JPH0927268A - Manufacture of electron emitting element, electron source, and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a surface conduction type electron emitting element having high electron emission efficiency and having high stability when driven over a long time. SOLUTION: This method for manufacturing a surface conduction type electron emitting element provided with a conductive film 3 having an electron emitting part 2 between electrodes 4, 5 includes a process for forming a carbonaceous coating in the gap of the conductive film 3 that serves as the electron emitting part 2 and for applying a voltage to the coating in an evacuated atmosphere. The crystalline property of the carbonaceous coating can thus be enhanced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electron-emitting device, an electron source in which a large number of such devices are arranged, and a method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus such as a display device or an exposure device which is constructed by using the electron source. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, two types of electron-emitting devices are known, which are a thermoelectron-emitting device and a cold cathode electron-emitting device. Field emission type (hereinafter, referred to as "FE")
Type ". ), Metal / insulating layer / metal type (hereinafter referred to as “MI
It is called "M type". ) And surface conduction electron-emitting devices.

[0003] As an example of the FE type, W. P. Dyke
and W. W. Dolan, “Field Em
"Ission", Advance in Elect
ron Physics, 8, 89 (1956) or C.I. A. Spindt, “Physical
Properties of thin-filmfi
eld emission cathodes wit
h mollybdenum cones ”, J. A.
ppl. Phys. , 47, 5248 (1976)
And the like are known.

An example of the MIM type is C.I. A. Mea
d, “Operation of Tunnel-Em
"Ission Devices", J. Appl.
Phys. , 32,646 (1961) and the like are known.

As an example of the surface conduction electron-emitting device,
M. I. Elinson, Radio Eng.
Electron Phys. , 10, 1290 (1
965) and the like.

[0006] The surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes a phenomenon in which electrons are emitted by passing a current through a small-area thin film formed on an insulating substrate in parallel with the film surface. Examples of the surface conduction electron-emitting device include a device using an SnO ₂ thin film by Elinson et al. And a device using an Au thin film [G. Dittmer: "Thin Solid
Films ", 9, 317 (1972)], In ₂
O ₃ / SnO ₂ thin film [M. Hartwell
and C.I. G. FIG. Fonstad: "IEEE T
rans. ED Conf. , 519 (197
5)], using a carbon thin film [Hisashi Araki et al .: Vacuum,
26, No. 1, p. 22 (1983)].

The surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes a phenomenon in which electron emission occurs when a current is applied to a conductive film formed on an insulating substrate in parallel with the film surface.

As a typical configuration example of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, a conductive film such as a metal oxide which connects between a pair of device electrodes provided on an insulating substrate is referred to as forming in advance. The thing which formed the electron emission part by the electricity supply process is mentioned. Forming is performed by applying a DC voltage or a very slow rising voltage across the conductive film, for example, 1 V /
A process that is usually performed by applying and applying a rising voltage for about 1 minute to locally destroy, deform or alter the conductive film to change the structure and form an electron-emitting portion in an electrically high resistance state. Is. The electron emission is performed from the vicinity of the crack generated in the electron emitting portion by applying a voltage to the conductive film in which the electron emitting portion is formed and flowing a current.

Since the surface conduction electron-emitting device has a simple structure and is easy to manufacture, it has an advantage that a large number of arrays can be formed over a large area. Therefore, various applications for utilizing this feature are being researched. For example, it can be used for an image forming apparatus such as a display device.

Conventionally, as an example in which a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are formed in an array, surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in parallel and both ends (both device electrodes) of each surface conduction electron-emitting device are wired. An electron source in which a large number of rows connected to each other (also referred to as common wiring) is arranged (also referred to as a ladder arrangement) (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-31332 and 1-283).
749, and 2-257552). Further, particularly in the case of a display device, a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices can be used as a self-luminous display device that can be a flat panel display device similar to a display device using liquid crystal and does not require a backlight. A display device has been proposed in which an arranged electron source is combined with a phosphor that emits visible light when irradiated with an electron beam from the electron source (US Pat. No. 506).
No. 6883).

[0011]

When the electron-emitting device used in the electron source, the image forming apparatus and the like is driven for a long time, stable and controlled electron-emitting characteristics and its efficiency have been desired to be improved.

The above-mentioned efficiency means, for example, in the case of the above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device, when a voltage is applied to a pair of opposing device electrodes, a current (hereinafter referred to as "device current If").
(Hereinafter referred to as “emission current Ie”) with respect to the current emitted in the vacuum (hereinafter referred to as “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 stable and controlled electron emission characteristics and efficiency are improved, in an image forming apparatus using a phosphor as an image forming member, for example, a bright and high quality image forming apparatus with a low current, such as a flat television, can be used. Will be 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.

Conventionally, in order to improve the efficiency, a step of applying a voltage to a conductive film including an electron emitting portion in an atmosphere containing an organic compound gas with respect to the surface conduction type electron emitting device subjected to the forming treatment. (Hereinafter, this step is called activation). After such activation, the device
It is considered that carbon and a carbon compound are deposited on (or in the vicinity of) the electron emitting portion.

However, in a general surface conduction electron-emitting device manufactured by the above method, when driving for electron emission is performed for a long time in a state where the organic compound gas is exhausted,
There is a problem that the emission current is reduced.

It is considered that the deposited carbonaceous film is desorbed with the driving for a long time as one of the causes of the decrease of the emission current, and whether the crystallinity of the film is good or bad depends on the electron source and the image formation. It contributes to the stability of the device. In other words, if a film mainly composed of carbon with high crystallinity can be formed, it is possible to increase the emission current Ie and also suppress variations in electron emission characteristics among devices. Further, it can be driven for a long time, and further, it can be expected to manufacture a stable electron source and an image forming apparatus.

In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device and an electron source and an image forming apparatus using the electron-emitting device, which can maintain high electron emission efficiency and can be stably driven even when driven for a long time. To provide.

[0018]

The configuration of the present invention which has been achieved to achieve the above object is as follows.

That is, the first aspect of the present invention is a method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device including a conductive film having an electron-emitting portion between electrodes, wherein a gap is partially formed and carbon is mainly contained in at least the gap portion. A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device is characterized by including a step of applying a voltage to a conductive film having a film as a component after exhausting.

A second aspect of the present invention is a method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device including a conductive film having an electron-emitting portion between electrodes, wherein at least the conductive film having a gap has at least the gap. A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device, comprising: a step of forming a film containing carbon as a main component; and a step of applying a voltage to the conductive film having the film containing carbon as a main component after exhausting. is there.

The second aspect of the present invention is further characterized in that it "has a step of repeatedly performing the step of forming the film containing carbon as a main component and the step of applying a voltage after exhausting", The step of forming a film containing carbon as a main component in the gap portion of the conductive film includes a step of applying a voltage to the conductive film in an atmosphere of carbon or a carbon compound. "
That “the step of forming a gap in the conductive film is included”, “the step of forming the gap in the conductive film includes a step of applying a voltage to the conductive film”, “the conductive film The voltage is applied to the conductive film in the step of forming the gap in the gap by increasing the voltage value with time. "
"The voltage value applied to the conductive film after the evacuation is smaller than the voltage value applied to the conductive film in the step of forming a gap in the conductive film".

Further, the first and second aspects of the present invention are further characterized in that "the step of applying a voltage after the exhaust includes a step of heating the film containing carbon as a main component". The step of applying a voltage after evacuation is a step of improving the crystallinity of the film containing carbon as a main component. "" The atmosphere after evacuation is 1 × 10 ^-6 torr
r or less "," the conductive film is composed of fine particles "," the fine particles are a metal or a metal oxide "," the film containing carbon as a main component is amorphous carbon or graphite ". Alternatively, it is mainly composed of a mixture thereof, "the electron-emitting device is
It is also a surface conduction electron-emitting device ".

A third aspect of the present invention is a method for manufacturing an electron source having an electron-emitting device and driving means for the electron-emitting device, wherein the electron-emitting device is the same as the first or second method of the present invention. The method for manufacturing an electron source is characterized by being manufactured by the following method.

The third aspect of the present invention is further characterized in that "the electron source is an electron source having at least one row of elements in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are connected in parallel". The source is also an electron source in which a plurality of element rows in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are connected are arranged in a matrix. ”

A fourth aspect of the present invention is a method for manufacturing an image-forming panel having an electron-emitting device and an image-forming member for forming an image by irradiation of an electron beam, wherein the electron-emitting device is the same as the present invention. An image forming panel manufacturing method is characterized by being manufactured by the first or second method.

The fourth aspect of the present invention is further characterized in that "the image forming panel has at least one element row in which a plurality of the electron-emitting devices are connected in parallel." That, "the image forming panel is an image forming panel in which a plurality of rows of the element rows in which a plurality of the electron-emitting devices are connected are arranged in a matrix", "the image forming member is a phosphor. "There is".

The fifth aspect of the present invention is to provide an electron-emitting device,
In the method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus, which includes an image forming member and a driving unit that controls irradiation of an electron beam emitted from the electron emitting device to the image forming member according to an information signal, the electron emitting device is An image forming apparatus manufacturing method is characterized by being manufactured by the first or second method of the present invention.

