JPH0927273A - Electron emitting element, electron source, image forming device using the same, and their manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the influence on element component members and on electron emission characteristics by heat generation during current-carrying forming process so as to achieve high reliability of an electron emission element by forming an electron emitting part through a reverse piezoelectric effect on a conductive film. SOLUTION: A piezoelectric element 6 consisting of a piezoelectric electrode 7 and a piezoelectric layer 8 is formed over a substrate 1, element electrodes 4, 5 are provided on the piezoelectric element 6, and a conductive film 3 is formed between the electrodes 4, 5. In current-passing forming, a current is passed between the electrodes 4, 5 and a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric electrode 7 to destroy, deform, or denature the conductive film 3 locally to form an electron emitting part 2. Deflection of the conductive film 3 caused by a reverse piezoelectric effect promotes the local destruction, deformation, or denaturing to reduce the amount of heat during the current-passing forming so as to reduce the influence of the heat on the component members of the element and on electron emission characteristics. Also, the power consumption and the processing time required for the formation of the electron emitting part can both be reduced greatly.

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 electron-emitting devices are arranged, and an image forming apparatus such as a display device or an exposure device configured 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 P
rightsies of thin-film fi
eld emission cathodes wit
h mollybdenum cones ”, J. A.
ppl. Phys. , 47, 5248 (1976).

An example of the MIM type is C.I. A. Mea
d, “Operation of Tunnel-Emi
ssion Devices ”, J. Appl. P.
hys. , 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]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional surface conduction electron-emitting device, the heat generated during the forming process by energization has various influences on the component members of the device, and as a result, the electron emission characteristics are changed. Was also affected.

The present invention is intended to prevent the influence of heat generation during the above-mentioned forming process on the element. By reducing the heat generation during the above-mentioned forming process, the influence of the heat generation on the element constituent members and the electron emission characteristics. It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly reliable electron-emitting device and electron source, and an image forming panel and an image forming apparatus using the same.

[0013]

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 having a conductive film having an electron-emitting portion between electrodes, wherein an electron is applied to the conductive film by an inverse piezoelectric effect. It is a method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device characterized by including a step of forming an emission portion.

The first aspect of the present invention further includes, as a feature thereof, "having a step of forming an electron emitting portion in the conductive film by applying a current to the conductive film".

A second aspect of the present invention is a method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device having a conductive film having an electron-emitting portion between electrodes, which comprises a step of applying a voltage to a piezoelectric body attached to the conductive film. A method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device, characterized by having.

The second aspect of the present invention further includes, as a feature thereof, "having a step of applying an electric current to the conductive film".

A third aspect of the present invention is a method for manufacturing an electron source having an electron-emitting device and driving means for driving 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 in parallel 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 with 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 is an image forming panel having at least one element row in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are connected in parallel." , "The image forming panel is an image forming panel in which a plurality of element rows in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are connected in parallel 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 a method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus, which comprises 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 includes: 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 electron-emitting devices 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 electron-emitting devices are connected in parallel are arranged in a matrix "," the image forming member is a phosphor ", Is also included.

Furthermore, the present invention relates to an electron-emitting device, an electron source, an image forming panel and an image forming apparatus obtained by the first to fifth manufacturing methods of the present invention.

[0025]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION As described above, the present invention provides a novel electron-emitting device, a novel electron source having a plurality of such electron-emitting devices, a novel image forming panel and an image forming apparatus using the same. The configuration and operation of each invention will be further described below.

An example of the electron-emitting device according to the present invention is shown in FIG. The electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 1 is a flat surface-conduction electron-emitting device. In the figure, 1 is a substrate, 2 is an electron-emitting portion, 3 is a conductive film, 4 and 5 are device electrodes, and 6 is a piezoelectric. The piezoelectric body is composed of the body electrode 7 and the piezoelectric layer 4.

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.

Opposing element electrodes 4 and 5 and piezoelectric electrode 7
As a material of the general conductive material, for example, N is used.
i, Cr, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu,
Metals or alloys such as Pd and Pd, Ag, Au, Ru
It is appropriately selected from a printed conductor composed of a metal or metal oxide such as O ₂ and Pd-Ag and glass, a transparent conductor such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ and a semiconductor conductor material such as polysilicon.

The material of the piezoelectric layer 8 is ZnO, Al
N, PbTiO ₃ , BaTiO ₃ , PZT, etc. are used,
Its thickness is about 100 nm to 10 μm, 500 nm
To 3 μm is preferable.

