JPH11288677A - Electron beam generator and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress the fluctuation of the orbit of electrons emitted. SOLUTION: In an electron beam generator having an electron source 1012 having a plurality of electron emission elements, an electrode 1019 opposed to the electron source and working on electrons emitted from time electron source, and an insulating intermediate member 1020 arranged between the electron source and the electrode, the intermediate member 1020 has a high resistivity film on its surface, the high resistivity film being electrically connected to each end of an electrically conducting material penetrating the intermediate member. The high resistivity film has a specific resistance of 10<-3> to 10<6> Ωm and is connected to the electron source and the electrode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electron beam generator and an image forming apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to an electron beam generator and an image forming apparatus using a support spacer provided with an antistatic film.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, two types of electron emitting devices, a hot cathode device and a cold cathode device, are known. Among them, examples of the cold cathode device include a surface conduction electron-emitting device, a field emission electron-emitting device (hereinafter, referred to as FE type), and a metal / insulating layer / metal-type emission device (hereinafter, referred to as MIM type). Are known.

[0003] As a surface conduction type emission element, for example,
MIElinson, Radio Eng. Electron Phys., 10, 1290, (196
5) and other examples described later are known.

The surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes a phenomenon in which an electron is emitted when a current flows in a small-area thin film formed on a substrate in parallel with the film surface. As this surface conduction type emission element, Sn described by Elinson et al.
In addition to those using O ₂ thin films, those using Au thin films [G.
Dittmer: “Thin Solid Films”, 9,317 (1972)]
₂ O ₃ / SnO ₂ thin film [M. Hartwell and C.
G. Fonstad: “IEEE Trans.ED Conf.”, 519 (1975)], and those using carbon thin films [Hisashi Araki et al .: Vacuum, Vol. 26,
No. 1, 22 (1983)].

FIG. 18 shows a plan view of a device by M. Hartwell et al. As a typical example of the device configuration of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices. In the figure, reference numeral 3001 denotes a substrate, and reference numeral 3004 denotes a conductive thin film made of a metal oxide formed by sputtering. The conductive thin film 3004 is formed in an H-shaped planar shape as shown. The conductive thin film 3
An electron emission portion 3005 is formed by performing an energization process called energization forming described later on 004. The interval L in the figure is 0.5 to 1 [mm], and W is 0.1 [mm].
Is set with Note that, for convenience of illustration, the electron emitting unit 3
Although 005 is shown in a rectangular shape at the center of the conductive thin film 3004, this is a schematic shape, and does not faithfully represent the actual position or shape of the electron-emitting portion.

In the above-described surface conduction electron-emitting device including the device by M. Hartwell et al., An electron emission portion 3005 is formed by performing an energization process called energization forming on the conductive thin film 3004 before electron emission. Was common. That is, energization forming means that a constant DC voltage is applied to both ends of the conductive thin film 3004,
Alternatively, a current is applied by applying a direct current voltage that is boosted at a very slow rate of, for example, about 1 V / min, and locally destroys, deforms, or alters the conductive thin film 3004, and the electrons in an electrically high resistance state That is, forming the emission part 3005.

An example of the FE type is, for example, WPDyke
& W.W.Dolan, “Field emission”, Advance in Electron P
hysics, 8, 89 (1956) or CASpindt, “Physic
al properties of thin-film field emission cathodes
with molybdenium cones ", J. Appl. Phys., 47, 5248 (197
6) are known.

FIG. 19 shows a cross-sectional view of the above-mentioned device by CASpindt et al. As a typical example of the FE-type device configuration.
In the figure, reference numeral 3010 denotes a substrate; 3011, an emitter wiring made of a conductive material; 3012, an emitter cone;
013 is an insulating layer, and 3014 is a gate electrode. The present device applies an appropriate voltage between the emitter cone 3012 and the gate electrode 3014, thereby forming the emitter cone 3
Electrons are emitted from the tip of the 012.

In addition, as an FE-type element configuration, there is an example in which an emitter and a gate electrode are arranged on a substrate almost in parallel with a substrate plane, instead of a laminated structure as shown in FIG.

As an example of the MIM type, for example,
CAMead, “Operation of tunnel-emission Devices”,
J. Appl. Phys., 32, 646 (1961) and the like are known. MI
A typical example of the M-type element configuration is shown in a cross-sectional view of FIG.
20, 3020 is a substrate, 3021 is a lower electrode made of a metal, 3022 is a thin insulating layer having a thickness of about 10 nm, and 3023 is an upper electrode made of a metal having a thickness of about 8 to 30 nm. In the MIM type, by applying an appropriate voltage between the upper electrode 3023 and the lower electrode 3021,
Electrons are emitted from the surface of the upper electrode 3023.

The above-mentioned cold cathode device can obtain electrons at a lower temperature than the hot cathode device, and therefore does not require a heater for heating. Therefore, the structure is simpler than that of the hot cathode element, and a fine element can be produced. Also,
Even if a large number of elements are arranged on a substrate at a high density, problems such as thermal melting of the substrate hardly occur. In addition, unlike the hot cathode device, which operates by heating the heater, the response speed is slow, and the cold cathode device also has the advantage that the response speed is fast.

For this reason, research for applying the cold cathode device has been actively conducted.

For example, the surface conduction electron-emitting device has the advantage of being able to form a large number of devices over a large area because it has a particularly simple structure and is easy to manufacture among the cold cathode devices. Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
As disclosed in JP-A-332-332, a method for arranging and driving a large number of elements has been studied. Also,
With respect to applications of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, for example, image forming apparatuses such as image display apparatuses and image recording apparatuses, charged beam sources, and the like have been studied.

Particularly, as an application to an image display device, for example, US Pat. No. 5,066,883, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-257551, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-2813 by the present applicant.
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-107, an image display device using a combination of a surface conduction electron-emitting device and a phosphor that emits light by irradiation with an electron beam has been studied. An image display device using a combination of a surface conduction electron-emitting device and a phosphor is expected to have better characteristics than other conventional image display devices. For example, compared to a liquid crystal display device that has become widespread in recent years, it can be said that it is superior in that it does not require a backlight because it is a self-luminous type and that it has a wide viewing angle.

A method of driving a large number of FE types is disclosed in, for example, US Pat.
No. 895. As an example of applying the FE type to an image display device, for example, a flat panel display device reported by R. Meyer et al. Is known [R. Meyer: “Re.
cent Development on Micro-tips Display at LETI ", Te
ch.Digest of 4th Int.Vacuum Microelectronics Con
f., Nagahama, pp. 6-9 (1991)].

An example in which a number of MIM types are arranged and applied to an image display device is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
No. 5,557,838.

Among the image forming apparatuses using the above-described electron-emitting devices, a flat display device having a small depth has been attracting attention as a replacement for a cathode-ray tube display device because of its space saving and light weight. .

FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing an example of a display panel portion forming a flat-panel image display device, in which a part of the panel is cut away to show the internal structure.

In the figure, 3115 is a rear plate, 3116
Denotes a side wall, 3117 denotes a face plate, and a rear plate 3115, a side wall 3116, and a face plate 3
117 forms an envelope (airtight container) for maintaining the inside of the display panel in a vacuum.

A substrate 3111 is fixed to the rear plate 3115, and N × M cold cathode elements 3112 are formed on the substrate 3111 (N and M are positive integers of 2 or more. It is set appropriately according to the target number of display pixels.) Further, the N × M cold cathode elements 31
Reference numeral 12 denotes M row-direction wirings 311 as shown in FIG.
Three and N column-directional wirings 3114 are provided.
The part constituted by the substrate 3111, the cold cathode element 3112, the row direction wiring 3113 and the column direction wiring 3114 is called a multi electron beam source. In addition, the row direction wiring 3
An insulating layer (not shown) is formed at least at a portion where the column 113 and the column direction wiring 3114 intersect with each other.
Electrical insulation is maintained.

On the lower surface of the face plate 3117, a phosphor film 3118 made of a phosphor is formed, and phosphors (not shown) of three primary colors of red (R), green (G) and blue (B) are applied. Divided. A black body (not shown) is provided between the phosphors of the respective colors constituting the fluorescent film 3118, and a metal back 3119 made of Al or the like is formed on the surface of the fluorescent film 3118 on the rear plate 3115 side. ing.

Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn and Hv
Is a terminal for electric connection of an airtight structure provided for electrically connecting the display panel to an electric circuit (not shown).
Dx1 to Dxm are row direction wirings 3113 of the multi-electron beam source.
And Dy1 to Dyn are the column wirings 31 of the multi-electron beam source.
14 and Hv are electrically connected to the metal back 3119, respectively.