The fifth aspect of the present invention is further characterized in that "the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus having at least one element row in which a plurality of the electron-emitting elements are connected in parallel.""The image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus in which a plurality of element rows in which a plurality of the electron-emitting devices are connected are arranged in a matrix", "the image forming member is a phosphor", Is also included.

[0029]

As described above, the present invention relates to an electron-emitting device, an electron source including a plurality of the electron-emitting devices, an image forming panel using the same, and a novel method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus. Therefore, the configuration and operation of each invention will be further described below.

The electron-emitting device according to the present invention is classified into the cold cathode type electron-emitting device as described above. Among them, the surface conduction type electron-emitting device is particularly preferable from the viewpoint of electron emission characteristics and the like. Is. Therefore, the surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described below as an example.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention includes a flat type and a vertical type. First, the basic structure of a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are views showing the basic structure of a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device.
Reference numeral 1 is a substrate, 2 is an electron emitting portion, 3 is a conductive film, and 4 and 5 are electrodes (element electrodes).

The substrate 1 is, for example, quartz glass or Na.
And glass having reduced impurity content such as glass, blue plate glass, a laminate obtained by laminating SiO ₂ on a blue plate glass by a sputtering method or the like, and ceramics such as alumina.

As the material of the device electrodes 4 and 5 facing each other,
Common conductor materials are used, such as Ni, Cr, Au,
Metals or alloys such as Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu, Pd, and Pd, Ag, Au, RuO ₂ , Pd-Ag
Printed conductors composed of metals or metal oxides and glass and the like, transparent conductors such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ , and semiconductor conductor materials such as polysilicon are appropriately selected.

The element electrode spacing L, the element electrode length W, the shape of the conductive film 3 and the like are designed according to the applied form.

The device electrode spacing L is preferably several hundred angstroms to several hundreds of micrometers, more preferably several micrometers to several tens of micrometers depending on the voltage applied between the device electrodes 4 and 5. .

The device electrode length W is preferably several micrometers to several hundreds of micrometers in consideration of the electrode resistance value and electron emission characteristics, and the device electrode thickness d is
Hundreds of Angstroms to a few micrometers.

In the electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 1, the device electrodes 4, 5 and the conductive film 3 are laminated in this order on the substrate 1, but the conductive film is formed on the substrate 1. 3, the device electrodes 4 and 5 may be laminated in this order.

In order to obtain good electron emission characteristics, the conductive film 3 is particularly preferably a fine particle film composed of fine particles, and the thickness of the conductive film 3 depends on the step coverage of the device electrodes 4 and 5 and the device. It is appropriately selected depending on the resistance value between the electrodes 4 and 5 and the forming conditions described later. The thickness of the conductive film 3 is preferably several angstroms to several thousand angstroms, particularly preferably 10 angstroms to 500 angstroms, and its resistance value is 10 3 to 10 7 ohm / □ sheet. It is the resistance value.

In the present specification, the term “fine particles” is frequently used, and the meaning will be described.

Small particles are called "fine particles", and smaller ones are called "ultra fine particles". It is widely known that particles smaller than "ultrafine particles" and having a number of atoms of about several hundreds or less are called "clusters".

However, each boundary is not strict, and changes depending on what kind of property is focused on. Further, “fine particles” and “ultrafine particles” may be collectively referred to as “fine particles”, and the description in this specification is in line with this.

For example, in “Experimental Physics Course 14: Surfaces and Particles” (edited by Kinoshita Yoshio, published by Kyoritsu Shuppan, September 1, 1986), “particles in this paper have a diameter of about 2-3 μm to 10 nm. And especially when it is referred to as ultrafine particles, the particle size is about 10 nm to 2-3 n.
It means up to about m. It is not exactly strict because both are collectively written as fine particles, but it is a rough guide. When the number of atoms constituting a particle is from 2 to several tens to several hundreds, it is called a cluster. (Page 195, lines 22 to 26).

In addition, the definition of “ultrafine particles” in the “Hayashi / Ultrafine Particle Project” of the New Technology Development Corporation has the following lower limit of the particle size, and is as follows.

In the "Ultrafine particle project" (1981-1986) of the Creative Science and Technology Promotion System, particles having a particle size (diameter) in the range of about 1 to 100 nm are called "ultrafine particles". Then, one ultrafine particle is an aggregate of about 100 to 10 ⁸ atoms. From the atomic scale, the ultrafine particles are large to huge particles. "(" Ultrafine particles- Creative Science and Technology "Takashi Hayashi, Ryoji Ueda, Akira Tasaki ed .; Mita Publishing 198
8 years, page 2, lines 1 to 4) / "Even smaller than ultrafine particles, that is, composed of several to several hundred atoms 1
Individual particles are usually called clusters "(ibid., Page 2, lines 12-13).

Based on the above general term,
In the present specification, “fine particles” are an aggregate of a large number of atoms and molecules, and the lower limit of the particle size is several Å to 10 Å, and the upper limit is several μm.
I will refer to something of a degree.

As the material forming the conductive film 3, for example, Pd, Pt, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, In, Cu,
Metals such as Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, Ta, W, and Pb;
oxides such as dO, SnO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO, Sb ₂ O ₃ , HfB ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , CeB ₆ , Y
Borides such as B ₄ and GdB ₄ , TiC, ZrC, HfC,
Carbides such as TaC, SiC and WC, TiN, ZrN,
Examples include nitrides such as HfN, semiconductors such as Si and Ge, and carbon.

The above-mentioned fine particle film is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated, and the fine structure thereof 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 (some Fine particles of
(Including the case where an island-shaped structure is formed as a whole). In the case of a fine particle film, the particle diameter of the fine particles is preferably several angstroms to several thousand angstroms, particularly preferably 10 angstroms to 200 angstroms.
Angstrom.

The electron emitting portion 2 has a crack, and the electron is emitted from the vicinity of this crack. The electron-emitting portion 2 including the crack and the crack itself have a thickness, film quality,
It is formed depending on a material and a manufacturing method such as forming conditions described later. Therefore, the position and shape of the electron-emitting portion 2 are not limited to the position and shape as shown in FIG.

Inside the cracks, there may be conductive fine particles having a particle diameter of several angstroms to several hundred angstroms. The conductive fine particles are similar to some or all of the elements of the material constituting the conductive film 3. In addition, the electron emitting portion 2 including a crack and the conductive film 3 in the vicinity thereof
Has a film containing carbon as a main component.

Next, the basic structure of the vertical type surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the basic structure of a vertical type surface conduction electron-emitting device, in which 21 is a step forming member and the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 indicate the same members.

The substrate 1, the electron emitting portion 2, the conductive film 3, and the device electrodes 4 and 5 are made of the same material as that of the above-mentioned planar type surface conduction electron emitting device.

The step forming member 21 is formed by, for example, a vacuum vapor deposition method,
It is made of an insulating material such as SiO ₂ provided by a printing method, a sputtering method or the like. The film thickness of the step forming member 21 corresponds to the device electrode distance L (see FIG. 1) of the above-mentioned flat surface conduction electron-emitting device. It is set by the voltage applied between the first and second electrodes, but is preferably several hundred angstroms to several tens of micrometers, and particularly preferably several hundred angstroms to several micrometers.

Since the conductive film 3 is usually formed after the device electrodes 4 and 5 are formed, it is laminated on the device electrodes 4 and 5, but the device electrodes 4 and 5 are formed after the conductive film 3 is formed. make,
The device electrodes 4 and 5 may be stacked on the conductive film 3. Further, as described in the description of the planar type surface conduction electron-emitting device, the formation of the electron-emitting portion 2 depends on the film thickness of the conductive film 3, the film quality, the material, the forming conditions described later, and the like. Therefore, its position and shape are not limited to the position and shape shown in FIG.

In the following description, of the above-mentioned planar type surface conduction electron-emitting device and vertical type surface conduction type electron emission device, the planar type is taken as an example. A vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device may be used instead of the electron-emitting device.

Various methods are conceivable as a method for manufacturing the basic structure of the surface conduction electron-emitting device suitable for the present invention, and one example thereof will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 indicate the same members.

1) After the substrate 1 is thoroughly washed with a detergent, pure water and an organic solvent, a device electrode material is deposited by a vacuum deposition method, a sputtering method or the like, and then on the surface of the substrate 1 by a photolithography technique or the like. The device electrodes 4 and 5 are formed (FIG. 3A).

2) The element electrode 4 is formed by applying an organic metal solution on the substrate 1 on which the element electrodes 4 and 5 are provided and leaving it to stand.
And the element electrode 5 are connected to each other to form an organic metal film. still,
The organic metal solution is a solution of an organic compound whose main element is a metal of the constituent material of the conductive film 3 described above. After that, the organic metal film is heated and baked to form the conductive film 3 patterned by lift-off, etching or the like (FIG. 3).
(B)).

Although the coating method of the organic metal solution has been described here, the present invention is not limited to this, and examples thereof include a vacuum vapor deposition method, a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition method, a dispersion coating method, a dipping method and a spinner method. It is also possible to form an organic metal film.

3) Subsequently, a forming process is performed. As an example of the method of this forming step, a method by energization will be described below, but the forming step according to the present invention is not limited to this, and cracks are generated in the conductive film 3 to form a high resistance state. Any method may be used as long as it is a method.