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 element electrode spacing L is preferably several hundred angstroms to several hundreds of micrometers, and more preferably several micrometers to several tens of micrometers depending on the voltage applied between the element 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 surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 1, the piezoelectric body 6, the device electrodes 4, 5 and the conductive film 3 are laminated on the substrate 1 in this order. The piezoelectric body 6, the conductive film 3, and the device electrodes 4 and 5 may be laminated in this order on the substrate 1.

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 according to the resistance value between the electrodes 4 and 5, the energization processing condition described later, the voltage application condition to the piezoelectric body, and the like. 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.

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 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 individually 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.

A crack is included in the electron emitting portion 2, and the electron is emitted from the vicinity of the crack. The electron-emitting portion 2 including the crack and the crack itself have a thickness, film quality,
It is formed depending on a manufacturing method such as a material, an energization processing condition described later, and a voltage applying condition to the piezoelectric body. 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
May have carbon and carbon compounds.

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

FIG. 2 is a view showing the basic structure of a vertical type surface conduction electron-emitting device, 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, the device electrodes 4, 5 and the piezoelectric body 6 are made of the same material as that of the above-mentioned plane type electron emitting device. It is manufactured by the same method as described above except that 3 is provided between the side surface of the piezoelectric body 6 and the device electrodes 4 and 5.

The film thickness of the piezoelectric body 6 corresponds to the device electrode distance L (see FIG. 1) of the flat type electron-emitting device described above, and is preferably several hundred angstroms to several tens of micrometers. Particularly preferably, it is several hundred angstroms to several micrometers.

As described in the description of the flat type electron-emitting device, the electron-emitting portion 2 is formed by the conductive film 3.
The film thickness, film quality, material, and forming conditions, which will be described later, conditions for applying a voltage to the piezoelectric body, and the like, and the position and shape thereof are not limited to the position and shape shown in FIG. .

In the following description, of the above-mentioned planar type electron-emitting device and vertical type electron-emitting device, the planar type will be taken as an example. It may be an electron-emitting device.

Various methods can be considered as a method of manufacturing the surface conduction electron-emitting device as shown in FIG. 1, 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) The piezoelectric body 6 is formed on the substrate 1. For example, after a piezoelectric electrode material is deposited on the substrate 1 by a vacuum deposition method, a sputtering method or the like, a piezoelectric electrode 7 is formed on the surface of the substrate 1 by a photolithography technique or the like, and further, a sputtering method or a spray method is used. The piezoelectric layer 8 is formed (Fig. 3
(A)).

2) Next, after depositing an element electrode material on the piezoelectric body 6 by a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method or the like, element electrodes 4 and 5 are formed on the surface of the substrate 1 by a photolithography technique or the like. . Then, by applying the organometallic solution on the substrate 1 provided with the device electrodes 4 and 5 and leaving it to stand,
The organic metal thin film is formed by connecting the device electrodes 4 and 5 with each other. Here, the organic metal solution is a solution of an organic compound having a metal as a constituent material of the conductive film 3 as a main element.
After that, the organometallic thin film is heated and baked, lifted off,
A conductive film 3 patterned by etching or the like is formed (FIG. 3B).

Although the organic metal solution coating method has been described here, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, vacuum vapor deposition method, sputtering method, chemical vapor deposition method, dispersion coating method, dipping method, spinner method, etc. It is also possible to form an organic metal film.

3) Subsequently, a forming process is performed.

By energizing the element electrodes 4 and 5 and applying a voltage to the piezoelectric electrode 7 of the piezoelectric body 6, the electroconductive film 3 is locally destroyed, deformed or altered to change the structure of the electron. The emission part 2 is formed (FIG.3 (c)). That is, by utilizing the inverse piezoelectric effect generated by applying a voltage to the piezoelectric body 6, a mechanical strain is generated in the conductive film 3 attached to the piezoelectric body 6, and this strain causes the conductive film to be deformed. The electron emitting portion 2 is formed in 3.

As described above, in the present invention, the mechanical strain is generated in the conductive film 3 by the inverse piezoelectric effect, so that the conductive film is locally destroyed during the energization forming as in the conventional case.
By promoting the deformation or alteration, the amount of heat generated during energization forming can be reduced, and the influence of the heat generation on the element constituent members and the electron emission characteristics can be reduced.

Since the magnitude of the strain can be appropriately controlled by the piezoelectric material used and the voltage applied to the piezoelectric body, the shape of the electron emitting portion 2 can be controlled.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a voltage waveform applied between the element electrodes 4 and 5 in the energization forming.