The inside of the airtight container is 10 ^-6 Torr.
As the display area of the image display apparatus is maintained at a vacuum of about r and the display area of the image display device increases, a means for preventing deformation or destruction of the rear plate 3115 and the face plate 3117 due to a pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the airtight container is required. Rear plate 3115 and face plate 31
The method of increasing the thickness of not only increases the weight of the image display device, but also causes image distortion and parallax when viewed from an oblique direction. On the other hand, in FIG. 21, a structural support (called a spacer or a rib) 312 made of a relatively thin glass plate and supporting the atmospheric pressure is used.
0 is provided. In this manner, the distance between the substrate 3111 on which the multi-beam electron source is formed and the face plate 3117 on which the fluorescent film 3118 is formed is usually kept at a sub-millimeter to several millimeters, and the inside of the airtight container is kept at a high vacuum as described above. ing.

In the image display apparatus using the above-described display panel, when a voltage is applied to each cold cathode element 3112 through the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn, electrons are emitted from each cold cathode element 3112. At the same time, a high voltage of several hundred [V] to several [kV] is applied to the metal back 3119 through the external terminal Hv to accelerate the emitted electrons and collide with the inner surface of the face plate 3117. As a result, the phosphors of each color forming the fluorescent film 3118 are excited and emit light, and an image is displayed.

[0025]

The display panel of the image display device described above has the above problems.

First, it is possible to cause spacer charging by a part of the electrons emitted from the electron source near the spacer 3120 hitting the spacer 3120, or by ionized ions attached to the spacer by the action of the emitted electrons. There is. The electrons emitted from the cold cathode element 3112 due to the charging of the spacer are bent in their trajectories, reach a position different from the normal position on the phosphor, and the image near the spacer is distorted and displayed.

Second, in order to accelerate electrons emitted from the cold cathode device 3112, a high voltage of several hundred V or more (ie, 1 k) is applied between the multi-beam electron source and the face plate 3117.
V / mm or more), the spacer 3
There is a concern about creeping discharge on the surface of the H.120. In particular, when the spacer is charged as described above, discharge may be induced.

In order to solve this problem, proposals have been made to remove the charge by causing a minute current to flow through the spacer (JP-A-57-118355, JP-A-Sho 57-118355).
1-124031). There, a high-resistance thin film is formed on the surface of an insulating spacer so that a minute current flows on the surface of the spacer. The antistatic film used here is tin oxide or a mixed crystal thin film of tin oxide and indium oxide or a metal film.

The semiconductor type thin film such as tin oxide used in the above proposal is sensitive to a gas such as oxygen so that it is applied to a gas sensor, so that its resistance value is easily changed in an atmosphere. In addition, since these materials or metal films have low specific resistance, it is necessary to form them in an island shape or to make them extremely thin in order to increase the resistance. That is, the conventional high-resistance film has drawbacks in that the reproducibility of film formation is difficult, and the resistance value is easily changed in a heat process such as frit sealing or baking in a display manufacturing process. Further, in the case of a flat plate-shaped spacer having a large aspect ratio and a large surface area, the antistatic ability sometimes differs on both surfaces.

The present invention overcomes the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional spacer. In an electron beam generator having an electrode and an electron source using an electron-emitting device, the spacer is arranged between the electron source and the electrode. Even so, an object of the present invention is to propose an electron beam generator (particularly, an image forming apparatus) in which the trajectory of emitted electrons does not change.

Further, according to the present invention, in an image forming apparatus which uses, for example, a surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron-emitting device and forms an image by using an electron-emitting device from the electron source, there is no displacement of a light-emitting position, and high quality and high reliability It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel image forming apparatus with high image quality.

[0032]

The object of the present invention is achieved by an electron beam generator and an image forming apparatus having the following constitution.

An electron beam generating apparatus according to the present invention comprises: an electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices; an electrode arranged opposite to the electron source to act on electrons emitted from the electron source; An electron beam generator having an insulating intermediate member disposed between the intermediate member and the intermediate member has a high-resistance film on a surface thereof, and the high-resistance film has both ends of a conductive material penetrating the intermediate member. It is characterized by being electrically connected.

Further, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, there is provided an electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices, at least one electrode acting on electrons emitted from the electron source disposed opposite to the electron source, and the electrode An image forming member disposed opposite to the electron source with the insulating member interposed therebetween; and an insulating intermediate member disposed between the electron source and the electrode or between the electrode and the image forming member. In the image forming apparatus for forming an image by electrons emitted from the intermediate member, the intermediate member has a high resistance film on a surface thereof, and the high resistance film is electrically connected to both ends of a conductive material penetrating the intermediate member. It is characterized by having.

In the present invention, "penetration" means that a conductive material is provided in an insulating intermediate material so that at least two places of the high resistance film can be electrically connected with the conductive material. Therefore, for example, a structure laminated in a sandwich type as shown in FIG. 3 is also included.

In the present invention, a high resistance film is provided on the surface,
Electrically connected to both ends of the penetrating conductive material,
The intermediate member is not limited to the one for preventing the spacer of the display device from being charged, and can be used as a high resistance film (antistatic film) in other applications.

The electron beam generator of the present invention may have the following configuration. (1) In the electron beam generator, the electrode is an accelerating electrode for accelerating electrons emitted from the electron source. The electron beam generating device generates electrons emitted from an electron emitting element such as a cold cathode element according to an input signal. The image forming apparatus forms an image by irradiating a target. In particular, an image display device in which the target is a phosphor is provided. (2) The electron-emitting device is a cold-cathode device having a conductive film including an electron-emitting portion between a pair of electrodes, and is particularly preferably a surface-conduction emission device. (3) As shown in FIG. 5, the electron source is a simple matrix-shaped electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in a matrix with a plurality of row wirings and a plurality of column wirings. (4) According to the concept of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to an image forming apparatus suitable for display, but may be used as an alternative light source such as a light emitting diode of an optical printer including a photosensitive drum and a light emitting diode. Alternatively, the above-described image forming apparatus can be used.

At this time, the above-mentioned m row-directional wirings and n
By appropriately selecting the column direction wiring, the present invention can be applied not only to a linear light emitting source but also to a two-dimensional light emitting source.
In this case, the image forming member is not limited to a substance that emits light directly, such as a phosphor used in the following embodiments, and a member that forms a latent image by electron charging can also be used.

According to the concept of the present invention, a member to be irradiated with electrons emitted from an electron source, such as an electron microscope,
The present invention is also applicable to a case other than an image forming member such as a phosphor. Therefore, the present invention can also take a form as a general electron beam apparatus that does not specify a member to be irradiated.

[0040]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. [Spacer] The spacer is required to have an insulating property enough to withstand a high voltage applied between the electron source and the metal back, and to have a surface conductivity sufficient to prevent charging on the surface.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the antistatic film of the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) is a plan view, FIG. 1 (b) is a sectional view, and FIG.
(C) is a perspective view.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an insulating member to which antistatic treatment is applied, and reference numerals 2 and 3 denote a high resistance antistatic film formed on the surface of the insulating member 1. The high resistance films 2 and 3 are electrically connected at a plurality of locations by a conductive member 4 penetrating the insulating member 1.

FIG. 2 shows another structure of the antistatic film of the present invention. The high resistance films 2 and 3 are connected by a conductive member 4 penetrating the insulating member 1 in the same manner. However, the shape of the conductive member 4 differs from that of FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a structure in which the insulating member 1 and the conductive member 4 are stacked in a sandwich type may be used. In such a spacer according to the present invention, charging on one side can be removed by using a high-resistance film on both sides. Therefore, it can be expected that the antistatic effect is enhanced.

Examples of the insulating substrate of the spacer include quartz glass, glass having a reduced content of impurities such as Na, soda lime glass, and ceramic members such as alumina. Preferably, the insulating substrate has a coefficient of thermal expansion close to those of the envelope and the member forming the insulating substrate of the electron source.

The resistance value Rs of the spacer according to the present invention is set in a desirable range from the viewpoint of antistatic and power consumption. It is preferable that the sheet resistance Rs is 10 ¹² Ω or less from the viewpoint of antistatic. To obtain a sufficient antistatic effect,
0 ¹¹ Ω or less is more preferable. Although the lower limit of the sheet resistance depends on the spacer shape and the voltage applied between the spacers, it is usually preferably 10 ⁵ Ω or more.

