JPH11329216A - Electron beam generating device, image forming device, and manufacture thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electron beam generating device and an image forming device which uses it provided with a supporting spacer, having no effects on the orbit of electron beams. SOLUTION: This electron beam generating device has an electron source, having plural cold cathode type electron emission elements, an electrode arranged facing opposite to the electron source and acting on the electrons emitted from the electron source, and an insulating spacer 5 arranged between the electron source and the electrode. The spacer 5 has destaticizing thin films 5b on the surface of an insulating base material 5a, and the destaticizing thin films 5b are electrically connected with respect to the electron source and/or the electrode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electron beam generator and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a support spacer used in an image forming apparatus using a surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron source.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an image forming apparatus using electrons includes an envelope for maintaining a vacuum atmosphere, an electron source for emitting electrons and a driving circuit thereof, and a phosphor which emits light by collision of electrons. An image forming member, an accelerating electrode for accelerating electrons toward the image forming member, and a high-voltage power supply are required. Further, in an image forming apparatus using a flat envelope such as a thin image display device, a support column (spacer) is used as an atmospheric pressure resistant structure.

As an electron-emitting device used for an electron source of an image forming apparatus, a cold cathode is known in addition to a hot cathode conventionally used in a CRT or the like. The cold cathode includes a field emission type (hereinafter abbreviated as “FE” type), a metal / insulating layer / metal type (hereinafter abbreviated as “MIM” type), a surface conduction electron-emitting device, and the like. As an example of the FE type, W. P. Dyke &
W. W. Dolan, "Field Emissio
n ", Advanced Electron Phy
sics, 8, 89 (1956) or C.I. A. Sp
indt, “Physical Properties
of Thin-Film Field Emiss
ion Cathodes withMollybden
ium Cones ", J. Appl. Phys., 4
7, 5248 (1976).

As an example of the MIM type, C.I. A. Mea
d, “Operation of tunnel-em
issue devices ", J. Appl. Ph.
ys. , 32, 646 (1961).
Examples of surface conduction electron-emitting devices include those described in M.S. I. Eli
nson, Radio Eng. Electron P
hys. , 10, 1290 (1965). The surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes a phenomenon in which 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. Dittme
r: “Thin Solid Films”, 9, 31
7 (1972)], based on an In ₂ O ₃ / SnO ₂ thin film [M. Hartwell and C.I. G. FIG. Fonst
ad: “IEEETrans.ED Conf.”, 5
19 (1975)], using a carbon thin film [Hisashi Araki et al .: Vacuum, Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 22 (1983)]
Etc. have been reported.

As a typical device configuration of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, the above-mentioned M.S. FIG. 24 shows the device configuration of the Hartwell. In the figure, reference numeral 3001 denotes an insulating substrate. Reference numeral 3002 denotes a thin film for forming an electron emission portion, 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 3003 is formed by an energization process called forming described later.

Conventionally, in these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, the electron-emitting portion forming thin film 3 is formed before electron emission.
In general, the electron-emitting portion 3003 is formed in advance by performing an energizing process called “forming”. In other words, forming is an electron emitting portion in which a voltage is applied to both ends of the electron emitting portion forming thin film 3002 and the electron emitting portion forming thin film is locally destroyed, deformed or deteriorated, and is in an electrically high resistance state. 3003.
Note that the electron-emitting portion 3003 is a thin film 3 for forming an electron-emitting portion.
002 is formed by a crack generated in a part of 002, and electrons are emitted from the vicinity of the crack. Hereinafter, the electron-emitting-portion-forming thin film 3002 including the electron-emitting portion 3003 formed by forming is referred to as “a thin film including an electron-emitting portion” 3004. The surface-conduction electron-emitting device that has been subjected to the forming process applies a voltage to the thin film 3004 including the electron-emitting portion and causes a current to flow through the device, thereby causing the electron-emitting portion 3003
It causes more electrons to be emitted.

As an example of arranging a large number of surface-conduction electron-emitting devices, a large number of surface-conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in parallel, and a large number of rows in which both ends of each element are connected by wiring are arranged. An electron source is mentioned (for example, JP-A-1-31332 of the present applicant). By combining an electron source having a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices arranged therein and a phosphor as an image forming member that emits visible light by electrons emitted from the electron source,
Various image forming apparatuses, mainly display apparatuses, are constituted (for example, US Pat. No. 5,066,88 by the present applicant).
No. 3), because it is a self-luminous display device that can be manufactured relatively easily even with a large screen device and has excellent display quality,
It is expected as an image forming apparatus that can replace.

[0008] For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
In an image forming apparatus as described in JP-A-257551 or the like, selecting an arbitrary element from a large number of formed surface conduction electron-emitting devices involves arranging and connecting the surface conduction electron-emitting devices in parallel. Appropriate driving to the wiring (row direction wiring) and the wiring (column direction wiring) installed in the space between the electron source and the phosphor in the direction orthogonal to the row direction wiring (column direction) and connected to the control electrode It depends on the signal.

[0009]

As a method of realizing an image forming apparatus using a surface conduction electron-emitting device with a simpler configuration, the present applicant has proposed a method of forming a plurality of row wirings and a plurality of column wirings. By connecting a pair of device electrodes facing each other of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, a simple matrix type electron source in which the surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix is formed, and A system capable of selecting a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices and controlling the amount of electron emission by giving appropriate drive signals in the column direction is being considered.

In studying an image forming apparatus using the above-mentioned simple matrix type surface conduction electron-emitting device electron source, the present inventors have found that the light emitting position (electron collision position) on the phosphor forming the image forming member and It has been found that the emission shape may deviate from the expected value.

It has been confirmed that such a phenomenon occurs near a support frame or a support column (spacer) disposed between the electron source and the image forming member.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus comprising an electron beam generator having an electrode and an electron source using an electron-emitting device. We propose an electron beam generator in which the trajectory of emitted electrons does not change even if a spacer is arranged.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which, for example, a surface conduction electron-emitting device is used as an electron-emitting device and an image is formed by electrons emitted from the electron source, there is no displacement of light emission. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new image forming apparatus having a long life and high reliability.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a support spacer used in the image forming apparatus.

In an image forming apparatus having an electrode and an electron source particularly using a surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron-emitting device, even if a spacer is arranged between the electron source and the electrode, the trajectory of the emitted electrons We propose an electron beam generator that does not cause fluctuations.

[0016]

Means and Action for Solving the Problems The present inventors have
As a result of diligent research, it has been found that the problematic phenomenon is mainly caused by electrons emitted from an electron source. In the electron beam generator and the image forming apparatus, the electrons emitted from the electron source collide with a phosphor or the like as an image forming member, or, with a low probability, with a residual gas in a vacuum. Some of the scattered particles (ions, secondary electrons, neutral particles) generated at a certain probability at the time of these collisions, and some of the electrons emitted from the electron source are exposed portions of the insulating material in the image forming apparatus. And the exposed portion is charged. Due to this charging, the electric field changes near the exposed portion. It is considered that the change in the electric field causes a shift in the trajectory of the emitted electrons, and as a result, the light emission position and the light emission shape of the phosphor change.

