JPH0887957A - Field emission cathode device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To fix an emitter electron current emission amount of a field emission cathode element by using a constant current characteristic of a field effect transistor. CONSTITUTION: A device comprises one or more field emission cathode elements constituted of a cone-shaped emitter 3 provided on a silicon substrate 1, insulating layer 4 arranged on the silicon substrate 1 to be provided so as to surround the cone-shaped emitter 3 and a gate layer 5 provided in a surface of the insulating layer 4 and a field effect transistor 10 formed on the silicon substrate 1 corresponding to the field emission cathode element. The emitter 3 of the field emission cathode element and a drain 6 of the field effect transistor 10 are connected in the silicon substrate 1, to control emitter electron current emission of the field emission cathode element by control voltage Vgs supplied across gate-source of the field effect transistor 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a field emission cathode device, and more particularly, to a field emission cathode device having a conical emitter formed on a silicon substrate, in which emitter electron flow radiation is formed on the same silicon substrate. The present invention relates to a field emission cathode device controlled by an effect transistor (hereinafter, referred to as FET).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conical emitter provided on a silicon substrate, an insulating layer provided on the silicon substrate so as to surround the conical emitter, and a gate layer provided on the surface of the insulating layer. And an anode provided corresponding to the conical emitter, and these are enclosed in a vacuum container, and the element is already known as a field emission cathode element.

Such known field emission cathode devices are usually
A large number of field emission cathode elements are arranged on a common silicon substrate in an array arranged in the row and column directions. The large number of field emission cathode elements are enclosed in a common vacuum container together with the common silicon substrate. . In this case, since each field emission cathode element constitutes a micro vacuum tube (triode) having a size of, for example, about 1 cubic micron, many of these field emission cathode elements are formed on a common silicon substrate. They are integrated to form a vacuum integrated circuit, and the field emission cathode device is constructed as a whole.

Such a field emission cathode device has been used relatively recently, and is used, for example, as a display surface of a flat display device or as a substitute for an integrated circuit (IC), for example, a missile guide. When the integrated circuit is used in a part exposed to high temperature, such as a part, or when the integrated circuit is used in a part exposed to strong radiation, for example, in a nuclear reactor, This field emission cathode device is used instead of the above-mentioned integrated circuits.

Here, FIG. 5 shows an example of the structure of a field emission cathode element that constitutes the known field emission cathode device, and FIG. 5A shows one of the silicon substrates forming the field emission cathode element. FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the part, and FIG. 3B is a circuit configuration diagram showing an electrically equivalent circuit of the field emission cathode element.

In FIGS. 5A and 5B, 31 is a silicon substrate, 32 is a conical emitter (E), 33 is an insulating layer, 34 is a gate layer (G), 35 is an anode, and 36 is an emitter resistor ( Resistance value R), 37 is a gate control voltage source (voltage value Vg), and 38 is an anode voltage source (voltage value Va).

As shown in FIG. 5A, a plurality of substantially conical emitters 32 are provided on a silicon substrate 31, and silicon oxides such as silicon dioxide (SiO 2) are provided around these emitters 32. ₂ ) Insulating layer 3
3 is provided. A gate layer 34 made of a refractory metal conductive material is provided on the insulating layer 33. in this case,
Although not shown in FIG. 5A, for example, the emitter 3
The anode 35 is arranged at a position facing 2,
Although not shown in FIG. 5A, the silicon substrate 31, the anode 35 and the like are enclosed in a common vacuum container, and a vacuum integrated circuit type field emission cathode device is configured as a whole.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, each field emission cathode element has an anode (A) 35 and a gate (G).
It comprises a triode including an emitter and an emitter (E) 32. The anode (A) 35 is connected to an anode voltage source 38 that generates an anode voltage Va, the gate (G) 34 is connected to a gate control voltage source 37 that generates a gate control voltage Vg, and the emitter (E) 32 is an emitter resistor. Grounded via 36.