The thickness t of the antistatic film formed on the insulating material is preferably in the range of 10 nm to 1 μm. Although it depends on the surface energy of the material, the adhesion to the substrate, and the substrate temperature, a thin film of 10 nm or less is generally formed in the shape of an island, and has an unstable resistance and poor reproducibility. On the other hand, the film thickness is 1 μm
Above, the film stress increases, the risk of film peeling increases, and the film formation time increases, resulting in poor productivity. Therefore, the film thickness is desirably 50 to 500 nm. The sheet resistance Rs is ρ / t, and from the above-described preferable range of Rs and t, the specific resistance ρ of the antistatic film is 10 ⁻³ to 10
Preferably, it is ⁶ Ωm. Further, in order to realize a more preferable range of the sheet resistance and the film thickness, 1 to 10 ⁴ Ω
m. As described above, the temperature of the spacer is increased by current flowing through the antistatic film formed thereon or by heat generation during operation of the entire display. If the resistance temperature coefficient of the antistatic film is a large negative value, the resistance value decreases when the temperature rises, the current flowing through the spacer increases, and the temperature further rises. The value of the temperature coefficient of resistance at which such runaway of current occurs is empirically negative and is 1% or more. That is, the resistance temperature coefficient of the antistatic film is desirably less than -1%. Examples of high-resistance antistatic films satisfying the above conditions include oxide thin films of chromium, nickel, copper, and the like, and nitrogen compound thin films of transition metals and aluminum.

The high resistance antistatic film can be formed on an insulating member by a thin film forming means such as sputtering, reactive sputtering, electron beam evaporation, ion plating, ion assisted evaporation, and CVD.

The conductive member penetrated by the insulating member has high conductivity, adheres well to the insulating member 1 (glass or the like), has high hardness, is thermally and chemically stable, and has an insulating property. A material having a thermal expansion coefficient close to that of the conductive member is desirable. Such substances include metals and alloys composed of a plurality of metals, Sn
It is appropriately selected from oxides such as O ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ and CdO. [Image Display Apparatus] Next, the configuration and manufacturing method of a display panel of an image display apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to specific examples.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the display panel used in the embodiment, in which a part of the panel is cut away to show the internal structure.

In the figure, 1015 is a rear plate, 1016
Is a side wall, 1017 is a face plate, and 1015
An airtight container for maintaining the inside of the display panel at a vacuum is formed by 1017 to 1017. When assembling an airtight container, it is required to seal the joints of the members to maintain sufficient strength and confidentiality.For example, frit glass is applied to the joints, and the joints are placed in the air or in a nitrogen atmosphere. Sealing was achieved by firing at 400 to 500 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes or more. A method of evacuating the inside of the airtight container to a vacuum will be described later. Further, since the inside of the airtight container is maintained at a vacuum of about 10 ^-6 [Torr],
A spacer 1020 is provided as an anti-atmospheric structure for the purpose of preventing the airtight container from being broken due to an atmospheric pressure, an unexpected impact, or the like.

The rear plate 1015 has a substrate 1011
Is fixed, but the cold cathode element 1012 is provided on the substrate.
(N and M are positive integers of 2 or more and are appropriately set according to the number of display pixels to be displayed. For example, for display of a high-definition television) In a display device, it is desirable to set a number of N = 3000 and M = 1000 or more.) The N × M cold cathode elements are wired in a simple matrix by M row-directional wirings 1013 and N column-directional wirings 1014.
The portion constituted by 1011 to 1014 is called a multi-electron beam source.

The material, the shape, and the manufacturing method of the cold cathode device are not limited as long as the multi electron beam source used in the image display device of the present invention is an electron source in which the cold cathode devices are arranged in a simple matrix wiring. Therefore, for example, a cold cathode device such as a surface conduction type emission device, an FE type, or an MIM type can be used.

Next, the structure of a multi-electron beam source in which a surface conduction electron-emitting device (described later) as a cold cathode device is arranged on a substrate and wired in a simple matrix will be described.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the multi-electron beam source used for the display panel of FIG. On the substrate 1011, surface conduction type emission elements similar to those shown in FIG. 10 to be described later are arranged.
3 and the column-direction wiring electrodes 1004 are wired in a simple matrix. An insulating layer (not shown) is formed between the row-directional wiring electrodes 1003 and the column-directional wiring electrodes 1004 where they intersect, so that electrical insulation is maintained.

FIG. 6 shows a section taken along the line BB 'in FIG.

Incidentally, the multi-electron source having such a structure is as follows.
After previously forming a row direction wiring electrode 1003, a column direction wiring electrode 1004, an interelectrode insulating layer (not shown), and a device electrode and a conductive thin film of a surface conduction electron-emitting device on a substrate,
Row direction wiring electrode 1003 and column direction wiring electrode 1004
The device was manufactured by supplying power to each element through the device and performing an energization forming process (described below) and an energization activation process (described below).

In this embodiment, the substrate 1011 of the multi-electron beam source is fixed to the rear plate 1015 of the airtight container.
When the substrate 1 has a sufficient strength, the substrate 101 of the multi-electron beam source is used as a rear plate of the hermetic container.
1 itself may be used.

A fluorescent film 1018 is formed on the lower surface of the face plate 1017. Since the present embodiment is a color display device, a CR film
Phosphors of three primary colors of red, green, and blue used in the field of T are separately applied. The phosphor of each color is, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3A, a black conductor 1010 is provided between stripes of the phosphor, which are separately applied in stripes. The purpose of providing the black conductor 1010 is to prevent the display color from being shifted even if there is a slight shift in the electron beam irradiation position, and to prevent the reflection of external light to prevent a decrease in display contrast. And preventing charge-up of the fluorescent film by the electron beam. Although graphite is used as a main component for the black conductor 1010, any other material may be used as long as it is suitable for the above purpose.

FIG. 7 shows how to paint the three primary color phosphors separately.
The arrangement is not limited to the stripe arrangement shown in FIG. 7A, and may be, for example, a delta arrangement as shown in FIG. 7B or another arrangement.

When a monochrome display panel is manufactured, a monochromatic phosphor material may be used for the phosphor film 1018, and a black conductive material may not be necessarily used.

A metal back 1019 known in the field of CRT is provided on the surface of the fluorescent film 1018 on the rear plate side.
Is provided. The purpose of providing the metal back 1019 is
A part of the light emitted from the fluorescent film 1018 is specularly reflected to improve the light utilization rate, or the fluorescent film
The protective film 18 serves as an electrode for applying an electron beam acceleration voltage, and serves as a conductive path for excited electrons of the fluorescent film 1018. The metal back 1019 was formed by forming the fluorescent film 1018 on the face plate substrate 1017, smoothing the surface of the fluorescent film, and vacuum-depositing Al thereon. Note that when a fluorescent material for low voltage is used for the fluorescent film 1018, the metal back 1019 is not used.

Although not used in the present embodiment, for the purpose of applying an acceleration voltage and improving the conductivity of the fluorescent film, a gap between the face plate substrate 1017 and the fluorescent film 1018 is formed.
For example, a transparent electrode made of ITO may be provided.

FIG. 8 is a schematic sectional view taken along the line AA 'of FIG. 4, and the numbers of the respective parts correspond to those of FIG. FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the spacer. The spacer 1020 is an insulating member 102
0a high resistance film 1020b for the purpose of antistatic
And a low-resistance film 1020c formed on the inside of the face plate 1017 (such as the metal back 1019) and on the contact surface of the spacer facing the surface of the substrate 1011 (the row wiring 1013 or the column wiring 1014). Consists of members. The spacers are arranged in a necessary number and at a necessary interval to achieve the above-mentioned object, and are fixed to the inside of the face plate and the surface of the substrate 1011 by the bonding material 1041. The high-resistance film 1020b is formed on at least the surface of the insulating member 1020a that is exposed to the vacuum in the hermetic container.
020, the inside of the face plate 1017 (metal back 1019, etc.) and the surface of the substrate 1011 (row direction wiring 1).
013 or the column direction wiring 1014). In the embodiment described here, the spacer 102
The shape of 0 is a thin plate, is arranged parallel to the row direction wiring 1013, and is electrically connected to the row direction wiring 1013. The joining material is made of, for example, conductive frit glass, and if there is no problem in adhesive strength or the like, the spacer is made of a face plate (or substrate 101) by the joining material.
It may be fixed only to 1).

As the spacer 1020, the substrate 1011
Has insulating properties enough to withstand high voltage applied between the upper row direction wiring 1013 and column direction wiring 1014 and the metal back 1019 on the inner surface of the face plate 1017;
In addition, it is required that the spacer 1020 has conductivity enough to prevent the surface of the spacer 1020 from being charged. In this regard,
As described above.

