value is a constant voltage ((a) in FIG. 2) will be described.

In FIG. 2A, T1 and T2 are the pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform, respectively.
Microsecond to 10 milliseconds, T2 10 microseconds to 10
The peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage during energization forming) is appropriately selected according to the form of the electron-emitting device to be formed, and the appropriate vacuum degree, for example, about 10 ⁻⁵ torr is set. It is applied for several seconds to several tens of minutes in a vacuum atmosphere. The pulse waveform applied between the element electrodes is not limited to the triangular wave, and a desired waveform such as a rectangular wave may be used.

Next, the case where the voltage pulse is applied while increasing the pulse peak value ((b) in FIG. 2) will be described.

In FIG. 2B, T1 and T2 are the same as those in FIG. 2A described above, but the peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage during energization forming) is 0, for example. Increase by about 1 V step and apply in an appropriate vacuum atmosphere.

In this case, the energization forming process is terminated at a voltage which does not locally destroy or deform the conductive film 4 during the pulse interval T2, for example, a voltage of about 0.1V. Measure the current and obtain the resistance value, for example, 1M
The energization forming is terminated when the resistance exceeds the ohm.

(B) Further, there is a step of performing activation treatment.

4) An activation treatment is performed on the element which has been subjected to the forming treatment as described above. The activation treatment is, for example, a vacuum degree of about 10 ^-4 to 10 ^-5 torr.
Similarly to the energization forming, it refers to a treatment process in which a pulse having a constant peak value is applied, and carbon or a carbon compound is deposited on the device from an organic substance existing in a vacuum by the treatment process. Then, the device current If and the emission current Ie change remarkably. This activation process is
For example, the processing step is terminated when the emission current Ie is saturated, and the pulse crest value is preferably the operation drive voltage.

Here, the above-mentioned carbon or carbon compound means, based on the results of TEM, Raman, etc., graphite (including both single crystal and polycrystal), amorphous carbon (however, amorphous). (Including a mixture of carbon and polycrystalline graphite) and the like, and the thickness of the deposit is preferably 500 angstroms or less, and more preferably 300 angstroms or less.

In the production method of the present invention, this activation treatment is preferably carried out by introducing an appropriately selected carbon compound material into a vacuum atmosphere. Further, in the present invention, more preferably, the element to be activated is held in a vacuum atmosphere containing no oil component, and then the carbon compound is introduced.

That is, the preferred carbon compound material particularly selected in the present invention is a material having a vapor pressure of 5000 hPa or less at the ambient temperature during the activation treatment step.

Further, it is preferable that the ambient temperature during the activation treatment step is room temperature from the viewpoints of introduction of the carbon compound material and temperature control of the element. Therefore, the carbon compound material used for the activation treatment is preferable. Is more preferably 20 ° C.
Is a material having a vapor pressure of 5000 hPa or less, for example, alkane, alkene, alkyne aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes,
Among the organic acids such as ketones, amines, phenol, carvone, and sulfonic acid, and derivatives of these carbon compound organic materials, a carbon compound material that meets the above vapor pressure conditions is appropriately selected.

Among the carbon compound materials having a vapor pressure of not more than 5000 hPa at 20 ° C., the materials particularly preferred in the present invention will be specifically listed. Butadiene, n-hexane, 1-hexene, n-octane, n-decane. , N
-Dodecane, benzene, nitrobenzene, toluene, o
-Xylene, benzonitrile, chloroethylene, trichloroethylene, methanol, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, ethylene glycol, glycerin, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propanal, acetone, ethyl methyl ketone, diethyl ketone, methylamine, ethylamine, ethylenediamine, phenol, formic acid, Examples thereof include acetic acid and propionic acid.

When the vapor pressure of the carbon compound material used in the manufacturing method of the present invention is 5000 hPa or less, the deposition of carbon or the carbon compound on the device surface is facilitated and the activation treatment time of the electron-emitting device is shortened. can do.

Furthermore, the carbon compound material particularly selected in the present invention has a vapor pressure of 0.2 hPa to 5000 h at the ambient temperature during the activation treatment step, preferably at 20 ° C.
Pa, more preferably 10 hPa to 5000 hPa is particularly preferable.

The vapor pressure at 20 ° C. is 0.2 hPa-5.
Among the carbon compound materials of 000 hPa, particularly preferred carbon compound materials in the present invention are butadiene, n-hexane, 1-hexene, benzene, toluene, o-xylene, benzonitrile, chloroethylene, Examples thereof include trichloroethylene, methanol, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propanal, acetone, ethyl methyl ketone, diethyl ketone, methylamine, ethylamine, ethylenediamine, phenol, formic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid and the like.

The vapor pressure of the carbon compound material used in the production method of the present invention is 0.2 hPa to 5000 h.
When it is Pa, the deposition of carbon or a carbon compound on the device surface can be facilitated, the activation treatment time of the electron-emitting device can be shortened, and moreover, it can be removed from the device atmosphere after the activation treatment. Evacuation (removal) of the carbon compound can be facilitated, and the durability of the electron-emitting device can be further improved.

In the production method of the present invention, the partial pressure of the carbon compound material introduced is preferably about 10 ^-2 to 10 ^-7 torr when a normal vacuum exhaust device is used.

Regarding the vapor pressure of the carbon compound material and its introduction partial pressure, if the vapor pressure of the carbon compound material is Pr ₀ and the introduction partial pressure is Pr, Pr is Pr _o × 10 ^-8 or more. In particular, it is preferable to set the introduction partial pressure according to the type of carbon compound material, in particular, because the activation treatment time can be shortened.

The activation treatment described above depends on the type and partial pressure of the organic material introduced into the vacuum atmosphere, the pulse voltage applied to the element, and the like, and the device current If and the emission current Ie. In addition to the change in the time dependence, the state of formation of the carbon or carbon compound coating formed near the conductive film that has been deformed or altered by the forming process also changes.

The electron-emitting device manufactured as described above is
Preferably, it is operated and driven in a vacuum atmosphere having a vacuum degree higher than the vacuum degree in the energization forming process or the activation process, and more preferably after heating at 80 to 150 ° C. It is operated and driven in a vacuum atmosphere. The vacuum atmosphere having a vacuum degree higher than the vacuum degree in the energization forming treatment or the activation treatment is, for example, a vacuum degree of about 10 ⁻⁶ torr or more, and more preferably the carbon and the carbon compound. Is an ultra-high vacuum system where almost no new deposits occur. In such an ultra-high vacuum system, it is possible to suppress further deposition of carbon and carbon compounds, and therefore, the device current If and the emission current I
e is stable.

Next, the basic characteristics of the electron-emitting device produced by the above manufacturing method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a measurement / evaluation apparatus for measuring electron emission characteristics of the electron-emitting device manufactured by the above-described manufacturing method. In FIG. 3, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 denote the same members. Also, 11 is
A power supply for applying a device voltage Vf to the electron-emitting device, 1
0 is an ammeter for measuring the device current If flowing through the conductive film 4 between the device electrodes 2 and 3, and 14 is an anode for capturing the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission portion of the device. Electrodes, 13 are high voltage power supplies for applying voltage to the anode electrode 14, 12 are ammeters for measuring the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission portion 5 of the device, 15 is a vacuum device, 16 Is an exhaust pump.

Further, the electron-emitting device and the anode electrode 14
Are installed in the vacuum device 15, and the vacuum device is equipped with equipment necessary for the vacuum device such as a vacuum system (not shown) so that measurement and evaluation of the electron-emitting device can be performed under a desired vacuum. It has become. The exhaust pump 16 is a
It is composed of a normal high vacuum device system including a bo pump and a rotary pump, and an ultra high vacuum device system including an ion pump.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the vacuum device 15 is connected via a needle valve 21 to a material source 22 such as an ampoule or a gas cylinder having a carbon compound material. The compound material can be introduced as a gas, and the introduction amount can be adjusted by the opening / closing amount of the needle valve 21 and the exhaust amount of the exhaust pump 23 while measuring the degree of vacuum with a vacuum gauge. In addition, 24 shows a valve and 25 shows a dry pump.

