JPH0935620A - Electron emitting element, electron source, image forming device, and manufacture of them - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electron emitting element having no noise at the time of driving, high emission efficiency, and band to deteriorate even by long time driving. SOLUTION: Element electrodes are formed on an insulating base board, between the element electrodes is communicated to form a conductive coat including an Si fine crystal fine particle, and the conductive coat is electrified to form an electron emission part. Then, voltage is applied to the conductive coat under the existence of an organic substance to deposit carbon having high crystallinity with the Si fine crystal fine particle as a core.

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 using a plurality of such devices, an image forming apparatus such as a display device and an exposure device using the same, and a manufacturing method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electron-emitting device having a conductive film including an electron-emitting portion between electrodes is utilized, and among others, a phenomenon in which electron emission is caused by passing a current through the conductive film in parallel with a film surface is utilized. Surface conduction electron-emitting devices are known.

[0003] As a typical configuration example of a surface conduction electron-emitting device, a conductive film such as a metal oxide that connects a pair of device electrodes provided on an insulating substrate is referred to as forming in advance. One in which an electron-emitting portion is formed by an energization process is exemplified. Forming is usually performed by applying a voltage to both ends of the conductive film and applying a current.The structure is changed by locally destroying, deforming or altering the conductive film, and the electron emitting portion is in an electrically high-resistance state. Is a process of forming 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.

[0004] The above-mentioned electron-emitting device has an advantage that it can be formed in a large number over a large area because of its simple structure and easy manufacture. 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 electron-emitting devices are formed in an array, the electron-emitting devices are arranged in parallel, and both ends (both device electrodes) of each electron-emitting device are wired (also called common wiring). An electron source in which a large number of rows connected to each other (also referred to as a ladder type arrangement) is provided (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-313332).
JP-B No. 1-283749 and JP-A No. 2-25755.
No. 2). Further, particularly in a display device, a flat-panel display device similar to a display device using liquid crystal can be used, and further, as a self-luminous display device that does not require a backlight, an electronic device including a large number of electron-emitting devices A display device in which a light source and a phosphor that emits visible light by irradiation of an electron beam from the electron source are combined is proposed (US Pat. No. 5,066,883).

In order to obtain a high-quality and high-definition image on a large screen in a display device using the electron-emitting device,
The number of rows and columns of electron-emitting devices is several hundred to several thousand, respectively, and it is necessary to arrange a very large number of electron-emitting devices. Therefore, it is desired that each electron-emitting device has uniform electric characteristics and is easy to control.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned electron-emitting device, when the device is operated in a vacuum, temporal variations in emission current, that is, noise, reduction (deterioration) in emission current, magnitude of emission current value, etc. There was a problem. It is an object of the present invention to solve such a problem and to provide a high-performance electron-emitting device which is stable and has a sufficient electron emission amount during operation and driving, and an electron source using the device. Another object of the present invention is to provide a bright and stable image forming apparatus, such as a flat television, by using the electron source.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems The invention of claims 1 to 4 is:
In the electron-emitting device, the conductive film having an electron-emitting portion has a microcrystalline film containing at least Si and carbon elements. In the present invention, a surface conduction electron-emitting device is preferably constructed.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is a method for manufacturing the above-mentioned electron-emitting device, wherein Si element or S is formed on the conductive film.
After forming iC microcrystalline fine particles and forming an electron emission portion in the conductive film, carbon or S is formed by using the microcrystalline fine particles as nuclei.
It is characterized by depositing iC.

The inventions of claims 9 and 10 are electron sources using the electron-emitting devices, and the inventions of claims 11 and 12 are image forming apparatuses using the electron sources.
15th invention is these manufacturing methods.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION There are two types of electron-emitting devices, a flat type and a vertical type. First, the basic structure of a flat type electron-emitting device will be described.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are views showing the basic structure of a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a substrate, 2 is an electron emitting portion,
Reference numeral 3 is a conductive film, and 4 and 5 are device electrodes.

As the substrate 1, for example, quartz glass, 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 interval 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 interval L is preferably several hundred Å to several hundred μm, more preferably several μm to several tens μm depending on the voltage applied between the element electrodes 4 and 5.

The device electrode length W is preferably several μm to several hundred μm, and the device electrode thickness d is several hundred Å to several μm, considering the resistance value of the electrodes and electron emission characteristics.

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 the present invention, the conductive film 3 is particularly preferably a fine particle film composed of fine particles in order to obtain good electron emission characteristics. The thickness of the conductive film 3 depends on the step coverage to 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, and is preferably several Å to several thousand Å, particularly preferably 10 Å to 500 Å, and the resistance value is 10 ³ to 10 ⁷ Ω / It is the sheet resistance value of □.

In the present invention, fine crystalline fine particles made of carbon, Si or a compound thereof are further provided on the conductive film 3 or between the fine particles forming the conductive film 3. The film thickness of the fine crystalline particles is 200
Å or less, preferably 100 Å or less, and has conductivity.

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, Pb, P
Oxides such as dO, SnO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO and Sb ₂ O ₃ , HfB ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , CeB ₆ , Y
Boride such as B ₄ and GdB ₄ , TiC, ZrC, HfC,
Carbides such as TaC, SiC, WC, TiN, ZrN, H
Examples thereof include nitrides such as fN, semiconductors such as Si and Ge, and carbon.

In the present invention, the fine particle film is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated, and its fine structure is not only a state in which the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged but also a state in which the fine particles are adjacent to each other or overlap each other ( (Including island-shaped) film. In the case of a fine particle film, the particle size of the fine particles is several
It is preferably several thousand Å, particularly preferably 10 Å ~
200Å.

The electron emitting portion 2 is a crack having a high resistance formed in a part of the conductive film 3, and the film thickness, film quality, and
It is formed depending on the material and the manufacturing method such as energization forming described later. In addition, it may have conductive fine particles having a particle diameter of several hundred to several hundred. The conductive fine particles are the same as some or all of the elements of the material forming the conductive film 3. Further, the electron emitting portion 2 and the conductive film 3 in the vicinity thereof include fine particles made of the material of the conductive film 3, carbon, and S.
It has microcrystalline fine particles composed of i and any of those compounds.

In the present invention, the above-mentioned microcrystalline fine particles are vacuum vapor deposition method, sputtering method, chemical vapor deposition method, dispersion coating method,
It is formed by a dipping method, a spinner method, or the like.

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

FIG. 2 is a view showing the basic structure of a vertical electron-emitting device, in which 21 is a step forming member, and other parts are shown in FIG.
The same reference numerals 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 flat type 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 interval L (see FIG. 1) of the flat-type electron-emitting device described above. It is set according to the applied voltage or the like, but is preferably several hundreds of mm to several tens of μm, and particularly preferably several hundreds of mm to several μm.

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 flat-type electron-emitting device, the formation of the electron-emitting portion 2 depends on the thickness, the film quality, the material of the conductive film 3 and the manufacturing method such as the forming conditions described later. The shape and shape are not limited to the position and shape as 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 is taken as an example, but instead of the planar type electron-emitting device, a vertical type electron-emitting device is used. Good.