In the above-mentioned structure, each field emission cathode element is different from an ordinary heating type cathode in that when a predetermined anode voltage Va is applied to the anode 35 and a gate control voltage Vg is applied to the gate 34, the emitter 32 is turned on. Emitter electron stream emission occurs from the emitter 32 without heating. The emitter electron flow radiation amount is controlled by the gate control voltage Vg applied to the gate 34, and
5 is supplied. At this time, the anode current (current value Ia) corresponding to the amount of emitter electron flow radiation is applied to the anode 35.
Flows. Further, the emitter resistor 36 is for stabilization, that is, for reducing variations in the amount of emitter electron flow emitted from the emitter 32 of each field emission cathode element. For example, a resistor having a resistance value of about 1 MΩ is used. To be

[0010]

It is said that the known field emission cathode device can be used in an environment such as a high temperature or a strong radiation state in which the operating speed can be remarkably increased as compared with the conventional integrated circuits. Have advantages.

However, regarding the field emission cathode device itself which constitutes the field emission cathode device, a high gate control voltage, for example, a voltage Vg of about 80 V, which changes the emitter electron flow radiation amount with time, is required. However, there is a problem that large-amplitude spike noise is generated during the switching operation, and when looking at the field emission cathode device normally composed of a large number of field emission cathode elements,
The emission amount of the emitter electron flow from each field emission cathode element is non-uniform, and if one field emission cathode element causes a short circuit failure, there is a problem that the whole field emission cathode element is destroyed. is there.

In this case, as shown in FIG.
Although the emitter resistor 36 is connected to the emitter 32 of each field emission cathode element, the connection of the emitter resistor 36 can partially alleviate the above-mentioned problems, but eliminate them. I can't.

The present invention is intended to eliminate these problems entirely, and its main purpose is to reduce the amount of emitter electron flow emitted from a field emission cathode device to a field effect transistor (F).
An object of the present invention is to provide a field emission cathode device which is stabilized by using the constant current characteristic of (ET).

An additional object of the present invention is to obtain a deviation value of the emitter electron flow emission quantity of each field emission cathode element from a normal emission quantity, and the deviation value is used to obtain the emitter electron flow of each field emission cathode element. An object of the present invention is to provide a field emission cathode device which makes the radiation amount constant.

[0015]

In order to achieve the main object, the present invention provides a conical emitter provided on a silicon substrate and a conical emitter arranged on the silicon substrate and surrounding the conical emitter. One or more field emission cathode elements formed of an insulating layer provided and a gate layer provided on the surface of the insulating layer; and formed on the silicon substrate corresponding to the field emission cathode elements. A field effect transistor (FET), the emitter of the field emission cathode element and the drain of the field effect transistor (FET) are connected in the silicon substrate, and the field effect transistor (FET) is supplied between the gate and source of the field effect transistor (FET). The control means is provided with first means for controlling emitter electron flow emission of the field emission cathode device.

Further, to achieve the main purpose, the present invention provides a conical emitter provided on a silicon substrate, and an insulating layer provided on the silicon substrate and surrounding the conical emitter. A plurality of field emission cathode elements each including a gate layer provided on the surface of the insulating layer, and a plurality of field effect transistors formed on the silicon substrate corresponding to each of the field emission cathode elements. (FET), and the drains of the field effect transistors (FETs) corresponding to the emitters of the respective field emission cathode elements are connected in the silicon substrate, and these field emission cathode elements and field effect transistors (FETs) are connected.
Are arranged and arranged to form rows and columns on a silicon substrate, and the gates of a plurality of field effect transistors (FETs) arranged in the column direction are arranged in the row direction on a common gate line for each column. The sources of the plurality of field effect transistors (FETs) are connected to a common source line for each row, and the addressing of each different field emission cathode element is performed by the control voltage supplied between each gate line and each source line. The second means is provided.

Further, in order to achieve the above-mentioned additional object, the amount of emitter electron flow emission of each field emission cathode element is adjusted when addressing each field emission cathode element in the second means. Measured, comparing the obtained emitter electron flow radiation amount and the reference value to obtain the deviation value of the emitter electron flow radiation amount of each field emission cathode element,
This deviation value is stored in the memory in association with each field emission cathode element, and when the addressing of each field emission cathode element is performed next time, the deviation value of the field emission cathode element stored in the memory. By reading out the read deviation value to the field emission cathode element, the emitter electron flow emission quantity of all the field emission cathode elements and the required emitter electron flow emission quantity determined respectively when addressing is performed. A third means for making them substantially equal is provided.