Further, it was found from the change in the light emitting position and the shape of the phosphor that positive charges were mainly accumulated in the exposed portion. This may be due to the case where the positive ions of the scattering particles are attached and charged, or the scattering particles, and / or
Alternatively, a case may be considered in which positive charge is caused by secondary electron emission generated when a part of electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device collides with the exposed portion.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an electron source having a plurality of cold-cathode-type electron-emitting devices, an electrode disposed opposite to the electron source and acting on electrons emitted from the electron source, the electron source and the electrode An electron beam generating apparatus having an insulating spacer disposed between the spacer and the spacer has a static elimination thin film on a surface thereof, and the static elimination thin film is electrically connected to the electron source and / or the electrode. It is characterized by being connected.

First, since the charging to be prevented occurs on the surface of the insulating spacer, it is sufficient for the spacer to have an antistatic function only on the surface thereof. Therefore, in the electron beam generator according to the present invention, the charge removing thin film is formed on the surface of the spacer.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the charge eliminating thin film has a surface resistance of 10 ⁹ to 10 ¹¹ [Ω / □].

Thus, the electron beam generator has a sufficiently low resistance value to neutralize the charge on the surface of the spacer and has a leak current amount that does not significantly increase the power consumption of the entire device. Can be realized.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the charge removing thin film is characterized in that a carbon thin film is discretely applied on the surface of the spacer in an island shape.

As described above, when the electrons scattered from the face plate or the electrons emitted from the electron source collide with the surface of the spacer, the spacer surface is charged. For this reason, in order to prevent charging, it can be prevented by applying a minute current to the surface of the spacer. However, there is a problem that the increase in the current flowing through the spacer surface increases the current consumption of the device. In the island-like carbon film of the present invention, electrons move between the island-like carbon films by surface conduction, so that current can be concentrated only on the surface of the spacer, and the charge accumulated on the surface of the spacer can be efficiently neutralized. Can be. Also,
Since the island-shaped carbon film has high resistance, the amount of current flowing through the island-shaped carbon film itself is small, and the amount of energy consumed due to heat generated by the current is small. Further, since carbon has a secondary electron emission coefficient close to 1, charging by electrons colliding with the spacer surface can be extremely reduced. From the above results, the island-like carbon film can reduce the amount of current not involved in neutralization, and can prevent charging very efficiently.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the spacer has an upright surface between the electron source and the electrode. That is, as the spacer, with respect to the normal direction of the electron source and the electrode,
Since the cross-sectional shape is uniform, the electric field is not disturbed by the spacer. Therefore, as long as the spacer does not block the electron trajectory from the electron-emitting device, the spacer and the electron-emitting device can be arranged close to each other, so that the electron-emitting devices can be arranged at a high density.
Moreover, since the leak current flows only on the surface of the spacer, it is possible to suppress the leak current to a small value without devising such a method that the electron source or the electrode is pointed to the spacer and joined thereto. .

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the spacer is a flat plate or a column.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the electrode is an acceleration electrode.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the electron-emitting device has a surface conduction type electron emission device comprising a pair of opposed device electrodes and a thin film including an electron emission portion extending between the device electrodes. It is characterized by being an element.

Particularly preferable among the cold cathode devices are surface conduction electron-emitting devices (surface conduction electron-emitting devices). The surface conduction electron-emitting device has a simple structure and is easy to manufacture, and a large-area device can be easily manufactured. In recent years, particularly in a situation where a large-screen and inexpensive display device is required, it can be said that the cold-cathode element is particularly suitable. In addition, the present applicant, among the surface conduction electron-emitting devices,
What formed the electron emission part forming thin film from the fine particle film,
It has been found that it is preferable in terms of characteristics or enlargement of the area.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, in the electron source, a plurality of row direction wirings and a plurality of column direction wirings are arranged via an insulating layer. The plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix on an insulating substrate by connecting a column-direction wiring and the pair of device electrodes of each of the electron-emitting devices.

That is, the spacer of the present invention, which does not require a complicated additional structure because the static elimination thin film is provided to prevent charging, is a simple matrix type in which surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix. By applying the present invention to an image forming apparatus using an electron source, a thin and large-area image forming apparatus capable of forming a high-quality image with a simple apparatus configuration can be provided.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the electron source is provided with a plurality of row-directional wirings, and the pair of element electrodes of each of the electron-emitting devices is connected to the plurality of row-directional wirings. The plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix on an insulating substrate by being connected to a pair of row-direction wirings. The electron beam generator according to the present invention can be applied to an image forming apparatus using an electron source other than the simple matrix type. For example, this is the case where the spacer is used in an image forming apparatus for selecting a surface conduction electron-emitting device using a control electrode as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-257551 by the present applicant.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the charge eliminating thin film is electrically connected to the row wiring or the column wiring. The static elimination thin film is electrically connected to one wire on the electron source side, and can avoid unnecessary electrical coupling between wires on the electron source. According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the spacer is provided on the row wiring or the column wiring.

Further, according to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the spacer is formed in a flat plate shape arranged in parallel or orthogonal to the row wiring or the column wiring.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the pair of device electrodes of each of the electron-emitting devices are arranged to face each other in a direction parallel to the spacer.

Since the flat spacers are arranged along the electron trajectory shifted from the electron-emitting devices, the electron-emitting devices can be arranged at a high density without being interrupted by the spacers.

Further, according to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the spacer is arranged at a plurality of intervals.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the spacer is an atmospheric pressure resistant member.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the atmospheric pressure-resistant member is a support frame of an envelope for maintaining a vacuum atmosphere or a support member installed in the envelope. I do.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electron beam generating apparatus comprising: an electron source having a plurality of cold cathode type electron emitting elements; and an electron source arranged opposite to the electron source and emitted from the electron source. In an electron beam generator having an electrode that acts and a case member that separates the electron beam and the electrode from the outside, the case member has a static elimination thin film on an inner surface thereof, and the static elimination thin film is formed by the electron elimination thin film. It is electrically connected to a source and / or the electrode.

Further, the image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises an electron source having a plurality of cold cathode type electron-emitting devices, and at least one electrode disposed opposite to the electron source and acting on electrons emitted from the electron source. And an image forming member disposed opposite to the electron source with the electrode interposed therebetween, and an insulating spacer disposed between the electron source and the electrode or between the electrode and the image forming member or between the electrodes. An image forming apparatus for forming an image by electrons emitted from the electron source, wherein the spacer has a charge removing thin film on a surface thereof, and the charge removing thin film is electrically connected to the outside. And

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming member arranged to face the electron source with the electrode interposed therebetween.

Further, the support spacer of the present invention used in the closed partition wall in which electrons are generated has a main body made of an electrically insulating material and a static eliminating thin film formed on the surface of the main body. The thin film extends to an end of the spacer so that the thin film is electrically connected to a predetermined conductor provided near the partition at a contact point between the spacer and the partition of the chamber. It is characterized by being formed.

The support spacer has an effect of ensuring, for example, a vacuum in the partition chamber and neutralizing the charge by the trapped charged particles.

The thickness and the resistance of the island-like carbon film used in the preferred embodiment of the present invention may be optimally selected depending on the size and form of the image device and the electron generating device to be constituted. Good results are shown within the following range. The sheet resistance value is 1 × 10 ^{5 to} 9 × 10
¹² Ω / □, preferably 1 × 10 ⁹ to 1 ×
The range is 10 ¹¹ Ω / □. The film thickness at this time is in the range of 0.5 to 10 nm, preferably 1 to 10 nm.
4 nm.