Various methods are conceivable as a method of manufacturing the electron-emitting device, one example of which 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, an element electrode material is deposited by a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method or the like, and then an element is formed on the surface of the substrate 1 by a photolithography technique. The 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 an element electrode 5 are connected to form an organic metal thin film.
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 this,
The organic metal thin film is heated and baked to form a conductive film 3 patterned by lift-off, etching, or the like (FIG. 3B). Although the description has been given here by using the coating method of the organic metal solution, the present invention is not limited to this, and examples thereof include a vacuum deposition method, a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition method (CVD method), a dispersion coating method, a dipping method, a spinner method. It is also possible to form an organic metal film by the above method.

Next, microcrystalline fine particles made of carbon, Si, or a compound thereof are subjected to plasma CVD and heat C.
It is formed under microcrystal forming conditions by the VD method or the like. In the plasma CVD method, a source gas is flown into a vacuum chamber having a substrate heating source on which a substrate is installed, and Rf (13.56 MH)
z), μW, or other high-frequency power source is used to decompose the generated plasma to deposit microcrystalline particles. The raw material _{gas, SiH 4, Si 2 H 8} , CH 4, C 2 H 6 or the like are preferably used, further, to facilitate the microcrystalline particles are deposited,
Hydrogen gas is mixed appropriately.

In the thermal CVD method, the filaments such as W are set to the thermal decomposition temperature of the raw material gas for decomposition and deposition, or the substrate is placed in a vacuum heating furnace which can be set to the thermal decomposition temperature of the raw material gas, and microcrystalline fine particles are generated. In order to facilitate the deposition, a raw material gas appropriately mixed with hydrogen gas is caused to flow, decomposed, and fine crystalline fine particles are deposited.

3) Subsequently, an energization process called forming is performed. When a power supply (not shown) is applied between the device electrodes 4 and 5, an electron emitting portion 2 having a changed structure is formed at a portion of the conductive film 3 (FIG. 3C). This conductive treatment causes the conductive film 3 to be locally destroyed, deformed or deteriorated,
The portion where the structure has changed is the electron emission portion 2.

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

The voltage waveform is particularly 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, T ₁ and T ₂ are the pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform, for example, T ₁ is 1 μm.
sec~10msec, the T ₂ 10μsec~100m
The peak value (peak voltage at the time of forming) is appropriately selected according to the form of the above-described electron-emitting device, and is applied for several seconds to several tens of minutes in a vacuum atmosphere having an appropriate degree of vacuum. The voltage waveform to be applied is not limited to the illustrated triangular wave, and a desired waveform such as a rectangular wave can be used.

Next, a case where a voltage pulse is applied while increasing the pulse peak value will be described with reference to FIG.

T ₁ and T ₂ 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 T ₂ , the element current is measured at a voltage that does not locally destroy, deform or alter the conductive film 3 (see FIGS. 1 and 2), for example, a voltage of about 0.1 V. Then, the resistance value is obtained, and when the resistance value indicates, for example, 1 MΩ or more, the forming is terminated.

4) Next, the element for which the energization forming has been completed is subjected to a treatment called an activation step. The activation step is a step in which the device current _If and the emission current _Ie are significantly changed by the step.

The activation step can be carried out, for example, by repeating the application of the pulse in the atmosphere containing the gas of the organic substance, similarly to the energization forming. This atmosphere can be formed by using the organic gas remaining in the atmosphere when the inside of the vacuum container is evacuated by using, for example, an oil diffusion pump or a rotary pump, and can also be exhausted once by an ion pump or the like. It can also be obtained by introducing a gas of an appropriate organic substance into the formed vacuum. The preferable gas pressure of the organic substance at this time varies depending on the form of application, the shape of the vacuum container, the type of the organic substance, and the like, and is appropriately set depending on the case. Suitable organic substances include alkanes, alkenes, alkyne aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes,
Examples thereof include organic acids such as ketones, amines, phenols, carboxylic acids, and sulfonic acids. Specific examples include saturated hydrocarbons represented by C _n H _{2n + 2} such as methane, ethane, and propane, ethylene, propylene, and the like. Unsaturated hydrocarbons represented by composition formulas such as C _n H _2n , benzene, toluene,
Methanol, ethanol, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, methylethylketone, methylamine, ethylamine, phenol, formic acid, propionic acid acetate, etc. can be used. Further, SiH ₄ , Si ₂ H ₈ , CH
₄ , a source gas such as C ₂ H ₆ is supplied, and more preferably,
The application of the pulse voltage is repeated in a state in which hydrogen gas is appropriately mixed so that the fine crystal particles are easily deposited. By this step, carbon, S or
By depositing i and these compounds, a highly crystalline film is formed and I _f and I _e are significantly changed.

This process is terminated when I _e is saturated while measuring I _f and I _e , for example. The pulse width, pulse interval, and pulse crest value of the applied voltage are set appropriately, but the pulse crest value is preferably the operation drive voltage.

Here, carbon, Si and their compounds are graphite, amorphous carbon, microcrystalline SiC and amorphous SiC, and high crystallinity means graphite,
A high proportion of microcrystalline SiC, TEM,
The degree of crystallinity is measured by Raman or the like.

5) More preferably, the electron-emitting device thus manufactured is operated and driven in a vacuum atmosphere having a vacuum degree higher than the vacuum degree in the activation step. Further, more preferably, in a vacuum atmosphere having a higher degree of vacuum, 80 ° C to 1
After heating at 50 ° C., the operation is driven.

The vacuum atmosphere having a vacuum degree higher than the vacuum degree in the activation step is, for example, a vacuum degree having a vacuum degree of about 10 ⁻⁶ torr or more, more preferably an ultrahigh vacuum system and carbon. And the degree of vacuum at which a carbon compound is not newly deposited.

By the step 5), it is possible to promote the stabilization of carbon, Si and their compounds newly deposited by the activation step.

The basic characteristics of the electron-emitting device thus obtained will be described below.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of a measurement / evaluation system for measuring electron emission characteristics of an electron-emitting device. First, this measurement / evaluation system will be described.

5, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 indicate the same members. Reference numeral 51 denotes a power supply for applying a device voltage _Vf to the device; 50, an ammeter for measuring a device current _If flowing through the conductive film 3 between the device electrodes 4 and 5; An anode electrode for capturing the emission current _Ie emitted, 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 , 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 system (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 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. In this measurement evaluation system, at the stage of assembling a display panel (see 201 in FIG. 8) described later, the display panel and the inside thereof are configured as the vacuum device 55 and the inside, so that the above-described forming step, activation It can be applied to the measurement evaluation and processing in the chemical conversion step and the subsequent steps described later.

The basic characteristics of the electron-emitting device described below are
The voltage of the anode electrode 54 of the measurement evaluation system is set to 1 kV to 1
The distance H between the anode electrode 54 and the electron-emitting device is 0 kV.
Is based on the measurement performed as 2 to 8 mm.

First, the emission current I _e and the device current I _f ,
FIG. 6 shows a typical example of the relationship with the element voltage _Vf . still,
In FIG. 6, since the emission current _Ie is significantly smaller than the device current _If , it is shown in arbitrary units. The vertical axis and the horizontal axis are linear scales.