[0018]

In the first means, the drain / source path of the FET is connected between the emitter of the field emission cathode element and the ground, and the gate control voltage is supplied between the gate and the source of the FET. A FET having a constant current characteristic is connected to the emitter of the radiating cathode element, and the emitter electron flow emission amount of the field emission cathode element is a fixed amount determined by the constant current characteristic of the FET, and the amount is the FET. Constant current characteristic, that is, the gate control voltage applied to the FET.

As described above, according to the first means, the emitter electron flow emission amount of the field emission cathode element is made constant, so that the emitter electron flow emission amount is less likely to change with time, and the electric field is reduced. A gate control voltage, for example, 1 to 2 V, in which the emitter electron flow radiation amount of the radiation cathode device is extremely small.
It becomes possible to control the voltage to be constant by a certain voltage, and of course, spike noise does not occur during the switching operation.

In the second means, the drain / source paths of the corresponding FETs are connected between the emitters of the plurality of field emission cathode elements and the ground, and the plurality of field emission cathode elements are associated with each other. FE
Ts are arranged and arranged so as to form rows and columns on a silicon substrate, and the gates of a plurality of FETs arranged in a column direction have a common gate line for each column and a plurality of Fs arranged in a row direction.
The source of ET is connected to a common source line for each row, and each field emission cathode element is addressed by a control voltage supplied between each gate line and each source line, so that a plurality of field emission is generated. The FET having the constant current characteristic is connected to the emitter of the cathode element, respectively, and the emitter electron flow emission amount of the plurality of field emission cathode elements becomes a constant amount determined by the constant current characteristic of the corresponding FET. By addressing the field emission cathode element, it becomes possible to control the required amount of emitter electron flow emission of the field emission cathode element.

As described above, according to the second means, the action achieved by the first means can be expected, and at the time of addressing of each field emission cathode element, the gate line and the source line are separated from each other. By selecting the control voltage supplied to the device, it becomes possible to individually control the required amount of emitter electron flow emission of the field emission cathode device.

Further, in the third means, at the time of addressing each of the field emission cathode elements, the emitter electron flow emission quantities of these field emission cathode elements are measured, and the obtained emitter electron flow emission quantity and the reference value are obtained. Then, the deviation value of the emission amount of the emitter electron flow of each field emission cathode element is obtained, and the obtained deviation value is stored in the memory corresponding to each field emission cathode element. At the time of addressing, the deviation value of the field emission cathode element stored in the memory is read, and the read deviation value is fed back to the field emission cathode element.

As described above, according to the third means, the effect achieved by the second means can be expected, and in addition to the fact that the field emission cathode elements are already stored in the memory at the time of addressing. Read the deviation value from the reference value of the emitter electron flow radiation amount in the field emission cathode element,
The read deviation value is fed back to the field emission cathode element,
By controlling the emitter electron flow emission amount of the field emission cathode device, the emitter electron flow emission amount of all the field emission cathode devices can be made substantially equal to the required emitter electron flow emission amount determined at the time of addressing.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a constitutional view showing a first embodiment of a field emission cathode device according to the present invention. FIG. 1A is a silicon substrate on which one field emission cathode element and FET are formed. FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of a portion, and FIG. 3B is a circuit configuration diagram showing an electrically equivalent circuit of a portion including a field emission cathode element.

In FIGS. 1A and 1B, 1 is a p-type silicon substrate, 2 is a first n-type layer serving as a source of the FET 10, 3 is a conical emitter of a field emission cathode element, and 4 is an insulating layer. 4'is a gate insulating layer of the field emission cathode element, 5 is a gate layer of the field emission cathode element, 6 is a second n-type layer serving as a drain of the FET 10, 7 is a source electrode of the FET 10, and 8 is a gate electrode of the FET 10. , 9 is an anode of a field emission cathode element, 10 is a field effect transistor (FET), 11 is a source resistance, 12 is a gate voltage source (voltage value Vg), 13
Is an anode voltage source (voltage value Va), and 14 is a gate-source control voltage source (voltage value Vgs).