The entire vacuum apparatus and the substrate on which the electron-emitting device is arranged can be heated to 200 ° C. by a heater (not shown). Therefore, the present measurement / evaluation apparatus can also be a manufacturing apparatus capable of performing the steps after the energization forming in the above-described manufacturing method of the present invention.

The voltage of the anode electrode is 1 kV to 10 k.
V, the distance H between the anode electrode and the electron-emitting device is 2 mm to
It was measured in the range of 8 mm.

FIG. 5 shows an example of dependence of the device current If and the emission current Ie on the activation processing time measured by the measurement / evaluation apparatus shown in FIG. 3, and the emission current Ie and the device current If and the device voltage Vf. A typical example of the relationship is shown in FIG. It should be noted that FIG. 6 shows the emission current Ie in an arbitrary unit because it is significantly smaller than the device current If.

As is clear from FIG. 6, the electron-emitting device manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention has three characteristic properties with respect to the emission current Ie.

First of all, in the present device, when an element voltage higher than a certain voltage (called threshold voltage, Vth in FIG. 6) is applied, the emission current Ie sharply increases, while on the other hand, when the element voltage is lower than the threshold voltage Vth. Almost no Ie is detected. That is, it is a non-linear element having a clear threshold voltage Vth with respect to the emission current Ie.

Secondly, since the emission current Ie depends on the element voltage Vf, the emission current Ie can be controlled by the element voltage Vf.

Thirdly, the emitted charges captured by the anode electrode 14 depend on the time for which the device voltage Vf is applied. That is, the amount of charges captured by the anode electrode 14 can be controlled by the time for which the device voltage Vf is applied.

As shown in FIG. 6, the device current If
Indicates a characteristic that monotonically increases with respect to the element voltage Vf (referred to as MI characteristic) (solid line in FIG. 6) and a voltage-controlled negative resistance characteristic (referred to as VCNR characteristic) (broken line in FIG. 6). However, the characteristics of these element currents depend on the manufacturing method, the vacuum atmosphere conditions in the vacuum apparatus, and the like. In the present invention,
A more preferable aspect is an aspect exhibiting the MI characteristic.

The electron-emitting device produced as described above is
Basically, it has a structure as described below and is roughly classified into a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device and a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device.

First, the planar surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described.

7 (a) and 7 (b) are a schematic plan view and a sectional view, respectively, showing the basic structure of the planar surface conduction electron-emitting device. In FIG. 7, 1 is a substrate, 2 and 3 are device electrodes, 4 is a conductive film, and 5 is an electron emitting portion.

As the substrate 1, quartz glass, glass with a reduced content of impurities such as Na, soda lime glass, a soda lime glass substrate laminated with SiO ₂ formed by a sputtering method, and ceramics such as alumina are used. Can be mentioned.

The material of the opposing device electrodes 5 and 6 is as follows.
Common conductor materials are used, such as Ni, Cr, A
Metals or alloys such as u, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu, Pd, and Pd, Ag, Au, RuO ₂ , Pd.
- metal or metal oxide such as Ag, printed conducting materials made of glass or the like is appropriately selected from a semiconductor conductive material such as a transparent conductor and polysilicon or the like In ₂ O ₃ -SnO ₂ or the like.

The element electrode spacing L, the element electrode length W, the shape of the conductive film 4 and the like are appropriately designed according to the application form of the electron-emitting device, and the element electrode spacing L is preferably
It is from several hundred angstroms to several hundreds of micrometers, and more preferably from several micrometers to several tens of micrometers depending on the voltage applied between the device electrodes and the electric field strength capable of emitting electrons.

The order of laminating the conductive film 4 and the device electrodes 2 and 3 is not limited to the mode shown in FIG. 7, and the conductive film 4 and the opposing device electrodes 2 and 3 are laminated in this order on the substrate 1. It may be configured.

In order to obtain good electron emission characteristics, the conductive film 4 is particularly preferably a fine particle film composed of fine particles, and the film thickness thereof is a step coverage to the device electrodes 2 and 3.
The resistance is set appropriately according to the resistance value between the device electrodes 2 and 3, and the above-mentioned energization forming conditions, etc., preferably from several angstroms to several thousand angstroms, particularly preferably from 10 angstroms to It is 500 angstrom and its resistance value is 10 ³ to 10 ⁷ ohm /
It is the sheet resistance value of □.

The material forming the conductive film 4 is P
d, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, In, Cu, Cr, F
e, Zn, Sn, Ta, W, Pb and other metals, PdO, S
oxides such as nO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO and Sb ₂ O ₃ ;
HfB ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , CeB ₆ , YB ₄ , G
Borides such as dB ₄ , TiC, ZrC, HfC, TaC,
Examples thereof include carbides such as SiC and WC, nitrides such as TiN, ZrN and HfN, semiconductors such as Si and Ge, and carbon.

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 dispersed and arranged but also a state in which the fine particles are adjacent to each other or overlap each other ( The particle size of the fine particles is from several angstroms to several thousand angstroms, preferably 10 angstroms to 200 angstroms.

The electron-emitting portion 5 is, for example, a high-resistance crack formed in a part of the conductive film 4, and the film thickness, film quality, material of the conductive film 4 and the above-mentioned current forming method and the like. Is formed depending on. Further, it may have conductive fine particles having a particle size of several hundred angstroms to several hundred angstroms. The conductive fine particles contain some or all of the elements of the material forming the conductive film 4. Further, the electron emitting portion 5 and the conductive film 4 in the vicinity thereof contain carbon and a carbon compound.

Next, the vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing the basic structure of a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device, and the members with the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 7 are the same as those in FIG.

The substrate 1, the device electrodes 2 and 3, the conductive film 4,
The electron-emitting portion 5 is made of the same material as that of the above-mentioned planar surface conduction electron-emitting device, but the step forming portion 31 is formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method or the like. The step forming portion 31 is made of an insulating material such as SiO _2, and the film thickness of the step forming portion 31 corresponds to the device electrode spacing L of the flat surface conduction electron-emitting device described above, and is from several hundred angstroms to several tens of micrometers. Is set appropriately depending on the manufacturing method of the step forming portion and the voltage applied between the device electrodes and the electric field strength capable of emitting electrons, but preferably from several hundred angstroms to several micrometer. .

Since the conductive film 4 is formed after the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the step forming portion 31 are formed, it is laminated on the device electrodes 2 and 3. Although the electron-emitting portion 5 is shown as a straight line in the step forming portion 31 in FIG. 8, the shape and position of the electron-emitting portion 5 depend on the forming conditions and the above-described energization forming conditions. It is not limited.

Since the electron-emitting device produced by the manufacturing method of the present invention as described above has the above-mentioned three characteristic properties, a plurality of electron-emitting devices having electron-emitting characteristics are provided depending on the input signal. It is possible to easily control even the arranged electron source and the image forming apparatus, and it is possible to apply to various fields.

Next, the basic structure of the electron source and the image forming apparatus using the electron-emitting device produced by the manufacturing method of the present invention will be described.

An electron source and an image forming apparatus are constructed by arranging a plurality of electron-emitting devices produced by the manufacturing method of the present invention, preferably on a substrate. The arrangement method of the electron-emitting devices on the substrate is, for example, the electron-emitting device described in the conventional example, in which a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in parallel, and both ends of each device are connected by wiring. A large number of rows are arranged (called a row direction), and electrons are controlled and driven by a control electrode (called a grid) installed in a space above the electron source in a direction orthogonal to this wiring (called a column direction). Array method, and n Ys on m X-direction wiring described below.
Directional wiring is provided via an interlayer insulating layer, and the pair of element electrodes of the surface conduction electron-emitting device are respectively provided with X-direction wiring,
There is an array method in which wiring in the Y direction is connected. This is called a simple matrix arrangement below.

First, the simple matrix will be described in detail.

According to the characteristics of the above-mentioned three basic characteristics of the electron-emitting device according to the present invention, even in the surface-conduction electron-emitting device arranged in the simple matrix, the emitted electrons from the surface-conduction electron-emitting device are , Above the threshold voltage,
It is controlled by the peak value and width of the pulse voltage applied between the opposing element electrodes. On the other hand, below the threshold voltage, it is hardly emitted. According to this characteristic, even when a large number of electron-emitting devices are arranged, if the pulsed voltage is appropriately applied to each device, a surface conduction electron-emitting device is selected according to an input signal, The electron emission amount can be controlled.