As is apparent from FIG. 6, the electron-emitting device has the following three characteristic characteristics with respect to the emission current I _e .

First, the electron-emitting device has a device voltage V _f equal to or higher than a certain voltage (referred to as a threshold voltage: V _{th in} FIG. 6).
Is applied, the emission current _Ie sharply increases, while the emission current _Ie is hardly detected below the threshold voltage _Vth .
That is, it is a non-linear element having a clear threshold voltage V _th with respect to the emission current I _e .

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

Thirdly, the emitted charge trapped in the anode electrode 54 (see FIG. 5) depends on the time for applying the device voltage V _f . 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 I _e is MI with respect to the device voltage V _f .
At the same time having a characteristic, it may have a MI characteristic with respect to the device current I _f also the device voltage V _f. An example of the characteristic of such an electron-emitting device is the characteristic shown in FIG. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6B, the element current _If may exhibit a voltage-controlled negative resistance characteristic (called VCNR characteristic) with respect to the element voltage _Vf . Which characteristic is exhibited depends on the manufacturing method of the electron-emitting device, the measurement conditions at the time of measurement, and the like.
However, even in the electron-emitting device in which the device current I _f has the VCNR characteristic with respect to the device voltage V _f , the emission current I _e has the MI characteristic with respect to the device voltage V _f .

Next, the arrangement of electron-emitting devices in the electron source of the present invention 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. There is an arrangement method in which an X-direction wiring and a Y-direction wiring are connected to a pair of device electrodes of an electron-emitting device, which are installed via an interlayer insulating layer. 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 electron-emitting device described above, the emitted electrons in the electron-emitting device arranged in the simple matrix have a pulse-like voltage applied between the opposing device electrodes at a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage. It can be controlled by the peak value and pulse width. On the other hand, almost no electrons are emitted below the threshold voltage. Therefore, even when a large number of electron-emitting devices are arranged, if the pulse-like voltage is appropriately applied to each of the devices, the electron-emitting device can be selected according to the input signal, and the amount of electron emission can be controlled. Individual electron-emitting devices can be selected and driven independently only by the 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. 7, the substrate 1 is a glass plate or the like as already described, and the number and shape of the electron-emitting devices 104 arranged on the substrate 1 are set appropriately according to the application.

The m number of X-direction wirings 102 have external terminals D _x1 , D _x2 , ..., D _xm , respectively.
The conductive metal is formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. Further, the material, the film thickness, and the wiring width are set so that the voltage is supplied to the many electron-emitting devices 104 almost uniformly.

The n Y-direction wirings 103 have external terminals D _y1 , D _y2 , ..., D _yn , respectively.
It is created in the same way as 02.

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.

Further, the opposing device electrodes (not shown) of the electron-emitting device 104 are formed by m X-direction wirings 102 and n Y-direction wirings 103 by a vacuum evaporation method, a printing method, a sputtering method or the like. They are electrically connected by a connecting wire 105 made of a conductive metal or the like.

Here, the m number of X-direction wirings 102, the n number of Y-direction wirings 103, the connection lines 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. The electron-emitting device 104 is the substrate 1
Alternatively, it may be formed on an interlayer insulating layer (not shown).

Further, as will be described in detail later, the X-direction wirings 102 have electron-emitting devices 104 arranged in the X-direction.
A scanning signal applying unit (not shown) for applying a scanning signal is electrically connected to scan the row according to the input signal.

On the other hand, a modulation signal generating means (not shown) for applying a modulation signal to the Y-direction wiring 103 in order to modulate each of the rows of the electron-emitting devices 104 arranged in the Y-direction according to an input signal. Are electrically connected. Further, the drive voltage applied to each electron-emitting device 104 is supplied as a difference voltage between a scanning signal and a modulation signal applied to the 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. 8 is a diagram showing the basic configuration of the display panel 201, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the fluorescent film 114, and FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the display panel 201 of FIG.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a driving circuit for performing television display in accordance with a TSC television signal.

In FIG. 8, 1 is a substrate of an electron source in which electron-emitting devices are arranged as described above, 111 is a rear plate to which the substrate 1 is fixed, 116 is a fluorescent film 114 and a metal back 115 on the inner surface of a glass substrate 113. Etc. are formed on the face plate, and 112 is a support frame. Frit glass or the like is applied to the rear plate 111, the support frame 112, and the face plate 116, and the surface of the rear plate 111, 4
The envelope 118 is configured by sealing by firing at 100 to 500 ° C. for 10 minutes or more.

In FIG. 8, 2 corresponds to the electron emitting portion in FIG. 102 and 103 are electron-emitting devices 104
X-direction wiring connected to the pair of device electrodes 4 and 5 and Y
In the direction wirings, respectively external terminals D _x1 to D _xm, and a D _y1 to D _yn.

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. 9A) or a black matrix (see FIG. 9). 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 for 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 improve the brightness by mirror-reflecting light toward the inner surface side of the light emitted from the phosphor 122 (see FIG. 9) toward the glass substrate 113, and to apply an electron beam acceleration voltage. Acting as an electrode,
For example, protection of the phosphor 122 from damage due to collision of negative ions generated in the envelope 118 is performed. Metal back 1
15 can be manufactured by performing a smoothing process (usually called filming) on the inner surface of the fluorescent film 114 after the fluorescent film 114 is manufactured, 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 increase the conductivity of the fluorescent film 114.

At the time of performing the above-mentioned sealing, in the case of color, the phosphors 122 of the respective colors have to correspond to the electron-emitting devices 104, so that it is necessary to perform sufficient alignment.

The inside of the envelope 118 is sealed through a vacuum degree of about 1 × 10 ⁻⁷ torr through an exhaust pipe (not shown). Also, a getter process may be performed immediately before or after sealing the envelope 118. This is a process of heating a getter (not shown) arranged at a predetermined position in the envelope 118 to form a deposited film. The getter is usually composed mainly of Ba or the like, and is used to maintain a degree of vacuum of, for example, 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ to 1 × 10 ⁻⁷ torr by the adsorption action of the deposited film.

The above-mentioned forming process and the subsequent manufacturing steps of the electron-emitting device are usually performed immediately before or after the encapsulation of the envelope 118, and the contents thereof are as described above.

The above-mentioned display panel 201 is 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
07 the modulation signal generator, V _x and V _a are DC voltage sources.

As shown in FIG. 10, the display panel 20
1 is connected to an external electric circuit through the external terminals D _x1 to D _xm, external terminals D _y1 to D _yn and a high-voltage terminal Hv.
Of these, the external terminals D _{x1 to} D _xm are connected to the display panel 201.
A scanning signal is applied for sequentially driving the electron-emitting devices provided therein, that is, the electron-emitting devices arranged in a matrix of m rows and n columns, one row at a time (n elements).

On the other hand, a modulation signal for controlling the output electron beam of each electron-emitting device of one row selected by the scanning signal is applied to the external terminals D _{y1 to} D _yn . Also,
The high-voltage terminal Hv, the DC voltage source V _a, for example, 10k
V DC voltage is supplied. This is an accelerating voltage for applying sufficient energy to the electron beam output from the electron-emitting device to excite the phosphor.