When a power source (not shown) is applied between the device electrodes 4 and 5, an electron emitting portion 2 having a changed structure is formed at the portion of the conductive film 3 (FIG. 3C). By this energization treatment, the conductive film 3 is locally destroyed, deformed or denatured, and the site where the structure is changed is the electron emitting portion 2.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a voltage waveform of energization forming.

The voltage waveform is preferably a pulse waveform,
There are a case where a voltage pulse with a constant pulse peak value is continuously applied (FIG. 4A) and a case where a voltage pulse is applied while increasing the pulse peak value (FIG. 4B).

First, the case where the pulse peak value is a constant voltage will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 4A, T1 and T2 are the pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform. For example, T1 is 1 microsecond to 10 milliseconds and T2 is 10 microseconds to 100.
The peak value (peak voltage at the time of forming) is set to millisecond and is appropriately selected according to the form of the electron-emitting device described above.
It is applied for several seconds to several tens of minutes in a vacuum atmosphere having an appropriate degree of vacuum of about 0 −5 torr. The voltage waveform to be applied is not limited to the illustrated triangular wave, and a desired waveform such as a rectangular wave may be used, and the crest value, pulse width, pulse interval, etc. are also limited to the above values. However, a desired value can be selected according to the resistance value of the electron-emitting device so that the electron-emitting portion 2 can be formed favorably.

Next, the case of applying the voltage pulse while increasing the pulse crest value will be described with reference to FIG.

T1 and T2 in FIG. 4B are shown in FIG.
As in (a), the peak value (peak voltage at the time of forming) is increased by, for example, about 0.1 V steps,
The voltage is applied in an appropriate vacuum atmosphere similar to that described with reference to FIG.

During the pulse interval T2, the element current is measured at a voltage that does not locally damage, deform or alter the conductive film 3, for example, a voltage of about 0.1 V to obtain a resistance value, for example, 1 M. Forming is preferably terminated when the resistance is equal to or higher than ohms.

The steps from the forming step onward can be performed in a measurement and evaluation system as shown in FIG. This measurement evaluation system will be described.

5, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 indicate the same members. Further, 51 is a power supply for applying a device voltage Vf to the device, 50 is an ammeter for measuring a device current If flowing through the conductive film 3 between the device electrodes 4 and 5, and 54 is an electron emitting portion 2. An anode electrode for trapping the emission current Ie generated, 53 is a high-voltage power supply for applying a voltage to the anode electrode 54, 52 is an ammeter for measuring the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission portion 2, 55 Is a vacuum device,
56 is an exhaust pump.

The electron-emitting device, the anode electrode 54, etc. are installed in a vacuum device 55, and this vacuum device 55 is equipped with necessary equipment such as a vacuum gauge (not shown) so that the electron-emitting device can be operated under a desired vacuum. It is possible to measure and evaluate.

The exhaust pump 56 is composed of an ordinary high vacuum system such as a turbo pump and a rotary pump, and an ultra high vacuum system including an ion pump.
The entire vacuum device 55 and the substrate 1 of the electron-emitting device are
The heater can heat up to about 200 ° C. This measurement and evaluation system configures the display panel and its inside as the vacuum device 55 and its inside at the stage of assembling the display panel as will be described later, so that the measurement and evaluation in the forming step and the subsequent steps described later are performed. It is applied to processing.

4) It is preferable to perform a process called activation steps 1 and 2 on the element which has finished forming. These steps are steps that can significantly improve the states of the device current If and the emission current Ie.

The activation step 1 is a step of depositing carbon and a carbon compound on the electron emitting portion 2 of the device and its vicinity. That is, it is a step of depositing carbon and a carbon compound on a site (electron emitting portion 2) where the structure of high resistance is changed in the conductive film 3 by the above-mentioned forming to further impart electron emitting property to some extent.

This activation step 1 can be carried out, for example, by repeating the application of a pulse between the device electrodes 4 and 5 in the same atmosphere as the energization forming in an atmosphere containing a gas of an organic substance. The atmosphere can also be obtained by introducing a gas of an appropriate organic substance into a vacuum that has been sufficiently evacuated by an ion pump or the like. The preferable gas pressure of the organic substance at this time is appropriately set because it varies depending on the form of application, the shape of the vacuum container, the type of the organic substance and the like.

Suitable organic substances include alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, amines, phenols, carvone, sulfonic acid and other organic acids. etc. can be mentioned, specifically, methane, ethane, C _n H _{2n + 2} represented by a saturated hydrocarbon such as propane, ethylene, propylene C _n H _2n such unsaturated represented by the composition formula such as Hydrocarbons, benzene, toluene, methanol, ethanol, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl amine, ethyl amine, phenol, formic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid and the like can be used. By this treatment, carbon or a carbon compound is deposited on the device from the organic substance existing in the atmosphere, and the device current If and the emission current Ie are significantly changed.

In the activation step 1, for example, the device current If
It is effective to measure the emission current Ie while measuring the emission current Ie and to end the emission current Ie when the emission current Ie is saturated, which is effective. The pulse width, pulse interval, pulse crest value, etc. of the voltage pulse applied in the activation step 1 are set appropriately, but it is preferable to apply the voltage pulse while increasing the pulse crest value. The pulse crest value is preferably gradually increased from the voltage at which the forming is completed to the operation drive voltage.

The partial pressure of the organic compound gas introduced is 10 ^-1 to 10 ^-7 torr when a normal vacuum exhaust device is used.
It is preferred that it is about.

Carbon and carbon compounds deposited on the device are, for example, graphite (so-called HOPG ', P
Including G (, GC), HOPG has a nearly perfect graphite crystal structure, PG has a crystal grain of about 200 Å, and the crystal structure is somewhat disordered, and GC has a crystal grain of about 20 Å, and the crystal structure is more disordered. Refers to what has become. ) And amorphous carbon (referring to amorphous carbon and a mixture of amorphous carbon and fine crystals of the graphite), and the film thickness thereof is preferably in the range of 500 Å or less, more preferably 300 Å or less. More preferable.

Next, the activation step 2 is performed. This step is
This is a step of applying a voltage between the device electrodes 4 and 5 in an atmosphere in which the organic compound gas is sufficiently exhausted. The applied voltage waveform at this time is preferably such that the voltage pulse is applied with the pulse peak value kept constant, and the pulse peak value in the activation step 1 is preferably not exceeded.

The partial pressure of the organic component in the vacuum container from which the organic compound has been exhausted is set so that the carbon and the carbon compound are not newly deposited. Specifically, this partial pressure is preferably, for example, 1 × 10 ⁻⁸ torr or less, and further 1 ×.
Particularly preferred is 10 ^-10 torr or less. Further, when evacuating the inside of the vacuum vessel, it is preferable to heat the entire vacuum vessel to facilitate evacuating the organic substance molecules adsorbed on the inner wall of the vacuum vessel and the electron-emitting device. The heating conditions at this time are:
The temperature is preferably 80 to 200 ° C. for 5 hours or more, but is not particularly limited to this condition, and the condition is appropriately selected depending on various conditions such as the size and shape of the vacuum container and the configuration of the electron-emitting device. It is necessary to make the pressure in the vacuum vessel as low as possible, preferably 1 to 3 × 10 ^-7 torr or less,
It is particularly preferably not more than × 10 ^-8 torr.

The vacuum evacuation device used for evacuation of the vacuum container preferably uses no oil so that the oil generated from the device does not affect the characteristics of the element. Specifically, a vacuum exhaust device such as a sorption pump or an ion pump can be used.

In the activation step 2, the element current and the emitted electrons heat the carbon and carbon compound deposited in the activation step 1 or irradiate them with electrons. As a result, residual organic compound gas or a carbon compound which is a condensation reaction product thereof is desorbed from the above-mentioned carbon and carbon compound, or carbon having low crystallinity is converted into hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide,
At the same time as desorbing as carbon dioxide or the like, some carbon having a certain degree of crystallinity undergoes crystal rearrangement to be transformed into carbon having a higher degree of crystallinity. In this process, the device current If and the emission current Ie change in a decreasing direction.

In the present invention, it is preferable to repeat the activation step 1 and the activation step 2 described above. That is, a large amount of organic compound gas remains in the carbon and carbon compound formed in the activation step 1, and the condensation reaction product carbon and carbon compound contains a large amount of low crystallinity. In this case, even if desorption is performed as hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, etc. by carrying out the activation step 2, those having sufficiently high crystallinity are not always obtained. If carbon and carbon compounds having such low crystallinity are deposited as they are, the electron-emitting device has poor stability, the obtained emission current is small, and the practicality is low. That is, the crystallinity of the carbon and the carbon compound has a great influence on the device characteristics, and the higher the crystallinity and the higher the crystallinity than the hydrocarbon or the amorphous carbon, the more the device is kept in a high vacuum. It exhibits stable characteristics with little deterioration when driven. Therefore, the activation step 1,
By repeating step 2, the amount of carbon and carbon compound having good crystallinity formed on the device can be increased, the stability can be improved, and the emission current can be increased.