The configuration of the electron source substrate constructed based on this principle will be described below with reference to FIG. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 71 is a substrate on which a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged (hereinafter referred to as electron source substrate), 72 is an X-direction wiring, 73 is a Y-direction wiring, and 74 is a surface conduction electron-emitting device. , 75 are connections. The surface conduction electron-emitting device 7
4 may be either of the above-mentioned plane type or vertical type. In FIG. 9, the electron source substrate 71 is the above-described glass substrate or the like, and the number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices installed according to the application and the design shape of each device are
It is set appropriately.

The m X-direction wirings 72 are DX1 and DX.
2 ,. ． , DXm, and is a conductive metal formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. Further, the material, the film thickness, and the wiring width are set so that a substantially uniform voltage is supplied to many surface conduction electron-emitting devices. Y direction wiring 7
3 is DY1, DY2 ,. ． , DYn of n wirings, similar to the X-direction wiring 72, a vacuum deposition method, a printing method,
The material, the film thickness, the wiring width, etc. are set so that a large number of surface conduction elements are formed by a sputtering method or the like and are made of a conductive metal or the like and have a desired pattern. These m X-direction wirings 72 and n Y-direction wirings 7
An inter-layer insulating layer (not shown) is installed between 3 and electrically isolated to form a matrix wiring. Incidentally, m and n
Are both positive integers.

The interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is SiO ₂ or the like formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method or the like, and is formed on the entire surface of the substrate 71 on which the X-direction wiring 72 is formed, or a part thereof. Formed in a shape, and in particular, the X-direction wiring 72 and Y
In order to withstand the potential difference at the intersection of the direction wiring 73, the film thickness,
The material and manufacturing method are appropriately set. The X-direction wiring 72 and the Y-direction wiring 73 are drawn out as external terminals.

Further, the opposing electrodes (not shown) of the surface-conduction type electron-emitting device 74 are connected to m X-direction wirings 72 and n Y-direction wirings 73 by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method or the like. It is electrically connected to the formed connecting wire 75 made of a conductive metal or the like.

Here, m number of X-direction wirings 72 and n number of Ys.
The conductive metal of the element electrode facing the directional wiring 73 and the connection 75 may have the same or a part of the constituent elements, or may have different constituents. It is appropriately selected from the above materials.
Wiring to these element electrodes may be collectively referred to as an element electrode when the element electrode and the wiring material are the same. The surface conduction electron-emitting device may be formed either on the substrate 71 or on an interlayer insulating layer (not shown).

Further, as will be described in detail later, a scanning signal for scanning the row of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 74 arranged in the X direction is applied to the X-direction wiring 72 in accordance with the input signal. Is electrically connected to a scanning signal applying means (not shown) for performing the operation.

On the other hand, to the Y-direction wiring 73, not shown for applying a modulation signal for modulating each row of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 74 arranged in the Y direction according to the input signal. It is electrically connected to the modulation signal generating means.

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 applied to the element and the modulation signal.

With the above structure, individual electron-emitting devices can be selected and driven independently by using only simple matrix wiring.

Next, an image forming apparatus using the electron source having the simple matrix arrangement created as described above and used for display or the like will be described with reference to FIGS. 10, 11 and 12.

FIG. 10 is a basic configuration diagram of a display panel of the image forming apparatus, FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a fluorescent film, and FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an example of a drive circuit for displaying the image forming apparatus according to an NTSC television signal. It is a figure.

In FIG. 10, 71 is an electron source substrate on which the electron-emitting device is manufactured as described above, 81 is a rear plate to which the electron source substrate 71 is fixed, and 86 is a fluorescent film 84 on the inner surface of the glass substrate 83. And a metal back 85 and the like formed on the face plate, and 82 is a support frame. The rear plate 81, the support frame 82, and the face plate 86 are coated with frit glass, etc.
By firing at 100 to 500 ° C. for 10 minutes or more, they are sealed to form the envelope 88.

In FIG. 10, 74 corresponds to the electron-emitting device in FIG. 9, and 72 and 73 are X-direction wiring and Y-direction wiring connected to a pair of device electrodes of the surface conduction electron-emitting device. is there.

As described above, the envelope 88 includes the face plate 86, the support frame 82, and the rear plate 81.
Although the rear plate 81 is provided mainly for the purpose of reinforcing the strength of the substrate 71, if the substrate 71 itself has a sufficient strength, the separate rear plate 81 is unnecessary, and Alternatively, the support frame 82 may be directly sealed, and the face plate 86, the support frame 82, and the substrate 71 may form the envelope 88. Although not shown, a support member called a spacer is further installed between the face plate 86 and the rear plate 81 to provide an envelope 88 having sufficient strength against atmospheric pressure. It is also possible to have a configuration of.

FIG. 11 shows a fluorescent film. In the case of monochrome, the fluorescent film 84 is composed of only the phosphor, but in the case of a color fluorescent film, it is composed of a black conductive material 91 called a black stripe or a black matrix depending on the arrangement of the phosphor and a phosphor 92. . The purpose of providing the black stripes and the black matrix is to make the color mixture and the like inconspicuous by making the portions of the three primary color phosphors, which are necessary for color display, between the respective phosphors 92 black, and to make the phosphor film 84 inconspicuous. This is to suppress a decrease in contrast due to reflection of external light. 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.

Here, the method of applying the phosphor to the glass substrate 83 may be a precipitation method or a printing method regardless of monochrome or color.

A metal back 85 is usually provided on the inner surface of the fluorescent film 84. The purpose of the metal back is to improve the brightness by specularly reflecting the light to the inner surface side of the light emitted from the phosphor to the face plate 86 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. The metal back can be manufactured by performing a smoothing process (usually called filming) on the inner surface of the fluorescent film after manufacturing the fluorescent film, and then depositing Al by vacuum evaporation or the like.

The face plate 86 is further provided with a fluorescent film 8
In order to improve the conductivity of No. 4, a transparent electrode (not shown) may be provided on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 84.

Further, when the above-mentioned sealing is performed, in the case of a color, it is necessary to make the respective color phosphors correspond to the electron-emitting devices, so that it is necessary to perform sufficient alignment.

The envelope 88 is connected to an exhaust pipe 1
The degree of vacuum is set to about 0 ^-7 torr and sealing is performed. Further, a getter process may be performed in order to maintain the degree of vacuum after the envelope 88 is sealed. This is because the getter placed at a predetermined position (not shown) in the envelope 88 is heated by a heating method such as resistance heating or high frequency heating immediately before or after the envelope 88 is sealed. Then, it is a process of forming a vapor deposition film.

The getter usually has Ba as a main component, and due to the adsorption action of the deposited film, for example, 10 ^-5 to 10 ^-7 to
The degree of vacuum of rr is maintained.

Next, a block diagram of FIG. 12 shows a schematic configuration of a drive circuit for performing television display on the display panel constructed by using the electron source of the above-mentioned simple matrix arrangement based on the television signal of the NTSC system. Explain.

In FIG. 12, 101 is the display panel, 102 is a scanning circuit, 103 is a control circuit,
104 is a shift register, 105 is a line memory, 10
6 is a synchronizing signal separation circuit, 107 is a modulation signal generator, Vx
And Va are DC voltage sources.

The function of each section will be described below. First, the display panel 101 is connected to an external electric circuit via the terminals Dox1 to Doxm, the terminals Doy1 to Doyn, and the high voltage terminal Hv. Of these, the terminal Dox1
In Doxm, electron sources provided in the display panel, that is, a group of surface conduction electron-emitting devices that are matrix-wired in a matrix of M rows and N columns are sequentially driven row by row (N elements). The operation signal for is applied. On the other hand, terminal D
oy1 to Doyn are output electron beams of each element of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices of one row selected by the scanning signal.
A modulation signal is applied to control the system. Further, the high voltage terminal Hv is, for example, 10 kV from the DC voltage source Va.
DC voltage is supplied, which is an accelerating voltage for giving enough energy to excite the phosphor to the electron beam output from the surface conduction electron-emitting device.

Next, the scanning circuit 102 will be described.