The scanning circuit 202 is provided with m switching elements (schematically shown by S _{1 to} S _m in FIG. 10) inside, and each switching element S _{1 to} S _m is a DC voltage power supply V _x. Output voltage or 0 V (ground level) is selected and electrically connected to the external terminals D _{x1 to} D _{xm of} the display panel 201. Each of the switching elements S _{1 to} S _m operates based on a control signal T _scan output from the control circuit 203, and is actually easily configured by combining elements having a switching function such as an FET, for example. It is possible.

In the DC voltage source V _x in this example, the driving voltage applied to the electron emitters that are not scanned is equal to or lower than the threshold voltage based on the characteristics (threshold voltage) of the electron emitters. It is set to output such a constant 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. Based on the synchronization signal T _sync next fed from the synchronizing signal separation circuit 206 to be described, T _scan, generating a respective control signal T _sft and T _mry to each unit.

The sync signal separation circuit 206 is a circuit for separating a sync signal component and a luminance signal component from an externally input NTSC television signal, 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 T _sync . On the other hand, the luminance signal component of the image separated from the television signal is referred to as DAT for convenience.
This is shown as an A signal. This DATA signal is input to the shift register 204.

The shift register 204 is for serial / parallel conversion of the DATA signal serially input in time series for each line of the image, and is based on the control signal T _sft sent from the control circuit 203. Works. This control signal _Tsft may be rephrased as a shift clock of the shift register 204. The data of one line of the serial-parallel-converted image (corresponding to the drive data of n electron-emitting devices) is represented by I
Examples n parallel signals _d1 ~I _dn shift register 2
04.

The line memory 205 is a storage device for storing data for one line of an image for a required time,
Stores the contents of the appropriate I _d1 ~I _dn according to the control signal T _mry sent from the control circuit 203. The stored content is I
It is output as _d'1 ~I _d'n, is input to the modulation signal generator 207.

The modulation signal generator 207 is a signal source for appropriately driving and modulating each of the electron-emitting devices in accordance with each of the image data I _{d'1 to} I _d'n , and its output signal is
The voltage is applied to the electron-emitting devices in the display panel 201 through the terminals D _{y1 to} D _yn .

As described above, the 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. For a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage, the emission current also changes in accordance with the change in the voltage applied to the electron-emitting device.
By changing the material, configuration, and manufacturing method of the electron-emitting device, the value of the threshold voltage or the degree of change of the emission current with respect to the applied voltage may change, but in any case, the following can be said.

That is, when a pulsed voltage is applied to the electron-emitting device, for example, when a voltage below the threshold voltage is applied, no electron emission occurs, but when a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage is applied. Produces electron emission. 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. Second
By changing the width of the voltage pulse, it is possible to control the total amount of charges of the output electron beam.

Therefore, as a method of modulating the 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 system 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 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. In the case of a pulse width modulation method using an analog signal, for example, a well-known voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) may be used. If necessary, an amplifier for amplifying the voltage up to the driving voltage of the electron-emitting device may be used. May be added.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention having the display panel 201 and the driving circuit as described above, by applying a voltage from the terminals D _{x1 to} D _xm and D _{y1 to} D _yn , electrons are emitted from necessary electron-emitting devices. Excitation caused by applying a high voltage to the metal back 115 or a transparent electrode (not shown) through the high voltage terminal Hv to accelerate the electron beam, and causing the accelerated electron beam to collide with the fluorescent film 114. -By light emission, television display can be performed according to an NTSC television signal.

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 detailed parts such as materials of respective members 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 an image forming apparatus of the present invention using the electron source will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12.

In FIG. 11, reference numeral 1 is a substrate, 104 is an electron-emitting device, and 304 is a common wiring for connecting the electron-emitting device 104. Ten external wirings D _{1 to} D ₁₀ are provided.
have.

A plurality of electron-emitting devices 104 are arranged in parallel on the substrate 1. This is called an element row. These element rows are arranged in a plurality of rows to constitute an electron source.

It is possible to independently drive each element row 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 D ₁ and D ₂ ). That is, a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage may be applied to the element row where the electron beam is desired to be emitted, and a voltage lower than the threshold voltage may be applied to the element row where the electron beam is not desired to be emitted. Application of the driving voltage, the common wiring D ₂ to D ₉ located at each element rows, the external terminals D ₂ and D ₃ adjacent common wiring 304, i.e. each phase adjacent each phase, D ₄ and D ₅ it can also be performed as an integrated same wire common wiring 304 of D ₆ and D _7, D ₈ and D _9.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the structure of a display panel 301 provided with the above-mentioned ladder-type electron source, which is another example of the electron source of the present invention.

In FIG. 12, 302 is a grid electrode, 303 is an opening through which electrons pass, D _{1 to} D _m are external terminals for applying a voltage to each electron-emitting device, and G _{1 to} G _n are grid electrodes 302. Is an external terminal connected to. 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 electron-emitting device 104. The grid electrode 302 allows the electron beam to pass through a stripe-shaped electrode provided perpendicular to the ladder-shaped element row. In addition, one circular opening 303 is provided for each electron-emitting device 104.

The shape and arrangement position of the grid electrode 302 are
12, the openings 303 may be provided in a large number in a mesh shape, and the grid electrode 302 may be provided around or near the electron-emitting device 104, for example.

The external terminals D _{1 to} D _m and G _{1 to} G _n 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.

[0119]

EXAMPLES Example 1 and Comparative Example As a first example of the present invention, the planar surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 1 was formed along the process of FIG. Step-a On a substrate 1 in which a 5000 Å-thick silicon oxide film is formed on a cleaned soda-lime glass by a sputtering method, a pattern to be a gap L between element electrodes is formed with a photoresist (RD-
2000N-41, manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.), and Ti having a thickness of 50Å and Ni having a thickness of 1000Å were sequentially deposited by a vacuum evaporation method. The photoresist pattern is dissolved in an organic solvent, the Ni / Ti deposition film is lifted off, and the device electrode spacing L
Of 3 μm and an electrode length W of 300 μm were formed (FIG. 3A).

Step-b A Cr film having a film thickness of 1000 Å is deposited and patterned by vacuum vapor deposition using a mask having a gap L between the device electrodes and an opening in the vicinity thereof, and organic Pd (ccp42) is formed on the Cr film.
No. 30, Okuno Seiyaku Co., Ltd. was spin-coated with a spinner and heated and baked at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes to form a fine particle film mainly containing oxidized Pd (PdO) fine particles (fine particle diameter 10 to 150 Å).

Next, Si is formed by the plasma CVD method under the following conditions.
A microcrystalline fine particle film was formed. As source gas, SiH
₄ , H ₂ is 1 sccm, 100 sccm, the pressure is 0.1 torr, the substrate temperature T _s is 250 ° C., the power P _w of the high frequency power source is P _w = 0.5 W / cm ² , and the frequency is 1
50 Å was deposited at 3.56 MHz.

The Cr film and the baked thin film were etched with an acid etchant to form a desired pattern, and a conductive film 3 was obtained.