The charge-removing thin film material of the present invention contains carbon as a main component and uses amorphous carbon, graphite, fullerene and diamond. However, from the viewpoint of controlling the resistance value and the high-temperature heating during sealing described later. From the viewpoint of heat resistance, graphite and fullerene are preferably used.

[0046]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an image forming apparatus will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The image forming apparatus according to this embodiment basically includes a multi-electron source in which a large number of cold cathode elements are arranged on a substrate in a thin vacuum vessel, and an image forming apparatus that forms an image by irradiating electrons. The member is provided facing the member.

The cold cathode device is manufactured by using a manufacturing technique such as photolithography and etching.
Since they can be formed on the substrate by being precisely positioned, it is possible to arrange a large number of them at minute intervals.
In addition, as compared with a hot cathode conventionally used in a CRT or the like, the cathode itself and its peripheral portion can be driven at a relatively low temperature, so that a multi-electron source with a finer arrangement pitch can be easily realized. The apparatus of the embodiment relates to an image forming apparatus using such a cold cathode device as a multi-electron source.

Further, among the cold cathode devices, a surface conduction electron-emitting device is particularly preferable. The surface conduction electron-emitting device has a simple structure and is easy to manufacture, and a large-area electron-emitting device can be easily manufactured. In recent years, particularly in a situation where a large-screen and inexpensive display device is required, it can be said that the cold-cathode element is particularly suitable.

Therefore, in the embodiments described below, an image display device using a surface conduction electron-emitting device formed by using a fine particle film as a thin film for forming an electron-emitting portion as a multi-electron source will be described. However, the cold cathode element that can be used in the present invention is not limited to the above-described surface conduction type, and an FE type or an MIM type can be preferably applied. Therefore, a preferred embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the image forming apparatus of the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view (A-A) of the main part of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. A part of A 'section)
It is.

2 and 3, an electron source 1 having a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices (hereinafter abbreviated as “electron-emitting devices”) 15 arranged in a matrix is fixed to a rear plate 2. I have. The face plate 3 has a fluorescent film 7 and a metal back 8 serving as an acceleration electrode formed on an inner surface of a glass substrate 6. A face plate 3 as an image forming member is arranged to face the rear plate 2 via a support frame 4 made of an insulating material, and a high voltage is applied to the metal back 8 by a power supply (not shown). These rear plate 2, support frame 4 and face plate 3
A frit glass or the like is disposed at the joint, and the container is sealed by heating and pressing at a high temperature. The envelope 10 is constituted by the rear plate 2, the support frame 4, and the face plate 3.

The inside of the envelope 10 is 10 ⁻⁶ Torr.
Since the envelope 10 is maintained at a degree of vacuum, a thin plate-like spacer 5 is provided inside the envelope 10 as an anti-atmospheric structure for the purpose of preventing the envelope 10 from being destroyed due to an atmospheric pressure, an unexpected impact, or the like.
Is provided. As shown in FIG. 3, the spacer 5
It consists of a member in which an island-shaped carbon thin film 5b is formed on the surface of the insulating base material 5a, and is provided with a necessary number and a necessary interval to achieve the above-mentioned purpose as the atmospheric pressure resistant structure. It is arranged parallel to the X direction, and is sealed to the inner surface of the envelope 10 and the surface of the electron source 1 with frit glass or the like. Also,
The carbon thin film 5 b is formed on the inner surface of the face plate 3 and the electron source 1.
(X-directional wirings 12 described later).

Hereinafter, each of the above-mentioned components will be described in detail.

[Electron Source 1] FIG. 4 is a plan view of a main part of the electron source 1 of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a line BB 'of the electron source 1 shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, an insulating substrate 11 made of a glass substrate or the like is used.
In the figure, m X-directional wirings 12 and n Y-directional wirings 13 are electrically separated by an interlayer insulating layer 14 (not shown in FIG. 4) and wired in a matrix. Each X direction wiring 1
An electron-emitting device 15 is electrically connected between 2 and each Y-direction wiring 13. Each electron-emitting device 15
Is composed of a pair of device electrodes 16 and 17 arranged at intervals in the X direction and a thin film 18 for forming an electron emission portion connecting the device electrodes 16 and 17, respectively.
One of the device electrodes 16 and 17 is electrically connected to the X-direction wiring 12, and the other device electrode 17 is electrically connected to the Y-direction wiring 13 via a contact hole 14 a formed in the interlayer insulating layer 14. Connected to. X direction wiring 12 and Y
The direction wiring 13 is connected to the external terminal Dox shown in FIG.
1 to Doxm and Doy1 to Doyn are drawn out of the envelope 10.

As the insulating substrate 11, quartz glass, N
a, glass material such as soda lime glass, soda lime glass, a glass substrate obtained by laminating soda lime glass with SiO ₂ formed by sputtering or the like, a ceramic member such as alumina, or an insulating material having high heat resistance. And the like. The size and thickness of the insulating substrate 11 depend on the number of electron-emitting devices provided on the insulating substrate 11 and the design shape of each electron-emitting device, and the electron source 1 itself forms part of the envelope 10. It is set as appropriate depending on conditions for maintaining the vacuum in the configuration.

The X-directional wiring 12 and the Y-directional wiring 13 are made of a metal or the like formed in a desired pattern on the insulating substrate 11 by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. The material, the film thickness, and the wiring width are set so that a voltage as uniform as possible is supplied to the device. The interlayer insulating layer 14 is made of SiO ₂ or the like formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like, and is formed in a desired shape on the entire surface or a part of the insulating substrate 11 on which the Y-directional wiring 13 is formed. In particular, the film thickness, material, and manufacturing method are appropriately set so as to withstand the potential difference at the intersection of the X-direction wiring 12 and the Y-direction wiring 13.

The device electrodes 16 and 17 of the electron-emitting device 15
Are each made of a metal or the like,
A desired pattern is formed by a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. X direction wiring 12, Y direction wiring 13, element electrode 16,
In the metal No. 17, some or all of the constituent elements may be the same or different, and Ni, Cr,
Metals or alloys such as Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu, Pd, and Pd, Ag, Au, RuO ₂ , P
It is appropriately selected from a printed conductor made of a metal such as d-Ag or a metal oxide and glass, a transparent conductor such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO _2, and a semiconductor material such as polysilicon.

Specific examples of the material forming the thin film 18 for forming an electron emitting portion include Pd, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, and I.
metals such as n, Cu, Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, Ta, W, and Pd; PdO, SnO ₂ In ₂ O ₃ , PbO, and Sb ₂
Oxides such as O ₃ , HfB ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , Ce
Borides such as B ₆ , YB ₄ , GdB ₄ , TiC, ZrC,
Carbides such as HfC, TaC, SiC, WC, TiN, Z
It is a nitride such as rN or HfN, a semiconductor such as Si or Ge, carbon, Pb, Sn or the like, and is composed of a fine particle film.

The X-direction wiring 12 is electrically connected to a scanning signal generating means (not shown) for applying a scanning signal for arbitrarily scanning a row of the electron-emitting devices 15 arranged in the X-direction. ing. On the other hand, the Y-direction wiring 13 is electrically connected to a modulation signal generating means (not shown) for applying a modulation signal for arbitrarily modulating each column of the electron-emitting devices 15 arranged in the Y direction. . Here, the drive voltage applied to each electron-emitting device 15 is supplied as a difference voltage between a scanning signal and a modulation signal applied to the electron-emitting device.