Then, as shown in FIG. 1 (a), p
A plurality of, for example, first and second n-type layers 2 and 6 are formed on one main surface of the type silicon substrate 1, and a conical emitter 3 is provided on the surface of the second n-type layer 6. To be On the surfaces of the first and second n-type layers 2 and 6 and the exposed surface of the p-type silicon substrate 1, an insulating layer 4 and a gate insulating layer made of silicon oxide, for example, silicon dioxide (SiO ₂ ). 4'is provided. Here, the gate insulating layer 4 ′ is the first
On the surface of each part of the n-type layer 2 and the second n-type layer 6 and exposed p between the first n-type layer 2 and the second n-type layer 6
Provided on the surface of the mold type silicon substrate 1,
The insulating layer 4 is provided on the surface of each part of the first n-type layer 2 and the second n-type layer 6 and on the exposed surface of the p-type silicon substrate 1 continuous with it. An opening reaching the surface of the first n-type layer 2 is provided between the insulating layer 4 and the gate insulating layer 4 ′ on the first n-type layer 2, and on the second n-type layer 6 , The conical emitter 3 is erected between the insulating layer 4 and the gate insulating layer 4 '. This gate insulating layer 4'is the first
Of the exposed p-type silicon substrate 1 between the n-type layer 2 and the second n-type layer 6 is thinner than the other part, and the thin part of the gate insulating layer 4'is formed. A gate electrode 8 is provided on the top. Also, from the end of the insulating layer 4 to the first
Through the opening reaching the surface of the n-type layer 2 of
The source electrode 7 is formed so as to reach the thick part of the gate insulating layer 4, and the gate layer 5 is provided at the end of the insulating layer 4 and the thick part of the gate insulating layer 4 ′ around which the conical emitter 3 is erected. To be

In this case, the conical emitter 3 and the emitter 3
Of the insulating layer 4 and the gate layer 5 on the upper side of the first opening of the insulating layer 4 constitute one field emission cathode element. Type silicon substrate 1, first and second n-type layers 2,
6, the gate insulating layer 4 ′, the source electrode 7, and the gate electrode 8 constitute one FET 10. Although not shown in FIG. 1A, for example,
An anode 9 is arranged at a position facing the emitter 3, and similarly, although not shown in FIG. 1A, the p-type silicon substrate 1, the anode 9 and the like are enclosed in a common vacuum container,
A vacuum integrated circuit type field emission cathode device is constructed as a whole.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, the field emission cathode element is composed of an anode (A) 9, a gate (G) 5,
A triode including the emitter (E) 3 is configured, and the drain / source path of the FET 10 and the source resistor 11 are connected in series between the emitter (E) 3 and the ground. In this triode, the anode (A) 9 is connected to the anode voltage source 13 that generates the anode voltage Va, and the gate (G) 5 is connected to the gate voltage source 12 that generates the fixed gate voltage Vg. In the FET 10, the gate 8 is connected to a gate-source control voltage source 14 that generates a variable gate-source control voltage Vgs.

The field emission cathode device having the above structure operates as follows.

The field emission cathode device used in this field emission cathode device has a predetermined anode voltage Va fixed to the gate 5 at the gate 9 like the field emission cathode device used in the known field emission cathode device described above. If a gate-source control voltage Vgs having a required value is applied to the gate 8 of the FET 10 by applying the gate voltage Vg of each of the above, the emitter 3 emits the electron electron current without heating the emitter 3. In this case, the emitter electron flow radiation amount of the field emission cathode element is not controlled by the fixed gate voltage Vg applied to the gate 5, but is applied to the gate 8 of the FET 10 connected to the emitter 3 of the field emission cathode element. It is controlled by an applied variable gate-source control voltage Vgs. That is, the FET 10 exhibits a so-called constant current characteristic that it operates in a constant current region when the gate-source control voltage Vgs applied to its gate 8 is appropriately selected. When the FET 10 exhibiting a constant current characteristic is connected to the emitter 3 of the element, the emitter electron flow radiation amount of the field emission cathode element is FE.
It is determined by the constant current characteristic of T10. The electron flow emitted from the emitter 3 is supplied to the anode 9, and an anode current (current value Ia) corresponding to the emitter electron flow emission amount flows through the anode 9.