The voltage waveform is particularly preferably a pulse waveform,
There are a case where a voltage pulse whose pulse peak value is a constant voltage is continuously applied (FIG. 5A), and a case where a voltage pulse is applied while increasing the pulse peak value (FIG. 5B).

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

In FIG. 5A, 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 a voltage pulse while increasing the pulse crest value will be described with reference to FIG.

T1 and T2 in FIG. 5B 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,
Application is performed in an appropriate vacuum atmosphere similar to the description of FIG.

During the pulse interval T2, the element current is measured at a voltage that does not locally break, deform or alter the conductive film 3, for example, a voltage of about 0.1 V to obtain a resistance value, and 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 / evaluation system as shown in FIG. This measurement evaluation system will be described.

6, 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, and the like are installed in a vacuum device 55, and the vacuum device 55 is equipped with necessary equipment such as a vacuum gauge (not shown) so that the electron-emitting device can operate under a desired vacuum. It is possible to measure and evaluate.

The exhaust pump 56 is composed of a normal high vacuum system such as a turbo pump and a rotary pump, and an ultra high vacuum system such as 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 further perform an activation step.

The activation process is, for example, 10 −4 to 1
It is a process of repeating the application of pulses with a pulse peak value of a constant voltage at a vacuum degree of 0 −5 torr.
By depositing carbon and carbon compounds in the electron emission portion 2 from an organic substance existing in a vacuum atmosphere, the device current and emission current can be significantly improved. It is effective to perform this activation step while measuring the device current and the emission current, for example, and to end it when the emission current is saturated, because it is effective. Also,
The pulse peak value in the activation step is preferably the peak value of the driving voltage.

The carbon and the carbon compound are graphite (both single crystal and polycrystalline) and amorphous carbon (amorphous carbon and a mixture of polycrystalline carbon and amorphous carbon). The deposited film thickness is preferably 500 angstroms or less, more preferably 3 angstroms or less.
It is less than 00 angstrom.

5) It is preferable to perform a stabilization process in which the electron-emitting device thus manufactured is operated and driven in a vacuum atmosphere having a vacuum degree higher than those in the forming step and the activation step. More preferably, in a vacuum atmosphere having a high degree of vacuum, after heating at 80 to 150 ° C., the operation is driven.

A vacuum atmosphere having a vacuum degree higher than that in the forming step and the activation step means, for example, about −10.
It is a vacuum atmosphere having a vacuum degree of 6th torr or more,
More preferably, it is an ultra-high vacuum system, and the degree of vacuum is such that carbon and carbon compounds are hardly newly deposited. That is, by enclosing the electron-emitting device in the vacuum atmosphere,
It is possible to suppress further deposition of carbon and carbon compounds, which allows the device current If and the emission current Ie to be suppressed.
Becomes stable.

The basic characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device manufactured by the above device structure and manufacturing method 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. 6 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,
FIG. 7 shows a typical example of the relationship with the element voltage Vf. still,
In FIG. 7A, since the emission current Ie is significantly smaller than the device current If, it is shown in arbitrary units.

As is apparent from FIG. 7A, 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. 7A).
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 emitted charges captured by the anode electrode 54 (see FIG. 6) depend 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 FIG. 7B, the device current I
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, even in the surface conduction electron-emitting device in which the device current If has the VCNR characteristic with respect to the device voltage Vf, the emission current Ie has the MI characteristic with respect to the device voltage Vf.

Due to the characteristic characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device as described above, even in an electron source or an image forming apparatus in which a plurality of devices are arranged, the amount of emitted electrons can be easily controlled according to an input signal. It will be possible and can be applied to various fields.

Next, as an example of the electron source of the present invention, an electron source in which a plurality of the above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged will be described. First, the arrangement method of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices will be described.

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

According to the basic characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device described above, even when a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in a simple matrix, if the pulsed voltage is appropriately applied to each device, A surface conduction electron-emitting device can be selected according to an input signal, the amount of electron emission can be controlled, and individual surface conduction electron-emitting devices can be selected and driven independently by using only 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 of the present invention, will be further described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 8, 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 arranged on the substrate 1 are set appropriately according to the application. is there.

The m wirings in the X direction 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 deposition 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 device electrodes (not shown) of the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 facing each other have m X-direction wirings 102.
And 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, the m number of X-direction wirings 102, the n number of Y-direction wirings 103, the connection line 105, and the opposing element electrodes may have the same or partial constituent elements. 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 in detail later, 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 of the present invention using the electron source of the present invention having the above simple matrix arrangement will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 is a basic configuration diagram of the display panel 201, and FIG. 10 is a fluorescent film 114.
FIG. 11 shows the display panel 201 of FIG.
It is a block diagram showing an example of a drive circuit for performing a television display according to an NTSC system television signal.