Here, an example of a method of manufacturing the electron source 1 will be specifically described according to the order of steps with reference to FIG. Note that the following steps a to h correspond to (a) to (h) in FIG.

Step a: A 50 angstrom thick Cr layer and a 5000 angstrom thick layer are formed by vacuum evaporation on an insulating substrate 11 in which a 0.5 μm thick silicon oxide film is formed on a cleaned soda lime glass by sputtering. Are sequentially laminated, and then a photoresist (AZ1370,
(Hoechst) is spin-coated with a spinner and baked. After baking, the photomask image is exposed and developed to form a resist pattern of the Y-directional wiring 13.
The u / Cr deposited film is wet-etched to form a Y-directional wiring 13 having a desired shape.

Step b: Next, an interlayer insulating layer 14 made of a silicon oxide film having a thickness of 1.0 μm is deposited by RF sputtering.

Step c: A photoresist pattern for forming a contact hole 14a is formed in the silicon oxide film deposited in step b, and the photoresist pattern is used as a mask to form a photoresist pattern.
Is etched to form a contact hole 14a.
Etching is performed using RIE (Rea) using CF ₄ and H ₂ gas.
active ion etching) method.

Step d: Thereafter, a pattern to be a gap between the device electrodes and the device electrode is formed by a photoresist (RD-20).
00N-41 manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.), and a 50 Å thick Ti and a 1000 Å thick Ni are sequentially deposited by a vacuum evaporation method. The photoresist pattern is dissolved with an organic solvent, the Ni / Ti deposited film is lifted off, and the device electrodes 16 and 17 having the device electrode distance L1 (see FIG. 4) of 3 μm and the device electrode width W1 (see FIG. 4) of 300 μm are removed. Form.

Step e: After forming a photoresist pattern of the X-directional wiring 12 on the device electrodes 16 and 17,
0 angstrom Ti and 6000 angstrom thick Au are sequentially deposited by vacuum evaporation, and unnecessary portions are removed by lift-off to obtain an X-directional wiring 1 having a desired shape.
Form 2

Step f: As shown in FIG. 7, a pair of element electrodes 16 and 1 located at an interval L1 between the element electrodes
A Cr film having a thickness of 1000 Å is deposited and patterned by vacuum vapor deposition using a mask having an opening 20a that straddles the Pd. 7, and an organic Pd solution (ccp4
230 Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) is spin-coated with a spinner and heated and baked at 300 ° C. for 10 minutes.

The thus formed electron-emitting-portion-forming thin film 18 made of fine particles containing Pd as a main element has a thickness of about 100 Å and a sheet resistance of 5 × 10 ^4.
[Ω / □]. In addition, the fine particle film described here is
A film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated. The fine structure of the film is not only a state in which the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged, but also a film in which the fine particles are adjacent to each other or overlapped (including an island shape). The particle diameter refers to the diameter of the fine particles whose particle shape can be recognized in the above state.

The organic metal solution (organic Pd solution in this example) refers to the Pd, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, In,
This is a solution of an organic compound containing a metal such as Cu, Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, Ta, W, and Pb as a main element. Further, in the present example, the method of producing the thin film 18 for forming the electron-emitting portion 18 is a coating method of an organic metal solvent. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition method, It may be formed by a coating method, a dipping method, a spinner method, an inkjet method, or the like.

Next, the Cr film is removed with an acid etchant, and the thin film 1 for forming an electron emission portion having a desired pattern is formed.
8 is formed.

Step g: A pattern is formed such that a resist is applied to portions other than the contact hole 14a, and 50 Å thick Ti and 500 thick are formed by vacuum evaporation.
AU of 0A is sequentially deposited. Unnecessary portions are removed by lift-off to bury the contact holes 14a.

Through the above steps, the X-directional wirings 12, the Y-directional wirings 13, and the electron-emitting devices 15 before forming are formed and arranged two-dimensionally at equal intervals on the insulating substrate 11. Then, the envelope 10 (see FIG. 2) in which the electron source 1 is installed is evacuated by a vacuum pump through an exhaust pipe (not shown).
After reaching a sufficient degree of vacuum, terminals Dox1 to Dox outside the container
A voltage is applied between the device electrodes 16 and 17 of the electron-emitting device 15 through m and Doy1 to Doyn, and the electron-emitting portion forming thin film 18 is energized (formed) to form the electron-emitting portion 23 (see FIG. 5). To form

Subsequently, for example, a carbon compound such as acetone is introduced into the envelope, and a voltage is applied between the device electrodes 16 and 17 of the electron-emitting device 15 in the same manner as the forming to form a crack formed by the forming. Formation of carbon coating on thin film including electron emission part inside and near cracks (activation treatment)
did.

As forming processing, 10 ^-6 Torr
In a vacuum atmosphere, the pulse width T1 shown in FIG.
Millisecond, peak value (peak voltage during forming) is 5V
For 60 seconds at a pulse interval T2 of 10 milliseconds,
Electric current is applied between the device electrodes 16 and 17. The characteristic evaluation of the electron-emitting device of the example manufactured by the above-described configuration and manufacturing method will be described with reference to the schematic configuration diagram of the evaluation device shown in FIG. FIG. 9 corresponds to an electron source in which one electron-emitting device is formed.
Reference numeral 5 denotes an entire electron-emitting device formed on the insulating substrate 11, reference numerals 16 and 17 denote device electrodes, reference numeral 18 denotes a thin film including an electron-emitting portion, and reference numeral 23 denotes an electron-emitting portion. Reference numeral 31 denotes a power supply for applying an element voltage Vf between the element electrodes 16 and 17;
Reference numeral 30 denotes a thin film 1 including an electron-emitting portion between the device electrodes 16 and 17.
An ammeter for measuring the device current If flowing through the device 8;
Is an anode electrode for capturing the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission section 23; 33 is a high voltage power supply for applying a voltage Va to the anode electrode 34;
This is an ammeter for measuring the emission current Ie emitted from the device. The device current If and the emission current Ie of the electron-emitting device
In the measurement, a power supply 31 and an ammeter 30 are connected to the device electrodes 16 and 17, and an anode electrode 34 connected to a power supply 33 and an ammeter 32 is disposed above the electron-emitting device 15. Further, the electron-emitting device 15 and the anode 3
Numeral 4 is installed in a vacuum device, and the vacuum device is provided with equipment necessary for a vacuum device such as an exhaust pump and a vacuum gauge (not shown) so that the device can be measured and evaluated under a desired vacuum. Has become.

The voltage Va of the anode electrode is 1 kV to
10 kV, the distance H between the anode electrode and the electron-emitting device is 3
It is measured in the range of 8 mm to 8 mm. In the following, a description will be given of the characteristics of the characteristics of the electron-emitting device according to the embodiment, which have been found by the inventors. The emission current Ie, the device current If, and the device voltage V measured by the measurement and evaluation device shown in FIG.
A typical example of the relationship of f is shown in FIG. In FIG. 10, since the magnitudes of If and Ie are significantly different, they are shown in arbitrary units. As is clear from FIG. 10, the electron-emitting device according to the embodiment has three characteristics with respect to the emission current Ie.