Here, FIG. 2 shows the gate-source control voltage V of the FET 10 in the field emission cathode device of this embodiment.
Emitter electron flow radiation amount when gs is changed, that is,
FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing a change state of the anode current Ia, and FIG.
5 is a characteristic diagram showing an example of temporal variation in emitter electron flow radiation amount of the field emission cathode device of the present embodiment.
This is compared with an example of a temporal variation in the emitter electron flow radiation amount of the known field emission cathode device shown in (b).

In FIG. 2, the vertical axis represents the emitter electron flow radiation amount (anode current) Ia, and the horizontal axis represents the gate of the FET 10.
This is a control voltage Vgs between sources and shows a characteristic when 80 V is applied to the gate 5 as the gate voltage Vg.

In FIG. 3, the vertical axis represents emitter electron flow radiation amount (anode current) Ia, and the horizontal axis represents time (min).
The upper characteristic shows the amount of emitter electron flow emitted from the field emission cathode device of this embodiment, and the lower characteristic shows the amount of emitted electron electron flow from known field emission cathode devices.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the gate-source control voltage Vgs of the FET 10 is about 1.6 V or less, the emitter electron flow radiation amount Ia is in a state where almost no flow occurs, but the gate-source is small. Control voltage Vgs is about 1.6
When V exceeds V, the emitter electron flow radiation amount Ia suddenly increases as the gate-source control voltage Vgs increases, and the gate-source control voltage Vgs increases.
By selecting, it becomes possible to control the emitter electron flow radiation amount of the field emission cathode device.

As described above, if the gate-source control voltage Vgs is appropriately selected and the FET 10 is operated in the constant current region, as shown in the characteristic of FIG. Regardless, the emission amount of the emitter electron flow of the field emission cathode element becomes a constant amount determined by the constant current characteristic of the FET 10. By the way, in the known field emission cathode device in which the emitter resistor 36 is connected instead of the FET 10, as shown in the characteristics of FIG. The emitter electron flow radiation amount of is always finely fluctuated.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the emitter electron flow radiation amount of the field emission cathode element is made constant,
The emitter electron flow radiation amount is not affected by the change over time, and a field emission cathode device having a constant emitter electron flow radiation amount can be obtained at all times.

Further, according to the present embodiment, when the emitter electron flow radiation amount of the field emission cathode device is controlled, the FET1
Since it is controlled by the gate-source control voltage Vgs of 0, an extremely small control voltage, for example, 1 to 2
It suffices to prepare a control voltage of about V, and spike noise does not occur during the switching operation of the field emission cathode element.

Next, FIG. 4 is a schematic constitutional view showing a second embodiment of the field emission cathode device according to the present invention, in which a large number of electric fields having the constitutions shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b) are shown. The radiation cathode element and the FET 10 are arranged and arranged so as to form rows and columns on the p-type silicon substrate 1.

In FIG. 4, 10-11, ..., 10
-13, ..., 10-33 are FET constituent parts, 15-1
, ..., 15-13, ..., 15-33 are field emission cathode element constituent parts, 16-1, ..., 16-3 are source lines, 17-1, ..., 17-3 are gate lines. Is.