In addition, in the activation step 2, it is preferable to heat the device in order to improve desorption and crystallinity. The heating temperature is preferably 100 to 500 ° C.

The activation step 2 may be performed in a high vacuum or ultra high vacuum atmosphere in which the organic compound gas is exhausted as described above, or an etching gas such as water, hydrogen or oxygen is introduced. You may go by means of atmosphere. Incidentally, these etching gases have a function of promoting the elimination reaction in the activation step 2.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a change in device current when the activation process 1 and the activation process 2 are repeated. The element current value after the activation step 2 increases as the activation steps 1 and 2 are repeated. In addition, in the repeated activation process, carbon and carbon in each activation process 1 are set so that the device current value after the final activation process 2 does not exceed the device current value after all activation processes 1. It is preferable to fully deposit the compound.

It is preferable to maintain the atmosphere at the time of driving after the activation step 2 is the same as that at the end of the activation step 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the organic substance may be sufficiently removed. For example, it is possible to maintain sufficiently stable characteristics even if the degree of vacuum itself is slightly lowered. By adopting such a vacuum atmosphere, the deposition of new carbon or carbon compound can be suppressed, and as a result, the device current If and the emission current I
e becomes stable.

The basic characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device obtained as described above will be described below.

The basic characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device described below are that the voltage of the anode electrode 54 of the measurement / evaluation system of FIG. 5 is 1 kV to 10 kV and the distance H between the anode electrode 54 and the surface conduction electron-emitting device is 2 Usually, the measurement is performed by setting the width to 8 mm.

First, the emission current Ie and the device current If,
A typical example of the relationship with the device voltage Vf is shown in FIG. still,
In FIG. 6A, the emission current Ie is markedly smaller than the device current If, and therefore is shown in arbitrary units.

As is apparent from FIG. 6A, the surface conduction electron-emitting device has the following three characteristic characteristics with respect to the emission current Ie.

First, the surface conduction electron-emitting device has a certain voltage (called a threshold voltage: Vt in FIG. 6A).
When the device voltage Vf exceeding h) is applied, the emission current Ie rapidly increases, while at the threshold voltage Vth or less, the emission current Ie is hardly detected. That is, it is a nonlinear element having a clear threshold voltage Vth with respect to the emission current Ie.

Secondly, since the emission current Ie has a characteristic of monotonically increasing with respect to the element voltage Vf (called MI characteristic), the emission current Ie can be controlled by the element voltage Vf.

Thirdly, the emission charge trapped in the anode electrode 54 (see FIG. 5) depends on the time for applying the device voltage Vf. That is, the amount of charge captured by the anode electrode 54 can be controlled by the time during which the device voltage Vf is applied.

The emission current Ie is MI with respect to the device voltage Vf.
At the same time as having the characteristics, the device current If may also have the MI characteristics with respect to the device voltage Vf. An example of the characteristic of such a surface conduction electron-emitting device is the characteristic shown in FIG. On the other hand, as shown in (b) of FIG.
f is a voltage control type negative resistance characteristic (V
In some cases, it may be referred to as a CNR characteristic). Which characteristic is exhibited depends on the manufacturing method of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, measurement conditions at the time of measurement, and the like. However, the device current If will next be described as an electron source in which a plurality of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices described above are arranged as an example of the electron source according to the present invention. First, the arrangement method of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices will be described.

As a method of arranging the surface conduction electron-emitting devices in the electron source according to the present invention, in addition to the trapezoidal arrangement as described in the section of the prior art, there are n wirings on m wirings in the X direction. An arrangement method in which Y-direction wiring is provided via an interlayer insulating layer and the X-direction wiring and the Y-direction wiring are connected to a pair of device electrodes of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, respectively. This is hereinafter referred to as a simple matrix arrangement. First, the simple matrix arrangement will be described in detail.

According to the basic characteristics of the surface-conduction type electron-emitting device described above, the emitted electrons in the surface-conduction type electron-emitting device arranged in the simple matrix are generated between the opposing device electrodes at a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage. It can be controlled by the peak value and pulse width of the applied pulsed voltage. On the other hand, almost no electrons are emitted below the threshold voltage. Therefore, even when a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged, if the pulsed voltage is appropriately applied to each device, the surface conduction electron-emitting device is selected according to the input signal and the electron emission amount thereof is selected. Can be controlled, and individual surface conduction electron-emitting devices can be selected and driven independently by simple matrix wiring.

The simple matrix arrangement is based on such a principle, and the structure of the electron source having the simple matrix arrangement, which is an example of the electron source according to the present invention, will be further described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 7, the substrate 1 is a glass plate or the like as already described, and the number and shape of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104 according to the present invention arranged on the substrate 1 are appropriately set according to the application. It is something.

The m X-direction wirings 102 have external terminals Dx1, Dx2, ..., Dxm, respectively.
A conductive metal or the like formed on the top by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. In addition, the material, so that the voltage is supplied almost evenly to the large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104,
The film thickness and wiring width are set.

The n Y-direction wirings 103 each have external terminals Dy1, Dy2, ..., Dyn, and are formed similarly to the X-direction wirings 102.

These m X-direction wirings 102 and n Y-wirings
An interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is provided between the direction wirings 103, and is electrically separated to form a matrix wiring. Note that both m and n are positive integers.

The interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is SiO ₂ or the like formed by a vacuum evaporation method, a printing method, a sputtering method or the like, and has a desired shape on the entire surface or a part of the substrate 1 on which the X-direction wiring 102 is formed. In particular, the film thickness, material, and manufacturing method are appropriately set so as to withstand the potential difference at the intersection of the X-direction wiring 102 and the Y-direction wiring 103. The X-direction wiring 102 and the Y-direction wiring 103 are respectively drawn out as external terminals.

Furthermore, the opposing device electrodes (not shown) of the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 are m number of X-direction wirings 102.
, N Y-direction wirings 103, a vacuum deposition method, a printing method,
Connection 1 made of a conductive metal or the like formed by a sputtering method or the like
05 are electrically connected.

Here, even if some or all of the constituent elements of the m X-direction wirings 102, the n Y-direction wirings 103, the connection 105, and the opposing element electrodes are the same, Further, they may be different from each other, and are appropriately selected from the above-mentioned material of the element electrode and the like. The wires to these device electrodes may be collectively referred to as device electrodes when the material is the same as the device electrodes. In addition, the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104
May be formed either on the substrate 1 or on an interlayer insulating layer (not shown).

Further, as will be described later in detail, a scanning signal is applied to the X-direction wiring 102 in order to scan the rows of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104 arranged in the X-direction according to an input signal. A scanning signal applying means (not shown) is electrically connected.

On the other hand, a modulation signal (not shown) is applied to the Y-direction wiring 103 in order to modulate each row of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104 arranged in the Y-direction according to an input signal. The signal generating means is electrically connected. Further, the drive voltage applied to each surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 is supplied as a difference voltage between the scanning signal and the modulation signal applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104.

Next, an example of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, which is constructed by using the electron source having the above-mentioned simple matrix arrangement, will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that FIG. 8 is a basic configuration diagram of the display panel 201, and FIG.
4 is a view showing the display panel 201 shown in FIG.
3 is a block diagram showing an example of a drive circuit for performing television display in accordance with an NTSC television signal. FIG.

In FIG. 8, 1 is a substrate of an electron source in which the surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged as described above, 111 is a rear plate to which the substrate 1 is fixed, and 116 is a glass substrate 1.
13 is a face plate in which a fluorescent film 114 and a metal back 115 are formed on the inner surface. Reference numeral 112 denotes a support frame, and frit glass or the like is applied to the rear plate 111, the support frame 112, and the face plate 116, and is applied in the air or in nitrogen. Then, the envelope 118 is formed by baking at 400 to 500 ° C. for 10 minutes or more for sealing.

In FIG. 8, 102 and 103 are a pair of device electrodes 4 and 5 of the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 (see FIG. 1).
The X-direction wiring and the Y-direction wiring connected to the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn, respectively.

The envelope 118 is composed of the face plate 116, the support frame 112 and the rear plate 111 as described above. However, the rear plate 111 is provided mainly for the purpose of reinforcing the strength of the substrate 1. If the substrate 1 itself has sufficient strength, the separate rear plate 111 is unnecessary, and the support frame is directly attached to the substrate 1. Seal 112,
The envelope 118 may be constituted by the face plate 116, the support frame 112, and the substrate 1. Further, by further providing a support (not shown) called a spacer between the face plate 116 and the rear plate 111, the envelope 118 having sufficient strength against atmospheric pressure can be obtained.

In the case of monochrome, the fluorescent film 114 is composed of only the phosphor 122, but in the case of the color fluorescent film 114, depending on the arrangement of the phosphors 122, a black stripe (FIG. 9A) or a black matrix (FIG. 9A). 9
(B)) a black conductive material 121 and a phosphor 122 called
It is composed of The purpose of providing the black stripes and the black matrix is to make the mixed portions between the phosphors 122 of the three primary colors necessary for color display black so that mixed colors and the like are not noticeable, and to reflect external light on the fluorescent film 114. Is to suppress a decrease in contrast due to As a material of the black conductive material 121, not only a material mainly containing graphite, which is often used, but also a material having conductivity and low light transmission and reflection may be used. it can.