The scanning circuit 102 includes therein M switching elements (schematically shown by S1 to Sm in the figure), and each switching element has an output voltage of the DC voltage source Vx or Either one of 0 V (ground level) is selected, and the terminal Dox1 of the display panel 101 is selected.
To electrically connect to Doxm. S1-Sm
Although each of the switching elements of (1) operates based on the control signal Tscan output from the control circuit 103, in practice, it can be easily configured by combining switching elements such as FETs.

In the present embodiment, the direct-current voltage source Vx is based on the characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device (threshold voltage of electron emission), and the drive voltage applied to the non-scanned device is electron emission. It is set to output a constant voltage that is equal to or lower than the threshold voltage of.

Further, the control circuit 103 has a function of matching the operation of each part so that an appropriate display is performed based on the image signal inputted from the outside, and the synchronizing signal separation circuit 106 described below is provided. Sync signal T sent from
Based on sync, for each part, Tscan, Ts
The control signals ft and Tmry are generated.

The synchronizing signal separation circuit 106 is a circuit for separating a synchronizing signal component and a luminance signal component from an externally input NTSC television signal, and as is well known, a frequency separating (filter) circuit. Can be easily configured. As is well known, the sync signal separated by the sync signal separation circuit 106 includes a vertical sync signal and a horizontal sync signal, but here, for convenience of explanation, it is shown as a Tsync signal. On the other hand, the luminance signal component of the image separated from the television signal is referred to as D
Although referred to as an ATA signal, this signal is input to the shift register 104.

The shift register 104 is for serial / parallel conversion of the DATA signal serially input in time series for each line of the image, and is based on the control signal Tsft sent from the control circuit 103. Works. That is, the control signal Tsft may be restated as the shift clock of the shift register 104. The data for one line of the serial / parallel converted image (corresponding to the driving data for N elements of the electron-emitting device) is
It is output from the shift register 104 as N parallel signals Id1 to Idn.

The line memory 105 appropriately selects Id1 according to the fresh fish signal Tmry sent from the control circuit 103.
~ Store the contents of Idn. The stored contents are I'd
The signals are output as 1 to I′dn and input to the modulation signal generator 107.

The modulation signal generator 107 is a signal source for appropriately driving and modulating each of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices according to each of the image data I'd1 to I'dn, and its output. The signal is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the display panel 101 through the terminals Doy1 to Doyn.

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

Further, for a voltage equal to or higher than the threshold voltage for electron emission, the emission current also changes according to the change in the voltage applied to the element. The value of the electron emission threshold voltage Vth and the degree of change of the emission current with respect to the applied voltage may be changed by changing the material, configuration, and manufacturing method of the electron-emitting device. I can say that.

That is, when a pulsed voltage is applied to the present electron-emitting device, for example, even if a voltage below the threshold voltage for electron emission is applied, no electron emission occurs, but a voltage above the threshold voltage for electron emission is generated. When is applied, electrons are emitted. In that case, firstly, the intensity of the output electron beam can be controlled by changing the peak value Vm of the pulse. Second, it is possible to control the total amount of charges of the electron beam output by changing the pulse width Pw.

Therefore, as a method of modulating the electron-emitting device according to the input signal, there are a voltage modulation method, a pulse width modulation method and the like. To implement the voltage modulation method,
As the modulation signal generator 107, a circuit of a voltage modulation system is used which generates a voltage pulse of a constant length but appropriately modulates the peak value of the pulse according to the input data.

To implement the pulse width modulation method,
The modulation signal generator 107 uses a pulse width modulation type circuit that generates a voltage pulse having a constant crest value, but appropriately modulates the width of the voltage pulse according to the input data. .

Through the series of operations described above, it is possible to display television using the display panel 101. Although not particularly described in the above description, the shift register 10
The digital signal type 4 and the line memory 105 may be of a digital signal type or an analog signal type, and in short, it suffices that serial / parallel conversion and storage of an image signal be performed at a predetermined speed.

When the digital signal type is used, it is necessary to convert the output signal DATA of the sync signal separation circuit 106 into a digital signal.
It goes without saying that this is easily possible if the output unit of 06 is provided with an A / D converter. Further, in connection with this, it goes without saying that the circuit used for the modulation signal generator 107 is slightly different depending on whether the output signal of the line memory 105 is a digital signal or an analog signal.

That is, in the case of a digital signal, in the voltage modulation method, the modulation signal generator 107 is, for example,
A D / A converter circuit may be used, and an amplifier circuit or the like may be added if necessary. In the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 107 is, for example, a high-speed oscillator, a counter (counter) that counts the number of waves output from the oscillator, and further, the output value of the counter and the output of the memory. If you use a circuit that combines a comparator (comparator) that compares values,
A person skilled in the art can easily configure it. If necessary, an amplifier for voltage-amplifying the pulse-width-modulated modulation signal output from the comparator to the drive voltage of the surface conduction electron-emitting device may be added.

On the other hand, when the analog signal type is used,
In the voltage modulation method, the modulation signal generator 107 has
For example, an amplifier circuit using an operational amplifier or the like may be used, and a level shift circuit or the like may be added if necessary. In the pulse width modulation method, for example, a voltage control type oscillation circuit (VCO) may be used, and if necessary, an amplifier for amplifying the voltage up to the driving voltage of the surface conduction electron-emitting device may be added. good.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention completed as described above, electrons are emitted by applying a voltage to each electron-emitting device through the terminals outside the container Dox1 to Doxm, Doy1 to Doyn, and the high voltage terminal Hv. A high voltage is applied to the metal back 85 or a transparent electrode (not shown) to accelerate the electron beam, and the electron beam collides with the fluorescent film 84 to excite / emit the phosphor, thereby displaying an image. You can

The configuration described above is a schematic configuration necessary for producing an image forming apparatus used for display or the like. For example, the detailed parts such as the material of each member are not limited to the above contents. Instead, it is appropriately selected so as to suit the application of the image forming apparatus. Also, as an example of the input signal, NTSC
Although the method is mentioned, it is not limited to this, and other PA
Various methods such as L and SECAM methods may be used. Further, a TV signal composed of more scanning lines than these, for example, a high-definition TV system such as a MUSE system may be used.

Next, the basic configuration of the above-mentioned ladder-type electron source and image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 13, reference numeral 110 denotes an electron source substrate, 1
Reference numeral 11 is an electron-emitting device, and reference numeral 112 is a common wiring for wiring the electron-emitting device made of Dx1 to Dx10. A plurality of electron-emitting devices 111 are arranged in parallel in the X direction on the substrate 110 (this is called a device row). A plurality of these element rows are arranged to form an electron source.

Such an electron source is provided between common wirings of each element row (Dx1-Dx2, Dx3-Dx4, Dx5-D).
x6, Dx7-Dx8, Dx9-Dx10), it is possible to independently drive each element row by applying a drive voltage appropriately. That is, a voltage equal to or higher than the threshold voltage for electron emission is applied to the element row from which the electron beam is desired to be emitted,
A voltage equal to or lower than the threshold voltage for electron emission may be applied to the element row from which the electron beam is not emitted. In addition, one common wiring is made the same wiring between each element row (for example, Dx2 and Dx3, Dx4 and Dx5, Dx6 and Dx).
7, and Dx8 and Dx9 have the same wiring).

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a display panel structure of an image forming apparatus provided with a ladder-type electron source. 1
20 is a grid electrode, 121 is a hole through which electrons pass, 122 is Dox1, Dox2, ..., Doxm
, An external terminal of the container 123, an external terminal of the container made of G1, G2, ..., Gn connected to the grid electrode 120, and 110 is the electron source substrate shown in FIG. The same reference numerals in FIGS. 13 and 14 indicate the same components.

The display panel of FIG. 14 has a grid electrode 120 between the electron source substrate 110 and the face plate 86, as compared with the image forming apparatus having the simple matrix arrangement (FIG. 10). It is very different.

In FIG. 14, a grid electrode 120 is provided between the substrate 110 and the face plate 86. The grid electrode 120 is an electron beam emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device. Electrodes that can modulate the beam, and are arranged in stripes orthogonal to each element row in the ladder arrangement. Furthermore, one electrode is provided for each element in order to pass the electron beam. A circular hole 121 is provided. The shape and installation position of the grid electrode are not necessarily limited to those shown in FIG. 14, and it is sufficient if the grid electrode is arranged in the vicinity of or in the vicinity of the electron-emitting device, and the holes 121 are formed in a mesh shape. A mode in which a passage opening is provided may be used.