Step-c Next, the above substrate was placed in the measurement / evaluation system shown in FIG. 5, exhausted by a vacuum pump, and a vacuum degree of 2 × 10 ⁻⁵ torr was reached. A voltage was applied between 5 and the forming process was performed. A rectangular wave is used as the voltage waveform of the forming process, the pulse width T ₁ is 1 msec, the pulse interval T ₂ is 10 msec, and the crest value of the voltage pulse is 0.
The voltage was increased in 1V steps. Further, during the energization forming process, at the same time, a resistance measurement pulse is inserted between T ₂ at a voltage of 0.1 V step to measure the resistance, and the measured value is about 1
The energization was stopped when it exceeded MΩ. The forming voltage V _{f of the} device was 5.2V.

Step-d Subsequently, a rectangular wave voltage having a peak value of 14 V was applied to the element subjected to the energization forming treatment to perform the activation treatment. The degree of vacuum in the measurement and evaluation device is 1.5 × 10 ⁻⁵ to
The power was turned on for about 30 minutes at rr.

The characteristics of the device obtained as described above are
In the measurement evaluation system of FIG. 5, the degree of vacuum was 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ torr, the voltage of the anode electrode 54 was 1 kV, and the distance H between the anode electrode 54 and the electron-emitting device was 4 mm.

In the electron-emitting device of this example, a stable device current I _f and emission current I _e were observed from the initial measurement, the device voltage was 14 V, I _f was 2.0 mA, and I _e was 2.0 μA.
And the electron emission efficiency η = I _e / I _f (%) is 0.1%.
Met.

At the same time, as a comparative example, the above-mentioned step-b
A comparative device was manufactured through the same steps except that Si was deposited by the plasma CVD method, and was measured in the same manner. As a result, I _e was 1.0 μA, I _f was 2.0 mA, and η was 0.
It was 05%.

When the elements of this example and the comparative example were observed with an electron microscope, a coating film due to activation was formed in the vicinity of the electron emitting portion of the element. Also, when observing with Raman,
Obviously, there is a difference between the two, and in particular, it was found that the element of this example has a significantly narrow half width and high crystallinity. This is considered to be because, in the element of the example, Si fine crystal fine particles were formed in advance, so that carbon having high crystallinity, that is, graphite was formed with the Si fine crystal fine particles as the nucleus.
On the other hand, in the element of the comparative example which was directly activated after forming, it is considered that the Raman half-width is wide and the graphite contains a considerable amount of amorphous carbon.

Further, when these devices were driven in a vacuum of 10 ⁻⁷ torr and the time change of I _f and I _e was measured, I _f and I _e after about 100 hours were reduced by 60% in the comparative example. ,
It was found that the stability was improved in the device of the example, with a decrease of 45% in the example.

Further, instead of the plasma CVD method, Si microcrystalline fine particles were deposited by a thermal CVD method using tungsten wire, and an element was prepared and evaluated. The deposition conditions are as follows: energize the tungsten wire,
While adjusting the temperature to 0 ° C., SiH ₄ and H ₂ were used as source gases at 1 sccm and 100 sccm, respectively, and the pressure was 1 torr.
r. As a result, good results similar to those of the device of the above-described example were obtained.

[Example 2] An electron-emitting device was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the step-b of Example 1 was changed to the following step.

Step-b In order to carry out mask vapor deposition of the conductive film 3, a Cr film having a film thickness of 1000Å is deposited by vacuum vapor deposition using a desired mask, and then Pt metal is deposited thereon by sputtering. did. The conductive film formed of Pt fine particles thus formed had a film thickness of 100Å and a sheet resistance value of 2 × 10 ⁴ Ω / □. Then, the SiC film is formed by the plasma CVD method.
00 ° was formed. The film forming conditions are SiH ₄ / CH ₄ / H ₂
Gas flow rate ratio = 1 sccm / 20 sccm / 100 scc
m, pressure 0.05 torr, substrate temperature 200 ° C., and plasma power 0.3 W / cm ² . A microwave (frequency: 2.45 GHz) was used as the power source. Further, in order to evaluate the SiC film thus manufactured, SiC films were formed on the quartz substrate and the Si substrate by 6000 Å each.

In order to understand the characteristics and morphology of the electron-emitting device manufactured in the above steps, the device characteristics were measured and observed with an electron microscope in the same manner as in Example 1. The degree of vacuum in the vacuum device at the time of measuring the characteristics of the device is 1 × 10 ⁻⁷ torr.
r, the distance between the anode electrode and the electron-emitting device was 4 mm, the potential of the anode electrode was 1 kV, a device voltage of 15 V was applied, and I _f and I _e were measured. As a result, I of about 1mA
_f flowed and I _e of 1.2 μA was observed.

Further, when observed with an electron microscope, deposits were observed on the conductive film near the cracks in the electron emitting portion of the device.

Next, the optical band gap of the SiC film formed on the quartz substrate was measured by using a spectrometer and found to be 2.40 eV. Moreover, when the SiC film formed on the Si substrate was evaluated using a Fourier transform infrared spectroscope, it contained a slight amount of hydrogen. In addition, the conductivity was high, and it was estimated to be microcrystalline SiC.

Furthermore, when the device of this example was measured by Raman spectroscopy, it was found that a graphite film having high crystallinity was formed. When this device was driven in the same manner as in Example 1 and I _f and I _e were observed, the reduction rate after 100 hours was 25%, and it was found that the device had better stability than the device of Example 1.

[Example 3] The step-b of Example 1 was changed to the step-b of Example 2, and the step-e was changed to the step-e described below.
A device was prepared in place of.

Step-e A rectangular wave pulse voltage of 16 V was applied to the element subjected to the energization forming, and the activation step was performed. In this step, the gas flow rate ratio of SiH ₄ / CH ₄ / H ₂ is set to 1 sccm / 2.
Power was applied for 1 minute at 8 sccm / 300 sccm and a pressure of 1 mtorr.

The characteristics and morphology of the electron-emitting device manufactured in the above steps were evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1.

When an element voltage of 15 V was applied and I _f and I _e were measured in the same manner as in Example 2, I _f was 0.9 m.
A and I _e of 1.1 μA were observed. At this time, I _f , I
Both _e have less time variation than the initial measurement, that is, less noise,
It was stable.

In addition, in the element of this example, the elements of Examples 1 and 2 were also used.
Similar to the device of No. 3, a deposit was observed on the conductive film in the vicinity of the crack in the electron emitting portion, and it was found by measurement by Raman spectroscopy that a SiC film with high crystallinity was formed.

[Embodiment 4] As a fourth embodiment of the present invention,
The vertical type surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 2 was produced.

Step-a: A quartz substrate is used as the insulating substrate 1, which is thoroughly washed with an organic solvent, and then Ni is evaporated to 100 by a vacuum deposition method.
A 0 Å layer was laminated and patterned by photolithography and an etching process to form a lower element electrode 5 made of Ni. On top of that, 5000 Å of SiO ₂ to be the final step forming portion 21 was laminated by the CVD method. Further, an upper element electrode 4 (deposited by a vacuum evaporation method) made of Ni and having a thickness of 1000 Å was formed thereon by a lift-off method.
After that, SiO ₂ was partially removed by dry etching using the upper element electrode 4 as a mask to form an end surface of the SiO ₂ insulating layer, which was used as a step forming portion 21. The length W of the device electrodes 4 and 5 was 500 μm.