As a method of applying the phosphor 122 to the glass substrate 113, a precipitation method or a printing method is used regardless of monochrome or color.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A metal back 115 is usually provided on the inner surface side of 4.
The purpose of the metal back 115 is to allow light emitted from the phosphor 122 (see FIG. 9) toward the inner surface side to be emitted from the face plate 11
The mirror 122 is mirror-reflected to improve brightness, acts as an electrode for applying an electron beam accelerating voltage, and protects the phosphor 122 from damage due to collision of negative ions generated in the envelope 118. Etc. The metal back 115 can be manufactured by performing smoothing processing (usually called filming) on the inner surface of the fluorescent film 114 after manufacturing the fluorescent film 114, and then depositing Al by vacuum evaporation or the like.

The face plate 116 may be provided with a transparent electrode (not shown) on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 114 in order to further enhance the conductivity of the fluorescent film 114.

When performing the above-mentioned sealing, in the case of color, the phosphors 122 of the respective colors and the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104 must correspond to each other, and therefore, it is necessary to perform sufficient alignment.

The inside of the envelope 118 is evacuated through an exhaust pipe (not shown), and after reaching a predetermined vacuum degree, it is sealed. Further, a getter process can be performed to maintain the degree of vacuum after the envelope 118 is sealed. This is the envelope 118
Immediately before or after the sealing is performed, a getter (not shown) arranged at a predetermined position in the envelope 118 is heated by resistance heating or high frequency heating to form a vapor deposition film. The getter usually contains Ba or the like as a main component, and is for maintaining a vacuum degree of, for example, 1 × 10 −5 to 1 × 10 −7 torr due to the adsorption action of the vapor deposition film.

Incidentally, each manufacturing process of the surface conduction electron-emitting device after the above-mentioned forming treatment is usually performed by the envelope 11
It is performed immediately before or after the sealing of No. 8, and the content thereof is as described above.

The display panel 201 described above is, for example, as shown in FIG.
Can be driven by a driving circuit as shown in FIG.
In FIG. 10, 201 is a display panel, 202 is a scanning circuit, 203 is a control circuit, 204 is a shift register,
205 is a line memory, 206 is a synchronization signal separation circuit, 2
Reference numeral 07 is a modulation signal generator, and Vx and Va are DC voltage sources.

As shown in FIG. 10, the display panel 20
1 is connected to an external electric circuit via the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm, the external terminals Dy1 to Dyn, and the high-voltage terminal Hv. Of these, the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm
The surface conduction electron-emitting devices provided in the display panel 201, that is, the group of surface conduction electron-emitting devices arranged in a matrix of m rows and n columns are sequentially driven one row (n elements at a time). A scanning signal for moving is applied.

On the other hand, a modulation signal for controlling the output electron beam of each surface conduction electron-emitting device of one row selected by the scanning signal is applied to the terminal Dy1 to the external terminal Dyn. Further, the high voltage terminal Hv is supplied with a DC voltage of, for example, 10 kV from the DC voltage source Va. This is an accelerating voltage for giving enough energy to excite the phosphor to the electron beam output from the surface conduction electron-emitting device.

The scanning circuit 202 includes therein m switching elements (schematically shown by S1 to Sm in FIG. 10), and each of the switching elements S1 to Sm is an output voltage of the DC voltage power supply Vx or 0V. One of (ground level) is selected and electrically connected to the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm of the display panel 201. Each of the switching elements S1 to Sm includes a control circuit 203.
It operates on the basis of the control signal Tscan output from the device, and in fact, it can be easily configured by combining elements having a switching function such as an FET.

In the DC voltage source Vx in this example, the drive voltage applied to the surface-conduction type electron-emitting device which has not been scanned is based on the characteristic (threshold voltage) of the surface-conduction type electron-emitting device. It is set to output a constant voltage that is less than or equal to the value voltage.

The control circuit 203 has a function of matching the operation of each part so that an appropriate display is performed based on an image signal input from the outside. The synchronization signal Tsyn sent from the synchronization signal separation circuit 206 described below
Based on c, each control signal of Tscan, Tsft, and Tmry is generated for each unit.

The sync signal separation circuit 206 is a circuit for separating a sync signal component and a luminance signal component from an NTSC television signal input from the outside, and as is well known, a frequency separation (filter). If you use a circuit,
It can be easily configured. Sync signal separation circuit 206
The sync signal separated by is composed of a vertical sync signal and a horizontal sync signal, as is well known. here,
For convenience of explanation, it is shown as Tsync. On the other hand, the luminance signal component of the image separated from the television signal is referred to as D for convenience.
This is shown as an ATA signal. This DATA signal is input to the shift register 204.

The shift register 204 is for serially / parallel converting the DATA signal serially input in time series for each line of the image, and based on the control signal Tsft sent from the control circuit 203. Operate. The control signal Tsft is supplied to the shift register 20.
In other words, the shift clock may be four. Also,
One line of serial / parallel converted image (equivalent to drive data for n elements of surface conduction electron-emitting device)
Data is output from the shift register 204 as n parallel signals Id1 to Idn.

The line memory 205 is a storage device for storing data for one line of an image for a required time,
The contents of Id1 to Idn are stored according to the control signal Tmry sent from the control circuit 203. The stored contents are output as Id'1 to Id'n and input to the modulation signal generator 207.

The modulation signal generator 207 is a signal source for appropriately driving and modulating each of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices in accordance with each of the image data Id'1 to Id'n, and its output signal is , And is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the display panel 201 through the terminals Dy1 to Dyn.

As described above, the surface conduction electron-emitting device has a clear threshold voltage for electron emission, and electron emission occurs only when a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage is applied. Further, for a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage, the emission current also changes according to the change in the voltage applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device. Material of surface conduction electron-emitting device,
The value of the threshold voltage and the degree of change of the emission current with respect to the applied voltage may change by changing the configuration and the manufacturing method. In any case, the following can be said.

That is, when a pulsed voltage is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device, no electron emission occurs even if a voltage below the threshold voltage is applied, but a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage is applied. If it does, electron emission occurs. At that time, first, it is possible to control the intensity of the output electron beam by changing the peak value of the voltage pulse. Secondly, it is possible to control the total amount of charges of the output electron beam by changing the width of the voltage pulse.

Therefore, as a method of modulating the surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the input signal, there are a voltage modulation method and a pulse width modulation method. In the case of performing the voltage modulation method, the modulation signal generator 207 generates a voltage pulse having a fixed length, and uses a voltage modulation circuit capable of appropriately modulating the pulse peak value according to input data. In the case of performing the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 207 generates a voltage pulse having a constant peak value, but a pulse width modulation method circuit capable of appropriately modulating the pulse width according to input data. Used.

The shift register 204 and the line memory 20
Reference numeral 5 may be a digital signal type or an analog signal type, as long as it can perform serial / parallel conversion and storage of an image signal 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 206 into a digital signal. This can be achieved by providing an A / D converter at the output of the synchronization signal separation circuit 206.

Further, in connection with this, the line memory 20
Depending on whether the output signal of 5 is a digital signal or an analog signal,
The circuit provided in modulation signal generator 207 is slightly different.

That is, in the case of the voltage modulation method using a digital signal, for example, a well-known D / A conversion circuit may be used as the modulation signal generator 207, and an amplification circuit or the like may be added if necessary. In the case of a pulse width modulation method using a digital signal, the modulation signal generator 207 includes, for example, a high-speed oscillator, a counter (counter) for counting the number of waves output from the oscillator, and an output value of the counter and an output value of the memory. It can be easily configured by using a circuit in which comparators for comparison are combined. Further, 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, in the case of the voltage modulation method using analog signals, the modulation signal generator 207 may be, for example, an amplifier circuit using a well-known operational amplifier or the like, and a level shift circuit or the like may be added if necessary. May be. Further, in the case of the pulse width modulation method using an analog signal, for example, a well-known voltage controlled oscillation circuit (VCO) may be used, and the voltage is amplified to the drive voltage of the surface conduction electron-emitting device as necessary. May be added.

The image forming apparatus according to the present invention having the display panel 201 and the driving circuit as described above has terminals Dx1 to Dx1.
By applying a voltage from Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn, electrons can be emitted from a required surface conduction electron-emitting device, and the metal back 1 is supplied through the high voltage terminal Hv.
15 or a transparent electrode (not shown) is applied with a high voltage to accelerate the electron beam, and the accelerated electron beam is irradiated with the fluorescent film 114.
By the excitation / emission caused by collision with the NTS
The television display can be performed according to the C system television signal.

The structure described above is a schematic structure necessary for obtaining the image forming apparatus according to the present invention used for display and the like, and the detailed parts such as the material of each member are limited to the above contents. However, it is appropriately selected so as to suit the application of the image forming apparatus. Further, although the NTSC system is mentioned as the input signal, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to this, and PAL, SECA
Other methods such as the M method may be used, and further, a TV signal including a larger number of scanning lines than these, for example, a high definition TV method such as the MUSE method may be used.

Next, an example of the above-mentioned trapezoidal arrangement of electron sources and an image forming apparatus according to the present invention configured using the electron sources will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12.

