JPH10283917A - Manufacture of electron emitting element, election emitting element, electron source base plate, picture image forming device, and droplet imparting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize inexpensiveness, form an element electrode, having uniform large area film thickness, and obtain a uniform surface element with good yield by nearly concurrently imparting plural deoplets, including a material for forming an element electrode on a base plate, so that the mating and adjoining droplets can be overlapped with each other. SOLUTION: An insulated base plate 1 is washed and dried, and then droplets 7 of a solution, including a material for forming element electrodes 2 and 3, are imparted in order by using the No.4, 5, 6, and 7 nozzles of droplet imparting device 8. Then, the droplets are heat-treated at a temperature of 300 deg.-600 deg.C to vaporize a solvent to form the element electrodes 2 and 3. A row directional wiring, connected to one side of the element electrodes, an insulating film, and a line directional wiring, connected to another side electron electrode, are formed in order; to form a conductive thin film. Pattern forming for the element electrodes 2 and 3 can be omitted by applying voltage between the element electrodes 2 and 3, and electrification-treating the conductive thin film to form an electron emitting part. Also, the film thickness in the electron electrodes 2 and 3 can be uniform by concurrently imparting the droplets.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an electron-emitting device, an electron source substrate, an image forming apparatus, a method of manufacturing the same, and a droplet applying apparatus usable for the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, two types of electron-emitting devices using a thermionic electron-emitting device and a cold cathode electron-emitting device have been known. The cold cathode electron emitting device includes a field emission type (hereinafter, referred to as “FE type”), a metal / insulating layer / metal type (hereinafter, referred to as “MIM type”), a surface conduction type electron emitting device, and the like. As an example of the FE type, W. P. Dyke
& W. W. Doran "Field Emissio
n ", Advanced Electron Phy
sics, 8, 89 (1956) or C.I. A. Sp
indt “Physical Properties
of thin-film field emissi
on cathodes with mollybden
iumcones ", J. Appl. Phys., 4
7, 5248 (1976) and the like are known.

In the MIM type, C.I. A. Mead, “Ope
ratio of Tunnel-Emission
Devices ", J. Appl. Phys., 3
2, 646 (1961) and the like are known. As an example of the surface conduction electron-emitting device type, see,
I. Elinson, Radio Eng. Elect
ron Pys. , 10, 1290 (1965).

In a surface conduction electron-emitting device, electron emission occurs when a current flows through a small-area thin film formed on a 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: Th
in Solid Films, 9, 317 (197)
2)], an In ₂ O ₃ / SnO ₂ thin film [M. H
artwell and C.I. G. FIG. Fonstad: IE
EE Trans. ED Conf. , 519 (197)
5). ], And those using a carbon thin film [Hisashi Araki et al .: Vacuum, Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 22 (1983)] and the like have been reported.

As a typical example of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, the above-mentioned M.E. Figure 17 shows the device configuration of Hartwell.
Is shown schematically in FIG. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a substrate. Reference numeral 4 denotes a conductive thin film, which is formed of a metal oxide thin film or the like formed by sputtering in an H-shaped pattern, and the electron emission portion 5 is formed by an energization process called energization forming described later.
In the drawing, the element electrode interval L is set to 0.5 to 1 mm, and W 'is set to 0.1 mm. Note that the position and shape of the electron-emitting portion 5 are schematically shown because they are uncertain.

Conventionally, in these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, before the electron emission, an electron-emitting portion 5 is generally formed on the conductive thin film 4 in advance by an energization process called energization forming. The energization forming is to apply a direct current voltage or a very slowly increasing voltage, for example, about 1 V / min, to both ends of the conductive thin film 4 and to energize the conductive thin film 4 to locally destroy, deform or deteriorate the conductive thin film, and to provide an electrically high resistance. This is to form the electron-emitting portion 5 in the state. The electron emitting portion 5 emits electrons from the vicinity of a crack generated partially in the conductive thin film 4. In the surface conduction type electron-emitting device subjected to the energization forming process, a voltage is applied to the conductive thin film 4 and a current is caused to flow through the device to cause the electron-emitting portion 5 to emit electrons.

The above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device has an advantage that a large number of devices can be arranged and formed over a large area since the structure is simple and the production is easy. Therefore, various applications that make use of this feature are being studied. For example, a display device such as a charged beam source and an image display device can be used.

FIG. 18 shows the structure of an electron-emitting device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-56822. In the figure, 1 is a substrate, 2 and 3 are device electrodes, 4 is a conductive thin film,
Reference numeral 5 denotes an electron emitting portion. There are various methods for manufacturing the electron-emitting device. For example, the device electrodes 2 and 3 are formed on the substrate 1 by a general vacuum deposition technique or a photolithography technique. Next, the conductive thin film 4 is formed by a dispersion coating method. After that, a voltage is applied to the device electrodes 2 and 3 to perform an energization process, thereby forming the electron emission portions 5.

[0009]

However, the method of manufacturing the surface conduction electron-emitting device having the above-described structure is based on a semiconductor process, so that the number of steps is large. It is difficult to form an electron-emitting device on a large area, a special and expensive manufacturing apparatus is required, and the production cost is high.

Therefore, the present applicants (Japanese Patent Application No. 7-3220).
No. 20), as a surface conduction electron-emitting device, an electron source substrate having the same, an image forming apparatus, and a method for manufacturing the same, forming a device electrode by applying a metal-containing solution in the form of droplets onto the substrate Are considering. As a result, the following problems were found. In this method, when the element electrode is formed by an ink-jet method, several droplets are overlapped to form a desired shape.

Using one nozzle, one dot at a time,
When an element electrode is formed by applying it on a substrate in the form of a droplet, the first applied dot is pulled and the next formed dot is thinned, making it difficult to form an element electrode with a uniform thickness. . If the film thickness is not uniform, the device electrode cannot be obtained in a desired form. Therefore, during the forming process, current does not flow uniformly in the conductive thin film, and cracks are not formed uniformly. In addition, since the distance between the device electrodes varies greatly depending on the location, the resistance of the conductive film varies, and current may not uniformly flow through the electron-emitting device, resulting in large variations in device characteristics. Therefore, a display using a surface conduction electron-emitting device using this manufacturing method may have a low manufacturing yield.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost and easy-to-use element electrode having a uniform film thickness over a large area by eliminating the problems in forming the element electrode by applying such droplets. An object of the present invention is to provide a uniform surface conduction electron-emitting device, an electron source substrate having the same, an image forming apparatus, and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0013]

The method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to the present invention, which has been accomplished to achieve the above object, has been made by intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems. That is, in the present invention, a plurality of droplets containing a material for forming an element electrode are provided on a substrate so that adjacent droplets overlap each other to form an element electrode pair, and an electron emission portion is provided between the element electrode pair. In the method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device for forming a conductive thin film having the above, the plurality of droplets in which adjacent ones overlap are applied almost simultaneously. Still further, the plurality of droplets in which the adjacent ones overlap each other,
The droplets are simultaneously applied by a droplet applying apparatus having a nozzle array in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged at a pitch smaller than the diameter of a dot pattern formed by one applied droplet. The electron-emitting device of the present invention is manufactured by this method.