In FIG. 9, 1 is a substrate of an electron source on 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. 9, reference numerals 102 and 103 denote X-direction wirings and Y-direction wirings connected to the device electrodes 4 and 5 of the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104, which have external terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn, respectively. are doing.

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 fluorescent substance 122, but in the case of the color fluorescent film 114, depending on the arrangement of the fluorescent substances 122, a black stripe (FIG. 10A) or a black matrix (FIG. 10A). 10
(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. 9, the fluorescent film 11
A metal back 115 is usually provided on the inner surface side of 4.
The purpose of the metal back 115 is to allow the light emitted from the phosphor 122 (see FIG. 10) to the inside of 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.

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 it is necessary to perform sufficient alignment.

The inside of the envelope 118 is exhausted 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. Here, steps after the forming process of the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be appropriately set.

The above-mentioned display panel 201 is shown in FIG.
Can be driven by a driving circuit as shown in FIG.
In FIG. 11, 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. 11, 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. 11), 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 unscanned surface conduction electron-emitting device is based on the characteristics (threshold voltage) of the surface conduction 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 according to 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, electron emission does not occur 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 an 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.

Also 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 of the present invention having the display panel 201 and the driving circuit as described above has terminals Dx1 to Dx.
By applying voltage from m and Dy1 to Dyn,
Electrons can be emitted from the required surface conduction electron-emitting device, and the metal back 115 can be discharged through the high voltage terminal Hv.
Alternatively, a high voltage is applied to a transparent electrode (not shown) to accelerate the electron beam, and the excited electron beam collides with the fluorescent film 114 to generate excitation / light emission, which causes a television display according to an NTSC television signal. Is what you can do.

The above-described structure is a schematic structure necessary for obtaining the image forming apparatus of the present invention used for display or 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 purpose of the image forming apparatus. Although the NTSC system has been described as an input signal, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to this, and may employ another system such as a PAL or SECAM system. For example, a high-definition TV system such as a MUSE system may be used.

Next, an example of the above-mentioned ladder-type electron source and the image forming apparatus of the present invention using the electron source will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13.

In FIG. 12, reference numeral 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. 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. 13 is a diagram showing the structure of a display panel 301 having the above-mentioned ladder-type electron source, which is another example of the electron source of the present invention.

In FIG. 13, 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.

Note that, in FIG. 13, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 9 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. 9 is that the substrate 1 and the face plate are different. 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 as shown in FIG. 13, 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 of the present invention is
It can be obtained by using any of the electron sources of the present invention in a simple matrix arrangement or a trapezoidal arrangement, and is suitable not only for the above-described television broadcast display device, but also as a video conference system and a display device such as a computer. A device is obtained. Furthermore, the present invention can be used as an exposure device of an optical printer including a photosensitive drum.

[0132]

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 chart of FIG.

Step-a Using the thoroughly washed soda-lime glass substrate 1, Al having a thickness of 10 nanometers was deposited by a vacuum evaporation method and then patterned by a photolithography method to form a piezoelectric electrode 7. Furthermore, a piezoelectric layer 8 was formed by depositing ZnO having a thickness of 30 nm by a sputtering method (FIG. 3).
(A)).

Step-b Next, Ti having a thickness of 5 nanometers and Ni having a thickness of 100 nanometers are sequentially deposited by a vacuum vapor deposition method, and patterning is performed by a photolithography method.
Of 3 μm and a width W2 of 300 μm were formed. Further, an organic Pd complex (ccp4230 manufactured by Okuno Seiyaku Co., Ltd.) was spin-coated by a spinner, heated and baked at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes to form a conductive thin film 3, and then formed by a photolithography method as shown in FIG. It was patterned into a shape as shown in b).

Step-c The substrate 1 which has undergone the above steps is installed in the measurement / evaluation system of FIG. 6 and is evacuated by a vacuum pump to reach a vacuum degree of 2 × 10 −5 torr, and then the device voltage Vf is reached. Power supply 5 for applying
A voltage was applied between the device electrodes 4 and 5 to conduct an energization process (forming process) from No. 1, and a voltage was applied to the piezoelectric electrode 7 to form the electron emitting portion 2 (FIG. 3C).

Specifically, the seven elements produced in the above steps were subjected to forming treatment under the conditions shown in Table 1.