In FIG. 11, 1 is a substrate, 104 is a surface conduction electron-emitting device, and 304 is a common wiring for connecting the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104, and 10 wirings are provided, each having external terminals D1 to D10. are doing.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 is the substrate 1
A plurality is arranged in parallel above. This is called an element row. These element rows are arranged in a plurality of rows to constitute an electron source.

Each element row can be independently driven by applying an appropriate drive voltage between the common wiring 304 of each element row (for example, the common wiring 304 of the external terminals D1 and D2). That is, a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage may be applied to an element row where electron beams are to be emitted, and a voltage lower than the threshold voltage may be applied to an element row where electron beams are not desired to be emitted. The application of such a drive voltage applies to the common wirings D2 to D9 located between the element rows, the common wirings 304 adjacent to each other, that is, the external terminals D2 and D3, D4 and D5, D6 and D7 and D8 adjacent to each other. The common wiring 304 of D9 and D9 may be integrated into the same wiring.

FIG. 12 is a view showing the structure of a display panel 301 having the above-mentioned ladder-type electron sources.

In FIG. 12, 302 is a grid electrode, 303 is an opening through which electrons pass, D1 to Dm are external terminals for applying a voltage to each surface conduction electron-emitting device, and G1 to G1.
Gn is an external terminal connected to the grid electrode 302. Further, the common wiring 304 between each element row is formed on the substrate 1 as an integral same wiring.

In FIG. 12, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 8 indicate the same members, and a big difference from the display panel 201 using the electron source of the simple matrix arrangement shown in FIG. The point is that the grid electrode 302 is provided between 116.

The grid electrode 302 is provided between the substrate 1 and the face plate 116 as described above. The grid electrode 302 is capable of modulating the electron beam emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104, and the electron beam is applied to the stripe-shaped electrode provided orthogonal to the device row in the ladder-type arrangement. To pass
A circular opening 303 is provided for each of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 104.

The shape and arrangement position of the grid electrode 302 are
It does not necessarily have to be the one shown in FIG. 12, and a large number of openings 303 may be provided in a mesh shape, and the grid electrode 302 may be provided, for example, around or near the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104. Good.

The external terminals D1 to Dm and G1 to Gn are connected to a drive circuit (not shown). Then, by applying a modulation signal for one image line to the column of the grid electrode 302 in synchronization with sequentially driving (scanning) the element rows one by one, each electron beam is irradiated on the fluorescent film 114. And images can be displayed line by line.

As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention can be obtained by using the electron source according to the present invention in either the simple matrix arrangement or the trapezoidal arrangement, and the above-mentioned television broadcast display device. In addition, an image forming apparatus suitable as a display device such as a video conference system and a computer can be obtained. Furthermore, the present invention can be used as an exposure device of an optical printer including a photosensitive drum.

[0152]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to specific examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples, and each is within a range in which the object of the present invention is achieved. It also includes elements that have undergone element replacement or design changes.

(Example 1) The structure of the surface conduction electron-emitting device of this example is the same as that shown in FIG. 1, and its manufacturing method will be described below based on the manufacturing process charts of FIGS. 13 to 15. explain.

1) A quartz substrate is used as the insulating substrate 1,
This was thoroughly washed with a detergent, pure water and an organic solvent (Fig. 13 (a)).

2) A resist material (RD-2000N, manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.) was spinner coated at 2500 rpm for 40 seconds and heated at 80 ° C. for 25 minutes for prebaking (FIG. 13).
(B)).

3) The element electrode interval L was 2 μm, and the element electrode length W was 500 μm, and contact exposure was carried out using a mask corresponding to the electrode shape, followed by development with a developer for RD-2000N (FIG. 13C). Then, it heated at 120 degreeC for 20 minutes, and was post-baked.

4) Using a resistance heating vapor deposition machine, nickel was vapor deposited at 0.3 nm per second until the film thickness became 100 nm (FIG. 13 (d)).

5) Lift off with acetone to remove acetone,
After washing with isopropyl alcohol and then with butyl acetate, the element electrodes 4 and 5 were patterned by drying (FIG. 1).
3 (e)).

6) Next, chromium is applied to the entire surface of the substrate to a thickness of 50 nm.
It vapor-deposited (FIG.14 (a)).

7) A resist material (AZ1370, manufactured by Hoechst) was spinner coated at 2500 rpm for 30 seconds, and 9
It was prebaked by heating at 0 ° C. for 30 minutes (FIG. 14 (b)).

8) Exposure is performed using a mask having a pattern for applying a conductive film material (FIG. 14C), and a developing solution M is used.
It was developed with IF312 (FIG. 14 (d)). Then, 12
It was post-baked by heating at 0 ° C. for 30 minutes.

9) (NH ₄ ) Ce (NO ₃ ) ₆ / HCl
It was immersed in a solution having a composition of O ₄ / H ₂ O = 17 g / 5 cc / 100 cc for 30 seconds to etch chromium (FIG. 14).
(E)).

10) The resist was peeled off by ultrasonic stirring in acetone for 10 minutes (FIG. 14 (f)).

11) Organic Pd (ccp4230 manufactured by Okuno Chemical Industries Co., Ltd.) was spinner coated 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 3 mainly composed of fine particles (average particle diameter: 7 nm) was formed (FIG. 14 (g)).

12) Lift off the chrome to obtain the conductive film 3
Pattern was formed (FIG. 14 (h)). This pattern had a width of 300 μm and was arranged almost at the center of the device electrodes 4 and 5.

The thickness of the conductive film 3 is 10 nm,
The sheet resistance was 5 × 10 ⁴ Ω / □. 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 (also in an island shape). (Including), and the particle diameter means the diameter of the fine particles whose particle shape is recognizable in the above state.

[0167] 13) The substrate 1 having undergone the above steps was placed in a vacuum chamber 55 of the measuring evaluation system of Figure 5, was evacuated by a vacuum pump, after reaching the vacuum degree of 2 × 10 ^-7 torr, the power supply 51
A voltage is applied between the device electrodes 4 and 5 to perform an energization process (forming process) to form the electron emitting portion 2 (FIG. 1).
5 (a), (b)). The voltage waveform of the forming process was a waveform as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4B, T1 and T2 are the pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform. In this embodiment, T1 is 1 ms and T2 is 10 ms, and a rectangular wave is used instead of a triangular wave. Peak value of rectangular wave (peak voltage during forming)
Was subjected to a forming process by raising the pressure in 0.1 V steps. During the forming process, 0.1
The resistance was measured by inserting a resistance measurement pulse between T2 at a voltage of V. The forming process was ended when the measured value by the resistance measurement pulse showed 1 M ohm, and at the same time, the application of the voltage to the surface conduction electron-emitting device was ended.

With respect to the device manufactured as described above, about 1 × 10 ⁻⁴ torr of acetone was introduced at room temperature, and a voltage was applied between the device electrodes 4 and 5 to activate (activation step 1). I went. The voltage waveform in the activation step 1 uses a rectangular wave with a pulse width of 100 microseconds and a pulse interval of 10 milliseconds, and the peak value of the rectangular wave is from 10V to 14V 3.3.
It was performed while gradually increasing the voltage at mV / sec.

Acetone was evacuated to a vacuum degree of 6 × 10 ^-8.
After the pressure was set to torr, a voltage was applied between the device electrodes 4 and 5 for 2 hours for activation (activation step 2).

The voltage waveform in the activation step 2 has a pulse width of 1
A rectangular wave with 00 microseconds and a pulse interval of 10 milliseconds was used, and the peak value of the rectangular wave was fixed at 14V.

The activation steps 1 and 2 were repeated three more times.

The characteristics of the device obtained as described above are
Applying 1 kV to the anode electrode 54,
And the distance H between the electron-emitting device and the electron-emitting device is 4 mm, the degree of vacuum is 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 If is 1.8 mA, the emission current Ie is 0.9 μA, and the electron emission efficiency η is 0.0.
5%. The reduction rates δf and δe of the device current If and the emission current Ie were 55% and 50%, respectively.

However, the reduction rates δf and δe from the measurement start t = 0 to an arbitrary time t are as follows: δf = If (t = t) / If (t = 0) × 100 δe = Ie (t = t) / It was defined as Ie (t = 0) × 100.

Example 2 The activation step 1 of Example 1 is
An electron-emitting device was produced in exactly the same manner as in Example 1 except that methane was introduced at 1 torr at room temperature.

After that, the gas was evacuated to 1 × 10 ^-8 torr and the If and Ie were measured. As a result, when the device voltage is 14 V, the device current If is 1.5 mA and the emission current Ie is
Was 1.2 μA, and the electron emission efficiency η was 0.08%. Further, the decrease rate δ of the device current If and the emission current Ie
f and δe were 60% and 58%, respectively.

(Embodiment 3) In Embodiment 1, the device substrate is 30
Example 1 except that the activation step 2 was performed by heating to 0 ° C.
An electron-emitting device was manufactured in exactly the same manner as.