Conventionally, since the plurality of droplets are applied in a time-discrete state, when attention is paid to a certain droplet, the plurality of droplets are applied to the substrate before the droplet adjacent to the droplet in time. In order to form a quasi-solid dot pattern by drying the dried droplet, the droplet of interest is sucked into the quasi-solid droplet, and the dot pattern is deformed and a desired pattern cannot be formed. However, in the present invention, a desired pattern is formed by ejecting a plurality of droplets almost simultaneously, and coating the substrate such that a plurality of adjacent dot patterns formed by the plurality of droplets are overlapped. Therefore, when attention is paid to a certain droplet, the applied droplet forms a liquid dot pattern on the substrate temporally before the droplet adjacent to the droplet. The dot pattern by the focused droplet Emissions are not deformed and can be formed as a desired pattern. In addition, since a device electrode having a desired pattern can be formed, the distance between the pair of device electrodes can be controlled. Therefore, in the process of manufacturing the surface conduction electron-emitting device, a more uniform energization forming and activation process can be performed. Can be. Further, for this reason, resistance variation in the conductive film between the element electrodes is suppressed, and even in an electron source in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged or an image forming apparatus using the electron source, more uniform electron emission characteristics and Those having image display characteristics can be provided.

It is desirable that the application of the droplets is performed by an ink jet method. Further, in the ink jet method, bubbles are formed in a solution for forming droplets by thermal energy, and the solution is converted into droplets. The ejection method is preferred.

The droplet application for forming the element electrode pair can be performed by repeating the simultaneous application while moving the application position by the liquid droplet applying device in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement. In addition, the pitch between the electrodes and the width of the electrodes in the element electrode pair are controlled by controlling the pitch of the movement. Further, the length of each electrode in the element electrode pair is controlled by controlling the number of nozzles or the number of driving nozzles in the nozzle row.
The film thickness of the element electrode pair can be controlled by the amount of the droplet and / or the number of droplets applied per unit area.

Further, in the electron source substrate or the method of manufacturing the same according to the present invention, a plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in a matrix on an insulating substrate, wiring between the electron-emitting devices, and voltage application to the electron-emitting devices. When manufacturing the electron source substrate by forming the above terminal, the electron-emitting device is formed by the above-described method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device. Further, the wiring is formed by forming a column wiring layer and a row wiring layer and an insulating layer between these layers,
One electrode of each element electrode pair is connected for each column by the column direction wiring, and the other electrode of each element electrode pair is connected for each row by the row direction wiring. In the forming apparatus or the method of manufacturing the same, an electron-emitting device as an electron source, a voltage applying means to the electron-emitting device, a luminous body that emits light by receiving electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device, and an external signal When providing a drive circuit for controlling a voltage applied to the electron-emitting device based on the above, the electron-emitting device is formed by using the above-described method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device.

Further, the droplet applying apparatus of the present invention further comprises the step of forming a droplet containing a material for forming a conductive pattern on a substrate.
A droplet applying device for forming a conductive pattern by applying a plurality of adjacent droplets so as to overlap each other, wherein a plurality of nozzles are arranged at a pitch smaller than the diameter of a dot pattern formed by one applied droplet. A plurality of nozzles, and the droplets can be simultaneously discharged from the plurality of nozzles.

In order to form a conductive thin film having an electron emitting portion between a pair of device electrodes, for example, a conductive thin film is formed between a pair of device electrodes, and then the conductive thin film is subjected to an energizing process. What is necessary is just to form an electron emission part. More specifically, the rear plate having the above-mentioned electron source substrate and the face plate having the fluorescent film are bonded to each other via a support frame so as to face each other, and are attached to the electron-emitting devices on the electron source substrate. On the other hand, a display panel can be obtained by forming the electron-emitting portion by performing the above-described energization treatment. And
An image forming apparatus can be manufactured by connecting a drive circuit to this display panel.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking a surface conduction electron-emitting device as a preferred embodiment to which the present invention is applied as an example. FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view showing a basic configuration of a plane type surface conduction electron-emitting device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and a sectional view taken along line AA ′. In FIG. 9, 1 is a substrate, 2 and 3 are device electrodes, 4 is a conductive thin film, and 5 is an electron emitting portion. As the substrate 1,
Quartz glass, glass with a reduced impurity content such as Na, blue plate glass, a glass substrate on which SiO ₂ is deposited by a sputtering method or the like, a ceramic substrate such as alumina, or the like can be used.

The materials of the opposing element electrodes 2 and 3 are as follows.
A general conductive material is used, for example, Ni, Cr, A
metals or alloys such as u, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu, Pd, Pd, As, Ag, Au, RuO ₂ , P
It can be selected from a printed conductor composed of a metal such as d-Ag or a metal oxide and glass, a transparent conductor such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ , a semiconductor conductor material such as polysilicon, or the like.

The distance L between the device electrodes 2 and 3 is preferably several hundreds of .mu.m to one hundred .mu.m. Further, it is desirable that the voltage applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 is low, and it is required that the device be prepared with good reproducibility.
Or several tens of μm. The length W2 of the device electrodes 2 and 3 is several μm to several hundred μm in view of the resistance value and the electron emission characteristics of the electrodes, and the film thickness d of the device electrodes 2 and 3 is preferably several hundred μm to several μm. More preferably, the shape and interval of the device electrode are appropriately set according to the film thickness distribution of the conductive thin film 4.

The conductive thin film 4 which is a portion including an electron emitting portion
Is particularly preferably a fine particle film composed of fine particles in order to obtain good electron emission characteristics.
It is set as appropriate according to 3 and the energizing forming conditions to be described later, but is preferably several to several thousand degrees, and particularly preferably 10 to 500 degrees. The sheet resistance value is 103 to 107Ω / □.