First, when an element voltage Vf higher than a certain voltage (referred to as a threshold voltage, Vth in FIG. 10) is applied to the electron-emitting device, the emission current Ie sharply increases. Below Vth, the emission current 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. The element current If monotonically increases with respect to the element voltage Vf (MI
Characteristics).

Second, since the emission current Ie depends on the device voltage Vf, the emission current Ie can be controlled by the device voltage Vf. Third, the amount of the emitted charges captured by the anode electrode 34 depends on the time during which the device voltage Vf is applied. That is, the amount of electric charge captured by the anode electrode 34 can be controlled by the time during which the device voltage Vf is applied.

[Fluorescent Film 7] The fluorescent film 7 is made of only a phosphor when the display device is monochrome, but is black stripes depending on the arrangement of the phosphors as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 when the display device is color. It is composed of a black conductive material 7b called a black matrix (FIG. 12) or a phosphor 7a. The purpose of providing the black stripes and the black matrix is to make the color mixture inconspicuous by making the painted portions between the phosphors 7a of the three primary color phosphors necessary for color display less noticeable.
Is to suppress a decrease in contrast due to reflection of external light in the above. As the material of the black conductive material 7b, not only a material mainly containing graphite, which is often used, but also a material having a static elimination property and a small amount of light transmission and reflection is applicable. The method of applying the phosphor 7a to the glass substrate 6 is not limited to monochrome or color, and a precipitation method or a printing method is used.

[Metal Back 8] The purpose of the metal back 8 is to improve the brightness by mirror-reflecting the light toward the inner surface side of the light emitted from the phosphor 7a toward the face plate 3 and to reduce the electron beam acceleration voltage. Acting as an accelerating electrode for application, protecting the phosphor 7a from damage due to collision of negative ions generated in the envelope 10, and the like. After fabricating the fluorescent film 7, the metal back 8 smoothes the inner surface of the fluorescent film 7 (usually called filming).
And then depositing Al by vacuum evaporation or the like. In order to further enhance the static elimination property of the fluorescent film 7, the face plate 3 is provided between the fluorescent film 7 and the glass substrate 6.
A transparent electrode (not shown) such as TO may be provided.

[Envelope 10] The envelope 10 is heated (250 to 300 ° C.) after the above-described forming and activation processes.
Then, the pressure is reduced to about 10 ⁻⁶ Torr through an exhaust pipe (not shown), and then sealed. Therefore, the envelope 1
0, the rear plate 2, the face plate 3, and the support frame 4 are made of, for example, quartz glass or Na.
And glass, soda lime glass, ceramic members such as alumina, etc., having a reduced impurity content. However, it is necessary to use a face plate 3 having a certain or higher transmittance for visible light. In addition, it is preferable to combine the members whose thermal expansion coefficients are close to each other.

In the case where the envelope 10 is formed in the color image forming apparatus, the phosphors 7a of the respective colors need to be arranged corresponding to the electron-emitting devices 15, so that the
It is necessary to accurately align the face plate 3 having a with the rear plate 2 to which the electron source 1 is fixed. Further, a getter process may be performed in order to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing the envelope 10. This is because the getter disposed at a predetermined position (not shown) in the envelope 10 is heated by resistance heating or high-frequency heating or the like immediately before or after the envelope 10 is sealed, and the deposition film is formed. Is a process of forming A getter typically contains Ba as a principal component, the adsorption effect of the vapor deposition film, for example, 10 ^-5 to 1
The vacuum degree of 0 ^-7 Torr is maintained.

[Spacer 5] The spacer 5 has an insulating property enough to withstand a high voltage applied between the electron source 1 and the metal back 8 and has a surface on the surface for the purpose of preventing the above-described charging. An island-like carbon film having static elimination properties is formed.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the spacer of the present invention, FIG. 1 (a) is a schematic front view of the spacer of the present invention, and FIG. 1 (b) is a schematic view showing a cross section AA ′ of FIG. FIG.

Examples of the insulating substrate 5a of the spacer 5 include quartz glass, glass having a reduced impurity content such as Na, soda lime glass, ceramic members such as alumina, and heat-resistant polymers. It is preferable that the insulating base material 5a has a coefficient of thermal expansion that is close to the members forming the envelope 10 and the insulating substrate 11 of the electron source 1.

The surface resistance of the island-like carbon film 5b is 10 ⁹ to 10 ^{11 in} consideration of maintaining the antistatic effect and suppressing the power consumption due to the leak current.
It is preferably in the range of [Ω / □], and graphite and oils and fats which can be easily obtained from the viewpoint of cost and production method are used as the material.

The island-like carbon film 5b may be formed by a vacuum film forming method such as a sputtering method or a chemical vapor deposition method, or a step of applying and baking an organic solution or a dispersion solution by dipping or using a spinner. And the like by a coating method comprising

The island-like carbon film 5b is formed on the insulating base material 5a.
The film may be formed on at least the surface of the envelope 10 exposed to the vacuum in the envelope 10. As shown in FIG. 3, the island-like carbon film 5b is electrically connected to the black conductive material 7b or the metal back 8 of the fluorescent film 7 on the face plate 3 side and to the X-direction wiring 12 on the electron source 1 side. Is done.

The structure, installation position and installation method of the spacer 5
The electrical connection between the face plate 3 side and the electron source 1 side is not limited to the above-mentioned case, and has a sufficient atmospheric pressure resistance and a high voltage applied between the electron source 1 and the metal back 8. It suffices that the insulating material has enough insulating properties and conductivity enough to prevent the surface of the spacer 5 from being charged.

A method of driving the above-described image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a drive circuit for performing television display on the display device of the embodiment based on an NTSC television signal. In the figure, the display panel 170
Reference numeral 1 denotes an apparatus manufactured and operated as described above. The scanning circuit 1702 operates a display line, and the control circuit 1703 generates a signal to be input to the scanning circuit. The shift register 1704 shifts data for each line, and the line memory 1705 stores the shift register 1704.
Is input to the modulation signal generator 1707. 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. 13 will be described in detail. First, the display panel 1701 includes terminals Doxl to Dxl.
oxm, Doyl to Doyn, and a high voltage terminal Hv are connected to an external electric signal. Of these, the terminals Doxl to Doxm sequentially drive electron sources provided in the display panel 1701, that is, electron emission element groups arranged in a matrix in a matrix of m rows and n columns, one row at a time (n elements). A scan signal for going is applied.

On the other hand, to the terminals Doyl to Doyn, a modulation signal for controlling the output electron beam of each of the electron-emitting devices in one row selected by the scanning signal is applied. The high-voltage terminal Hv is supplied with a DC voltage of, for example, 5 (kV) from the DC voltage source Va, which has sufficient energy to excite the phosphor into an electron beam output from the electron-emitting device. Is an accelerating voltage for giving

Next, the scanning circuit 1702 will be described. The circuit 1702 includes m switching elements (schematically indicated by S1 to Sm in the figure). Each switching element is connected to the output voltage of the DC voltage source Vx or 0 V (ground level). ) Is selected, and the terminals Doxl to Doxm of the display panel 1701 are selected.
It is electrically connected to. Each of the switching elements S1 to Sm outputs a control signal T output from the control circuit 1703.
It operates based on _SCAN , but actually, for example, FE
It can be easily configured by combining switching elements such as T.