After that, the gas was evacuated to 1 × 10 ^-8 torr and the If and Ie were measured. As a result, when the device voltage is 14 V, the device current If is 1.7 mA and the emission current Ie is
Was 1.4 μA, and the electron emission efficiency η was 0.082%. Further, the decrease rate δ of the device current If and the emission current Ie
f and δe were 59% and 60%, respectively.

Example 4 In Example 1, the hydrogen gas partial pressure was 5
An electron-emitting device was produced in exactly the same manner as in Example 1 except that the activation step 2 was performed in an atmosphere of × 10 ^-7 torr.

After that, the gas was evacuated to 1 × 10 ^-8 torr and the If and Ie were measured. As a result, when the device voltage is 14 V, the device current If is 1.3 mA and the emission current Ie is
Was 1.1 μA, and the electron emission efficiency η was 0.085%. Further, the decrease rate δ of the device current If and the emission current Ie
f and δe were 57% and 58%, respectively.

(Comparative Example 1) An electron-emitting device was manufactured in exactly the same manner as in Example 1, except that only the activation step 1 was carried out and the activation steps 1 and 2 were not repeated. For the obtained device, if,
Ie was measured. As a result, when the device voltage is 14 V, the device current If is 1.5 mA and the emission current Ie is 0.6.
The electron emission efficiency η was 0.04%. Further, the reduction rates δf and δe of the device current If and the emission current Ie
Were 42% and 40%, respectively.

(Embodiment 5) A large number of electron-emitting devices were formed in a line on a substrate by the same manufacturing method as in Embodiment 1, and a plurality of conductive films as shown in FIG. Substrate 1 was produced. Next, an image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. 12 was produced using the substrate 1 in which the plurality of conductive films were arranged in a ladder-type wiring. This manufacturing method will be specifically described below.

First, after fixing the substrate 1 on which a plurality of conductive films are arranged in a ladder pattern on the rear plate 111, the grid electrode 3 having the electron passage holes 303 above the electron source substrate 1.
02 is arranged in a direction orthogonal to the common wiring 304. Furthermore, the face plate 1 is placed 5 mm above the electron source substrate 1.
16 (a fluorescent film and a metal back are formed on the inner surface of the glass substrate) are arranged via a support frame 112, and the face plate 116, the support frame 112, and the rear plate 11 are arranged.
Frit glass is applied to the joint part of No. 1 and 430 in the air.
It sealed by baking at ℃ for 10 minutes or more. The frit glass was also used to fix the electron source substrate 1 to the rear plate 111.

As the fluorescent film, a color fluorescent film having a stripe arrangement (see FIG. 9A) was adopted, a black stripe was first formed, and the phosphors of each color were applied to the gaps. As a material for the black stripe, a material which is commonly used and whose main component is graphite was used. The slurry method was used to apply the phosphor to the glass substrate.

A metal back is provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film. 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.

When performing the above-mentioned sealing, in the case of a color, the phosphors of the respective colors must correspond to the electron-emitting devices, so that sufficient alignment was performed.

The atmosphere inside the envelope 118 completed as described above is exhausted by a vacuum pump through an exhaust pipe (not shown), and after a sufficient vacuum is introduced, the device electrodes are connected through the terminals D1 to Dm outside the container. A voltage was applied between them to perform the above-mentioned forming to form an electron emitting portion.

Next, 1 × 1 of acetone was put in the envelope 118.
The activation step 1 was performed by introducing 0 ⁻⁴ torr and applying a voltage between the device electrodes through the terminals D1 to Dm outside the container for 10 minutes. Then, acetone was exhausted.

Next, the inside of the envelope 118 is set to about 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ to
After the vacuum degree was set to rr, a voltage was applied between the device electrodes for 200 minutes, and the activation step 2 was performed.

Further, the activation steps 1 and 2 were repeated three times.

Finally, the inside of the envelope 118 is approximately 1 × 10 ⁻⁷ t.
After setting the vacuum degree to orr, the exhaust pipe (not shown) is heated and welded by a gas burner to seal the envelope 118, and then a getter process is performed to maintain the vacuum degree after the sealing. went.

In the image display device according to the present invention (see FIG. 12) completed as described above, each electron-emitting device has:
Electrons are emitted by applying a voltage through the terminals D1 to Dm outside the container, and the emitted electrons are emitted from the grid electrode 30.
After passing through the second electron passage hole 303, it is accelerated by the high voltage of several kV or more applied to the metal back (not shown) through the high voltage terminal Hv, collides with the fluorescent film (not shown), and excites and emits light. At that time, a voltage corresponding to an information signal is applied to the grid electrode 302 through the external terminals G1 to Gn to control the electron beam passing through the electron passage hole 303 and display an image.

In this embodiment, 50 μm is provided 10 μm above the electron source substrate 1 through SiO ₂ (not shown) which is an insulating layer.
By arranging the grid electrode 302 having the electron passage hole 303 of a diameter, 6k is applied to the metal back as an acceleration voltage
When V was applied, the on / off of the electron beam could be controlled by the modulation voltage within 50V. In addition, the display image provided a good contrast, and no significant change was observed in the display image even when the display image was continuously displayed for several hours.

(Embodiment 6) An example in which an image forming apparatus is manufactured by using an electron source in which a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in a simple matrix will be described.

FIG. 16 shows a plan view of a part of the substrate 1 in which a plurality of conductive films are arranged in matrix. In addition, A- in the figure
A sectional view taken along the line A ′ is shown in FIG. However, FIG. 7, FIG. 8 and FIG.
17 and 17, the same reference numerals indicate the same members.

Here, 1 is a substrate, 102 is an X-direction wiring (also called lower wiring), 103 is a Y-direction wiring (also called upper wiring), 3 is a conductive film, 4 and 5 are element electrodes, and 401 is interlayer insulation. A layer 402 is a contact hole for electrically connecting the device electrode 4 and the lower wiring 102.

First, a method of manufacturing the electron source will be specifically described in the order of steps with reference to FIG. The following steps a to h correspond to (a) to (h) in FIG.

Step-a Substrate 1 in which a 0.5-micrometer-thick silicon oxide film is formed on a sufficiently cleaned soda-lime glass by a sputtering method.
After 5 nm of Cr and 600 nm of Au were sequentially laminated by vacuum evaporation, a photoresist (AZ1370, Hoechst) was spin-coated with a spinner and baked, and then a photomask image was formed. exposure,
Develop to form a resist pattern for the lower wiring 102,
The Au / Cr deposited film was wet-etched to form the lower wiring 102 having a desired shape.

Step-b Next, an interlayer insulating layer 401 made of a silicon oxide film having a thickness of 1.0 μm was deposited by RF sputtering.

Step-c Contact hole 4 is formed in the silicon oxide film deposited in Step b.
A photoresist pattern for forming 02 was formed, and the interlayer insulating layer 401 was etched using this as a mask to form a contact hole 402. Etching is CF ₄
And Reactive Ion using H ₂ gas
-Etching) method.

Step-d After that, the device electrode pattern was patterned with a photoresist (RD-20).
00N-41 manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.), and Ti having a thickness of 5 nanometers and Ni having a thickness of 100 nanometers were sequentially deposited by a vacuum vapor deposition method. The photoresist pattern was dissolved in an organic solvent and the Ni / Ti deposited film was lifted off to form device electrodes 4 and 5 having a device electrode interval L of 3 μm and a width W of 300 μm.

Step-e After forming the photoresist pattern for the upper wiring 103, Ti having a thickness of 5 nm and A having a thickness of 500 nm are formed.
u was sequentially deposited by vacuum evaporation, and unnecessary portions were removed by lift-off to form the upper wiring 103 having a desired shape.

Step-f Next, a Cr film 403 having a film thickness of 1000 Å is deposited and patterned by vacuum evaporation, and an organic Pd (ccp42) film is formed thereon.
30. Okuno Seiyaku Co., Ltd. was spin-coated with a spinner and heated and baked at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes. The thickness of the conductive film 3 formed of fine particles whose main element is PdO is about 100Å, and the sheet resistance value is 5 × 10 ⁴ Ω /
It was □.

Step-g The Cr film 403 and the baked conductive film 3 were etched with an acid etchant to form a desired pattern.

Step-h A pattern was formed by applying a resist on portions other than the contact hole 402 portion, and Ti having a thickness of 5 nanometers and Au having a thickness of 500 nanometers were sequentially deposited by vacuum evaporation. Contact holes 402 were buried by removing unnecessary portions by lift-off.

Through the above steps, the lower wiring 102, the interlayer insulating layer 401, the upper wiring 103, the device electrodes 4 and 5, the conductive film 3 and the like were formed on the insulating substrate 1.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, an example in which an image forming apparatus is constructed using the substrate 1 (FIG. 16) on which a plurality of conductive films 3 produced as described above are arranged in matrix. explain.

The rear plate 11 is provided with the substrate 1 (FIG. 16) on which the plurality of conductive films 3 are arranged in matrix as described above.
After being fixed on the substrate 1, the face plate 116 (the fluorescent film 114 on the inner surface of the glass substrate 113 is provided 5 mm above the substrate 1).
And a metal back 115 are formed via a support frame 112, and a frit glass is applied to a joint portion of the face plate 116, the support frame 112, and the rear plate 111, and the frit glass is applied in the atmosphere at 430 ° C. for 10 minutes. It was sealed by baking for more than a minute. Also, the substrate 1 to the rear plate 111
Was also fixed with frit glass.