The material constituting the conductive thin film 4 is P
d, Pt, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, In, Cu, C
metals such as r, Fe, Zn, Sn, Ta, W, Pb, Pd
Oxide such as O, SnO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO, Sb ₂ O ₃ , HfB ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , CeB ₆ , YB
_4, GdB boride such as _{4, TiC, ZrC, HfC,} T
carbides such as aC, SiC, WC, TiN, ZrN, Hf
Examples include nitrides such as N, semiconductors such as Si and Ge, and carbon.

The fine particle film described here is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated. The fine structure thereof is not limited to a state in which the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged, but the fine particles are adjacent to each other.
Alternatively, it refers to a film in an overlapped state (including an island shape), and the particle diameter of the fine particles is several to several thousand, preferably 10 to 200.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 shows an example of a surface conduction electron-emitting device manufactured by the manufacturing method. 1, 2 and 3, 1 is a substrate, 2 and 3 are device electrodes, 4 is a conductive thin film, 5 is an electron emitting portion, 6 is an insulating film, 7 is a droplet, and 8 is a droplet applying device.

As the droplet applying device 8, any device can be used as long as it can form an arbitrary droplet. In particular, the device can be controlled in the range of about several tens to several tens of ng. An ink jet type apparatus which can easily form a small amount of droplets of about 10 ng or more is preferable. The material of the droplets may be in any state as long as the droplets can be formed, but the above-mentioned metals and the like are dispersed and dissolved in water, a solvent, and the like, a solution, an organic metal solution, and the like. There is.

First, the insulating substrate 1 is sufficiently washed with an organic solvent or the like and dried.
Droplets 7 of a solution containing a material for forming the element electrodes 2 and 3 are sequentially applied using nozzles 5, 6, and 7 (FIG. 2).
(A)) Then, heat treatment is performed at a temperature of 300 ° C. to 600 ° C. to evaporate the solvent, thereby forming device electrodes 2 and 3 (FIG. 2B).

Next, the column direction wiring 10 (FIG. 2C) connected to one of the device electrodes, the insulating film 6 (FIG. 2D), and the row direction wiring 11 (FIG. 2D) connected to the other device electrode. FIG.
(E)) are sequentially formed. Further, the conductive thin film 4 is formed using a vacuum deposition technique and a photolithography technique. (FIG. 2 (f)).

Next, an electron emitting portion 5 is formed (FIG. 2).
(G)) The electron emitting portion 5 is a high-resistance crack formed in a part of the conductive thin film 4 and is formed by energization forming or the like. In addition, conductive particles having a particle size of several to several hundreds of mm may be present in the crack. The conductive fine particles contain at least some of the elements constituting the conductive thin film 4. Further, the electron-emitting portion 5 and the conductive thin film 4 in the vicinity thereof may include carbon or a carbon compound.

In the energization forming, an electric current is applied between the element electrodes 2 and 3 from a power supply (not shown) to locally destroy, deform or alter the conductive thin film 4, thereby forming a portion having a changed structure. The site where the structure is locally changed is referred to as an electron emitting portion 5 (FIG. 2G). FIG. 10 shows an example of the voltage waveform of the energization forming. The voltage waveform is preferably a pulse waveform. A voltage pulse having a constant pulse peak value is continuously applied (FIG. 10A), and a voltage pulse is applied while increasing the pulse peak value (FIG. 10).
(B)) will be described.

In FIG. 10A, T1 and T2 are the pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform, and T1 is 1 μsec.
10 msec, T2 is 10 μsec to 100 msec, and the peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage at the time of energization forming) is appropriately selected according to the form of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, and an appropriate degree of vacuum, for example, 10 ⁻⁵ Torr A voltage is applied for several seconds to several tens of minutes in a vacuum atmosphere of a degree. Note that the waveform applied between the element electrodes is not limited to a triangular wave, and a desired waveform such as a rectangular wave can be adopted.

T1 and T2 in FIG.
As in FIG. 10A, the peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage at the time of energization forming) is increased, for example, in steps of about 0.1 V and applied under an appropriate vacuum atmosphere.

In this case, the energization forming process is performed by measuring the element current at a voltage that does not locally destroy or deform the conductive thin film 4 during the pulse interval T2, for example, a voltage of about 0.1 V, and measuring the resistance value. And the resistance value is, for example, 1M
When a resistance of Ω or more is indicated, the energization forming is terminated.

Next, it is desirable to apply a process called an activation process to the element after the energization forming. The activation process is, for example, a process of repeatedly applying a voltage pulse having a constant pulse peak value at a degree of vacuum of about 10 ⁻⁴ to 10 ⁻⁵ Torr, similarly to the energization forming, and exists in a vacuum. This is a process in which carbon or a carbon compound derived from an organic substance is deposited on a conductive thin film, and the device current If and the emission current Ie are remarkably changed. The activation step ends while measuring the device current If and the emission current Ie, for example, when the emission current Ie is saturated. Further, it is preferable that the applied voltage pulse be performed at an operation drive voltage (voltage at which the completed electron-emitting device is operated).

Here, the carbon or carbon compound is graphite (indicating both single and polycrystalline) and amorphous carbon (indicating a mixture of amorphous carbon and polycrystalline graphite). It is preferably at most 500 °, more preferably at most 300 °.

The electron-emitting device thus produced is preferably operated and driven in an atmosphere having a degree of vacuum higher than the degree of vacuum in the forming step and the activation processing step.
80 ° C. to 150 ° C. in an atmosphere with a higher degree of vacuum
It is desirable to drive operation after heating. The degree of vacuum higher than the degree of vacuum in the forming step and the activation processing step is, for example, a degree of vacuum of about 10 ⁻⁶ Torr or more, more preferably an ultra-high vacuum system, in which carbon or a carbon compound becomes electrically conductive. This is a degree of vacuum that hardly deposits on the thin film. This makes it possible to stabilize the element current If and the emission current Ie.

Next, a method for manufacturing the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described. An electron source substrate used in an image forming apparatus is formed by arranging a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices on a substrate. In the method of arranging the surface conduction electron-emitting devices, the surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in parallel, and both ends of the individual devices are connected by wiring in a ladder-type arrangement (hereinafter referred to as a ladder-type arrangement electron source substrate), A simple matrix arrangement (hereinafter, referred to as a matrix-type arrangement electron source substrate) 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, may be mentioned. Note that an image forming apparatus having a ladder-type arranged electron source substrate requires a control electrode (grid electrode) that is an electrode for controlling the flight of electrons from the electron-emitting devices. FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an example of a matrix-type arrangement electron source substrate using the surface conduction electron-emitting device of FIG. 7 and a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC '. 11 is an X-direction wiring, and 10 is a Y-direction wiring.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the electron source of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 11, reference numeral 71 denotes an electron source substrate, 72 denotes an X-direction wiring, and 73 denotes a Y-direction wiring. 7
4 is a surface conduction electron-emitting device, and 75 is a connection. The substrate used as the electron source substrate 71 is the above-described glass substrate or the like, and the shape is appropriately set according to the application. The m X-direction wirings 72 are composed of Dx1, Dx2,.
The direction wiring 73 is composed of n wirings Dy1, Dy2,... Dyn. These wirings can be made of a conductive metal or the like formed by using a vacuum evaporation method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like.Also, a substantially uniform voltage is supplied to many surface conduction electron-emitting devices. The material, film thickness, and wiring width of the wiring are appropriately designed so as to be as follows. A matrix wiring is formed by electrically separating the m X-directional wirings 72 and the n Y-directional wirings 73 by an interlayer insulating layer (not shown).
n is a positive integer).

The interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is made of SiO ₂ or the like formed by using a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. For example, it is formed in a desired shape on the entire surface or a part of the substrate 71 on which the X-directional wiring 72 is formed, and particularly has a film thickness, a material, and a thickness that can withstand a potential difference at an intersection of the X-directional wiring 72 and the Y-directional wiring 73. The manufacturing method and the like are set. The X-direction wiring 72 and the Y-direction wiring 73 are led out as external terminals. Further, the surface conduction electron-emitting device 74 is electrically connected to the m X-directional wirings 72 and the n Y-directional wirings 73 by a connection 75. The surface conduction electron-emitting device 74 may be formed on either the substrate or an interlayer insulating layer (not shown).

As will be described in detail later, the X-direction wiring 7
2 is electrically connected to scanning signal applying means (not shown) for scanning the rows of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 74 arranged in the X direction in accordance with an input signal. On the other hand, the Y-direction wiring 7
3 is electrically connected to a modulation signal generating means (not shown) for applying a modulation signal for modulating each column of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 74 arranged in the Y direction according to an input signal. Further, the drive voltage applied to each surface conduction electron-emitting device is supplied as a difference voltage between a scanning signal and a modulation signal applied to the device. In the above configuration, individual elements can be selected and driven independently only by simple matrix wiring.

Next, an image forming apparatus using an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement prepared as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 12 is a basic configuration diagram of a display panel of the image forming apparatus, and FIG.
FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a fluorescent film used in the image forming apparatus of FIG. FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a driving circuit for performing display according to a television signal of the NTSC method, and shows an image forming apparatus including the driving circuit. In FIG. 12, reference numeral 81 denotes an electron source substrate on which a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged; 91, a rear plate to which the electron source substrate 81 is fixed; 96, a fluorescent film 94 and a metal back 95 formed on the inner surface of a glass substrate 93; Face plate. 92 is a support frame,
On the other hand, the rear plate 91 and the face plate 96 are coated with frit glass or the like, and fired at 400 to 500 degrees in air or nitrogen at 400 to 500 degrees for 10 minutes or more to seal the envelope 98. Reference numeral 5 corresponds to the electron-emitting portion in FIG. Reference numerals 82 and 83 denote an X-direction wiring and a Y-direction wiring connected to a pair of device electrodes of the surface conduction electron-emitting device.

The envelope 98 includes the face plate 96, the support frame 92, and the rear plate 91 as described above.
Since the rear plate 91 is provided mainly for the purpose of reinforcing the strength of the electron source substrate 81, if the electron source substrate 81 itself has sufficient strength, the separate rear plate 91 is unnecessary, and The support frame 92 may be directly sealed, and the envelope 98 may be constituted by the face plate 96, the support frame 92 and the electron source substrate 81. Further, by installing an anti-atmospheric pressure support member called a spacer between the face plate 96 and the rear plate 91, an envelope 98 having sufficient strength against atmospheric pressure can be formed.

In FIG. 13, reference numeral 102 denotes a phosphor. The phosphor film 94 (FIG. 12) can be composed of only the phosphor 102 in the case of monochrome. In the case of a color fluorescent film, it is composed of a black conductive material 101 called a black stripe or a black matrix and a fluorescent material 102 depending on the arrangement of the fluorescent materials. The purpose of providing the black stripes and the black matrix is to make the mixed portions inconspicuous by making the painted portions between the phosphors 102 of the necessary three primary color phosphors black in the case of color display, The purpose is to suppress a decrease in contrast due to light reflection. As a material of black stripe,
The material is not limited to a material mainly containing graphite, which is often used, as long as the material has little light transmission and reflection. As a method of applying a phosphor on a glass substrate, a precipitation method, a printing method, or the like is used regardless of monochrome or color.

A metal back 95 is usually provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 94 (FIG. 12). The purpose of providing the metal back is to improve the luminance by reflecting the light toward the inner surface side of the light emitted from the phosphor toward the face plate 96 in a specular manner, to act as an electrode for applying an electron beam acceleration voltage, The purpose is to protect the phosphor from damage due to collision of negative ions generated in the envelope.
The metal back can be manufactured by performing a smoothing process (usually called “filming”) on the inner surface of the fluorescent film after manufacturing the fluorescent film, and then depositing Al using vacuum evaporation or the like. The face plate 96 may be provided with a transparent electrode (not shown) on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 94 to further enhance the conductivity of the fluorescent film 94. When the above-mentioned sealing is performed, in the case of color, the phosphors of each color and the surface conduction electron-emitting devices must correspond to each other, and it is necessary to perform sufficient alignment.

The envelope 98 passes through an exhaust pipe (not shown),
^The degree of vacuum is set to about ^-7 Torr, and sealing is performed. In some cases, getter processing is performed to maintain the degree of vacuum of the envelope 98 after sealing. This is because the getter disposed at a predetermined position (not shown) in the envelope 98 is heated by a heating method using resistance heating or high-frequency heating immediately before or after the envelope 98 is sealed. This is a process for forming a deposited film. The getter is usually composed mainly of Ba or the like,
The degree of vacuum of, for example, 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ to 1 × 10 ⁻⁷ Torr is maintained by the adsorption action of the deposited film. Steps after forming the surface conduction electron-emitting device are appropriately set.

Next, a schematic configuration of a drive circuit for performing a television display based on an NTSC television signal in an image forming apparatus configured using an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement type substrate is shown in a block diagram of FIG. This will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 14, reference numeral 111 denotes an image display panel;
Denotes a scanning circuit, 113 denotes a control circuit, and 114 denotes a shift register. 115 is a line memory, 116 is a synchronization signal separation circuit, 117 is a modulation signal generator, and Vx and Va are DC voltage sources.