The external terminal 122 and the grid external terminal 123 are electrically connected to a control circuit (not shown).

In the image forming apparatus described above, the modulation signals for one line of the image are simultaneously applied to the grid electrode columns in synchronism with the sequential driving (scanning) of the element rows one column at a time. It is possible to display the image line by line by controlling the irradiation of the beam onto the phosphor.

According to the idea of the present invention described above, an image forming apparatus suitable as a display device for a television conference system, a computer and the like as well as a display device for television broadcasting is provided. Further, it can be used as an image forming apparatus as an optical printer including a photosensitive drum and the like.

[0142]

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

Example 1 A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device in this example will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0144] First, a quartz substrate is used as the substrate 1,
After thoroughly washing this with a detergent, pure water, and an organic solvent, a resist material RD-2000N was applied onto the substrate 1 by a spinner at 2500 rpm for 40 seconds, and 80 ° C.
Prebaked by heating for 25 minutes.

Next, the electrode interval (corresponding to L in FIG. 7) is 2 μm.
m, and the electrode length (corresponding to W in FIG. 7) was contact exposed using a mask corresponding to an electrode shape of 500 μm, and RD-200 was used.
It was developed with 0N developer and heated at 120 ° C. for 20 minutes to be post-baked.

In this example, nickel metal was used as the material for the device electrodes, nickel was vapor-deposited at a thickness of 0.3 nm per second to a film thickness of 100 nm using a resistance heating vapor deposition machine, and then lifted off with acetone to remove acetone. After washing with isopropyl alcohol and then with butyl acetate and drying, element electrodes 2 and 3 facing each other were formed on the substrate 1 ((a) of FIG. 1).

.. Next, chromium is vapor-deposited on the entire surface of the substrate to a thickness of 50 nm, and the resist material AZ1370 is applied at 2500 rpm for 30 minutes.
After applying a second spinner, heating at 90 ° C. for 30 minutes and prebaking, exposing using a mask having a pattern for applying a conductive film on which an electron emitting portion is formed, developing with a developer MIF312, It was post-baked by heating at 120 ° C. for 30 minutes.

Next, (NH ₄ ) Ce (NO ₃ ) ₆ / HC
After dipping in a solution having a composition of 10 ₄ / H ₂ O = 17 g / 5 cc / 100 cc for 30 seconds to etch chromium, ultrasonic stirring is performed in acetone for 10 minutes to remove the resist,
Furthermore, an organopalladium solution (ccp4230, manufactured by Okuno Chemical Industries Co., Ltd.) was applied on the spinner at 800 rpm for 30 seconds and baked at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes to obtain palladium oxide (Pd
O) A fine particle-shaped conductive film having fine particles (average particle diameter: 7 nm) was formed.

Next, the chromium is lifted off, and its width (corresponding to W'in FIG. 7) is 300 μm and the film thickness is 10 nm.
A conductive film 4 made of fine particles having Pd as a main element and having a sheet resistance value of 5 × 10 ⁴ Ω / □ was formed ((b) of FIG. 1). 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 in a state in which the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged, but also in a state in which the fine particles are adjacent to each other or overlap each other (islet-shaped (Including), and the particle diameter thereof means the diameter of fine particles whose particle shape can be recognized in the above state.

.. Next, the above elements were installed in the measurement / evaluation apparatus of FIG. 3, exhausted with a vacuum pump, and 2 × 10 ⁻⁸ torr.
After the vacuum degree of r was reached, a voltage was applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 from the power supply 10 for applying the device voltage Vf to the device, and an energization process (forming process) was performed.
The voltage waveform of the forming process is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2B, T1 and T2 are the pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform, and in this embodiment, T1 is 1
With the millisecond and T2 set to 10 milliseconds, the peak value of the rectangular wave (peak voltage during forming) was increased in 0.1 V steps to perform the forming process. Further, during the forming treatment, at the same time, a resistance measuring pulse was inserted between T2 at a voltage of 0.1 V to measure the resistance. The forming process was ended when the measured value by the resistance measurement pulse became about 1 MΩ or more, and at the same time, the application of the voltage to the element was ended. In the present embodiment, the forming voltage VF of the element
Is 5.1 V, which is the conductive film 4 as described above.
A crack-shaped electron emitting portion 5 was formed on the surface ((c) of FIG. 1).

.. Acetone (vapor pressure at 20 ° C., 233 hPa) was applied to the device manufactured as described above,
Under an atmosphere of about 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ torr for 20 minutes,
A voltage was applied between the device electrodes to perform activation treatment.
The voltage waveform of the activation process is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 15, T3 and T4 are the pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform. In this embodiment, T3 is 100 microseconds, T4 is 10 milliseconds, and the peak value of the rectangular wave is 1.
Performed at 4V.

After that, the gas was exhausted to about 1 × 10 ^-8 torr.

The introduction of the organic material used for activation into the vacuum device was adjusted by an introduction system using a needle valve (FIG. 4) so that the pressure inside the vacuum device was almost constant.

The characteristics of the device thus obtained are as follows.
The voltage of the anode electrode was 1 kV, and the distance H between the anode electrode and the electron-emitting device was 4 mm. Also, vacuum degree 1 ×
The measurement was performed in an environment of 10 ⁻⁸ torr.

As a result, when the device voltage is 14 V, the device current is 2 mA, the emission current is 1 μA, and the electron emission efficiency η
Was 0.05%. In addition, the characteristics did not change even after continuous driving for 10 hours.

Regarding the manufactured electron-emitting device, the device voltage is 14 V, the voltage pulse repetition period is 60 Hz, and the pulse width is 30 μsec, 100 μsec, and 300 μse.
Table 1 shows the pulse width dependence of the device current If and the emission current Ie for each c.

Example 2 In this example, n-dodecane (vapor pressure at 20 ° C., 0.1 hPa) was used for activation in place of the acetone used in the activation treatment of Example 1. The procedure was the same as in Example 1 except that the procedure was the same.

For the obtained device, as in Example 1, I
When f and Ie were measured, when the device voltage was 14 V, the device current was 2.2 mA and the emission current was 1 μA.
The electron emission efficiency η was 0.045%. In addition, the characteristics did not change even after continuous driving for 10 hours.

Example 3 In this example, formaldehyde (vapor pressure at 20 ° C., 4370 hPa) was used instead of the acetone used in the activation treatment of Example 1.
Was performed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the activation was performed for 2 hours.

For the device thus obtained, I
When f and Ie were measured, when the device voltage was 14 V, the device current was 1 mA and the emission current was 0.2 μA.
The electron emission efficiency η was 0.02%. In addition, the characteristics did not change even after continuous driving for 10 hours.

Example 4 In this example, n-hexane (vapor pressure at 20 ° C., 160 hPa) was used in place of the acetone used in the activation treatment of Example 1 for activation. Was performed in the same manner as in Example 1.

For the obtained device, as in Example 1, I
When f and Ie were measured, when the device voltage was 14 V, the device current was 1.8 mA, the emission current was 0.8 μA, and the electron emission efficiency η was 0.044%.

Example 5 In this example, n-undecane (vapor pressure at 20 ° C., 0.35 hPa) was used for activation in place of the acetone used in the activation treatment of Example 1. The same procedure as in Example 1 was carried out except that

For the obtained device, as in Example 1, I
When f and Ie were measured, when the device voltage was 14 V, the device current was 1.5 mA, the emission current was 0.6 μA, and the electron emission efficiency η was 0.04%.

Regarding the electron-emitting devices manufactured in the above Examples 1, 2, 4, and 5, the device voltage was 14 V, the voltage pulse repetition period was 60 Hz, and the pulse width was 30 μse.
Table 1 shows the pulse width dependence of the device current If and the emission current Ie at c, 100 μsec, and 300 μsec.

As is clear from the results shown in Table 1, when the vapor pressure at 20 ° C. of the carbon compound material introduced at the time of activation is in the range of 0.2 hPa to 500 hPa, the above If and Ie pulses are applied. It was possible to obtain an electron-emitting device in which the width dependence hardly occurs.