The insulating member 1020a of the spacer 1020
Examples thereof include quartz glass, glass with a reduced impurity content such as Na, soda lime glass, and ceramic members such as alumina. The insulating member 10
Preferably, 20a has a coefficient of thermal expansion close to that of the member forming the airtight container and the substrate 1011.

As described above, the surface resistance of the high resistance film 1020b is 10 ⁵ [Ω] in consideration of maintaining the antistatic effect and suppressing power consumption due to leakage current.
/ □] to 10 ¹² [Ω / □], and the above-mentioned various materials are used as the material.

Further, the low-resistance film 1020c is the same as the high-resistance film 1
It suffices to select a resistance value sufficiently lower than that of 020b.
i, Cr, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu,
Metals or alloys such as Pd, and Pd, Ag, Au,
A printed conductor made of a metal such as RuO ₂ or Pd-Ag or a metal oxide and glass, or In ₂ O ₃ —SnO
It is appropriately selected from transparent conductors such as ₂ and semiconductor materials such as polysilicon.

The conductive member having the insulating member 1020a penetrated therein has high conductivity, adheres well to glass, has high hardness, is thermally and chemically stable, and has a thermal expansion coefficient equal to that of the insulating member. A substance having a similar value is desirable. Such materials include metals and alloys composed of a plurality of metals, SnO ₂ ,
It is appropriately selected from oxides such as In ₂ O ₃ and CdO.

The bonding material 1041 is required to have conductivity so that the spacer 1020 is electrically connected to the row wiring 1013 and the metal back 1019.
That is, frit glass to which a conductive adhesive, metal particles, or a conductive filler is added is preferable.

Dx1 to Dxm, Dy1 to Dyn and Hv are electric connection terminals having an airtight structure provided for electrically connecting the display panel to an electric circuit (not shown). Dx1 to Dxm are the row wirings 10 of the multi-electron beam source.
13, Dy1 to Dyn are column direction wirings 1014 of the multi-electron beam source, and Hv is the metal back 1 of the face plate.
019, respectively.

In order to evacuate the inside of the hermetic container to a vacuum, after assembling the hermetic container, an exhaust pipe (not shown) and a vacuum pump are connected, and the inside of the hermetic container is evacuated to about 10 ^-7 [Torr]. Exhaust until After that, the exhaust pipe is sealed,
In order to maintain the degree of vacuum in the airtight container, a getter film (not shown) is formed at a predetermined position in the airtight container immediately before or after sealing. The getter film is, for example, a film formed by heating and depositing a getter material containing Ba as a main component by a heater or high-frequency heating, and the inside of the hermetic container is 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ or 1 × by the adsorption action of the getter film.
The degree of vacuum is maintained at 10 ^-7 [Torr].

In the image display device using the display panel described above, when a voltage is applied to each cold cathode element 1012 through the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn, electrons are emitted from each cold cathode element 1012. At the same time, a high voltage of several hundred [V] to several [kV] is applied to the metal back 1019 through the external terminal Hv to accelerate the emitted electrons and collide with the inner surface of the face plate 1017. As a result, the phosphor of each color forming the fluorescent film 1018 is excited and emits light, and an image is displayed.

Normally, the voltage applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present invention, which is a cold cathode device, is about 12 to 16 [V], and the distance d between the metal back 1019 and the cold cathode device 1012 is 0.1 [mm]. About 8 [mm], metal back 10
The voltage between 19 and the cold cathode element 1012 is about 0.1 [kV] to 10 [kV].

The basic structure and manufacturing method of the display panel according to the embodiment of the present invention and the outline of the image display device have been described above. [Method of Manufacturing Multi-Electron Beam Source] Next, a method of manufacturing the multi-electron beam source used in the display panel of the above embodiment will be described. The material, shape, and manufacturing method of the cold cathode device are not limited as long as the multi-electron beam source used for the image display device of the present invention is an electron source in which cold cathode devices are arranged in a simple matrix. Therefore, for example, a cold cathode device such as a surface conduction type emission device, an FE type, or an MIM type can be used.

However, in a situation where a display device having a large display screen and an inexpensive display device is required, among these cold cathode devices, a surface conduction type emission device is particularly preferable.

That is, in the FE type, since the relative position and shape of the emitter cone and the gate electrode greatly affect the electron emission characteristics, extremely high-precision manufacturing technology is required. However, this requires a large area and a reduction in manufacturing cost. Is a disadvantageous factor to achieve. In the case of the MIM type, it is necessary to make the thicknesses of the insulating layer and the upper electrode thin and uniform, which is also a disadvantageous factor in achieving a large area and a reduction in manufacturing cost.

On the other hand, since the surface conduction electron-emitting device is manufactured by a relatively simple manufacturing method, it is easy to increase the area and reduce the manufacturing cost. In addition, the inventors have found that among the surface conduction electron-emitting devices, those in which the electron-emitting portion or its peripheral portion is formed of a fine particle film have particularly excellent electron-emitting characteristics and can be easily manufactured. Therefore, it can be said that it is most suitable for use in a multi-electron beam source of a high-luminance, large-screen image display device. Therefore, in the display panel of the above embodiment, a surface conduction electron-emitting device having the electron-emitting portion or its peripheral portion formed of a fine particle film was used. Therefore, the basic configuration, manufacturing method and characteristics of a suitable surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described first, and then the structure of a multi-electron beam source in which many devices are arranged in a simple matrix will be described. [Suitable device structure and manufacturing method of surface conduction type emission device] The typical configuration of the surface conduction type emission device in which the electron-emitting portion or its peripheral portion is formed from a fine particle film includes a flat type and a vertical type.
Kinds are given. (Flat-type surface conduction electron-emitting device) First, an element configuration and a manufacturing method of a flat-type surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described. FIG. 10A is a plan view for explaining the configuration of a planar surface conduction electron-emitting device, and FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view thereof. In the figure, 1101 is a substrate, 1102 and 11
03, a device electrode; 1104, a conductive thin film; 1105, an electron-emitting portion formed by an energization forming process;
Reference numeral 3 denotes a thin film formed by the activation process.

As the substrate 1101, for example, various glass substrates such as quartz glass and blue plate glass, various ceramics substrates such as alumina, or an insulating layer made of, for example, SiO ₂ is formed on the various substrates described above. A laminated substrate or the like can be used.

The device electrodes 1102 and 1103 provided on the substrate 1101 in parallel with the substrate surface are formed of a conductive material. For example, N
i, Cr, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Cu, Pd,
A material such as Ag or the like, an alloy of these metals, a metal oxide such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ , or a semiconductor such as polysilicon may be appropriately selected and used. . An electrode can be easily formed by using a combination of a film forming technique such as vacuum evaporation and a patterning technique such as photolithography and etching. However, the electrode can be formed by other methods (for example, printing technique). I can't wait.

The shapes of the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 are appropriately designed according to the application purpose of the electron-emitting device.
Generally, the electrode interval L is usually several tens nm to several hundred μm.
Is designed by selecting an appropriate numerical value from the range described above. In particular, the range of several μm to several tens μm is preferable for application to a display device. As for the thickness d of the device electrode, an appropriate numerical value is usually selected from the range of several tens nm to several μm.

A fine particle film is used for the conductive thin film 1104. The fine particle film mentioned here is a film containing many fine particles as a constituent element (including an island-shaped aggregate).
I mean If you examine the microparticle film microscopically, usually
A structure in which the individual fine particles are spaced apart, a structure in which the fine particles are adjacent to each other, or a structure in which the fine particles overlap each other is observed.

The particle size of the fine particles used in the fine particle film is in the range of several angstrom to several hundred nm, but is more preferably in the range of 1 nm to 20 nm. Further, the thickness of the fine particle film is appropriately set in consideration of various conditions described below. That is, the conditions required for good electrical connection with the device electrode 1102 or 1103, the conditions required for good energization forming described below, and the electric resistance of the fine particle film itself are set to appropriate values described later. Requirements, etc. Specifically, several angstrom to several hundred nm
Is set within the range, but the preferred one is 1n
m to 50 nm.

Examples of materials that can be used to form the fine particle film include Pd, Pt, Ru, Ag,
Au, Ti, In, Cu, Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, T
a, W, Pb, and other metals, PdO, S
Oxides such as nO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO, Sb ₂ O ₃ , etc .; HfB ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , C
Borides such as eB ₆ , YB ₄ , GdB ₄ , etc., TiC, ZrC, HfC, TaC, SiC, WC,
And other carbides, TiN, ZrN, Hf
Nitrides such as N, etc., semiconductors such as Si, Ge, etc., carbon, and the like are listed, and are appropriately selected from these.

As described above, the conductive thin film 1104 is formed of a fine particle film.
It was set to be included from 10 ³ to a range of 10 ⁷ [Ω / □].