The function of each section will be described below. First, the display panel 111 is connected to an external electric circuit via terminals Dox1 to Doxm, terminals Doy1 to Doyn, and a high voltage terminal Hv. Of these terminals, the terminals Dox1 to Doxm sequentially drive electron sources provided in the display panel 111, that is, a group of surface conduction electron-emitting devices arranged in a matrix of m rows and n columns in a row (n elements). A scanning signal for performing the scanning is applied. on the other hand,
To the terminals Doy1 to Doyn, a modulation signal for controlling an output electron beam of each element of one row of surface conduction electron-emitting devices selected by the scanning signal is applied. The high voltage terminal Hv is connected to the DC voltage source Va by, for example, 10K.
A DC voltage of [V] is supplied, which is an accelerating voltage for applying sufficient energy to the electron beam emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device to excite the phosphor.

Next, the scanning circuit 112 will be described. This circuit includes m switching elements (schematically indicated by S1 to Sm in the figure).
Each switching element selects either the output voltage of the DC voltage source Vx or 0 [V] (ground level) and outputs it to the terminals Dox1 to Dox of the display panel 111.
xm. Each of the switching elements S1 to Sm operates based on the control signal Tscan output from the control circuit 113, and can be actually configured by combining switching elements such as FETs. It should be noted that the DC voltage source Vx is such that the drive voltage applied to an element that is not scanned based on the characteristics (electron emission threshold voltage) of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is equal to or lower than the electron emission threshold voltage. It is set to output a constant voltage.

The control circuit 113 has a function of coordinating the operation of each unit so that an appropriate display is performed based on an image signal input from the outside. Based on the synchronization signal Tsync sent from the synchronization signal separation circuit 116 described below, Tscan, Tsft, and Tm
ry control signals are generated.

The synchronizing signal separating circuit 116 is a circuit for separating a synchronizing signal component and a luminance signal component from an NTSC television signal input from the outside, and can be formed by using a frequency separating (filter) circuit. is there. As is well known, the synchronization signal separated by the synchronization signal separation circuit 116 includes a vertical synchronization signal and a horizontal synchronization signal.
Here, it is illustrated as a Tsync signal for convenience of explanation.
On the other hand, the luminance signal component of the image separated from the television signal is referred to as a DATA signal for convenience, and the signal is input to the shift register 114.

The shift register 114 performs serial / parallel conversion of the DATA signal input serially in time series for each line of an image, and operates based on a control signal Tsft sent from the control circuit 113. (Ie, the control signal Tsft is
It can also be said that there are 14 shift clocks. ).
One line of serial / parallel converted image (equivalent to drive data for n elements of surface conduction electron-emitting device)
Are output from the shift register 114 as n parallel signals Id1 to Idn.

The line memory 115 is a storage device for storing data of one line of an image for a required time only, and stores the contents of Id1 to Idn as appropriate according to a control signal Tmry sent from the control circuit 113. The stored contents are output as Id1 to Idn and input to the modulation signal generator 117.

The modulation signal generator 117 is a signal source for appropriately driving and modulating each of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices according to each of the image data Id1 to Idn.
The output signal is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting devices in the display panel 111 through the terminals Doy1 to Doyn.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention has the following basic characteristics with respect to the emission current Ie. That is, electron emission has a clear threshold voltage Vth,
Electron emission occurs only when a voltage equal to or higher than Vth is applied. For a voltage equal to or higher than the electron emission threshold, the emission current also changes in accordance with the change in the voltage applied to the device. In some cases, the value of the electron emission threshold value Vth or the degree of change of the emission current with respect to the applied voltage may be changed by changing the material, configuration, or manufacturing method of the electron emission element. Can be said.

From this, when a pulse-like voltage is applied to the present element, for example, when a voltage lower than the electron emission threshold is applied, no electron emission occurs, but when a voltage higher than the electron emission threshold is applied, An electron beam is output. At that time, first, the intensity of the output electron beam can be controlled by changing the peak value Vm of the pulse. Second, it is possible to control the total amount of charges of the output electron beam by changing the pulse width Pw.
Therefore, as a method of modulating the surface conduction electron-emitting device in accordance with an input signal, a voltage modulation method, a pulse width modulation method, and the like can be cited. A voltage modulation circuit that generates a voltage pulse having a length and appropriately modulates the peak value of the pulse according to input data is used.

In order to implement the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 117 generates a voltage pulse having a constant peak value, and modulates the width of the voltage pulse appropriately according to input data. A circuit of a width modulation system is used.

By the series of operations described above, the image display device of the present invention can display a television using the display panel 111. Although not particularly described in the above description, the shift register 114 and the line memory 11
Reference numeral 5 may be a digital signal type or an analog signal type. In short, serial / parallel conversion and storage of image signals may be performed at a predetermined speed.

When the digital signal type is used, it is necessary to convert the output signal DATA of the synchronizing signal separating circuit 116 into a digital signal. This can be achieved by providing an A / D converter at the output of the circuit 116. . In connection with this, the circuit used for the modulation signal generator 117 is slightly different depending on whether the output signal of the line memory 115 is a digital signal or an analog signal.

First, the case of a digital signal will be described. In the voltage modulation method, the modulation signal generator 117 includes:
For example, a well-known D / A conversion circuit may be used, and an amplification circuit or the like may be added as needed. In the case of the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 117 includes, for example, a high-speed oscillator, a counter that counts the number of waves output from the oscillator, and a comparator that compares the output value of the counter with the output value of the memory. It can be configured by using a circuit in which a (comparator) is combined. If necessary, an amplifier for amplifying the voltage of the pulse width modulated signal output from the comparator to the drive voltage of the surface conduction electron-emitting device may be added.

Next, the case of an analog signal will be described.
In the voltage modulation method, for example, an amplification circuit using a well-known operational amplifier or the like may be used as the modulation signal generator 117, and a level shift circuit or the like may be added as necessary. In the case of the pulse width modulation system, for example, a well-known voltage-controlled oscillation circuit (VCO) may be used. If necessary, an amplifier for amplifying the voltage up to the drive voltage of the surface conduction electron-emitting device may be added. Is also good.

In the image display device of the present invention which can have such a configuration, the external terminals Dox1 to Doxm, Doy1 to Doyn are connected to the surface conduction electron-emitting devices.
Through a high voltage terminal Hv to apply a high voltage to the metal back 95 or a transparent electrode (not shown) to accelerate the electron beam,
An image can be displayed by colliding with the fluorescent film 94 to excite and emit light.