On the p-type silicon substrate 1, a large number of field emission cathode element constituent parts 15-11, ..., 15-13, ...
3 and a large number of FET constituent parts 1 constituting the FET 10.
0-11, ..., 10-13, ..., 10-33 are arranged and arranged correspondingly to form rows and columns. These field emission cathode element constituent parts 15-11, ...
..., 15-13, ..., 15-33 and the FET configuration unit 1
Source lines 16-1, ..., 16-3 are arranged adjacent to each other in parallel with the arrangement in the row direction in 0-11, ..., 10-13, ..., 10-33. Parts 15-11, ..., 15-13, ...
..., 15-33 and the FET configuration section 10-11, ...
... 10-13, ..., Gate lines 17, ..., in parallel with the array in the column direction in 10-33, respectively.
17-3 are arranged adjacent to each other. Each FET configuration unit 10-1
1, ..., 10-13, ..., 10-33, the first row FET constituent parts 10-11 ,.
The source 7 of each FET 10 located at 13 is connected to the source line 16-1 of the first row, which is arranged adjacently, and the FE of the second row.
Each of the FEs in the T configuration unit 10-21, ..., 10-23
The source 7 of T10 is connected to the adjacent source line 16-2 of the second row, and the source 7 of T10 is connected to the FET component 10-3 of the third row.
1, ... Source 7 of each FET 10 in 10-33
Is connected to the source line 16-3 of the third row arranged adjacently. On the other hand, the first-row FET constituent parts 10-11, ...
The gate 8 of each FET 10 in 10-31 is connected to the gate line 17-1 in the first column, which is adjacently arranged, and the FET components 10-12 in the second column, ... The gate 8 of the FET 10 is connected to the adjacent gate line 17-2 of the second row, and the FET components 10-13, ...
Gate 8 of the third row is adjacent to the gate line 17
-3. Although not shown in FIG. 4,
Each field emission cathode element constituent part 15-11, ..., 15-1
, ..., 15-33 are each provided with an anode 9 at a position corresponding to the emitter 3 of the field emission cathode element, and the common p-type silicon substrate 1 and these anodes 9 and the like are enclosed in a common vacuum container. Thus, a vacuum integrated circuit type field emission cathode device is constructed as a whole.

In this case, the source lines 16-1 of each row,
, ..., 16-3 are sequentially supplied with the source selection signal, and gate lines 17-1, ..., 17-3 in each column are sequentially supplied with the gate selection signal.
6-1, ..., 16-3 and the gate line 17-1,
..., field emission cathode element constituent parts 15-11, ..., 15-13, ... arranged at the respective intersections of 17-3.
..., 15-33 and the FET configuration section 10-11, ...,
10-13, ..., 10-33 correspond to the corresponding source lines 16-1, ..., 16-3 and the gate line 17.
-1, ..., 17-3 are simultaneously supplied with the source selection signal and the gate selection signal, and are addressed and become active. For example, the field emission cathode element constituent portion 15-11 and the FET constituent portion 10-11.
Is addressed only when the source selection signal is supplied to the source line 16-1 and the gate selection signal is supplied to the gate line 17-1 at the same timing, while the field emission cathode device constituent portion 15-33 and the FET constituent portion are formed. 10-3
No. 3 is addressed only when the source selection signal is supplied to the source line 16-3 and the gate selection signal is supplied to the gate line 17-3 at the same timing.

The field emission cathode device having the above construction operates as follows.

Each field emission cathode element constituent portion 15-11, ...
..., 15-13, ..., 15-33 and the FET constituent parts 10-11, ..., 10-13, ..., 10-3.
3 has a configuration in which the drain / source paths of the FET 10 corresponding to the emitter 3 of each field emission cathode device are connected, the gate-source control voltage Vgs applied to these FETs 10 is appropriately selected. As a result, each FET 10 can be operated in a state exhibiting a constant current characteristic, and the emitter electron flow radiation amount of each field emission cathode element can be determined by the constant current characteristic of the FET 10.

In this case, in this embodiment, the emitter electron flow emission of each field emission cathode element is performed when the field emission cathode element configuration section and the FET configuration section including this field emission cathode element are addressed. For example, if this field emission cathode element is provided with the field emission cathode element configuration section 15-11, the field emission cathode element configuration section 15-11 and the corresponding FET configuration section 10-11 are addressed. When the source line 16-1 is connected to the source line 16-1
-1 is also when the gate selection signals are supplied at the same timing. Then, the source selection signal and the gate selection signal are supplied to the source 7 and the gate 8 of the FET 10 in the FET configuration unit 10-11, and thereby the F
The ET10 is driven so as to exhibit a constant current characteristic, and this F
The emitter electron stream is emitted from the emitter 3 of the field emission cathode device connected to the ET 10. Further, such an operation is performed by the field emission cathode element constituent portion 15-11 and the FET.
Not only when the combination of components 10-11 is addressed, but also other field emission cathode device components and FEs.
The same operation is performed when the combination of the T components is addressed. Then, when addressing each combination of the field emission cathode element constituent portion and the FET constituent portion, if the levels of the source selection signal and the gate selection signal supplied at the same timing are appropriately selected separately, It is possible to control the emitter electron flow radiation amount of the field emission cathode element for each combination of the field emission cathode element configuration section and the FET configuration section.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the emitters of the field emission cathode elements have the F constant current characteristics.
Since the ET is connected, the same effect as that expected in the first embodiment can be expected, and the voltage levels of the source selection signal and the gate selection signal are selected at the time of addressing each field emission cathode element. This makes it possible to individually control the required amount of emitter electron flow radiation of the field emission cathode device.