Step-b Next, organic Pd (manufactured by Okuno Chemical Industries Co., ccp-423)
0) was applied using a spin coater and then 1 at 300 ° C.
A heating process is performed for 0 minutes, a SiC film is formed by a plasma CVD method, and an end surface of the step forming portion 21 located between the device electrodes 4 and 5 is covered with a film composed of oxidized Pd (PdO) fine particles and the SiC film. To form a conductive film 3. The width of the conductive film 3 was 300 μm.

Step-c A voltage was applied between the device electrodes, and the conductive film 3 was subjected to an energization forming treatment, whereby the electron-emitting portion 2 was produced.
For the energization forming, the voltage having the waveform of FIG.
T ₁ was set to 1 msec and T ₂ was set to 10 msec. Also,
The forming voltage was 5 V, and the operation was performed for 60 seconds in a vacuum atmosphere of about 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ torr. In the electron-emitting portion 2 thus manufactured, the SiC film was arranged in the form of a fine particle film containing Pd element as a main component.

Step-d Next, a rectangular wave voltage having a peak value of 16 V was applied to the above-mentioned device in an atmosphere of acetone 10 ⁻⁴ torr to carry out activation treatment.

The electron emission characteristics of the vertical electron-emitting device manufactured as described above were evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1. As a result, the current-voltage characteristics shown in FIG. 6A are obtained, and if the device voltage is 16 V, _If is 2.2 mA,
I _e was 2.3 μmA and η was 0.1%.

[Embodiment 5] In this embodiment, an image forming apparatus is constructed by using the electron source shown in FIG. 7 in which many surface conduction electron-emitting devices of FIG. 1 are arranged in a simple matrix.

FIG. 13 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. 13 to 16 indicate the same components. Where 141
Is an interlayer insulating layer, and 142 is a contact hole.

Step-a On a substrate 1 in which a 0.5 μm-thick silicon oxide film was formed on a cleaned blue plate glass by a sputtering method, Cr having a thickness of 50 Å and Au having a thickness of 6000 Å were sequentially laminated by vacuum deposition. After that, a photoresist (AZ1370, manufactured by Hoechst) is spin-coated by a spinner and baked, and then a photomask image is exposed and developed to form a resist pattern of the lower wiring 102, and the Au / Cr deposited film is wet-etched. Then, the lower wiring 102 having a desired shape is formed (see FIG.
5 (a)).

Step-b Next, an interlayer insulating layer 141 made of a silicon oxide film having a thickness of 1.0 μm was deposited by the RF sputtering method (FIG. 15).
(B)).

Step-c A photoresist pattern for forming the contact hole 142 was formed in the silicon oxide film deposited in the step-b, and the interlayer insulating layer 141 was etched using this as a mask to form the contact hole 142. The etching is RIE (Reactive) using CF ₄ and H ₂ gas.
Ion Etching) method (FIG. 15).
(C)).

Step-d After that, a photoresist (RD-2000N-41, manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.) was formed into a pattern to be the gap L between the device electrodes, and Ti having a thickness of 50Å was formed by a vacuum evaporation method.
00Å Ni was sequentially deposited. The photoresist pattern is dissolved in an organic solvent, the Ni / Ti deposited film is lifted off, and the device electrodes 4, 5 having a distance L of 3 μm and a length of 300 μm.
Was formed (FIG. 15 (d)).

Step-e After forming the photoresist pattern of the upper wiring 103 on the device electrodes 4 and 5, Ti of 50Å and Au of 5000Å are sequentially deposited by vacuum evaporation, and unnecessary portions are removed by lift-off. Then, the upper wiring 103 having a desired shape was formed (FIG. 16E).

Step-f Using a mask having a gap between element electrodes and an opening in the vicinity thereof, a Cr film 161 having a film thickness of 1000 Å is deposited and patterned by vacuum evaporation, and an organic Pd solution (c
cp4230, manufactured by Okuno Chemical Industries Co., Ltd. was spin-coated by a spinner, heated and baked at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes, and then C microcrystalline particles were deposited by plasma CVD (FIG. 16 (f)). The conductive film 3 thus formed is
The main element was Pd fine particles and C fine crystal fine particles, and the sheet resistance value was 2 × 10 ⁴ Ω / □.

Step-g The Cr film 161 and the conductive film 3 were etched with an acid etchant to form a desired pattern. (Fig. 16
(G)).

Step-h A pattern was formed such that a resist was applied except on the contact hole 142 portion, and Ti of 50Å and Au of 5000Å were sequentially deposited by vacuum evaporation. Contact holes 142 were buried by removing unnecessary portions by lift-off (FIG. 16 (h)).

Through the above steps, the lower wiring 102, the interlayer insulating layer 141, the upper wiring 103, the device electrodes 4 and 5, and the conductive film 3 for forming the electron emitting portion were formed on the insulating substrate 1.

The display panel shown in FIG. 8 was constructed by using the substrate 1 (FIG. 13) in which the plurality of conductive films 3 produced as described above were arranged in matrix, and the image display device of the present invention was formed.

The substrate 1 (FIG. 13) on which the plurality of conductive films 3 produced in the above steps are arranged in matrix is rear plate 1
After being fixed to the electron source 11, the face plate 116 (the fluorescent film 11 on the inner surface of the glass substrate 113) is provided 5 mm above the electron source 1.
4 and the metal back 116 are formed) support frame 1
12, and the frit glass is applied to the joint portion of the face plate 116, the support frame 112, and the rear plate 111, and the temperature is 400 ° C.
It was sealed by baking at 500 ° C. for 10 minutes or more. The fixing of the electron source substrate 1 to the rear plate 111 was also performed using frit glass.

In this embodiment, the phosphor has a stripe shape (see FIG. 9A), black stripes are first formed, and the phosphors of the respective colors are applied to the gaps between them to form the phosphor film 114.
Was produced. A material containing graphite as a main component was used as a material for the black stripe, and a slurry method was used as a method for applying the phosphor to the glass substrate 113.

Further, the metal back 115 provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 114 is subjected to a smoothing process (filming) on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film after the fluorescent film is produced, and then A
1 was produced by vacuum evaporation. Further, in this embodiment, since sufficient conductivity was obtained only by the metal back 115, the transparent electrode provided on the outer surface side of the face plate 116 was omitted.

The atmosphere in the glass container completed as described above is passed through an exhaust pipe (not shown) by a vacuum pump to about 1 ×.
The gas was evacuated to 10 ⁻⁵ torr and a voltage of the same waveform as in Example 1 was applied between the device electrodes through the terminals D _{x1 to} D _xm to D _{y1 to} D _yn outside the container to form an electron emitting portion.

The electron-emitting portion 2 formed in this way
Was in a state in which fine particles containing Pd and a carbon element as main components were dispersed and arranged, and the average particle diameter of the fine particles was 30Å.