The structure described above is a schematic structure necessary for manufacturing a suitable image forming apparatus used for display and the like. For example, detailed portions such as materials of each member are not limited to the above-described contents. Is appropriately selected so as to be suitable for the use of the image forming apparatus. Also, the NTSC system has been described as an example of the input signal, but the present invention is not limited to this, and PAL, SECA
Various methods such as the M method may be used, and a TV signal (for example, a high-definition TV such as the MUSE method) including a large number of scanning lines may be used.

Next, the ladder-type arrangement of the electron source and the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an electron source having a ladder-type arrangement. In FIG. 15, 101 is an electron source substrate, 102 is a surface conduction electron-emitting device, and 103 (Dx1 to Dx10).
Is a common wiring connected to the surface conduction electron-emitting device 102. The surface conduction electron-emitting device 102 includes a substrate 101
Above, a plurality are arranged in parallel in the X direction (this is called an element row). A ladder-type electron source substrate has a plurality of such element rows. By appropriately applying a drive voltage between the common lines of each element row, each element row can be driven independently. That is, a voltage equal to or higher than the electron emission threshold may be applied to an element row that emits an electron beam, and a voltage equal to or lower than the electron emission threshold may be applied to an element row that does not emit an electron beam. Also, the common wiring Dx2 between each element row
As for Dx9, adjacent wirings such as Dx2 and Dx3 and Dx4 and Dx5 may be connected together to form the same wiring.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the structure of an image forming apparatus provided with a ladder-type electron source. 136 is a grid electrode, 132 is a hole for passing electrons, 133 (Do
x1, Dox2... Doxm) are terminals outside the container. 13
Reference numerals 4 (G1, G2,..., Gn) denote external terminals connected to the grid electrode 136, and 135 denotes an electron source substrate in which the common wiring between the element rows is the same as described above. FIG.
, The same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 12 and 13 indicate the same members. The difference from the above-described image forming apparatus having the simple matrix arrangement (FIG. 12) is whether or not the grid electrode 136 is provided between the electron source substrate 91 and the face plate 96.

The grid electrode 136 modulates the electron beam emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device, and passes the electron beam to a stripe-shaped electrode provided orthogonally to the ladder-shaped device row. For this purpose, one circular opening 132 is provided for each element.
The shape and installation position of the grid are not limited to those shown in FIG. For example, a large number of passage openings may be provided in a mesh shape as openings.

The terminal 133 outside the container and the terminal 134 outside the grid container are electrically connected to a control circuit (not shown). In the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, a modulation signal for one line of an image is simultaneously applied to the grid electrode columns in synchronization with sequentially driving (scanning) the element rows one by one. This allows
By controlling the irradiation of each electron beam to the phosphor, an image can be displayed line by line.

[0068]

[Embodiment 1] An electron source having a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices using the substrate by forming a matrix-like wiring and device electrodes on the substrate by the above-described method by the following procedures (1) to (4). A substrate was prepared. FIG. 1 is a plan view and a sectional view taken along the lines AA 'and BB' of a method for manufacturing an element electrode manufactured according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a method for manufacturing an electron source substrate using the element electrode shown in FIG. FIG. FIG. 3A is a plan view of an electron source substrate manufactured according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 3A.

A quartz substrate was used as the insulating substrate 1, which was sufficiently washed with an organic solvent or the like, and then dried at 120 ° C. An organic platinum-containing solution (platinum acetate / monoethanolamine complex 0.4 wt%, isopropyl alcohol 20%, water 80%) is applied onto the substrate 1 by using an ink jet ejecting device using a piezoelectric element as the droplet applying device 8. First, a droplet is simultaneously applied one by one from the nozzles of nozzle numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7 to form a liquid film serving as the element electrode 2. Then, the nozzle numbers 4 and 5 are displaced from the element electrode 2 by 120 μm. Droplets were simultaneously applied one by one from nozzles Nos. 5, 6, and 7 to form a liquid film serving as an element electrode 3 (FIG. 1). This one
After forming a large number in the X and Y directions in the same manner at a mm pitch, a heat treatment is performed at 350 ° C. for 10 minutes to form a Pt gap gap L1 = 20 μm and an electrode width W1 = 3.
A pair of device electrodes 2 and 3 having a thickness of 10 μm and a thickness d = 300 ° were formed at an interval of 1 mm (FIG. 2B). The inter-nozzle pitch D1 of the droplet applying device 8 was 70 μm, the amount of one droplet from one nozzle was controlled to 60 ng, and the dot diameter D2 when landing on the substrate was 100 μm.

Further, an X-directional wiring 10 made of Ni was formed on the substrate 1 by using a vacuum film forming technique and a photolithography technique (FIG. 2C). At this time, the width of the wiring was 300 μm and the thickness was 500 °. Further, the insulating film 6 is formed on the X-direction wiring 10 and the X-direction wiring 10 by using a vacuum film forming technique, a photolithography technique, and an etching technique.
(FIG. 2D). The thickness of the insulating film 6 was 5000 °. Then, a Y-direction wiring 11 made of Au and connected to the other device electrode 3 was formed by using a vacuum film forming technique and a photolithography technique (FIG. 2E). The width of the wiring was 200 μm and the thickness was 5000 °.

Next, a fine particle film made of 100 μm-thick palladium oxide (PdO) fine particles is formed on the substrate 1 by vacuum film forming technology and photolithography technology so as to extend over the device electrodes 2 and 3. 4 (FIG. 2 (f)).

Further, a voltage was applied between the electrode pairs 2 and 3, and the conductive thin film 4 was subjected to an energization process (energization forming), thereby forming the electron emission portions 5 (FIG. 2G).

Using the electron source substrate thus manufactured,
As shown in FIG. 12, the face plate 96, the support frame 9
2. A driving circuit for forming an outer frame 98 with the rear plate 91, sealing and forming a display panel, and further performing a television display based on an NTSC television signal as shown in FIG. Was connected to produce an image forming apparatus.

The electron-emitting device manufactured as described above according to the manufacturing method of this embodiment not only exhibited good characteristics without any problem, but also provided droplets and formed the device electrodes 2 and 3 to form the device electrode 2. 3 was able to be omitted. In addition, since droplets were simultaneously applied from individual nozzles to all the element electrodes 2 and 3 when applying the liquid droplets, the film thickness in the element electrodes 2 and 3 could be formed uniformly. for that reason,
During the forming process, current flowed uniformly in the conductive thin film, and cracks were formed uniformly. In addition, a uniform current flows through the electron-emitting device, and there is little variation in device characteristics, and a good image forming apparatus can be obtained.