As a result, in each case, the electron emitting portion 2 was formed, and the amount of heat generated during forming could be made extremely small, as compared with the conventional forming treatment method in which only the electric current was passed between the device electrodes 4 and 5. .

[0139]

[Table 1]

(Embodiment 2) The structure of the surface conduction electron-emitting device of this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 2, and its manufacturing method will be described below based on the manufacturing process chart of FIG.

Step-a Using the thoroughly washed soda-lime glass substrate 1, after depositing Au with a thickness of 15 nm by a vacuum deposition method, patterning was performed by a photolithography method to form a piezoelectric electrode 7 and a device electrode 4. . In addition, the thickness of 5
A piezoelectric layer 8 was formed by depositing 0 nm of AlN (FIG. 4A).

Step-b Next, after depositing Au with a thickness of 10 nm on the piezoelectric layer 8 by the vacuum evaporation method, patterning was performed by the photolithography method to form the element electrode 5. Further, part of the piezoelectric layer 8 was etched using the element electrode 5 as a mask (FIG. 4B).

Step-c Next, an organic Pd complex (ccp4230, Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.)
Spin coating was performed by a spinner, and heating and baking treatment was performed at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes to form the conductive thin film 3, and then the conductive thin film 3 was patterned by photolithography into a shape as shown in FIG. 4C.

Step-d The substrate 1 which has undergone the above steps is installed in the measurement / evaluation system of FIG. 6, and is evacuated by a vacuum pump to reach a vacuum degree of 2 × 10 −5 torr. Power supply 5 for applying
A voltage was applied between the device electrodes 4 and 5 to conduct an energization process (forming process) from No. 1, and a voltage was applied to the piezoelectric electrode 7 to form the electron emitting portion 2 (FIG. 4C).

Also in this example, when seven elements were subjected to the forming treatment under the same conditions as in Example 1, as in Example 1, heat generation was small and good results were obtained.

Example 3 Using the electron-emitting device of Example 1, an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement as shown in FIG. 8 and an image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. 9 were produced.

The electron source can be manufactured by expanding the method for manufacturing the electron-emitting device of Example 1, and the details thereof will be omitted.

Next, an example in which an image forming apparatus is constructed by using the substrate 1 (FIG. 8) on which a plurality of conductive films produced as described above are arranged in matrix is concretely described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. To explain.

First, the substrate 1 (FIG. 8) on which a plurality of conductive films are matrix-wired as described above is mounted on the rear plate 1
After being fixed on the substrate 11, the face plate 116 (the fluorescent film 11 on the inner surface of the glass substrate 113 is provided 5 mm above the substrate 1).
4 and a metal back 115 are formed), and the face plate 116,
Frit glass was applied to the joint portion between the support frame 112 and the rear plate 111, and the frit glass was baked at 400 ° C. for 10 minutes in the air to seal it. Further, the frit glass was also used to fix the substrate 1 to the rear plate 111.

In the case of monochrome, the fluorescent film 114 is composed of only the fluorescent material 122, but in this embodiment, the fluorescent material 122 is used.
Adopts a stripe shape (FIG. 10A), a black stripe is first formed, and the phosphors 12 of each color are provided in the gap.
2 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 as a method for applying 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.

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, but in this embodiment, the metal back 115 is used. Since sufficient conductivity was obtained only by itself, it was omitted.

When 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.

The atmosphere inside the envelope 118 completed as described above is sufficiently exhausted through an exhaust pipe (not shown), and then the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dy.
Forming processing is performed by applying a voltage to each of the device electrodes 4 and 5 of the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 through yn and to the piezoelectric body attached to each device as described above, and the electron-emitting portion is attached to each device. Was formed.

Subsequently, the atmosphere inside the envelope 118 is passed through an exhaust pipe (not shown) by a vacuum pump to the power of 10 −6.5 t.
The exhaust pipe is evacuated to a degree of about orr, and an exhaust pipe (not shown) is heated and welded by a gas burner to seal the envelope 118. Further, in order to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing, high frequency heating is performed. Getter processing was performed by the method.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention completed as described above, the scanning signal and the modulation signal are respectively sent to the surface conduction electron-emitting device 104 from the signal generating means (not shown) through the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn. Electrons are emitted by applying the voltage, and a high voltage of several kV or more is applied to the metal back 114 through the high voltage terminal Hv to accelerate the electron beam, collide with the fluorescent film 115, and excite and emit light, thereby displaying an image. Was obtained.

(Embodiment 4) FIG. 14 shows a display panel using the above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron source, and image information provided from various image information sources such as television broadcasting. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an image forming apparatus of the present invention configured to be displayed.