[0169]

[Table 1]

(Embodiment 6) In this embodiment, an image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. 14 using an electron source having a large number of electron-emitting devices manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention was manufactured.

By the same manufacturing method as in Example 1, a large number of elements 111 having conductive films arranged between opposing electrodes were formed in a line on the insulating substrate 110 as shown in FIG.

Next, this insulating substrate (electron source substrate) 11
0 is fixed on the rear plate 81, and then the insulating substrate 11
Modulation electrode 120 having electron passage hole 121 above 0
Were arranged in a direction orthogonal to the above line-shaped element.

Furthermore, 5 mm above the insulating substrate 110,
A face plate 86 (a fluorescent film 84 and a metal back 85 are formed on the inner surface of the glass substrate 83) is arranged via a support frame 82, and a frit is attached to the joint portion of the face plate 86, the support frame 82, and the rear plate 81. Apply glass, 400 ℃ to 5 in air or nitrogen atmosphere
It was sealed by baking at 00 ° C. for 10 minutes or more. Further, the frit glass was also used to fix the insulating substrate 110 to the rear plate 81.

The fluorescent film 84 adopts a stripe shape ((a) of FIG. 11), black stripes are first formed, and phosphors of the respective colors are applied to the gaps between them to form the fluorescent film 84.
Was produced. As a material for the black stripe, a material containing graphite as a main component, which is often used, was used. A slurry method was used as the method for applying the phosphor to the glass substrate 83.

A metal back 85 is provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 84. The metal back was 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
In order to improve the conductivity of No. 4, a transparent electrode (not shown) may be provided on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 84, but in this embodiment, it is omitted because sufficient conductivity was obtained only by the metal back. did.

When the above-mentioned sealing is performed, in the case of color, it is necessary to make the phosphors of the respective colors correspond to the electron-emitting devices, 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 terminal Dox1
Through Doxm, a voltage is applied between the electrodes, forming is performed under the same conditions as in the first embodiment, and the element 111
An electron emitting portion was formed on the conductive film.

Next, 1 × 10 1 of acetone was put in the glass container.
^-4 torr was introduced, a voltage was applied between the electrodes through the terminals Dox1 to Doxm outside the container, and the element 111 was activated under the same conditions as in Example 1 described above.

After that, acetone was exhausted, and an electron source in which a large number of electron-emitting devices were arranged on the substrate 110 was produced.

Finally, at a vacuum degree of about 1 × 10 ^-6 torr, an exhaust pipe (not shown) is heated by a gas burner to weld and seal the envelope, and the vacuum degree after sealing is further increased. In order to maintain the temperature, a getter process was performed by a high frequency heating method.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention completed as described above, each electron-emitting device has a terminal outside the container Dox1.
Through Doxm, electrons are emitted by applying a voltage, and the emitted electrons are emitted through the electron passage hole 1 of the modulation electrode 120.
After passing through 21, it is accelerated by a high voltage of several kV or more applied to the metal back 85 through the high voltage terminal 87, collides with the fluorescent film 84, and is excited and emits light. At that time, a voltage corresponding to the information signal is applied to the modulation electrode 120 by the terminals G1 to G outside the container.
It is possible to control the electron beam passing through the electron passage hole 121 and display an image by applying the voltage through n.
In the present embodiment, when the accelerating voltage of 6 kV is applied by arranging the modulation electrode 120 having the electron passage hole 121 of 50 μm diameter 10 μm above the insulating substrate 110 via the insulating layer SiO 2 (not shown). The on / off of the electron beam could be controlled by the modulation voltage within 50 V, and the image could be displayed.

(Embodiment 7) In this embodiment, an image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. 10 using an electron source having a large number of electron-emitting devices manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention was manufactured.

FIG. 10 is a basic configuration diagram of the image forming apparatus in this embodiment, and FIG. 11 is its fluorescent film.

A plan view of a part of the electron source is shown in FIG. 17 is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ in the figure. However, in FIG.
6, FIG. 17, FIG. 18, and FIG. 19, the same symbols indicate the same items. Here, 1 is a substrate, 72 is an X-direction wiring (also referred to as a lower wiring) corresponding to Dxm in FIG.
Is a Y-direction wiring (also referred to as an upper wiring) corresponding to Dyn in FIG. 9, 4 is a conductive film including an electron emitting portion, 5 and 6 are device electrodes, 141 is an interlayer insulating layer, 142 is a device electrode 5 and a lower layer. This is a contact hole for electrical connection with the wiring 72.

First, the method for manufacturing the element substrate of the electron source of this embodiment will be specifically described in the order of steps with reference to FIGS.

Step-a On a substrate 1 in which a 0.5 μm thick silicon oxide film was formed on a cleaned soda-lime glass by a sputtering method, Cr with a thickness of 50 A and a thickness of 6000 angstroms were formed by vacuum evaporation.
After sequentially stacking the Au films, the photoresist (AZ137
0 Hoechst Co., Ltd.) is spin coated by a spinner and baked, and then a photomask image is exposed and developed to form a lower wiring 72.
Resist pattern is formed, and the Au / Cr deposited film is wet-etched to form a lower wiring 72 having a desired shape ((a) of FIG. 18).

Step-b Next, an interlayer insulating layer 141 made of a silicon oxide film having a thickness of 1.0 μm is deposited by the RF sputtering method (FIG. 18).
(B)).

Step-c Contact hole 1 is formed in the silicon oxide film deposited in Step b.
A photoresist pattern for forming 42 is formed, and the interlayer insulating layer 141 is etched using this as a mask to form a contact hole 142. Etching is CF ₄
And Reactive Ion using H ₂ gas
Etching) method ((c) of FIG. 18).

Step-d After that, a photoresist (RD-2000N-41 manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.) is formed on the device electrodes 5 and a gap G between the device electrodes, and a Ti film having a thickness of 50 angstrom is formed by a vacuum deposition method. Then, 1000 Å thick Ni was sequentially deposited. The photoresist pattern was dissolved in an organic solvent, the Ni / Ti deposition film was lifted off, the device electrode spacing G was set to 3 μm, and the device electrodes 5 and 6 having the device electrode width of 300 μm were formed ((in FIG. 18). d)).

Step-e After forming a 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 deposited by vacuum evaporation. Unnecessary portions were removed by lift-off to form the upper wiring 73 having a desired shape ((e) in FIG. 19).

Step-f A Cr film 151 having a film thickness of 1000 angstrom is formed by a mask having an inter-element electrode gap and an opening in the vicinity thereof.
Was deposited and patterned by vacuum vapor deposition, and an organic Pd solution (ccp4230, manufactured by Okuno Chemical Industries Co., Ltd.) was spin-coated on the spinner by a spinner and heated and baked at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes ((f) in FIG. 19). . The conductive film 2 formed of fine particles of Pd as the main element thus formed has a film thickness of 100 Å and a sheet resistance value of 5
It was × 10 ⁴ Ω / □. Note that 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, not only the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged, but also the fine particles are adjacent to each other or overlap each other. A film in a state (including an island shape) is referred to, and the particle size thereof means a diameter of fine particles whose particle shape can be recognized in the above state.

Step-g The Cr film 151 and the baked conductive film 2 were etched by an acid etchant to form a desired pattern (FIG. 19 (g)).

Step-h A pattern was formed such that a resist was applied to portions other than the contact hole 142 portion, and Ti having a thickness of 50 Å and Au having a thickness of 5000 Å were sequentially deposited by vacuum evaporation. Contact holes 142 were filled by removing unnecessary portions by lift-off.

Through the above steps, the lower wiring 72, the interlayer insulating layer 141, the upper wiring 73, the element electrode 5,
6, the conductive film 2 and the like were formed ((h) of FIG. 19).

Next, an example in which a display device is constructed using the element substrate of the electron source created as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11.