Although not shown in FIG. 4, the field emission cathode device according to the second embodiment has a detector, an operation controller, and a memory newly added to achieve the functions described below. The configuration can be changed so that

That is, when a reference value of a predetermined emitter electron flow radiation amount is initially created and each field emission cathode element is addressed with a constant gate-source control voltage Vgs, the detection unit detects each. The emitter electron flow radiation amount of the field emission cathode device is read in the form of the anode current value Ia, and the arithmetic control unit reads the read emitter electron flow radiation amount (anode current value Ia) and the reference of the emitter electron flow radiation amount previously created. The deviation values are calculated by comparing with the values, and these deviation values are stored in the memory. Then, when each field emission cathode element is addressed, the arithmetic control unit reads out the deviation value corresponding to the addressed field emission cathode element from the memory, and the voltage including the read deviation value, for example, the gate voltage. Vg is generated,
This gate voltage Vg is applied to the gate 5 of the field emission cathode device.
The field emission cathode element emits the same amount of emitter electron current as that of the other field emission cathode elements. The flow radiation amount can be made substantially constant.

Thus, thereafter, when each field emission cathode element is addressed so as to have a predetermined emitter electron flow emission amount, the gate / source corresponding to the predetermined emitter electron flow emission amount reference value. By selecting the inter-control voltage Vgs, it becomes possible to individually control the emitter electron flow radiation amount to a predetermined value.

[0050]

As described above, in the invention described in claim 1, the drain / source path of the FET 10 is connected between the emitter 3 of the field emission cathode element and the ground, and the FE
The gate control voltage Vgs is supplied between the gate and the source of T10.

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the invention, the emitter 10 of the field emission cathode element is connected to the FET 10 having a constant current characteristic, and the emitter electron flow emission amount of the field emission cathode element is Since the constant amount is determined by the constant current characteristic of the FET 10, there is an effect that the emission amount of the emitter electron flow is less likely to change with time, and further, the emission amount of the emitter electron flow of the field emission cathode element is extremely small. For example, since it can be controlled to be constant by a voltage of about 1 to 2 V, there is an effect that spike noise does not occur during the switching operation.

Further, in the invention described in claim 2,
The drain / source paths of the corresponding FETs 10 are respectively connected between the emitters 3 of the plurality of field emission cathode devices and the ground, and the plurality of field emission cathode devices and the corresponding FETs 10 are arranged in rows and columns on the silicon substrate 1. A plurality of FEs arranged in a row and arranged to form
Sources 7 of T10 are source lines 16-1 to 16 for each row.
6-3, the gates 8 of the plurality of FETs 10 arranged in the column direction are connected to the gate lines 17-1 to 17-3 for each column, and the source lines 16-1 to 16-3 and the source lines 17 are connected. The different field emission cathode elements are addressed by the gate control voltage Vgs supplied between -1 to 17-3.

Therefore, according to the second aspect of the invention, the FETs 3 having constant current characteristics are connected to the emitters 3 of the plurality of field emission cathode elements, respectively, and the emitters of the plurality of field emission cathode elements are connected. The electron flow radiation amount becomes a constant amount determined by the constant current characteristic of the corresponding FET 10,
In addition to obtaining the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 1, each source line 16-1 to 16-3 and each gate line 17-1 are used when addressing the field emission cathode element.
By selecting the source selection signal and the gate selection signal supplied between No. 17 to No. 3-3, it is possible to individually control the amount of emitter electron flow radiation of the required field emission cathode device.