In the figure, 201 is a display panel, 100
1 is a display panel drive circuit, 1002 is a display controller, 1003 is a multiplexer, 10
04 is a decoder, 1005 is an input / output interface circuit, 1006 is a CPU, 1007 is an image generation circuit, 10
08, 1009 and 1010 are image memory interface circuits, 1011 is an image input interface circuit, 1012 and 1013 are TV signal receiving circuits, 101
Reference numeral 4 is an input unit.

When receiving a signal including both video information and audio information, such as a television signal, the image forming apparatus naturally reproduces audio at the same time as displaying video. Descriptions of circuits, speakers, and the like relating to reception, separation, reproduction, processing, storage, etc. of audio information not directly related to the features of the present invention will be omitted.

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

First, the TV signal receiving circuit 1013 is a circuit for receiving a TV signal transmitted using a wireless transmission system such as radio waves or spatial optical communication.

The TV signal system to be received is not particularly limited. For example, NTSC system, PAL system, SEC.
Any method such as AM method may be used. Further, a TV signal comprising a larger number of scanning lines than these, for example, a so-called high-definition TV including the MUSE system is a signal suitable for taking advantage of the display panel suitable for a large area and a large number of pixels. Source.

T received by the TV signal receiving circuit 1013
The V signal is output to the decoder 1004.

The TV signal receiving circuit 1012 is a circuit for receiving a TV signal transmitted using a wire transmission system such as a coaxial cable or an optical fiber. Similar to the TV signal receiving circuit 1013, the system of the TV signal to be received is not particularly limited, and the TV signal received by this circuit is also output to the decoder 1004.

Image input interface circuit 1011
Is a circuit for capturing an image signal supplied from an image input device such as a TV camera or an image reading scanner. The captured image signal is output to the decoder 1004.

Image memory interface circuit 101
Reference numeral 0 is a circuit for capturing an image signal stored in a video tape recorder (hereinafter abbreviated as VTR), and the captured image signal is output to the decoder 1004.

Image memory interface circuit 100
Reference numeral 9 denotes a circuit for capturing an image signal stored in the video disk.
004 is output.

Image memory interface circuit 100
Reference numeral 8 denotes a circuit for capturing an image signal from a device that stores still image data, such as a still image disk, and the captured still image data is input to the decoder 1004.

The input / output interface circuit 1005 is
A circuit for connecting the display device to an external computer, a computer network, or an output device such as a printer. It is of course possible to input / output image data and character / graphic information, and in some cases, input / output control signals and numerical data between the CPU 1006 of the image forming apparatus and the outside. .

The image generation circuit 1007 receives image data, character / graphic information, or the CPU 100 which is externally input via the input / output interface circuit 1005.
6 is a circuit for generating display image data based on the image data and character / graphic information output from 6. Inside this circuit, for example, a rewritable memory for storing image data and character / graphic information, a read-only memory storing an image pattern corresponding to a character code, a processor for performing image processing, etc. And other circuits necessary for generating an image.

The display image data generated by this circuit is output to the decoder 1004, but in some cases, it can be output to an external computer network or printer via the input / output interface circuit 1005.

The CPU 1006 mainly performs operations related to operation control of the display device and generation, selection and editing of a display image.

For example, a control signal is output to the multiplexer 1003 to appropriately select or combine image signals to be displayed on the display panel. At that time, the display panel controller 1 is operated according to the image signal to be displayed.
A control signal is generated for 002 to appropriately control the operation of the display device such as the screen display frequency, the scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced), and the number of scanning lines on one screen. Further, the image data or the character / graphic information is directly output to the image generation circuit 1007, or the external computer or memory is accessed through the input / output interface circuit 1005 to display the image data or the character / graphic information. input.

It should be noted that the CPU 1006 may be involved in work for other purposes. For example, it may directly relate to a function of generating and processing information, such as a personal computer or a word processor. Alternatively, as described above, the input / output interface circuit 1005
The computer may be connected to an external computer network via a computer, and work such as numerical calculation may be performed in cooperation with an external device.

The input unit 1014 is used by the user to input commands, programs, data, etc. to the CPU 1006. For example, various input devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, a joystick, a bar code reader, and a voice recognition device can be used. An input device can be used.

The decoder 1004 converts various image signals input from the above 1007 to 1013 into three primary color signals,
Alternatively, it is a circuit for inversely converting the luminance signal into the I signal and the Q signal. In addition, as shown by a dotted line in the figure, the decoder 100
4 preferably has an image memory inside. This is for handling a television signal that requires an image memory when performing inverse conversion, such as the MUSE method.