Next, with the same rectangular wave as that for forming, a voltage having a peak value of 14 V is applied at a vacuum degree of 2 × 10 ^-5 torr for I
Application was performed while measuring _f and I _e to perform activation treatment.

The inside of the envelope 118 is evacuated to a vacuum degree of about 1 × 10 ^−6.5 torr, and an exhaust pipe (not shown) is heated and fused by a gas burner to seal the envelope 118. It was

Finally, in order to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing, a getter process was performed by a high frequency heating method.

The terminals D _{x1 to} D _xm to D _{y1 to} D _yn outside the container and the high voltage terminal H of the display panel manufactured as described above.
Each v was connected to a required drive system to complete the image forming apparatus. Each device has external terminals D _{x1 to} D _xm to D _{y1 to} D
Electrons are emitted by applying a scanning signal and a modulation signal by a signal generating means (not shown) through _yn , and several kV is applied to the metal back 115 through the high voltage terminal Hv.
The above high voltage is applied, the electron beam is accelerated, and the fluorescent film 11
An image was displayed by colliding with No. 4 and exciting and emitting light. In the image forming apparatus of this embodiment, a display image having high display stability and good image quality was obtained.

[Sixth Embodiment] FIG. 17 shows an example of a display device in which the image forming apparatus of the fifth embodiment is configured to display image information provided from various image information sources such as television broadcasting. It is a figure for showing. 2 in the figure
80 is a display panel, 261 is a display panel drive circuit, 262 is a display controller, 2
63 is a multiplexer, 264 is a decoder, 265 is an input / output interface circuit, 266 is a CPU, 267 is an image generation circuit, 268, 269 and 270 are image memory interface circuits, 271 is an image input interface circuit, 272 and 273 are TV signal reception. Circuit, 27
Reference numeral 4 is an input unit. When the present display device receives a signal containing both video information and audio information, such as a television signal, it naturally reproduces the audio simultaneously with the display of the video. Descriptions of circuits, speakers, and the like related to reception, separation, reproduction, processing, storage, and the like of audio information that are not directly related to the above are omitted.

Each section will be described below along the flow of the image signal.

First, the TV signal receiving circuit 273 is a circuit for receiving a TV image signal transmitted using a wireless transmission system such as radio waves or spatial optical communication. The system of the TV signal to be received is not particularly limited, and various systems such as NTSC system, PAL system and SECAM system may be used. Further, a TV signal (for example, a so-called high-definition TV such as the MUSE method) including a larger number of scanning lines than these is suitable for taking advantage of the display panel suitable for a large area and a large number of pixels. It is a signal source. TV received by the TV signal receiving circuit 273
The signal is output to the decoder 264.

The image TV signal receiving circuit 272 is a circuit for receiving a TV image signal transmitted using a wired transmission system such as a coaxial cable or an optical fiber. Similar to the TV signal receiving circuit 273, the TV signal system to be received is not particularly limited, and the TV signal received by this circuit is also output to the decoder 264.

Further, the image input interface circuit 27
Reference numeral 1 denotes 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 a decoder 264.

Further, the image memory interface circuit 2
70 is a video tape recorder (hereinafter abbreviated as VTR)
Is a circuit for receiving the image signal stored in the decoder 264. The captured image signal is output to the decoder 264.

Further, the image memory interface circuit 2
Reference numeral 69 denotes a circuit for capturing an image signal stored in the video disk. The captured image signal is output to the decoder 264.

The image memory-interface circuit 268 is a circuit for fetching an image signal from a device that stores still image data, such as a so-called still image disc. The fetched still image data is decoded by the decoder 26.
4 is output.

Further, the input / output interface circuit 265
Is a circuit for connecting the display device to an external computer, a computer network, or an output device such as a printer. In addition to inputting and outputting image data and character / graphic information, control signals and numerical data can be input and output between the CPU 266 of the display device and the outside in some cases.

Further, the image generation circuit 267 receives image data, character / graphic information, or CPU 266 input from the outside through the input / output interface circuit 265.
It is a circuit for generating display image data based on image data and character / graphic information output from the output. Inside this circuit, for example, a rewritable memory for accumulating image data and character / graphic information, a read-only memory that stores image patterns corresponding to character codes,
A circuit necessary for generating an image such as a processor for performing image processing is incorporated therein.

The display image data generated by this circuit is output to the decoder 264, but in some cases, it can be output to an external computer network or printer via the input / output interface circuit 265.

Further, the CPU 266 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 263, and the image signals to be displayed on the display panel 280 are appropriately selected or combined. At that time, a control signal is generated for the display panel controller 262 according to the image signal to be displayed, and the screen display frequency, the scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced), the number of scanning lines in one screen, etc. are displayed. The operation of the device is controlled appropriately.

Image data or character / graphic information is directly output to the image generation circuit 267, or an external computer or memory is accessed via the input / output interface circuit 265 to generate image data or character / figure information.
Enter graphic information.

It should be noted that the CPU 266 may of course be involved in work for other purposes. For example, like a personal computer or word processor,
It may be directly related to the function of generating and processing information.

Alternatively, as described above, it may be connected to an external computer network through the input / output interface circuit 265, and work such as numerical calculation may be performed in cooperation with an external device.

The input unit 274 is the CPU 266.
The user inputs commands, programs, data, and the like, and various input devices such as a joystick, a bar code reader, and a voice recognition device can be used in addition to a keyboard and a mouse.

The decoder 264 converts various image signals input from the above 267 to 273 into three primary color signals,
Alternatively, it is a circuit for inverse conversion into a luminance signal, an I signal, and a Q signal. As shown by a dotted line in FIG.
64 preferably has an image memory inside. This is to handle a television signal that requires an image memory for reverse conversion, such as the MUSE method. Further, the provision of the image memory facilitates the display of a still image, or the image generation circuit 26
7 and the CPU 266 in cooperation with the image processing, such as image thinning, interpolation, enlargement, reduction, and synthesis, and the advantage that editing can be easily performed.

Also, the multiplexer 263 is the CPU
The display image is appropriately selected based on the control signal input from 266. That is, the multiplexer 263 selects a desired image signal from the inversely converted image signals input from the decoder 264 and outputs the selected image signal to the drive circuit 261. In that case, by switching and selecting image signals within one screen display time, it is possible to divide one screen into a plurality of areas and display different images depending on the areas, as in a so-called multi-screen television. .

Also, the display panel controller 2
Reference numeral 62 is a circuit for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 261 based on a control signal input from the CPU 266.

First, regarding the basic operation of the display panel, for example, a signal for controlling the operation sequence of the drive power source (not shown) for the display panel is output to the drive circuit 261.

Further, regarding the driving method of the display panel, for example, a signal for controlling the screen display frequency and the scanning method (for example, interlace or non-interlace) is output to the drive circuit 261.

In some cases, control signals relating to image quality adjustment such as brightness, contrast, color tone and sharpness of a display image may be output to the drive circuit 261.

The drive circuit 261 is a circuit for generating a drive signal to be applied to the display panel 280. The drive circuit 261 receives an image signal input from the multiplexer 263 and a control signal input from the display panel controller 262. It operates based on.