[0075]

Embodiment 2 In the same manner as in Embodiment 1, the gap interval L
1 = 20 μm, electrode width W1 = 310 μm, thickness d = 5
A surface conduction electron-emitting device having device electrodes 2 and 3 having a pitch of 500 μm and having a pitch between the devices of 500 μm was formed in a ladder shape, and a wired electron source substrate (FIG. 15) was formed. Next, an outer frame device 98 was formed using the face plate 96, the support frame 92, and the rear plate 91, and sealing was performed to form a display panel. Further, using this, an image forming apparatus having a drive circuit for performing television display based on an NTSC television signal as shown in FIG. 14 was manufactured. As a result, a good image forming apparatus similar to that of Example 1 was obtained.

[0076]

Embodiment 3 This embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As in the first embodiment, an ink jet ejecting apparatus using a piezoelectric element is used as the droplet applying apparatus 8,
Droplets were simultaneously applied from Nos. 6 and 7 nozzles at a pitch of 460 μm (FIG. 5A). Next, 1 from the first position in the X direction
Drops were similarly applied from No. 4, 5, 6, and 7 nozzles with a shift of 15 μm (FIG. 5B). Further, droplets were simultaneously applied from the fourth, fifth, and sixth nozzles on each of the applied patterns with a shift of 35 μm corresponding to a half pitch of the nozzle pitch in the Y direction (FIGS. 5C and 5D). In other respects, a surface conduction electron-emitting device was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 to obtain an electron source substrate. Using the obtained electron source substrate, the face plate 9 is formed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
6, the outer frame 98 is formed by the support frame 92 and the rear plate 91, sealed to form a display panel, and further for television display based on NTSC television signals as shown in FIG. A drive circuit was connected to produce an image forming apparatus. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4A, one dot is further provided between the dots of Example 1 so that the film thickness distribution of the element electrodes 2 and 3 is reduced.
Because of the flatness, a similar good image forming apparatus could be obtained.

[0077]

Embodiment 4 In this embodiment, a surface conduction electron-emitting device was produced in the same manner as in Embodiment 1 except that the device electrode had a shape as shown in FIG. . Using the obtained electron source substrate, an outer frame device 98 is formed by a face plate 96, a support frame 92, and a rear plate 91 in the same manner as in Example 1, and sealed to form a display panel. An image forming apparatus was manufactured by connecting a driving circuit for performing television display based on an NTSC television signal as shown in FIG. As a result, a good image forming apparatus similar to that of Example 1 was obtained.

That is, according to the manufacturing method of the present invention, a desired number of droplets is applied at a desired pitch using a desired nozzle, whereby a pair of device electrodes having a desired film thickness and gap width can be obtained. I understood.

[0079]

Embodiment 5 This embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As the droplet applying device 8, two inkjet ejecting devices of a type that generates bubbles by applying thermal energy and ejects droplets are used, and their 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9, and 1 are used.
Nozzles Nos. 0 and 11 and Nos. 5, 6, 7, and 8 were used, and the gap width was 20 μm and the length was 270 μm and 165, respectively
μm pattern was applied at a pitch of 460 μm (FIG. 6).
(A)). At this time, the nozzle pitch was 35 μm, and the diameter of one dot of the applied droplet was 60 μm. The amount of one droplet was 30 ng. Next, droplets were similarly applied sequentially from the nozzle at a pitch of 10 μm and a pitch of 20 μm.
An element electrode having a length of 270 μm and a width of 100 μm and an element electrode having a length of 165 μm and a width of 180 μm were formed (FIG. 6B). In other respects, a surface conduction electron-emitting device was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 to obtain an electron source substrate. Using the obtained electron source substrate, an outer frame device 98 is formed by a face plate 96, a support frame 92, and a rear plate 91 in the same manner as in Example 1, and sealed to form a display panel. An image forming apparatus was manufactured by connecting a driving circuit for performing television display based on an NTSC television signal as shown in FIG. As a result, a good image forming apparatus similar to that of Example 1 was obtained.

In this embodiment, the throughput was improved by manufacturing an image forming apparatus by using two droplet applying apparatuses to form the above-described device electrodes. That is, according to the manufacturing method of the present invention, it has been found that a desired pattern of device electrodes can be obtained by applying a desired droplet amount and a desired number at a desired pitch using a desired number of nozzles.

[0081]

Embodiment 6 An element such as that shown in FIG. 7 is used in the same manner as in Embodiment 1 except that an ink jet ejecting apparatus of a type in which bubbles are generated by applying thermal energy to eject droplets is used as a droplet applying apparatus 8. The electrodes 2 and 3 were formed, and wiring was sequentially formed to manufacture a substrate wired in a matrix as shown in FIG. Next, after applying a droplet of the organic palladium-containing solution onto the substrate by using one nozzle of the droplet applying device 8, a heat treatment is performed at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes, and palladium oxide (PdO) fine particles are applied. And a conductive thin film 4 was formed. Otherwise, a surface conduction electron-emitting device was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 to obtain an electron source substrate. Using the obtained electron source substrate, an outer frame device 98 is formed by a face plate 96, a support frame 92, and a rear plate 91 in the same manner as in Example 1, and sealed to form a display panel. An image forming apparatus was manufactured by connecting a driving circuit for performing television display based on an NTSC television signal as shown in FIG. As a result, a good image forming apparatus similar to that of Example 1 was obtained.

In this embodiment, since the image forming apparatus is manufactured by a manufacturing method that does not use the photolithography technique for forming the above-described element electrodes and elements, the cost is lower than the thin film process, and the manufacturing yield is lower. Improved.

[0083]

Embodiment 7 In this embodiment, a surface conduction electron-emitting device is manufactured in the same manner as in Embodiment 6, except that a substrate (FIG. 8) wired in a matrix is formed by a screen printing method. Obtained. Using the obtained electron source substrate, an outer frame device 98 is formed by a face plate 96, a support frame 92, and a rear plate 91 in the same manner as in Example 1, and sealed to form a display panel. An image forming apparatus was manufactured by connecting a driving circuit for performing television display based on an NTSC television signal as shown in FIG. as a result,
The same good image forming apparatus as in Example 1 was obtained.

In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus is manufactured by a manufacturing method that does not use the photolithography technique for forming the above-described device electrodes, wirings, and devices. The production yield has been greatly improved.

[0085]

Embodiment 8 The electron source substrate of this embodiment was manufactured in the same manner as in Embodiment 6, except that a solution containing 0.4 wt% of Ni acetate in water was used as a material solution for forming element electrodes. Using the obtained electron source substrate, an outer frame device 98 is formed by a face plate 96, a support frame 92, and a rear plate 91 in the same manner as in Example 1, and sealed to form a display panel. An image forming apparatus was manufactured by connecting a driving circuit for performing television display based on an NTSC television signal as shown in FIG. As a result, an excellent image forming apparatus similar to that of Example 6 could be obtained despite the difference in the components contained in the material solution.