The conductive thin film 1104 and the device electrode 11
Since it is desirable that the wires 02 and 1103 be electrically connected well, they have a structure in which a part of each overlaps with the other. In the example of FIG.
Although the substrate, the device electrode, and the conductive thin film are stacked in this order from the bottom, in some cases, the substrate, the conductive thin film, and the device electrode may be stacked in this order from the bottom.

The electron-emitting portion 1105 is a crack-like portion formed in a part of the conductive thin film 1104, and has an electrically higher resistance than the surrounding conductive thin film. The crack is formed by performing a later-described energization forming process on the conductive thin film 1104. Fine particles having a particle size of several angstrom to several tens nm may be arranged in the crack. Since it is difficult to accurately and accurately show the actual position and shape of the electron-emitting portion, they are schematically shown in FIG.

The thin film 1113 is a thin film made of carbon or a carbon compound, and covers the electron emitting portion 1105 and its vicinity. The thin film 1113 is formed by performing an energization activation process described later after the energization forming process.

The thin film 1113 is made of any one of single-crystal graphite, polycrystalline graphite, and amorphous carbon, or a mixture thereof, and has a thickness of 50 nm or less.
More preferably, the thickness is 30 nm or less. Since it is difficult to accurately show the actual position and shape of the thin film 1113, it is schematically shown in FIG.

While the basic configuration of the preferred device has been described above, the following device was used in the examples.

That is, blue glass was used for the substrate 1101, and Ni thin films were used for the device electrodes 1102 and 1103. The thickness d of the device electrode is 100 nm, and the electrode interval L is 2 μm.
m.

Pd or P as the main material of the fine particle film
Using dO, the thickness of the fine particle film is about 10 nm, and the width W is 10
It was set to 0 μm.

Next, a description will be given of a method of manufacturing a preferred flat surface conduction electron-emitting device. FIGS. 11A to 11E
Is a cross-sectional view for explaining a manufacturing process of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, and the notation of each member is the same as FIG.

1) First, as shown in FIG.
Element electrodes 1102 and 1103 are formed over a substrate 1101.

When forming, the substrate 1
After sufficiently washing 101 with a detergent, pure water and an organic solvent,
The material for the device electrode is deposited (as a deposition method,
For example, a vacuum film forming technique such as an evaporation method or a sputtering method may be used. ). Thereafter, the deposited electrode material is patterned by using a photolithography / etching technique, and a pair of element electrodes 1102, 1 shown in FIG.
103 is formed.

2) Next, as shown in FIG.
A conductive thin film 1104 is formed.

In the formation, first, an organic metal solution is applied to the substrate shown in FIG. 11A on which the pair of element electrodes 1102 and 1103 are formed, dried, heated and baked to form a fine particle film. Is patterned into a predetermined shape by photolithography and etching. Here, the organometallic solution is a solution of an organometallic compound whose main element is a material of fine particles used for the conductive thin film. In particular,
In this embodiment, Pd is used as a main element. In the embodiment, the dipping method is used as a coating method, but other methods such as a spinner method and a spray method may be used.

As a method for forming a conductive thin film made of a fine particle film, a method other than the method of applying an organometallic solution used in this embodiment, for example, a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method,
Alternatively, a chemical vapor deposition method or the like may be used.

3) Next, as shown in FIG.
From the power supply 1110 for forming, the device electrodes 1102 and 1
An appropriate voltage is applied during the period 103, and an energization forming process is performed to form the electron-emitting portion 1105.

The energization forming treatment is to energize the conductive thin film 1104 made of a fine particle film and to appropriately break, deform, or alter a part of the conductive thin film 1104 to change to a structure suitable for emitting electrons. This is the process that causes A portion of the conductive thin film made of a fine particle film that has been changed to a structure suitable for emitting electrons (that is, the electron emitting portion 110
In 5), an appropriate crack is formed in the thin film.
Note that the electrical resistance measured between the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 is significantly increased after the formation of the electron emission portions 1105 as compared to before the formation.

FIG. 12 shows an example of an appropriate voltage waveform applied from the forming power supply 1110 in order to explain the energization method in more detail. When forming a conductive thin film made of a fine particle film, a pulse voltage is preferable. In the case of this embodiment, a triangular wave pulse having a pulse width T1 is continuously generated at a pulse interval T2 as shown in FIG. Was applied. At that time, the peak value Vpf of the triangular wave pulse was sequentially increased. In addition, monitor pulses Pm for monitoring the state of formation of the electron-emitting portion 1105 are inserted at appropriate intervals between the triangular-wave pulses, and the current flowing at that time is measured by an ammeter 11.
11 was measured.

In the embodiment, for example, 10 ^-5 [To
In a vacuum atmosphere of about [rr], for example, the pulse width T1 was 1 [millisecond], the pulse interval T2 was 10 [millisecond], and the peak value Vpf was increased by 0.1 [V] for each pulse. Then, each time five triangular waves were applied, the monitor pulse Pm was inserted once. The monitor pulse voltage Vpm was set to 0.1 [V] so as not to adversely affect the forming process. The electric resistance between the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 is 1 × 10 ⁶
When the current reaches [Ohm], that is, the current measured by the ammeter 1111 when the monitor pulse is applied is 1 × 10
^-7 [A] At the stage of the following, the energization related to the forming process was terminated.

The above method is a preferable method for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of this embodiment. For example, the design of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, such as the material and film thickness of the fine particle film or the distance L between the device electrodes, is changed. In such a case, it is desirable to appropriately change the energization conditions accordingly.

4) Next, as shown in FIG.
The device electrodes 1102 and 1103 are supplied from the activation power source 1112.
During this period, an appropriate voltage is applied to perform an activation process to improve the electron emission characteristics.

The activation process is a process in which the electron emitting portion 1105 formed by the energization forming process is energized under appropriate conditions to deposit carbon or a carbon compound in the vicinity thereof (in FIG. , And a deposit made of carbon or a carbon compound is schematically shown as a member 1113.) Note that by performing the activation process, the emission current at the same applied voltage can be typically increased by a factor of 100 or more compared to before the activation process.

Specifically, 10 ^-4 to 10 ^-5 [Torr
r], a voltage pulse is periodically applied in a vacuum atmosphere to deposit carbon or a carbon compound originating from an organic compound existing in the vacuum atmosphere.
The deposit 1113 is preferably single crystal graphite, polycrystalline graphite, amorphous carbon, or a mixture thereof, and has a thickness of 50 nm or less, more preferably 30 nm or less.

FIG. 13A shows an example of an appropriate voltage waveform applied from the activation power supply 1112 in order to explain the energization method in more detail. In the present embodiment, the energization activation process is performed by applying a rectangular wave of a constant voltage periodically. Specifically, the voltage Vac of the rectangular wave is 14 [V], and the pulse width T3 is 1 [millisecond]. ], And the pulse interval T4 was 10 [milliseconds]. The above-mentioned energization conditions are preferable conditions for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of this embodiment, and when the design of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is changed, it is desirable to appropriately change the conditions accordingly.

An anode electrode 1114 shown in FIG. 10D is used to capture the emission current Ie emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device. The anode electrode 1114 is connected to a DC high-voltage power supply 1115 and an ammeter 1116 (note that FIG. , The substrate 1101,
When the activation process is performed after being incorporated in the display panel, the phosphor screen of the display panel is used as the anode electrode 1114. ). While a voltage is applied from the activation power supply 1112, the emission current Ie is measured by the ammeter 1116 to monitor the progress of the energization activation process, and the activation power supply 111
2 is controlled. An example of the emission current Ie measured by the ammeter 1116 is shown in FIG. 13B. When the pulse voltage is started to be applied from the activation power supply 1112, the emission current Ie increases with the lapse of time, but eventually becomes saturated. And it hardly increases. As described above, when the emission current Ie is substantially saturated, the application of the voltage from the activation power supply 1112 is stopped, and the energization activation process ends.

The above-mentioned energization conditions are preferable conditions for the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present embodiment, and when the design of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is changed, the conditions should be changed accordingly. desirable.

As described above, the plane type surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 11E was manufactured. (Vertical type surface conduction electron-emitting device) Next, another typical structure of a surface conduction electron-emitting device in which an electron-emitting portion or its periphery is formed of a fine particle film, that is, the structure of a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device Will be described.

FIG. 14 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the basic structure of the vertical type. In FIG.
202 and 1203 are device electrodes, 1206 is a step forming member, 1204 is a conductive thin film using a fine particle film, 1205
Are electron-emitting portions formed by an energization forming process;
213 is a thin film formed by the activation process.