Further, in the invention as set forth in claim 4, at the time of addressing the respective field emission cathode devices, the emitter electron flow emission amounts of these field emission cathode devices are measured, and the obtained emitter electron flow emission amount and the reference are obtained. Calculate the deviation value of the emitter electron flow radiation amount of each field emission cathode element by comparing with the value, store the obtained deviation value in the memory in each field emission cathode element, next time, for each field emission cathode element At the time of addressing, the deviation value of the field emission cathode element stored in the memory is read, and the read deviation value is fed back to the field emission cathode element.

Therefore, according to the invention described in claim 4, in addition to the effect equivalent to that of the invention described in claim 2, the emitter electron flow radiation of the field emission cathode element is returned by the feedback of the read deviation value. By controlling the amount, it is possible to make the emitter electron flow emission amount of all the field emission cathode elements substantially equal to the predetermined emitter electron flow emission amount determined at the time of addressing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of a field emission cathode device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an FET in the field emission cathode device shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the gate-source control voltage of Eq.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing an example of a temporal variation of an emitter electron flow radiation amount in the field emission cathode device shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of the field emission cathode device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a field emission cathode element constituting a known field emission cathode device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 p-type silicon substrate 2 first n-type layer (source of FET) 3 conical emitter 4 insulating layer 4'gate insulating layer 5 gate layer 6 second n-type layer (drain of FET) 7 source (electrode) 8 Gate (electrode) 9 Anode 10 Field effect transistor (FET) 10-11, ... 10-33 FET component 11 Source resistance 12 Gate voltage source 13 Anode voltage source 14 Gate-source control voltage source 15-11 ,. , 15-33 Field emission cathode element constituent part 16-1, ..., 16-3 Source line 17-1, ..., 17-3 Gate line

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A conical emitter provided on a silicon substrate, an insulating layer provided on the silicon substrate so as to surround the conical emitter, and a gate provided on a surface of the insulating layer. And a field effect transistor formed on the silicon substrate corresponding to the field emission cathode element, wherein the field emission cathode element is formed in the silicon substrate. An emitter of the field effect transistor is connected to the drain of the field effect transistor, and the emitter electron flow emission of the field emission cathode device is controlled by a control voltage supplied between the gate and the source of the field effect transistor. Radiation cathode device. 2. A conical emitter provided on a silicon substrate, an insulating layer provided on the silicon substrate so as to surround the conical emitter, and a gate provided on a surface of the insulating layer. A plurality of field emission cathode elements each composed of a layer and a plurality of field effect transistors formed on the silicon substrate corresponding to each of the field emission cathode elements. An emitter of the field emission cathode device and a drain of the corresponding field effect transistor are connected to each other, and the field emission cathode device and the field effect transistor are configured and arranged to form rows and columns on a silicon substrate and arranged in the column direction. The gates of the plurality of field effect transistors are arranged on a common gate line for each column and are arranged in the row direction. The source of the field emission is connected to a common source line for each row, and the field emission is characterized in that the different field emission cathode elements are addressed by the control voltage supplied between each gate line and each source line. Cathode device. 3. The field emission cathode element is provided with an anode for receiving the electron flow radiation, and the field emission cathode element and the anode are arranged in a vacuum atmosphere. The electron emission cold cathode device according to any one of 1. 4. The emitter electron flow emission amount of each field emission cathode element is measured when the addressing of each different field emission cathode element is performed, and the obtained emitter electron flow emission amount and the reference value are obtained. The emitter electron flow radiation amount deviation value of each field emission cathode element is obtained by comparison, and this deviation value is stored in the memory in association with each field emission cathode element, and next time, the addressing of each field emission cathode element is performed. When the is performed, by reading the deviation value of the field emission cathode element stored in the memory, by returning the read deviation value to the field emission cathode element,
3. The field emission cathode device according to claim 2, wherein the emitter electron flow emission amounts of all the field emission cathode devices are made substantially equal to a required emitter electron flow emission amount determined for each addressing.