[0086]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The thickness of the element electrode to be formed can be made uniform. For this reason, when the conductive thin film formed between the device electrodes is subjected to the forming process, a current flows uniformly in the conductive thin film, and cracks are formed uniformly. In addition, a current uniformly flows through the electron-emitting device, and as a result, a plurality of devices can be formed easily and uniformly with a high yield.

In the case of applying droplets by the ink jet method, a small amount of droplets of about several tens ng or more controlled in a range of about several ng to about several μg can be applied.

Further, since the device electrodes are formed without using the photolithography technique, there is an effect that the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A and 1B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view illustrating a method for manufacturing an element electrode according to the present invention.

2A and 2B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view illustrating a method for manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a surface conduction electron-emitting device manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing three examples of an element electrode manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention.

5A and 5B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view illustrating a method for manufacturing an element electrode according to one embodiment of the present invention.

6A and 6B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view illustrating a method for manufacturing an element electrode according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of the surface conduction electron-emitting device manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention.

8A and 8B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of an electron source substrate having a matrix arrangement according to the present invention.

9A and 9B are a schematic plan view and a cross-sectional view, respectively, showing a basic configuration of a flat surface conduction electron-emitting device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing an example of a voltage waveform in an energization forming process that can be employed in manufacturing the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 12 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus using an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 13 is a pattern diagram of a fluorescent film applicable to the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 14 shows an image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied;
It is a block diagram which shows an example of the drive circuit for performing a display according to the television signal of the C method.

FIG. 15 is a schematic view illustrating an electron source substrate having a ladder-type arrangement to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 16 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus using a ladder-type electron source to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 17 is a schematic plan view showing a conventional electron-emitting device.

FIG. 18 is a schematic perspective view showing another conventional electron-emitting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: substrate, 2, 3: element electrode, 4: conductive thin film, 5: electron emitting portion, 7: droplet, 8: droplet applying device, 10, 72,
82: X direction wiring (column direction wiring), 11, 73, 83:
Y direction wiring (row direction wiring), 71, 81: electron source substrate,
74: surface conduction electron-emitting device, 75: connection, 91: rear plate, 92: support frame, 93: glass substrate, 94:
Fluorescent film, 95: metal back, 96: face plate, 97: high voltage terminal, 98: envelope, 101: black member, 102: phosphor, 111: display panel, 112: scanning circuit, 113: control circuit, 114 : Shift register,
115: line memory, 116: synchronization signal separation circuit, 1
17: modulation signal generator, Vx, Va: DC voltage source, 10
1, 135: electron source substrate, 102, 131: electron-emitting device, 103 (Dx1 to Dx10): common wiring for wiring the electron-emitting device, 132: opening for passing electrons, 133: (Dox1, Dox2,... Doxm):
Outer container terminal, 134 (G1, G2,..., Gn): Outer container terminal connected to grid electrode 136, 136: Grid electrode.

Claims (16)

[Claims] A plurality of droplets containing a material for forming an element electrode are provided on a substrate so that adjacent droplets overlap each other to form an element electrode pair, and an electron emission portion is provided between the element electrode pair. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of droplets in which adjacent ones overlap are applied almost simultaneously. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of adjacent droplets are overlapped by a droplet applying apparatus having a nozzle array in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged at a pitch smaller than a diameter of a dot pattern formed by one applied droplet. 2. The method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the electron-emitting devices are provided simultaneously. 3. The method of applying a droplet for forming the element electrode pair by repeating the simultaneous application while moving the application position by the liquid droplet applying device in a direction perpendicular to the array. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein a pitch between the electrodes and a width of the electrodes in the device electrode pair are controlled by controlling a pitch of the movement. 4. The electron-emitting device according to claim 2, wherein the length of each electrode in the device electrode pair is controlled by controlling the number of nozzles or the number of driving nozzles in the nozzle row. Manufacturing method. 5. The electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the film thickness of the device electrode pair is controlled by the amount of the droplet and / or the number of droplets applied per unit area. Manufacturing method. 6. The device according to claim 1, wherein each of the device electrodes is formed by simultaneously applying one row of a plurality of droplets in which the adjacent ones overlap each other once.
5. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to any one of the above items 5. 7. Each electrode in the element electrode is formed by repeating a plurality of times of simultaneously applying one row of a plurality of droplets in which the adjacent ones overlap with each other.
The application position is shifted by a predetermined distance in the column direction and / or in a direction perpendicular to the column direction each time, and when the application is performed in the column direction, if necessary, the droplets at the leading or trailing end in the shifted direction may be removed. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein whether or not to perform the application is controlled. 8. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the application of the droplet is performed by an ink-jet method. 9. The ink-jet method according to claim 8, wherein bubbles are formed in a solution for forming droplets by thermal energy, and the solution is discharged as droplets. A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device. 10. A method for manufacturing an electron source substrate, comprising forming a plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in a matrix on an insulating substrate, wiring between the electron-emitting devices, and a terminal for applying a voltage to the electron-emitting devices. 10. The electron-emitting device according to claim 1,
A method for manufacturing an electron source substrate, characterized by being formed by any one of the above manufacturing methods. 11. The wiring is formed by forming a layer of a column wiring and a layer of a row wiring and an insulating layer between these layers, and the column wiring connects one electrode of each element electrode pair for each column. 11. The method for manufacturing an electron source substrate according to claim 10, wherein the other electrode of each element electrode pair is connected for each row by the row direction wiring. 12. An electron-emitting device as an electron source, voltage applying means for the electron-emitting device, a luminous body that receives and emits electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device, and an electron emitter based on an external signal. 11. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, comprising: a driving circuit for controlling a voltage applied to an emission element; wherein the electron emission element is formed by the manufacturing method according to claim 1. . 13. An electron-emitting device manufactured by the method according to claim 1. Description: 14. An electron source substrate manufactured by the method according to claim 11. 15. An image forming apparatus manufactured by the method according to claim 12. 16. A droplet applying apparatus for forming a conductive pattern by applying a plurality of droplets containing a material for forming a conductive pattern on a substrate so that adjacent droplets overlap each other. A droplet having a nozzle row in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged at a pitch smaller than the diameter of a dot pattern formed by one applied droplet, wherein the droplets can be simultaneously discharged from the plurality of nozzles. Applicator.