The provision of the image memory makes it easy to display a still image. Alternatively, the image generation circuit 1007
And the CPU 1006 in cooperation with the image thinning, interpolation,
There is an advantage that image processing and editing including enlargement, reduction, and composition become easy.

The multiplexer 1003 corresponds to the CPU 1
The display image is appropriately selected based on the control signal input from 006. That is, the multiplexer 1003
Selects a desired image signal from the inversely converted image signals input from the decoder 1004, and drives the drive circuit 1001.
Output to In that case, by switching and selecting an image signal within one screen display time, it is also possible to divide one screen into a plurality of areas and display different images depending on the areas, as in a so-called multi-screen television. .

Display panel controller 1002
Is a circuit for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 1001 based on a control signal input from the CPU 1006.

As a signal related to the basic operation of the display panel, for example, a signal for controlling an operation sequence of a power source (not shown) for driving the display panel is output to the drive circuit 1001. A signal for controlling a screen display frequency and a scanning method (for example, interlace or non-interlace) is output to the drive circuit 1001 as a method related to the display panel drive method. In some cases, a control signal relating to image quality adjustment such as luminance, contrast, color tone, and sharpness of a display image may be output to the driving circuit 1001.

The drive circuit 1001 is a circuit for generating a drive signal to be applied to the display panel 201, based on the image signal input from the multiplexer 1003 and the control signal input from the display panel controller 1002. It works.

Although the functions of the respective parts have been described above, the image information input from various image information sources can be displayed on the display panel 201 in this image forming apparatus by the configuration illustrated in FIG. . That is, various image signals including television broadcasting are transmitted to the decoder 10.
After being inversely converted in 04, it is appropriately selected in the multiplexer 1003 and input to the drive circuit 1001.
On the other hand, the display controller 1002 generates a control signal for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 1001 according to an image signal to be displayed. The drive circuit 1001 uses the image signal and the control signal to display the display panel 201.
Is applied with a drive signal. Thus, an image is displayed on the display panel 201. These series of operations are totally controlled by the CPU 1006.

In this image forming apparatus, the image memory built in the decoder 1004 and the image generating circuit 100 are included.
7 and information not only selected but also displayed image information such as enlargement, reduction, rotation, movement, edge enhancement, thinning, interpolation, color conversion, image aspect ratio conversion, etc. It is also possible to perform initial image processing and image editing including synthesizing, erasing, connecting, replacing, and fitting. Although not specifically mentioned in the description of the present embodiment, a dedicated circuit for processing and editing audio information may be provided as in the above-described image processing and image editing.

Therefore, the present image forming apparatus includes a display device for television broadcasting, a terminal device for video conference, an image editing device for handling still images and moving images, a terminal device for a computer,
It is possible to combine the functions of office terminals such as word processors, game machines, etc., with a very wide range of applications for industrial or consumer use.

Incidentally, FIG. 14 merely shows an example of the constitution in the case of an image forming apparatus using a display panel having a surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron beam source, and the image forming apparatus of the present invention is It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this.

For example, among the constituent elements shown in FIG. 14, circuits relating to functions unnecessary for the purpose of use may be omitted.
Conversely, additional components may be added depending on the purpose of use. For example, when this display device is applied as a video phone, a TV camera, a voice microphone,
It is preferable to add an illuminator, a transmission / reception circuit including a modem, and the like to the components.

In this image forming apparatus, since the surface conduction electron-emitting device is used as the electron source, the display panel can be easily thinned and the depth of the image forming apparatus can be reduced. In addition, a display panel using a surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron beam source is easy to enlarge the screen, has high brightness, and has excellent viewing angle characteristics, so that the image forming apparatus is full of a sense of reality and has a powerful image. Can be displayed with good visibility.

[0188]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A piezoelectric body is attached to a conductive film that serves as an electron emission film of an electron-emitting device, and a mechanical strain is generated in the conductive film by utilizing an inverse piezoelectric effect generated by applying a voltage to the piezoelectric body. By utilizing this strain, the electron emitting portion is formed in the conductive film. Further, the occurrence of mechanical strain of the conductive film due to the inverse piezoelectric effect promotes local destruction, deformation or alteration of the conductive film during the conventional forming treatment. Therefore, as compared with the conventional forming treatment method, the heat generation amount during the energization treatment is significantly reduced, and thus the influence of the heat generation on the element constituent member and the electron emission characteristic can be significantly reduced,
The power consumption and processing time for forming the electron emitting portion can be greatly reduced.