In the case of monochrome, the fluorescent film 114 is composed of only the fluorescent substance 122, but in this embodiment, the fluorescent substance 122 is used.
Adopts a stripe shape (FIG. 9A), a black stripe is formed first, and the phosphors 122 of each color are provided in the gap.
Was applied to produce a fluorescent film 114. As a material for the black stripe, a material which is commonly used and whose main component is graphite was used.

A slurry method was used to apply the phosphor 122 to the glass substrate 113. In addition, the fluorescent film 11
A metal back 115 was provided on the inner surface side of No. 4. The metal back 115 was manufactured by performing smoothing processing (usually called filming) on the inner surface of the fluorescent film 114 after manufacturing the fluorescent film 114, and then vacuum-depositing Al.

At the time of performing the above-mentioned sealing, in the case of a color, the phosphors 122 of the respective colors and the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 have to correspond to each other, so that sufficient alignment is performed.

The atmosphere in the envelope 118 completed as described above was exhausted to 1 × 10 ^-6 torr by an oil-free vacuum pump through an exhaust pipe (not shown). Thereafter, a voltage was applied between the device electrodes 4 and 5 of the electron-emitting device 104 through the terminals D _x1 to D _xm and D _y1 to D _yn outside the container, and the above-mentioned forming was performed to form the electron-emitting portion 2.

Next, 1 × 1 of acetone is put in the envelope 118.
0 ^-4 torr was introduced, to no vessel terminals D _x1 D _xm and D _y1
Through D _yn through the device electrodes 4, 5 of the electron-emitting device 104
A voltage was applied for 10 minutes in between to perform the activation step 1. Then, acetone was exhausted.

Next, the inside of the envelope 118 is about 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ to
After setting the vacuum degree to rr, apply a voltage of 20 between the device electrodes 4 and 5.
The activation step 2 was performed by applying the voltage for 0 minutes.

Further, the above activation steps 1 and 2 were repeated three times.

Next, at a vacuum degree of about 1 × 10 ^-6 torr,
After baking at 120 ° C. for 10 hours, an exhaust pipe (not shown) is heated by a gas burner to be welded to the envelope 118.
Was sealed. Finally, a getter process was performed to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing.

In the image forming apparatus completed as described above, the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn are provided.
The scanning signal and the modulation signal are applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 by the signal generating means (not shown) to emit electrons, and a high voltage of several kV or more is applied to the metal back 114 through the high voltage terminal Hv. An image was displayed by accelerating the electron beam, causing it to collide with the fluorescent film 115, and exciting and emitting light.

As a result, a good contrast was obtained for the display image, and no significant change was seen in the display image even after continuous display for a long time.

[0219]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the crystallinity of the carbonaceous coating film coated on the region including the gap (crack) of the conductive film, and to improve the crystallinity as compared with the conventional one. An electron-emitting device having high emission efficiency and high stability can be obtained.

Further, in the electron source provided with the electron-emitting device and its driving means, stable and controlled electron-emitting characteristics can be obtained, and the electron-emitting device can be manufactured with high yield.

Further, stable and controlled electron emission characteristics can be obtained also in the image forming apparatus. For example, in an image forming apparatus using a phosphor as an image forming member, a bright and high quality image forming apparatus of low current, A color flat TV was realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view and a vertical cross-sectional view schematically showing a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device which is an example of an electron-emitting device suitable for the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view schematically showing a vertical type surface conduction electron-emitting device which is an example of an electron-emitting device suitable for the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a manufacturing method of a basic configuration of the surface conduction electron-emitting device of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a forming waveform.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a measurement / evaluation system of a surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an emission current-device voltage characteristic (IV characteristic) of a surface conduction electron-emitting device suitable for the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of a display panel used in an image forming apparatus using an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a fluorescent film in the display panel of FIG.

10 is a diagram showing an example of a drive circuit for driving the display panel of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a schematic plan view of an electron source in a trapezoidal arrangement.

FIG. 12 is a schematic configuration diagram of a display panel used in an image forming apparatus using an electron source in a ladder arrangement.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of the electron-emitting device according to the example of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a manufacturing process of the electron-emitting device according to the example of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of the electron-emitting device according to the example of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a partial plan view of a matrix-arranged electron source according to an embodiment of the present invention.

17 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A ′ in FIG.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining a manufacturing process of the electron source having the matrix arrangement according to the example of the present invention.

FIG. 19: Activation step 1 and activation step 2 according to the present invention
It is a figure showing change of element current If when it repeatedly performs.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2 Electron emission part 3 Conductive film 4,5 Element electrode 21 Step forming material 50 Ammeter 51 for measuring element current If 51 Power supply 52 Ammeter 53 for measuring emission current Ie 53 High voltage power supply 54 Anode electrode 55 Vacuum device 56 Exhaust pump 102 X-direction wiring (lower wiring) 103 Y-direction wiring (upper wiring) 104 Surface conduction electron-emitting device 105 Wiring 111 Rear plate 112 Support frame 113 Glass substrate 114 Fluorescent film 115 Metal back 116 Face plate 118 Outside Enclosure 121 Black conductive material 122 Phosphor 201 Display panel 202 Scanning circuit 203 Control circuit 204 Shift register 205 Line memory 206 Synchronous signal separation circuit 207 Modulation signal generator 301 Display panel 302 Grid electrode 303 Opening 304 Common wiring 401 Interlayer insulation Layer 402 Contact hole 403 Cr film

Claims (26)

[Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device, comprising a conductive film having an electron-emitting portion between electrodes, wherein a conductive film having a gap at least and having a film containing carbon as a main component in at least the gap. A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device, comprising the step of applying a voltage to the flexible film after exhausting. 2. A method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device, comprising a conductive film having an electron-emitting portion between electrodes, wherein at least the conductive film having a gap has at least the gap.
A method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device, comprising: a step of forming a film containing carbon as a main component; and a step of applying a voltage to a conductive film having the film containing carbon as a main component after exhausting. 3. The method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 2, further comprising a step of repeatedly performing the step of forming the film containing carbon as a main component and the step of applying a voltage after evacuation. 4. The step of forming a film containing carbon as a main component in the gap portion of the conductive film includes a step of applying a voltage to the conductive film in an atmosphere of carbon or a carbon compound. 4. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to 2 or 3. 5. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 2, further comprising the step of forming a gap in the conductive film. 6. The step of forming a gap in the conductive film,
The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 5, comprising a step of applying a voltage to the conductive film. 7. The method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 6, wherein the voltage is applied to the conductive film in the step of forming the gap in the conductive film by increasing the voltage value with time. 8. The voltage value applied to the conductive film after the evacuation is smaller than the voltage value applied to the conductive film in the step of forming a gap in the conductive film. Method of manufacturing electron-emitting device. 9. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the step of applying a voltage after the exhaust includes a step of heating the film containing carbon as a main component. 10. The step of applying a voltage after the exhausting comprises:
The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, which is a step of improving crystallinity of the film containing carbon as a main component. 11. The atmosphere after the exhaust is 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ t
The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the electron-emitting device is orrr or less. 12. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the conductive film is made of fine particles. 13. The method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 12, wherein the fine particles are metal or metal oxide. 14. The method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the film containing carbon as a main component is mainly composed of amorphous carbon, graphite, or a mixture thereof. 15. The method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the electron-emitting device is a surface conduction electron-emitting device. 16. A method of manufacturing an electron source having an electron-emitting device and driving means for driving the electron-emitting device, wherein the electron-emitting device is manufactured by the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15. A method for manufacturing an electron source, comprising: 17. The method of manufacturing an electron source according to claim 16, wherein the electron source is an electron source having at least one row of elements in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are connected in parallel. 18. The method of manufacturing an electron source according to claim 16, wherein the electron source is an electron source in which a plurality of element rows in which a plurality of electron emitting elements are connected are arranged in a matrix. 19. A method for manufacturing an image-forming panel having an electron-emitting device and an image-forming member for forming an image by irradiation with an electron beam, wherein the electron-emitting device is according to any one of claims 1 to 15. A method for manufacturing an image forming panel, which is manufactured by a method. 20. The image forming panel has at least one element array in which a plurality of the electron-emitting devices are connected in parallel.
The method for producing an image forming panel according to claim 19, which is an image forming panel having at least rows. 21. The image forming panel according to claim 19, wherein the image forming panel is an image forming panel in which a plurality of element rows in which a plurality of the electron-emitting devices are connected are arranged in a matrix. Production method. 22. The method for manufacturing an image forming panel according to claim 19, wherein the image forming member is a phosphor. 23. An image forming apparatus, comprising: an electron-emitting device, an image-forming member, and a driving means for controlling irradiation of an electron beam emitted from the electron-emitting device to the image-forming member according to an information signal. A method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus, wherein the electron-emitting device is manufactured by the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15. 24. The method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus having at least one element row in which a plurality of the electron-emitting devices are connected in parallel. 25. The method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus in which a plurality of element rows in which a plurality of the electron-emitting devices are connected are arranged in a matrix. 26. The method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the image forming member is a phosphor.