The difference between the vertical type and the flat type described above is that one element electrode 1202 is provided on the step forming member 1206, and the conductive thin film 1204 covers the side surface of the step forming member 1206. On the point. Therefore,
The element electrode interval L in the planar type shown in FIG. 10 is set as the step height Ls of the step forming member 1206 in the vertical type. Note that for the substrate 1201, the element electrodes 1202 and 1203, and the conductive thin film 1204 using a fine particle film, the materials listed in the description of the planar type can be used in the same manner. Also, the step forming member 1206
For example, an electrically insulating material such as SiO ₂ is used.

Next, a method of manufacturing a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described. FIGS. 15A to 15F are cross-sectional views for explaining a manufacturing process.
Is the same as

1) First, as shown in FIG.
An element electrode 1203 is formed over a substrate 1201.

2) Next, as shown in FIG.
An insulating layer for forming the step forming member is laminated. The insulating layer may be formed by stacking, for example, SiO ₂ by a sputtering method, but another film forming method such as a vacuum evaporation method or a printing method may be used.

3) Next, as shown in FIG.
An element electrode 1202 is formed over the insulating layer.

4) Next, as shown in FIG.
A part of the insulating layer is removed by using, for example, an etching method, so that the element electrode 1203 is exposed.

5) Next, as shown in FIG.
A conductive thin film 1204 using a fine particle film is formed. For the formation, as in the case of the planar type surface conduction electron-emitting device, for example, a film forming technique such as a coating method may be used.

6) Next, similarly to the case of the above-mentioned planar type surface conduction electron-emitting device, an energization forming process is performed to form an electron emission portion (the planar type energization forming described with reference to FIG. 11C). The same processing as the processing may be performed.)

7) Next, similarly to the case of the above-mentioned planar type surface conduction electron-emitting device, a current activation process is performed to deposit carbon or a carbon compound near the electron-emitting portion (FIG. 11).
What is necessary is just to perform the same process as the planar type energization activation process described using (d). ).

As described above, the vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 15F was manufactured. [Characteristics of surface conduction electron-emitting device used in display device]
The device configuration and manufacturing method of the planar and vertical surface conduction electron-emitting devices have been described. Next, the characteristics of the devices used in the display device will be described.

FIG. 16 shows typical examples of (emission current Ie) versus (device applied voltage Vf) characteristics and (device current If) versus (device applied voltage Vf) characteristics of the device used in the display device. . Note that the emission current Ie is significantly smaller than the device current If, and it is difficult to show the same current on the same scale. In addition, these characteristics are changed by changing design parameters such as the size and shape of the device. Therefore, each of the two graphs is shown in an arbitrary unit.

The element used in the display device has the following three characteristics regarding the emission current Ie.

First, when a voltage higher than a certain voltage (hereinafter referred to as a threshold voltage Vth) is applied to the element, the emission current Ie sharply increases. On the other hand, when the voltage is lower than the threshold voltage Vth, the emission current Ie increases. Ie is hardly detected. That is, it is a non-linear element having a clear threshold voltage Vth with respect to the emission current Ie.

Secondly, since the emission current Ie changes depending on the voltage Vf applied to the element, the emission current Ie depends on the voltage Vf.
Size can be controlled.

Third, since the response speed of the current Ie emitted from the element is fast with respect to the voltage Vf applied to the element, the amount of charge of the electrons emitted from the element depends on the length of time for applying the voltage Vf. Can control.

Because of the above characteristics, the surface conduction electron-emitting device could be suitably used for a display device. For example, in a display device in which a large number of elements are provided corresponding to pixels of a display screen, if the first characteristic is used, display can be performed by sequentially scanning the display screen. That is,
The driving element has a threshold voltage Vth according to a desired light emission luminance.
The above voltage is appropriately applied, and a voltage lower than the threshold voltage Vth is applied to the non-selected elements. By sequentially switching the elements to be driven, the display screen can be sequentially scanned and displayed.

Further, since the emission luminance can be controlled by using the second characteristic or the third characteristic, gradation display can be performed. [Structure of a multi-electron beam source in which a large number of elements are arranged in a simple matrix] Next, a structure of a multi-electron beam source in which the above-described surface conduction type emission elements are arranged on a substrate and arranged in a simple matrix will be described.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a multi-electrode beam source used for the display panel of FIG. On the substrate, surface conduction type emission elements similar to those shown in FIG. 10 are arranged, and these elements are wired in a simple matrix by row-direction wiring electrodes 1003 and column-direction wiring electrodes 1004. Row direction wiring electrode 1003 and column direction wiring electrode 1004
An insulating layer (not shown) is formed between the electrodes at the intersections of the two to maintain electrical insulation.

FIG. 6 shows a section taken along the line BB 'of FIG.

The multi-electron source having such a structure is as follows.
After the row direction wiring electrode 1003, the column direction wiring electrode 1004, the interelectrode insulating layer (not shown), the device electrode of the surface conduction electron-emitting device and the conductive thin film are formed on the substrate in advance, the row direction wiring electrode 1003 and the column direction are formed. The device was manufactured by supplying current to each element via the wiring electrode 1004 and performing an energization forming process and an energization activation process. [Driving Circuit Configuration (and Driving Method)] FIG.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a drive circuit for performing television display based on a C-system television signal. In the figure, a display panel 1701 corresponds to the above-described display panel, and is manufactured and operates as described above.
The scanning circuit 1702 scans a display line, and the control circuit 1703 generates a signal to be input to the scanning circuit 1702. The shift register 1704 shifts data for each line, and the line memory 1705 stores the shift register 1
704 and the like for one line are converted into a modulated signal
Enter 7 The synchronization signal separation circuit 1706 separates the synchronization signal from the NTSC signal.

Hereinafter, the function of each unit of the apparatus shown in FIG. 17 will be described in detail.

First, the display panel 1701 comprises terminals Dx1 to Dxm and terminals Dy1 to Dyn and a high voltage terminal Hv.
Connected to an external electric circuit via this house,
Terminals Dx1 to Dxm sequentially drive a multi-electron beam source provided in the display panel 1701, that is, cold-cathode elements arranged in a matrix of m rows and n columns, one row (n elements) at a time. A scanning signal for scanning is applied.
On the other hand, to the terminals Dy1 to Dyn, a modulation signal for controlling the output electron beams of the n elements for one row selected by the scanning signal is applied. Further, a DC voltage of, for example, 5 [kV] is supplied to the high voltage terminal Hv from the DC voltage source Va, which is sufficient to excite the phosphor into an electron beam output from the multi-electron beam source. It is an accelerating voltage for applying energy.

Next, the scanning circuit 1702 will be described. This circuit has m switching elements inside (in the figure,
S1 to Sm), each switching element selects either the output voltage of the DC voltage source Vx or 0 [V] (ground level), and switches the display panel 1701. It is electrically connected to terminals Dx1 to Dxm. Each of the switching elements S1 to Sm is provided with a control signal TSC output from the control circuit 1703.
It works based on AN, but in fact, for example, FE
It can be easily configured by combining switching elements such as T. The DC voltage source Vx outputs a constant voltage so that a driving voltage applied to an element that is not scanned based on the characteristics of the electron-emitting device illustrated in FIG. 16 is equal to or less than the electron-emitting threshold voltage Vth. Is set to

The control circuit 1703 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. The synchronization signal T sent from the synchronization signal separation circuit 1706 described next
Based on SYNC, each control signal of TSCAN, TSFT and TMRY is generated for each unit. Synchronous signal separation circuit 1
Reference numeral 706 denotes a circuit for separating a synchronizing signal component and a luminance signal component from an NTSC television signal input from the outside, and is easily configured by using a frequency separation (filter) circuit as is well known. You can do it. The synchronization signal separated by the synchronization signal separation circuit 1706 is composed of a vertical synchronization signal and a horizontal synchronization signal as is well known, but is shown here as a TSYNC signal for convenience of explanation. On the other hand, a luminance signal component of an image separated from the television signal is referred to as a DATA signal for convenience, and this signal is input to a shift register 1704.

A shift register 1704 is for serially / parallel converting the DATA signal input serially in time series for each line of an image, and is based on a control signal TSFT sent from the control circuit 1703. Works. That is, the control signal TSFT can be rephrased as a shift clock of the shift register 1704. The data for one line of the image that has been subjected to the serial / parallel conversion (corresponding to drive data for n electron-emitting devices) is output from the shift register 1704 as n signals ID1 to IDN.

The line memory 1705 is a storage device for storing data for 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 1703. The stored contents are output as I'D1 to I'DN and input to the modulation signal generator 1707.