As shown in FIG. 10, the electron source substrate 71 on which a large number of elements are formed and arranged as described above is fixed on the rear plate 81, and then the face plate 86 (glass substrate 83) is placed 5 mm above the substrate 71. Fluorescent film 84 on the inner surface of
And a metal back 85 are formed through the support frame 82, and the face plate 86 and the support frame 8 are disposed.
2. Frit glass is applied to the joint portion of the rear plate 81, and the temperature is 400 ° C to 50 ° C in the air or nitrogen atmosphere.
It was sealed by baking at 0 ° C. for 10 minutes or more. The substrate 71 is also fixed to the rear plate 81 with frit glass. In FIG. 10, reference numerals 72 and 73 denote wirings in the X direction and the Y direction, respectively.

In the case of monochrome, the fluorescent film 84 is composed of only the fluorescent material, but in this embodiment, the fluorescent material adopts a stripe shape ((a) in FIG. 11), and a black stripe is formed first, and the gap is formed. Each color phosphor was applied to the part to form a phosphor film 84. As a material for the black stripe, a material containing graphite as a main component, which is often used, was used.
The slurry method was used as the method for applying the phosphor to the glass substrate 83.

A metal back 85 is usually provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 84. The metal back was 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.

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

In the case of the above-mentioned sealing, in the case of a color, the phosphors of the respective colors have to correspond to the elements, so that sufficient alignment is performed.

The atmosphere in the glass container completed as described above was evacuated to 1 × 10 ^-6 torr by an oil-free vacuum pump through an exhaust pipe (not shown).

Thereafter, a voltage is applied between the electrodes 5 and 6 of the device shown in FIG. 17 through the terminals outside the container Dox1 to Doxm and Doy1 to Doyn, and the conductive film is energized (for
Then, a conductive film 4 including an electron emitting portion was formed.

FIG. 2B shows the voltage waveform of the forming process.
Shown in

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

Next, 1 × 10 5 of acetone was placed in the glass container.
^-3 torr was introduced, and terminals outside the container Dox1 to Doxm and D
A voltage was applied between the electrodes of the electron-emitting device 74 through oy1 to Doyn, and activation was performed under the same conditions as in Example 1. Then, acetone was evacuated and the electron source was produced.

Next, at a vacuum degree of about 1 × 10 ^-6 torr,
After baking at 120 ° C. for 10 hours, an exhaust pipe (not shown) was heated by a gas burner to be welded to seal the envelope.

Finally, in order to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing,
Getter processing was performed. Immediately before sealing, a getter placed at a predetermined position (not shown) in the image forming apparatus was heated by a heating method such as high-frequency heating to form a vapor deposition film. The getter was mainly composed of Ba or the like.

In the image display apparatus of the present invention completed as described above, each electron-emitting device has a terminal outside the container Dox1.
~ Doxm, through Doy1 ~ Doyn, by applying a scanning signal and a modulation signal respectively from a signal generating means (not shown), to emit electrons, through the high voltage terminal 87, a high voltage of several kV or more is applied to the metal back 85, An image was displayed by accelerating the electron beam, causing it to collide with the fluorescent film 84, and exciting and emitting light.

(Embodiment 8) FIG. 20 shows images provided by various image information sources such as television broadcasting on a display panel using the surface conduction electron-emitting device described above as an electron source. It is a figure for showing an example of a display constituted so that information can be displayed.

In FIG. 20, 200 is a display panel,
Reference numeral 201 is a display panel drive circuit, 202 is a display controller, 203 is a multiplexer, and 204
Is a decoder, 205 is an input / output interface circuit, 2
Reference numeral 06 is a CPU, 207 is an image generation circuit, and 208 and 2
Reference numerals 09 and 210 are image memory interface circuits, 211 is an image input interface circuit, 212 and 213 are TV signal receiving circuits, and 214 is an input unit. It should be noted that, when the present display device receives a signal including both video information and audio information, such as a television signal, it naturally reproduces audio at the same time as displaying video. Descriptions of circuits, speakers, etc. relating to reception, separation, reproduction, processing, storage, etc. of audio information not directly related to the characteristics will be omitted.

The functions of the respective parts will be described below along the flow of the image signal.

First, the TV signal receiving circuit 213 is a circuit for receiving a TV image signal transmitted using a wireless transmission system such as radio waves or spatial optical communication.

The TV signal system to be received is not particularly limited. For example, the NTSC system, the PAL system,
Various methods such as the SECAM method may be used. Also, a TV signal (for example, MUSE
A so-called high-definition TV) such as a system is a signal source suitable for taking advantage of the display panel suitable for a large area and a large number of pixels.

TV received by the TV signal receiving circuit 213
The signal is output to the decoder 204.

The TV signal receiving circuit 212 is a circuit for receiving a TV image signal transmitted by using a wired transmission system such as a coaxial cable or an optical fiber. Similarly, the system of the TV signal to be received is not particularly limited, and the TV signal received by this circuit is also output to the decoder 204.

Further, the image input interface circuit 21
Reference numeral 1 is a circuit for capturing an image signal supplied from an image input device such as a TV camera or an image reading scanner, and the captured image signal is output to the decoder 204.

The image memory interface circuit 210 is a circuit for fetching the image signal stored in the video tape recorder (hereinafter abbreviated as VTR), and the fetched image signal is output to the decoder 204.

The image memory interface circuit 209 is a circuit for fetching the image signal stored in the video disc, and the fetched image signal is output to the decoder 204.

The image memory interface circuit 208 is a circuit for capturing an image signal from a device that stores still image data, such as a so-called still image disc. The captured still image data is decoded by the decoder 204.
Is input to

Further, the input / output interface circuit 205
Is a circuit for connecting the display device to an external computer, a computer network, or an output device such as a printer. Of course, it is possible to input and output image data and character / graphic information, and in some cases, It is also possible to input and output control signals and numerical data between the CPU 206 included in the display device and the outside.

Further, the image generation circuit 207 receives image data, character / graphic information, or the CPU 2 input from the outside via the input / output interface circuit 205.
This is a circuit for generating display image data based on the image data and character / graphic information output from H.06. Inside this circuit, for example, a rewritable memory for storing image data and character / graphic information, a read-only memory for storing image patterns corresponding to character codes, and a processor for performing image processing. Etc. and the circuits necessary for image generation are incorporated.

The display image data generated by this circuit is output to the decoder 204, but in some cases, it may be output to an external computer network or printer via the input / output interface circuit 205.

Further, the CPU 206 mainly carries out operations relating to operation control of the present display device and generation, selection and editing of a display image. For example, the CPU 206 outputs a control signal to the multiplexer 203 to display an image to be displayed on the display panel. Select and combine signals appropriately.

At this time, a control signal is generated for the display panel controller 202 in accordance with the image signal to be displayed, and the screen display frequency and the scanning method (for example, interlace or non-interlace) are used. Or) and the number of scanning lines in one screen, and the like, the operation of the display device is appropriately controlled.

Image data or character / graphic information is directly output to the image generation circuit 207, or an external computer or memory is accessed through the input / output interface circuit 205 to obtain image data or character / figure information. Enter graphic information.

It should be noted that the CPU 206 may of course be related to work for purposes other than this, such as a personal computer or word processor.
It may be directly related to the function of generating and processing information.
Alternatively, as described above, it may be connected to an external computer network through the input / output interface circuit 205, and for example, work such as numerical calculation may be performed in cooperation with an external device.

The input unit 214 is the CPU 206.
Is used by the user to input commands, programs, data, etc., for example, in addition to keyboards and mice, various types of devices such as joysticks, bar code readers, voice recognition devices, etc. It is possible to use an input device.

The decoder 204 is a circuit for inversely converting various image signals input from the above-mentioned 207 to 213 into three primary color signals, or luminance signals and I signals and Q signals. As shown by the dotted line in the figure, the decoder 20
4 is preferably equipped with an image memory therein, for handling a television signal which requires an image memory for reverse conversion such as MUSE.

Further, the provision of the image memory facilitates the display of a still image, or the image generation circuit 2
07 and CPU 206 in cooperation with image decimation, interpolation,
This is because there is an advantage that image processing and editing including enlargement, reduction, and composition can be easily performed.

Further, the multiplexer 203 uses the CP
The display image is appropriately selected based on the control signal input from U206. That is, the multiplexer 203
Selects a desired image signal from the inversely converted image signals input from the decoder 204 and selects the drive circuit 201.
Output to. In that case, by switching and selecting image signals within one screen display time, it is possible to divide one screen into a plurality of areas and display different images depending on the areas, as in a so-called multi-screen television. .