In the present embodiment, the DC voltage source Vx is not searched based on the characteristics of the electron-emitting device illustrated in FIG. 10 (in this case, the electron-emitting threshold voltage Vth is 8 V). It is set so as to output a constant voltage of 7 V so that the drive voltage applied to the element is equal to or lower than the electron emission threshold voltage Vth. Also, the control circuit 1703
Has a function of matching the operation of each unit so that appropriate display is performed based on an image signal input from the outside. Based on the synchronization signal T _SYNC sent from the synchronization signal separation circuit 1706 described below, T
_SCAN and T _SFT and T _MRY control signals are generated.

The synchronizing signal separating circuit 1706 can be easily formed by using a synchronizing signal component (filter) circuit from an NTSC television signal input from the outside. As is well known, the synchronization signal separated by the synchronization signal separation circuit 1706 is composed of a vertical synchronization signal and a vertical synchronization signal, but is illustrated here as a T _SYNC signal for convenience of description. On the other hand, the luminance signal component of the image separated from the television signal is represented as a DATA signal for convenience, and the 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 T _SFT sent from the control circuit 1703. Works. That is, the control signal T _SFT can be rephrased as a shift clock of the shift register 1704.

The serial / parallel converted image data for one line is output from the shift register 1704 as n parallel signals Idl to Idn. A line memory 1705 is a storage device for storing data for one line of an image for a required time, and a control circuit 1703.
Idl to Id as appropriate according to the control signal T _MRY sent from
Store the contents of n. The stored contents are Id'l to I
It is output as d'n and input to the modulation signal generator 1707.

The modulation signal generator 1707 controls the electron-emitting device 6 according to each of the image data Id'l to Id'n.
Of the display panel 1 is appropriately driven and modulated, and its output signal is supplied to the display panel 1 through terminals Doyl to Doyn.
701 is applied to the electron-emitting device 15. As described with reference to FIG. 10, the electron-emitting device according to the embodiment has the following basic characteristics with respect to the emission current Ie. That is, as is clear from the graph of Ie in FIG. 10, the electron emission has a clear threshold voltage Vth (8 V in the device of this embodiment), and only when a voltage equal to or higher than the threshold Vth is applied. Release occurs.

For a voltage equal to or higher than the electron emission threshold value Vth, the emission current Ie changes in accordance with the change in the voltage as shown in the graph. The electron emission threshold voltage Vt can be changed by changing the configuration and manufacturing method of the electron emission element.
The value of h and the degree of change of the emission current with respect to the applied voltage may change, but in any case, the following can be said.

That is, when a pulse-like voltage is applied to the device, electron emission does not occur even if a voltage of 8 V or less, which is the electron emission threshold, is applied.
When a voltage higher than V) is applied, an electron beam is output. The function of each unit shown in FIG. 13 has been described above. Before proceeding to the description of the overall operation, the operation of the display panel 1701 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

For convenience of illustration, the number of pixels of the display panel is 6 ×
6 (that is, m = n = 6), it is needless to say that the display panel 1701 actually used has a much larger number of pixels. FIG. 14 shows an electron source in which the electron-emitting devices 6 are arranged in a matrix of 6 rows and 6 columns. For the sake of explanation, D (1, 1) and D (1, 2) are used to distinguish the devices. ), D (6, 6), the position is indicated by (X, Y) coordinates.

When displaying an image by driving such an electron source, a method is employed in which an image is formed line by line in units of one line parallel to the X axis. To drive the electron-emitting device 6 corresponding to one line of the image,
Of the Dox1 to Dox6, 0V is applied to the terminal of the row corresponding to the display line, and 7V is applied to the other terminals. Synchronously with it, Doy according to the image pattern of the line
A modulation signal is applied to each terminal of 1 to Doy6.

For example, a case where an image pattern as shown in FIG. 15 is displayed will be described. Therefore, FIG.
A description will be given by taking, as an example, a period during which the third line emits light in the image of FIG. FIG. 16 shows voltage values applied to the electron source through the terminals Dox1 to Dox6 and the terminals Doy1 to Doy6 during the emission of the third line of the image. As is apparent from FIG.
Each of the electron-emitting devices (2, 3), D (3, 3), and D (4, 3) has a voltage of 14 V exceeding the threshold voltage of electron emission of 8 V.
(Elements shown in black in the figure) are applied to output an electron beam. On the other hand, other than the above three elements, 7 V (element shown by oblique lines in the figure) or 0 V (element shown by white in the figure)
Is applied, but since the threshold voltage for electron emission is 8 V or less, no electron beam is output from these elements.

In a similar manner, the other lines are also shown in FIG.
The electron source is driven according to the display pattern of No. 5, but one screen is displayed by sequentially driving one line at a time from the first line, and by repeating this at a rate of 60 screens per second, flickering occurs. The image display without images is possible. Note that the above description does not refer to gray scale display, but gray scale display can be performed by, for example, changing the pulse width of a voltage applied to an element.

[Deviation of Electron Trajectory] Based on the device configuration and the driving method described above, when a voltage is applied to each electron-emitting device 15 through terminals outside the container Doxl to Doxm and Doyl to Doyn, the electron-emitting portion 23 emits electrons. Is released. At the same time, a high voltage of several kV or more is applied to the metal back 8 (or a transparent electrode (not shown)) through the high voltage terminal Hv to accelerate the electrons emitted from the electron emission portion 23 and collide with the inner surface of the face plate 3. Thereby, the phosphor 7a of the phosphor film 7 is excited to emit light, and an image is displayed.

This situation is shown in FIG. 17 and FIG. FIG.
7 and 18 are diagrams for explaining the generation state of electrons and scattering particles described later in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 2, respectively. FIG. 17 is a diagram viewed from the Y direction, and FIG.
It is the figure seen from the direction. That is, as shown in FIG.
When the voltage Vf is applied to the device electrodes 16 and 17 of the electron source 1, the electrons emitted from the electron emission portion 23 fly toward the device electrode 17 on the high potential side and take a parabolic locus indicated by 25t. I do. This shift is caused by the fact that although the emitted electrons are accelerated by the acceleration voltage Va applied to the metal back 8 on the face plate 3, the electron emission portion 23 with respect to the surface of the electron source 1 because the element electrode 17 is at a high potential. It deviates from the normal line from. Therefore, the fluorescent film 7
Is shifted from the normal line from the electron emission portion 23 to the surface of the electron source 1. It is considered that such a radiation characteristic is due to the potential distribution in a plane parallel to the electron source 1 being asymmetric with respect to the electron emission portion 23.

When the electrons emitted from the electron source 1 reach the inner surface of the face plate 3, a light emission phenomenon of the fluorescent film 7 occurs. However, among the emitted electrons, other than reaching the inner surface of the face plate 3, they may collide with electrons on the fluorescent film 7 or, with a low probability, collide with electrons on residual gas in vacuum. is there. Due to these collision phenomena, scattered particles (ions, secondary electrons, neutral particles, etc.) are generated with a certain probability, and these scattered particles are generated in the envelope 10 by a locus indicated by 26t in FIG. It is thought to fly.

In a comparison experiment between the case where the island-shaped carbon film 5b is formed on the spacer 5 and the case where the island-shaped carbon film 5b is not formed on the spacer 5 in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. It has been found that the light emission position (electron collision position) and the light emission shape on the fluorescent film 7 located near the spacer 5 may deviate from the design values. In particular, when an image forming member for a color image is used, in addition to the light emission position shift, a decrease in luminance and color shift may be observed.