The modulation signal generator 1707 controls the electron-emitting device 1 according to each of the image data I'D1 to I'DN.
015 is a signal source for appropriately driving and modulating each of the output signals, and the output signal is supplied to the display panel 1 through terminals Dy1 to Dyn.
701 is applied to the electron-emitting device 1015.

As described with reference to FIG. 16, 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 (8 [V] in the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the embodiment described later), and electron emission occurs only when a voltage equal to or higher than the threshold Vth is applied. For a voltage equal to or higher than the electron emission threshold Vth, the emission current Ie also changes according to the change in the voltage as shown in the graph of FIG. From this, when a pulse-like voltage is applied to this element, for example, when a voltage lower than the electron emission threshold Vth is applied, no electron emission occurs, but when a voltage higher than the electron emission threshold Vth is applied, the surface is An electron beam is output from the conduction type emission device. At this time, the intensity of the output electron beam can be controlled by changing the pulse peak value Vm. Further, by changing the pulse width Pw, 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, a voltage modulation method, a pulse width modulation method, or the like can be adopted. When performing the voltage modulation method, a circuit of the voltage modulation method that generates a voltage pulse of a fixed length and modulates the peak value of the pulse appropriately according to input data is used as the modulation signal generator 1707. be able to. When implementing the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 1707 generates a voltage pulse having a constant peak value and modulates the width of the voltage pulse appropriately according to input data. Circuit can be used.

The shift register 1704 and the line memory 1
Reference numeral 705 may be a digital signal type or an analog signal type. That is, the serial /
This is because parallel conversion and storage may be performed at a predetermined speed.

When the digital signal type is used, the output signal DATA of the synchronization signal separation circuit 1706 needs to be converted into a digital signal.
An A / D converter may be provided at the output unit 06. In this connection, the circuit used for the modulation signal generator differs slightly depending on whether the output signal of the line memory 1705 is a digital signal or an analog signal. That is, in the case of the voltage modulation method using a digital signal,
For example, a D / A conversion circuit is used in 7 and an amplification circuit and the like are added as necessary. In the case of the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 1707 includes, for example, a high-speed oscillator, a counter (counter) for counting the number of waves output from the oscillator, and a comparator for comparing the output value of the counter with the output value of the memory. (Comparator) is used. If necessary, an amplifier for amplifying the pulse width modulated signal output from the comparator to the drive voltage of the electron-emitting device can be added.

In the case of a voltage modulation method using an analog signal, an amplification circuit using, for example, an operational amplifier can be used as the modulation signal generator 1707, and a shift level circuit and the like can be added as necessary. In the case of the pulse width modulation method, for example, a voltage-controlled oscillation circuit (VC
O) can be adopted, and if necessary, an amplifier for amplifying the voltage up to the drive voltage of the electron-emitting device can be added.

In the image display apparatus to which the present invention can be applied in such a configuration, by applying a voltage to each of the electron-emitting devices via the terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn outside the container, the electron-emitting devices can emit electrons. Occurs. High voltage terminal Hv
A high voltage is applied to the metal back 1019 or the transparent electrode (not shown) through the interface to accelerate the electron beam. The accelerated electrons collide with the fluorescent film 1018 and emit light to form an image.

The configuration of the image display apparatus described here is an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied, and various modifications can be made based on the concept of the present invention. Although the input signal is described in the NTSC system, the input signal is not limited to this, but may be a PAL or SECAM system or a TV signal (MUSE system or other high-definition TV) system comprising a larger number of scanning lines. Can also be adopted.

[0145]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples. (Example 1) Glass of the same quality as the rear plate (length 20 m)
m, width 5 mm, thickness 50 mm) in the thickness direction of 0.3
Drill ~ 0.5mm hole. Although the positions of the holes may be random as shown in FIG. 1, it is preferable that the holes are gathered from the center in the width direction. Pass an In wire with the same diameter through this hole,
Heat treatment at 200 ° C./10 min. Then, it was cut to a thickness of 0.2 mm, and this was used as an insulating member 1020a.

By simultaneously sputtering targets of Cr and Al with a high-frequency power source, the insulating member 102
A high-resistance film made of a Cr-Al nitride film was formed on the surface of Oa. The sputtering gas is a mixed gas of Ar / N ₂ of 7: 3, and the total pressure is 4 mTorr. By adjusting the high frequency power applied to the Cr and Al targets, a nitride film with 5.8% Cr and a specific resistance of 10 ⁶ Ωm or less was obtained. Specific resistance 5 × 10 ³
The spacer member 1020 was a Cr-Al nitride film having a thickness of 200 nm and a thickness of 200 nm.

Next, as a low resistance film 1020c, a connection is made in parallel with the connection between the face plate and the rear plate.
An Au film having a thickness of 0.1 μm was formed in a band shape of 0 μm.

In the present embodiment, as the multi-electron beam source, N × M (N = 3072, M = 10
24) The surface conduction electron-emitting device is formed by combining M row-directional wirings and N
A multi-electron beam source with matrix wiring (see FIGS. 4 and 5) with the column-directional wiring was used.

In this embodiment, a display panel in which the spacer 1020 shown in FIG. Hereinafter, this will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. First, a row direction wiring electrode 1013 and a column direction wiring electrode 101 are previously formed on a substrate.
4. The substrate 1011 on which the interelectrode insulating layer (not shown), the device electrode of the surface conduction electron-emitting device and the conductive thin film are formed,
It was fixed to the rear plate 1015. Next, the above-described high-resistance film 102 is formed on the surface of the insulating member 1020a made of glass.
0b and a conductive film 1020c formed on the contact surface (height 5 mm, plate thickness 200 μm).
m] and length of 20 mm) on the substrate 1011 in the row direction wiring (X
Row wiring 1013 at equal intervals on the
And fixed in parallel. Thereafter, a face plate 1017 having a fluorescent film 1018 and a metal back 1019 provided on the inner surface thereof is disposed 5 mm above the substrate 1011 via a side wall 1016, and the rear plate 1015 and the face plate 1
017, the side wall 1016 and the spacer 1020 were fixed at their respective joints. The joint between the substrate 1011 and the rear plate 1015, the joint between the rear plate 1015 and the side wall 1016, and the joint between the face plate 1017 and the side wall 1016 are coated with frit glass (not shown), and 400 ° C. to 500 ° C. in the atmosphere. For 10 minutes or more for sealing.

The spacer 1020 is formed on the substrate 1011.
On the row direction wiring 1013 (line width 300 [μm]), and on the face plate 1017 side, the metal back 1010.
On the 19th surface, a conductive filler or a conductive frit glass (not shown) in which a conductive material such as metal is mixed is disposed via a frit glass (not shown).
By baking for 10 minutes or longer at 500 to 500 ° C., bonding and electrical connection were also performed.

In this embodiment, the fluorescent film 101 is used.
8, as shown in FIG. 7, each color phosphor 21 is arranged in the column direction (Y
Direction), the black conductor 1010 has a phosphor film arranged so as to separate not only between the phosphors (R, G, B) 21 of each color but also between the pixels in the Y direction. The spacer 1020 is used as a black conductor 1010 region (line width 300) parallel to the row direction (X direction).
[Μm]) via a metal back 1019. When the above-described sealing is performed, the phosphors 21 of each color must correspond to the elements arranged on the substrate 1011. Therefore, the rear plate 1015, the face plate 1017, and the spacer 1020 are located at a sufficient position. Matching was performed.

The inside of the hermetically sealed container completed as described above is evacuated by a vacuum pump through an exhaust pipe (not shown), and after reaching a sufficient degree of vacuum, the container is closed through terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn outside the container. Direction wiring electrode 1013 and column direction wiring electrode 1
By supplying power to each element via the 014 and performing the energization forming process and the energization activation process described above, a multi-electron beam source was manufactured.

Next, at a degree of vacuum of about 10 ^-6 [Torr], the exhaust pipe (not shown) was welded by heating with a gas burner to seal the envelope (airtight container).

Finally, a getter process was performed to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing.

In the image display device using the display panel as shown in FIGS. 4 and 8 completed as described above, each cold cathode element (surface conduction type emission element) 1012 has external terminals Dx1 to Dx1. A scanning signal and a modulation signal are applied from Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn from signal generation means (not shown) to emit electrons, and the metal back 10
In 19, the emitted electron beam is accelerated by applying a high voltage through the high voltage terminal Hv, and the electrons collide with the fluorescent film 1018 to excite and emit the phosphors 21 (R, G, B in FIG. 7). The image was displayed with. The high-voltage terminal H
The applied voltage Va to v is 3 [kV] to 10 [kV],
The voltage Vf applied between the wirings 1013 and 1014 is 14
[V].