Further, since the magnitude of strain generated in the conductive film can be appropriately controlled by the piezoelectric material used and the voltage applied to the piezoelectric body, the shape of the electron emitting portion can be controlled to some extent. Therefore, a large number of electron-emitting devices having uniform characteristics can be arranged.

From the above, it is possible to obtain a more reliable electron source and image forming apparatus with less variation in luminance.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view schematically showing another example of the surface conduction electron-emitting device which is an example of the electron-emitting device of the present invention.

3A and 3B are views for explaining a method of manufacturing the surface conduction electron-emitting device of FIG.

4A and 4B are views for explaining a method of manufacturing the surface conduction electron-emitting device of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a forming waveform.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of a measurement evaluation system for a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows emission current of the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present invention.
It is a figure which shows an element voltage characteristic (IV characteristic).

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of the electron source of the present invention in a simple matrix arrangement.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of a display panel used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention using an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a fluorescent film in the display panel of FIG. 9;

11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a drive circuit that drives the display panel of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a schematic plan view of an electron source of the present invention in a ladder arrangement.

FIG. 13 is a schematic configuration diagram of a display panel used in an image forming apparatus of the present invention using a trapezoidal arrangement of electron sources.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2 Electron emission part 3 Conductive film 4,5 Element electrode 6 Piezoelectric body 7 Piezoelectric electrode 8 Piezoelectric layer 50 Ammeter for measuring element current If 51 Power supply 52 Ammeter for measuring emission current Ie 53 High Voltage Power Supply 54 Anode Electrode 55 Vacuum Device 56 Exhaust Pump 102 X Direction Wiring 103 Y Direction Wiring 104 Surface Conduction Electron Emission Element 105 Connection 111 111 Rear Plate 112 Support Frame 113 Glass Substrate 114 Fluorescent Film 115 Metal Back 116 Face Plate 118 Surrounding Device 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 1001 Driving times 1002 display controller 1003 multiplexer 1004 decoder 1005 input / output interface circuit 1006 CPU 1007 image generation circuit 1008 image memory interface circuit 1009 image memory interface circuit 1010 image memory interface circuit 1011 image input interface circuit 1012 TV signal receiving circuit 1013 TV signal receiving circuit 1014 input Department

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shigeki Matsutani 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Yoshiyuki Nagata 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Within the corporation

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device including a conductive film having an electron-emitting portion between electrodes, comprising the step of forming an electron-emitting portion in the conductive film by an inverse piezoelectric effect on the conductive film. A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device, which comprises: 2. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, further comprising the step of forming an electron-emitting portion in the conductive film by applying a current to the conductive film. 3. A method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device including a conductive film having an electron-emitting portion between electrodes, comprising a step of applying a voltage to a piezoelectric body attached to the conductive film. Method of manufacturing an emitting device. 4. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 3, further comprising the step of conducting an electric current treatment on the conductive film. 5. The method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the electron-emitting device is a surface conduction electron-emitting device. 6. An electron-emitting device obtained by the manufacturing method according to claim 1. 7. A method of manufacturing an electron source having an electron-emitting device and a 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 5. A method for manufacturing an electron source, comprising: 8. The method of manufacturing an electron source according to claim 7, 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. 9. The method of manufacturing an electron source according to claim 7, 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 in parallel are arranged in a matrix. 10. An electron source obtained by the manufacturing method according to claim 7. 11. A method for manufacturing an image-forming panel having an electron-emitting device and an image-forming member that forms an image by irradiation with an electron beam, wherein the electron-emitting device is according to any one of claims 1 to 5. A method for manufacturing an image forming panel, which is manufactured by a method. 12. The method of manufacturing an image forming panel according to claim 11, wherein the image forming panel has at least one element row in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are connected in parallel. . 13. The image forming panel according to claim 11, wherein the image forming panel is an image forming panel in which a plurality of element rows in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are connected in parallel are arranged in a matrix. Manufacturing method. 14. The method for manufacturing an image forming panel according to claim 11, wherein the image forming member is a phosphor. 15. An image forming panel obtained by the manufacturing method according to claim 11. 16. An image forming apparatus comprising: an electron-emitting device, an image-forming member, and 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 claim 1. 17. The method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus having at least one element row in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are connected in parallel. 18. The method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus in which a plurality of element rows in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are connected in parallel are arranged in a matrix. . 19. The method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image forming member is a phosphor. 20. An image forming apparatus obtained by the manufacturing method according to claim 16.