The functions of the respective parts have been described above. With the configuration illustrated in FIG. 17, the display panel 2 displays image information input from various image information sources in this display device.
70 can be displayed. That is, various image signals such as television broadcasts are inversely converted by the decoder 264, appropriately selected by the multiplexer 263, and input to the drive circuit 261. On the other hand, the display controller 262 generates a control signal for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 261 according to the image signal to be displayed. The drive circuit 261 applies a drive signal to the display panel 280 based on the image signal and the control signal. Thus, an image is displayed on display panel 280. These series of operations are performed by the CPU 2
66 is controlled collectively.

Further, in this display device, an image memory built in the decoder 264 and an image generation circuit 267 are provided.
And the involvement of the CPU 266 not only displays the selected one of the plurality of pieces of image information but also displays, for example, enlargement, reduction, rotation, movement, edge emphasis, thinning, interpolation, It is also possible to perform image processing such as color conversion and image aspect ratio conversion, and image editing such as combining, erasing, connecting, exchanging, and fitting. In the description of the present embodiment,
Although not particularly mentioned, 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 display device is a display device for television broadcasting, a terminal device for a video conference, an image editing device for handling still images and moving images, a computer terminal device, an office terminal device such as a word processor, and a game. It is possible to combine the functions of a machine, etc., and has a very wide range of applications for industrial or consumer use.

It is needless to say that FIG. 17 described above merely shows an example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this. For example, of the constituent elements of FIG. 17, circuits relating to functions that are unnecessary for the purpose of use may be omitted. Conversely, additional components may be added depending on the purpose of use. For example, when the display device is applied as a videophone, it is preferable to add a television camera, a voice microphone, an illuminator, a transmission / reception circuit including a modem, and the like to the constituent elements.

In this display device, in particular, since the display panel using the electron-emitting device as an electron source can be easily thinned, the depth of the display device can be reduced.
In addition, a display panel using an electron-emitting device as an electron source can easily have a large screen, has high brightness, and has excellent viewing angle characteristics. Therefore, this display device displays a highly realistic and powerful image with good visibility. It is possible. In addition, by using an electron source that realizes stable and highly efficient electron emission characteristics, a long-life, bright, high-quality color flat television has been realized.

[0198]

According to the electron-emitting device of the present invention, the electron-emitting portion has a high melting point, is thermally stable, and has high chemical stability.
Since it is covered with a highly crystalline film of Si, carbon and its compound, it is possible to reduce a large emission current, noise of the emission current during operation driving, and reduction of the emission current.
By controlling the electron emission characteristics, it is possible to provide a bright and stable image forming apparatus such as a flat color television.

According to the method of manufacturing the element of the present invention,
The crystallinity of the deposit is high because Si, carbon, and their compounds are deposited after the microcrystals that form the nuclei are formed in advance.
A stable element can be manufactured.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of an electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a manufacturing process of the electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing voltage waveforms in an energization process for manufacturing the electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a measurement evaluation system for evaluating electron emission characteristics of the electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing electron emission characteristics of the electron emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a simple matrix electron source of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing one embodiment of a display panel of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a fluorescent film used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a ladder-type electron source according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display panel of the image forming apparatus of the present invention using a ladder-type electron source.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an electron source used in a display device of Example 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a partial cross-sectional view of an electron source according to Example 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a manufacturing process diagram of the electron source according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a manufacturing process diagram of the electron source according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Insulating Substrate 2 Electron Emitting Part 3 Conductive Film 4, 5 Element Electrode 21 Step Forming Member 50 Ammeter 51 Power Supply 52 Ammeter 53 High Voltage Power Supply 54 Anode Electrode 55 Vacuum Device 56 Exhaust Pump 102 X Direction Wiring 103 Y Direction Wiring 104 Electron emitting device 105 Connection 111 Rear plate 112 Support frame 113 Glass substrate 114 Fluorescent film 115 Metal back 116 Face plate 118 Envelope 121 Black conductive material 122 Fluorescent substance 141 Interlayer insulating layer 142 Contact hole 161 Cr film 201 Display panel 202 Scanning Circuit 203 Control circuit 204 Shift register 205 Line memory 206 Synchronous signal separation circuit 207 Modulation signal generator 261 Drive circuit 262 Display panel controller 263 Multiplexer 264 Decoder 265 Input / output Interface 266 CPU 267 Image generation circuit 268 Image memory interface 269 Image memory interface 270 Image memory interface 271 Image input memory interface 272 TV signal receiving circuit 273 TV signal receiving circuit 274 Input section 280 Display panel 301 Display panel 302 Grid electrode 303 Opening 304 Common Wiring 401 display panel

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. An electron-emitting device having a conductive film having an electron-emitting portion between electrodes, wherein the conductive film has microcrystalline fine particles containing at least Si and a carbon element. Electron emitting device. 2. The electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the electrodes are planar devices in which electrodes are arranged on the same plane. 3. The electron-emitting device according to claim 1, which is a vertical type device in which electrodes are positioned above and below an insulating layer and a conductive film is provided on a side surface of the insulating layer. 4. The electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the electron-emitting device is a surface conduction electron-emitting device. 5. The method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein a pair of electrodes is formed on an insulating substrate, a conductive film is formed between the electrodes, and a Si microparticle is formed on the conductive film. After the crystal fine particles are formed and the electron emitting portion is formed on the conductive film, the above S
i A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device, characterized in that carbon is deposited using fine crystal particles as nuclei. 6. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein a pair of electrodes is formed on an insulating substrate, a conductive film is formed between the electrodes, and a SiC micro film is formed on the conductive film. A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device, which comprises forming crystal fine particles and forming an electron emitting portion on the conductive film, and then depositing SiC or carbon with the SiC fine crystal fine particles as nuclei. 7. The method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 5, wherein the step of forming the microcrystalline film containing at least Si element on the conductive film is a plasma CVD method. 8. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 5, wherein the step of forming the microcrystalline film containing at least Si element on the conductive film is a thermal CVD method. 9. At least one element array formed by arranging and connecting a plurality of electron-emitting devices according to claim 1 in parallel.
An electron source having at least one column, wherein wiring for driving each element is arranged in a ladder shape. 10. An electron column having a plurality of electron-emitting devices according to claim 1, wherein at least one column is provided, and wirings for driving the devices are arranged in a matrix. And an electron source. 11. An electron source according to claim 9, an image forming member,
And an image forming apparatus having a control electrode for controlling an electron beam emitted from each element according to an information signal. 12. An image forming apparatus comprising the electron source according to claim 10 and an image forming member. 13. A method of manufacturing an electron source, comprising forming a plurality of electron-emitting devices on the same substrate by the manufacturing method according to claim 5. 14. An image for forming an image of the electron source obtained by the manufacturing method according to claim 13 for controlling an electron beam emitted from the electron source, and an image formed by irradiation of the electron beam from the electron source. A method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus, which is characterized by being combined with a forming member. 15. A method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus, wherein the electron source obtained by the manufacturing method of claim 13 is combined with an image forming member that forms an image by irradiation of an electron beam from the electron source.