At this time, a two-dimensional array of light emitting spots is formed at equal intervals, including light emitting spots generated by electrons emitted from the cold cathode element 1012 near the spacer 1020, and a clear color image with good color reproducibility is obtained. Display was completed.
This indicates that even when the spacer 1020 was provided, no electric field disturbance affecting the electron trajectory occurred. Example 2 A hole of 0.4 × 3.0 mm is made in the thickness direction of quartz glass (length 40 mm, width 5 mm, thickness 50 mm) as shown in FIG. A heat treatment at 200 ° C./10 min is performed through an In plate having an equivalent size through the hole. Then, it is cut to a thickness of 0.1 mm and
0a.

By simultaneously sputtering targets of Cr and Al with a high-frequency power source, the insulating member 102
A Cr-Al nitride film was formed on the Oa surface. The manufacturing conditions are the same as in Example 1. Specific resistance 5 × 10 ³ Ωm, film thickness 20
The spacer member 1020 was made of a 0 nm Cr-Al nitride film.

Next, as the low-resistance film 1020c, a connection is made in parallel with the connection between the face plate and the rear plate.
A Pt film having a thickness of 0.1 μm was formed in a belt shape of 0 μm. The spacer is connected to the metal back on the X-direction wiring and the face plate using conductive frit glass. As the conductive frit glass, a mixture of frit glass and conductive fine particles whose surface is coated with gold is used, and is electrically connected to the antistatic film on the spacer surface and the X-directional wiring or face plate.

Hereinafter, the same procedure as in Example 1 was performed.
In an image display apparatus using a display panel as shown in FIGS. 4 and 8, two-dimensionally spaced light emitting spots including light emitting spots caused by electrons emitted from the cold cathode element 1012 located near the spacer 1020 are provided. Rows were formed, and a clear and good color reproducibility color image could be displayed. This indicates that even when the spacer 1020 was provided, no electric field disturbance affecting the electron trajectory occurred. The voltage Va applied to the high voltage terminal Hv is 3
[KV] to 10 [kV], wirings 1013 and 101
The applied voltage Vf between the four was set to 14 [V]. Example 3 As shown in FIG. 22, an alumina plate (length 2
0 mm, width 1.4 mm, thickness 50 mm)
When 15 pieces of Al are put on each of the surfaces that come into contact when the three pieces are stacked,
Deposit 0 μm. Three alumina plates are stacked so that the deposition surfaces are in contact with each other, and heat treatment is performed at 700 ° C. for 10 minutes. Then, it was cut to a thickness of 0.2 mm, and this was used as an insulating member 1020a.

Using a Ti target in place of Cr of Example 1, a 60 nm thick Ti-Al nitride film was formed on the surface of the insulating member 1020a. The sputtering gas was the same as in Example 1, and a high-frequency power of Ti and Al was adjusted to form a nitride film (high-resistance film) having a specific resistance of 6 × 10 ² Ωm, thereby forming a spacer member 1020.

Next, as the low-resistance film 1020c, a three-portion is formed in parallel with the connection with the face plate and the rear plate.
An Au film having a thickness of 0.1 μm was formed in a band shape of 0 μm. As in the first embodiment, the spacer is connected to the metal back on the X-direction wiring and the face plate using conductive frit glass.

Hereinafter, the same method as in Example 1 was used.
In an image display apparatus using a display panel as shown in FIGS. 4 and 8, two-dimensionally spaced light emitting spots including light emitting spots caused by electrons emitted from the cold cathode element 1012 located near the spacer 1020 are provided. Rows were formed, and a clear and good color reproducibility color image could be displayed. This indicates that even when the spacer 1020 was provided, no electric field disturbance affecting the electron trajectory occurred. The voltage Va applied to the high voltage terminal Hv is 3
[KV] to 10 [kV], wirings 1013 and 101
The applied voltage Vf between the four was set to 14 [V]. In this embodiment, the alumina substrates are superposed. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a known ceramic sheet (tape; for example, CC-92771 / 777 or C-92771 / 777 of CoorsElectronic Package Co.)
C-LT20 or DuPont “green tape” etc.).

[0163]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By forming a high resistance film on the surface of the insulating member and connecting the high resistance thin films on both surfaces at both ends of the conductive material penetrating the insulating intermediate member, a sufficient antistatic effect is obtained, and A product with high stability was obtained. In addition, by applying this antistatic film to the spacer, the disturbance of the beam near the spacer is suppressed, and the displacement of the position where the beam collides with the phosphor and the phosphor that should emit light is prevented. Thus, it has become possible to manufacture a display device capable of preventing a loss of luminance and displaying a clear image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a spacer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a spacer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a spacer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an image display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a part of a display panel is cut away.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a substrate of the multi-electron beam source used in the example.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of a substrate of the multi-electron beam source used in the example.

FIG. 7 is a plan view illustrating a phosphor array of a face plate of the display panel.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of the display panel according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a spacer.

FIG. 10A is a plan view of a planar type surface conduction electron-emitting device used in an example, and FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view thereof.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a manufacturing process of the planar type surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an applied voltage waveform during energization forming processing.

13A is a diagram showing an applied voltage waveform in the energization activation process, and FIG. 13B is a diagram showing a change in emission current Ie.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device used in an example.

FIG. 15 is a sectional view showing a manufacturing process of the vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 16 is a graph showing typical characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device used in the example.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a drive circuit of an image display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a view showing an example of a conventionally known surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 19 is a view showing an example of a conventionally known FE element.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of a conventionally known MIM-type element.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view in which a part of a display panel of the image display device is cut away.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a method for manufacturing a spacer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Insulating member 2, 3 High resistance film 4 Conductive member 1011 Substrate 1012 Cold cathode element 1013 Row direction wiring 1014 Column direction wiring 1015 Rear plate 1016 Side wall 1017 Face plate 1020 Spacer

Claims (18)

[Claims] An electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices;
An electron beam generator comprising: an electrode disposed opposite to the electron source and acting on electrons emitted from the electron source; and an insulating intermediate member disposed between the electron source and the electrode. An electron beam generator having a high resistance film on the surface thereof, wherein the high resistance film is electrically connected to both ends of a conductive material penetrating the intermediate member. 2. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein said high-resistance film is electrically connected to said electron source and said electrode. 3. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein the high-resistance film has a specific resistance of 10 ⁻³ to 10 ⁶ Ωm. 4. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate member has a surface perpendicular to the electron source and the electrode. 5. The electron beam generator according to claim 4, wherein said intermediate member is a flat plate. 6. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein said electrode is an electrode for applying a voltage for accelerating electrons emitted from an electron source. Electron beam generator. 7. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein the electron-emitting device provided in the electron source straddles a pair of opposing element electrodes and extends between the element electrodes. And a thin film including an electron-emitting portion. 8. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein the electron-emitting device provided in the electron source is a field-emission electron-emitting device. Line generator. 9. The electron beam generator according to claim 7, wherein the electron source includes a plurality of row wirings and a plurality of column wirings arranged via an insulating layer. An electron beam wherein the plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix on an insulating substrate by connecting the column-directional wiring and the pair of device electrodes of each electron-emitting device, respectively. Generator. 10. The electron beam generator according to claim 9, wherein the high resistance film is electrically connected to the row wiring or the column wiring. 11. The electron beam generator according to claim 9, wherein said intermediate member is arranged on said row direction wiring or column direction wiring. 12. The electron beam generator according to claim 9, wherein the intermediate member has a flat plate shape arranged in parallel or orthogonal to the row wiring or the column wiring. An electron beam generator characterized by the above-mentioned. 13. The electron beam generator according to claim 12, wherein the pair of element electrodes of each of the electron-emitting devices are arranged to face each other in a direction parallel to the intermediate member. apparatus. 14. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of said intermediate members are arranged at intervals. 15. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate member is an atmospheric pressure resistant member. 16. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate member is a support member installed in an envelope that maintains a vacuum atmosphere. Electron beam generator. 17. An electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices, at least one electrode acting on an electron emitted from the electron source disposed opposite to the electron source, and the electron source sandwiching the electrode. An image forming member disposed to face,
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an insulating intermediate member disposed between the electron source and the electrode, or between the electrode and the image forming member, and forming an image with electrons emitted from the electron source. An image forming apparatus, wherein the intermediate member has a high resistance film on a surface thereof, and the high resistance film is electrically connected to both ends of a conductive material penetrating the intermediate member. 18. The image forming apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the high resistance film is electrically connected to the electron source and the electrode.