The main cause of this phenomenon is that the island-like carbon film 5
b, the insulating base material 5a of the spacer 5
When the part of the scattering particles collides with the exposed part of the phosphor and the exposed part is charged, the electric field changes near the exposed part, causing a shift in the electron orbit, and the light emission position and light emission shape of the phosphor. It is thought that a change in

On the other hand, in the image forming apparatus of the embodiment in which the island-like carbon film 5b is formed on the spacer 5 as shown in FIG. 2, the light emission position (electron emission) on the fluorescent film 7 located near the spacer 5 It was confirmed that there was no significant disturbance at the collision position). The reason is that even if the exposed portion of the spacer 5 is charged, a portion of the current (actually, electrons or holes) flowing through the island-like carbon film 5b is electrically neutralized, and It is considered that even if charge is generated, the charge is immediately eliminated.

Normally, the applied voltage Vf between the pair of device electrodes 16 and 17 of the electron-emitting device 15 is about 12 to 16 V, and the distance d between the metal back 8 and the electron-emitting device 15 is 2 mm to 8 mm.
mm, and the voltage Va between the metal back 8 and the electron-emitting device 15 is about 1 kV to 10 kV. The configuration described above is a schematic configuration necessary for manufacturing a suitable image forming apparatus used for image display and the like, and detailed portions such as materials and arrangements of respective members are not limited to those described below. Instead, it is appropriately selected so as to be suitable for the use of the image forming apparatus.

[Experimental Example 1] The image forming apparatus of Experimental Example 1
The configuration is as follows. First, the electron source 1 that has not been formed (forming = forming the electron emitting portion forming thin film 18 by applying an electric current to the electron emitting portion 23) is fixed to the rear plate 2.

Next, the island-shaped carbon film 5b is coated on the surface of the insulating substrate 5a made of soda lime glass.
Spacers 5 (having a height of 5 m) formed on four surfaces exposed inside
m, plate thickness 200 μm, length 20 mm)
It is fixed on the directional wiring at equal intervals in parallel with the X-directional wiring 12. At the joint between the face plate and the rear plate of the spacer, an electrode made of metal (Pt) for improving electrical contact is formed. Thereafter, the face plate 3 is disposed 5 mm above the electron source 1 via the support frame 4, and the joint between the rear plate 2, the face plate 3, the support frame 4 and the spacer 5 is fixed.

The joint between the electron source 1 and the rear plate 2, the joint between the rear plate 2 and the support frame 4, and the joint between the face plate 3 and the support frame 4 are coated with frit glass (not shown). And baking at 400 ° C. to 500 ° C. for 10 minutes or more for sealing. The spacer 5 is provided on the X-direction wiring 12 (line width 300 μm) on the electron source 1 side and on the face plate 3 side on the black conductive material 7b (line width 300 μm) on the phosphor substrate (see FIGS. 11 and 12). ), A conductive frit glass (not shown) in which a conductive material such as a metal is mixed, and placed in the air at 400 ° C. to 500 ° C.
Bake at ℃ for 10 minutes or more. Thereby, joining and electrical connection are realized.

The spacer 5 is produced by forming an island-like carbon film 5b on a clean insulating base material 5a made of soda lime glass by a vacuum film forming method. Note that the island-like carbon film used in Example 1 is manufactured by sputtering a graphite target in an argon atmosphere using a sputtering apparatus. The thickness of the produced island-like carbon film was about 1 nm, and the sheet resistance was 1 × 10 ¹¹ Ω.
/ □.

The fluorescent film 7, which is an image forming member,
As shown in FIG. 11, each color phosphor 7a adopts a stripe shape extending in the Y direction. As the black conductive material 7b, not only between the color phosphors 7a but also between the pixels in the Y direction are separated and the spacer 5 is provided. The shape to which the part for adding is added is used.
First, the black conductive material 7b is formed, and the phosphors 7a of the respective colors are applied to the respective gaps in the gaps to form the phosphor film 7. As the material for the black stripe, a material mainly containing graphite, which is usually used, is used. Phosphor 7 on glass substrate 6
The method of applying a uses a slurry method.

The metal back 8 provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 7 is subjected to a smoothing process (usually called “filming”) on the inner surface of the fluorescent film 7 after the fluorescent film 7 is formed. , And Al by vacuum evaporation. The face plate 3 may be provided with a transparent electrode on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 7 in order to further enhance the static elimination property of the fluorescent film 7. However, in the first experimental example, a sufficient static elimination property is obtained only by the metal back. The explanation is omitted.

When performing the above-described sealing, the rear plate 2, the face plate 3, and the spacer 5 were sufficiently aligned because the phosphors of each color and the electron-emitting devices had to correspond to each other. The atmosphere in the envelope 10 completed as described above is exhausted by a vacuum pump through an exhaust pipe (not shown), and after reaching a sufficient degree of vacuum, the outer terminals Doxl to D
A voltage is applied between the device electrodes 16 and 17 of the electron-emitting device 15 through oxm and Doyl to Doyn, and the electron-emitting portion forming thin film 18 is energized (formed) to form the electron-emitting portion 23. The forming process is
This was performed by applying the voltage having the waveform shown in FIG. 8, and subsequently, the above-described activation process was performed.

Next, while the envelope is heated at a degree of vacuum of about 10 ^-6 Torr, the exhaust pipe (not shown) is welded by heating with a gas burner, and the envelope 10 is sealed. Finally,
Getter processing is performed to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing.
In the image forming apparatus completed as described above, the external terminals Doxl to Doxm, Dox
Through yl to Doyn, a scanning signal and a modulation signal are applied by signal generation means (not shown) to emit electrons, and a high voltage is applied to the metal back 8 through a high voltage terminal Hv to accelerate the emitted electron beam. An image is displayed by causing electrons to collide with the fluorescent film 7 to excite and emit light from the phosphor. The applied voltage Va to the high voltage terminal Hv is 3 kV to 10 kV, and the applied voltage Vf between the device electrodes 16 and 17 is 14 V.

At this time, a two-dimensional array of light-emitting spots including light-emitting spots generated by electrons emitted from the electron-emitting devices 15 located close to the spacers 5 are formed at two-dimensional intervals, and a clear color image with good color reproducibility is obtained. Display was completed. This indicates that even when the spacer 5 was provided, the presence of the metal film 5b did not cause a disturbance in the electric field that would affect the electron trajectory.

[Experimental Example 2] The experimental example 2 differs from the experimental example 1 in that amorphous carbon as the island-like carbon film 5b of the spacer 5 was formed in an argon atmosphere by an ion plating method using an electron beam. This is the point where the film is formed. At this time, the surface resistance of the island-like carbon film 5b is about 10 ¹⁰ [Ω /
□].

In the image forming apparatus using the spacer 5, each electron-emitting device 15 has an external terminal Doxl-
Through Doxm and Doyl to Doyn, a scanning signal and a modulation signal are applied from signal generation means (not shown) to emit electrons, and the metal back 8 is applied with a high voltage through a high voltage terminal Hv to emit an emitted electron beam. The image is displayed by accelerating, causing electrons to collide with the fluorescent film 7 to excite and emit light from the fluorescent material.