[0232] Further, the display panel controller 2
Reference numeral 02 is a circuit for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 201 based on a control signal input from the CPU 206. First, regarding the basic operation of the display panel, for example, a signal for controlling the operation sequence of a power source (not shown) for driving the display panel is output to the drive circuit 201.

Further, regarding the driving method of the display panel, for example, the screen display frequency and the scanning method (for example, interlace or non-interlace)
And outputs a signal for controlling the drive circuit 201 to the drive circuit 201.

In some cases, control signals relating to image quality adjustment such as brightness, contrast, color tone and sharpness of a display image may be output to the drive circuit 201.

The drive circuit 201 is a circuit for generating a drive signal to be applied to the display panel 200, and an image signal input from the multiplexer 203 and a control input from the display panel controller 202. It operates based on signals.

Although the functions of the respective units have been described above, the configuration illustrated in FIG. 20 allows the display panel 200 to display image information input from various image information sources in the present display device.

That is, various image signals such as television broadcasts are inversely converted by the decoder 204, appropriately selected by the multiplexer 203, and input to the drive circuit 201. On the other hand, the display controller 202 controls the drive circuit 20 according to the image signal to be displayed.
1 to generate a control signal for controlling the operation.

The drive circuit 201 applies a drive signal to the display panel 200 based on the image signal and the control signal. As a result, the image is displayed on the display panel 200.

A series of these operations are controlled by the CPU 206 as a whole.

Further, in this display device,
In addition to displaying the image memory selected in the image memory and the image generation circuit 207 built in the display unit 204 and the information, for example, enlargement, reduction, rotation,
It is also possible to perform image processing such as movement, edge enhancement, thinning, interpolation, color conversion, and aspect ratio conversion of images, and image editing such as composition, deletion, connection, replacement, and fitting.

Although not particularly mentioned in the description of this embodiment, a dedicated circuit for processing and editing audio information may be provided as in the case of the image processing and the image editing.

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

It should be noted that FIG. 20 shows only an example of the structure of the display device using the display panel having the surface conduction electron-emitting device as the electron source, and it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this. Yes. For example, among the constituent elements of FIG. 20, circuits relating to functions that are unnecessary for the purpose of use may be omitted. Further, conversely, depending on the purpose of use, the constituent elements may be further added, and vice versa.

For example, when the present display device is applied as a television telephone, it is preferable to add a television camera, a voice microphone, an illuminator, a transmission / reception circuit including a modem, and the like to the components.

In this display device, in particular, since it is easy to thin the display panel using the surface conduction electron-emitting device as the electron source, the depth of the display device can be reduced.

In addition, a display panel using a surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron source can easily have a large screen, has high brightness, and has excellent viewing angle characteristics. Therefore, this display device is realistic and powerful. The image can be displayed with good visibility.

[0247]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The manufacturing process is simple, an electron-emitting device with high efficiency is provided, and it can be applied to a large-area substrate having a large number of devices. Furthermore, it is possible to provide a high-quality image forming apparatus having good gradation. effective.

That is, activation is performed by introducing an organic material, which is easier to adsorb and desorb than oil into a vacuum apparatus, into a vacuum apparatus in a vacuum atmosphere in which the amount of oil is extremely small compared to activation in an oil atmosphere having a low vapor pressure. After that, by exhausting the organic material, an electron-emitting device having a carbon compound (or carbon) in the electron-emitting portion can be formed at high speed and easily.
It is effective in terms of durability of the electron-emitting device.

Further, there is an effect that it is possible to obtain an element having excellent operation stability such that the pulse width dependency is unlikely to occur.

Further, even in a display panel in which elements are held in a narrow space (for example, a space sandwiched by glass substrates), it is possible to introduce an appropriate amount of organic material used for activation into the panel. effective. Further, since it is easy to remove after being introduced once, there is an effect that it is possible to obtain an element suitable for gradation display, which is excellent in operation stability such that the pulse width dependency hardly occurs in the element after activation.

As described above, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus such as an image display apparatus having a plurality of elements, which has excellent durability, high operation stability, and is suitable for gradation display.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view for explaining a manufacturing method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of applied voltage waveforms for energization forming and activation according to the manufacturing method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a measurement / evaluation apparatus for a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a measurement / evaluation apparatus for a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of device currents If and emission currents Ie depending on the activation processing time of the surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a basic characteristic diagram of a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view (a) and a sectional view (b) of a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement.

FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of a display panel of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a fluorescent film used in a display panel.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a drive circuit showing an example of performing drive display on the image forming apparatus according to an NTSC television signal.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an electron source arranged in a ladder.

FIG. 14 is a schematic configuration diagram showing another aspect of the display panel of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an activation applied voltage waveform in the example.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of the electron source in the example.

FIG. 17 is a partial cross-sectional view of the electron source in the example.

FIG. 18 is a sectional view for explaining the method for manufacturing the electron source in the example.

FIG. 19 is a sectional view for explaining the method for manufacturing the electron source in the example.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a schematic plan view showing a conventional electron-emitting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,221 Substrate 2,3,222 Element electrode 4,224 Conductive film 5,223 Electron emission part 11,13 Power supply 10,12 Ammeter 14 Anode electrode 15 Vacuum device 16,23 Exhaust pump 21 Noodle valve 22 Carbon compound Material source 24 Valve 25 Dry pump 31 Step forming portion 71,110 Electron source substrate 72 X-direction wiring 73 Y-direction wiring 74,111 Electron-emitting device 75 Connection 81 Rear plate 82 Support frame 83 Glass substrate 84 Fluorescent film 85 Metal back 86 Fe -Spray 87 High-voltage terminal 88 Envelope 91 Black conductive material 92 Phosphor 101 Display panel 102 Scanning circuit 103 Control circuit 104 Shift register 105 Line memory 106 Synchronous signal separation circuit 107 Modulation signal generator 112 Common wiring 120 Modulation (grid ) Electrode 121 Vessel terminals 141 interlayer insulating layer 142 contact holes of vessel terminals 123 modulation electrode child apertures 122 element wiring - Le

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device having a conductive film including an electron-emitting portion between opposed electrodes, wherein carbon or a carbon compound is formed on the conductive film including an electron-emitting portion formed between the electrodes. And a step of depositing the carbon or carbon compound is a step performed using a carbon compound having a vapor pressure of 5000 hPa or less under a temperature atmosphere in the step. Method for manufacturing electron-emitting device. 2. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the carbon compound is a carbon compound having a vapor pressure at 20 ° C. of 5000 hPa or less. 3. The method for producing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the carbon compound is a carbon compound having a vapor pressure of 0.2 hPa to 5000 hPa in a temperature atmosphere in the step of depositing the carbon or the carbon compound. . 4. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 3, wherein the carbon compound is a carbon compound having a vapor pressure at 20 ° C. of 0.2 hPa to 5000 hPa. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of depositing carbon or a carbon compound on the conductive film includes a step of introducing the carbon compound into a vacuum atmosphere and applying a voltage between the electrodes. Method of manufacturing electron-emitting device. 6. The partial pressure of the introduced carbon compound is P
The method for producing an electron-emitting device according to claim 5, wherein r ₀ × 10 ^-8 or more (where Pr ₀ is the vapor pressure of the carbon compound). 7. An electron source having an electron-emitting device, which emits electrons according to an input signal, wherein the electron-emitting device is manufactured by the manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 6. An electron source characterized by being an element. 8. A plurality of rows of electron-emitting devices in which both ends of each of the plurality of electron-emitting devices are connected by wiring, and a modulation means for modulating an electron beam emitted from the electron-emitting devices. , An electron source that emits electrons in response to an input signal,
An electron source, wherein the electron-emitting device is an electron-emitting device manufactured by the manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 6. 9. A plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged and connected to m number of X-direction wirings and n-number of Y-direction wirings electrically insulated from each other, and emit electrons according to an input signal. In the electron source, the electron-emitting device is an electron-emitting device manufactured by the manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 6. 10. An image forming apparatus, which has an electron source and an image forming member, and forms an image based on an input signal, wherein the electron source is the electron source according to any one of claims 7 to 9. A characteristic image forming apparatus.