The voltage Va applied to the high voltage terminal Hv is 3
kV to 10 kV, voltage Vf applied between device electrodes 16 and 17
Is 14V. At this time, it was confirmed from the comparison with the image forming apparatus for the comparative experiment using the spacers 5 without the island-like carbon film 5b that the antistatic effect was obtained.

[Experiment 3] Experiment 3 differs from Experiment 1 in that the island-like carbon film 5b of the spacer 5 has a thickness of 10 mm.
In the formation of graphite.

At this time, the island-like carbon film is produced by immersing the spacer in a bath in which graphite is dispersed in pure water. At this time, the surface resistance of the island-like carbon film 5b was about 10 ⁹ [Ω / □]. Note that the metal back 8 was not provided on the face plate 3, but a transparent electrode made of ITO was provided between the glass substrate 6 and the fluorescent film instead.

In the image forming apparatus using the spacer 5, each electron-emitting device 15 has an external terminal Doxl to
Through Doxm and Doyl to Doyn, a scanning signal and a modulation signal are applied from signal generation means (not shown) to emit electrons, and the metal back 8 is applied with a high voltage through a high voltage terminal Hv to emit an emitted electron beam. The image is displayed by accelerating, causing electrons to collide with the fluorescent film 7 to excite and emit light from the fluorescent material.

Incidentally, the voltage Va applied to the high voltage terminal Hv is 1
kV or less, the applied voltage Vf between the device electrodes 16 and 17 is 14
V. At this time, a row of light emitting spots are formed two-dimensionally at equal intervals, including light emitting spots from the electron emitting elements 15 located at a position close to the spacer 5, and a clear, color-reproducible color image can be displayed. Was. This indicates that even if the spacers 5 were provided, no disturbance of the electric field that would affect the electron trajectory occurred.

[Experimental Example 4] The experimental example 4 differs from the experimental example 1 in that an oil or fat is applied to the spacers 5 as the island-like carbon film 5b of the spacers 5 by using a spray method, and then fired in a hydrogen reducing atmosphere. As a result, an island-like carbon film is formed. In addition,
At this time, the film thickness is about 11 nm, and the surface resistance value is about 1 nm.
0 ⁹ [Ω / □]. Note that the metal plate 8 is not provided on the face plate 3, and
A transparent electrode made of an ITO film was provided between the transparent electrode and the fluorescent film. Further, a phosphor for a low-speed electron beam was used as the phosphor 7a.

In the image forming apparatus using the spacer 5, each electron-emitting device 15 has an external terminal Doxl to
Through Doxm and Doyl to Doyn, a scanning signal and a modulation signal are respectively applied from a signal generating means (not shown) to emit electrons. The image is displayed by accelerating, causing electrons to collide with the fluorescent film 7 to excite and emit light from the fluorescent material. The high-voltage terminal H
The applied voltage Va to v is around 100 V, and the device electrodes 16, 1
The applied voltage Vf is set to 14 V between the intervals 7.

At this time, a two-dimensional array of light-emitting spots including light-emitting spots from the electron-emitting devices 15 located close to the spacers 5 at equal intervals are formed, and a clear and color-reproducible color image is obtained. Display was completed. This indicates that even if the spacers 5 were provided, no disturbance of the electric field that would affect the electron trajectory occurred.

[Experiment 5] Experiment 5 differs from Experiment 1 in that fullerene is formed to a thickness of 1 nm as the island-like carbon film 5b of the spacer 5. Note that the island-like carbon film is formed by using a benzene solution spinner method. At this time, the surface resistance of the island-like carbon film 5b formed is about 10
^{It was 11} [Ω / □].

The metal back 8 was not provided on the face plate 3, but a transparent electrode made of an ITO film was provided between the glass substrate 6 and the fluorescent film instead. Further, a phosphor for a low-speed electron beam was used as the phosphor 7a. In the image forming apparatus using the spacer 5, each of the electron-emitting devices 1
5 includes terminals Doxl to Doxm, Doyl to D
The electron emission is performed by applying a scanning signal and a modulation signal from the signal generation means (not shown) through the high-voltage terminal Hv, thereby accelerating the emitted electron beam by applying a high voltage to the metal back 8 through a high-voltage terminal Hv. Membrane 7
An image is displayed by causing electrons to collide with and excite and emit light from the phosphor.

The voltage Va applied to the high voltage terminal Hv is 1
The voltage Vf applied between the device electrodes 16 and 17 is about 14V. At this time, light emitting spot rows are formed two-dimensionally at equal intervals, including light emitting spots from the electron emitting elements 15 located at a position close to the spacer 5, and
A clear and good color reproducibility color image could be displayed. This indicates that even if the spacers 5 were provided, no disturbance of the electric field that would affect the electron trajectory occurred.

[Experimental Example 6] The difference between Experimental Example 6 described below and Experimental Example 1 described above is that a columnar spacer is used. FIG. 19 is a perspective view in which a part of the image forming apparatus of this experimental example is cut away, and FIG. is there.

In FIGS. 19 and 20, the electron source 1 in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices 15 are arranged in a matrix is fixed to the rear plate 2. A face plate 3 as an image forming member having a fluorescent film 7 and a metal back 8 as an accelerating electrode formed on the inner surface of a glass substrate 6 is opposed to the electron source 1 via a support frame 4 made of an insulating material. A high voltage is applied between the electron source 1 and the metal back 8 by a power supply (not shown). The rear plate 2, the support frame 4 and the face plate 3 are sealed with each other with frit glass or the like, and the rear plate 2, the support frame 4 and the face plate 3 constitute an envelope 10.

As the atmospheric pressure resistant structure, the envelope 10
Is provided with a columnar spacer 5. The spacers 5 are made of a member in which a semi-static film 5b is formed on the surface of the insulating base material 5a. The spacers 5 are arranged in a necessary number and at a necessary interval to achieve the above object. The inner surface of the envelope 10 and the surface of the electron source 1 are sealed with frit glass or the like. The island-like carbon film 5b is
And the surface of the electron source 1 (X-direction wiring 12).

In this experimental example, first, the unformed electron source 1 is fixed to the rear plate 2. Next, the island-shaped carbon film 5b made of Cr is formed on the surface of the insulating base material 5a made of soda-lime glass, and the cylindrical spacer 5 having the island-shaped carbon film 5b formed facing the inside of the envelope 10 is formed. (Height: 5 mm, radius: 100 μm) are fixed on the electron source 1 at equal intervals. Thereafter, the face plate 3 is disposed 5 mm above the electron source 1 via the support frame 4, and the joint between the rear plate 2, the face plate 3, the support frame 4 and the spacer 5 is fixed.

Incidentally, carbon is formed to a thickness of 0.8 nm as the island-like carbon film 5b of the spacer 5. Note that the island-like carbon film is formed using a resistance heating evaporation method. At this time, the surface resistance of the island-shaped carbon film 5b formed is about 10 ¹⁰ [Ω / □].
Met. The junction between the electron source 1 and the rear plate 2, the junction between the rear plate 2 and the support frame 4, and the face plate 3
The frit glass (not shown) is applied to the joint between the support frame 4 and the support frame 4 and sealed by baking at 400 ° C. to 500 ° C. in the air for 10 minutes or more.

The spacer 5 is a conductive material obtained by mixing a conductive material such as a metal on the X-directional wiring 12 (line width 300 μm) on the electron source 1 side and the black conductive material 7 b (line width 300 μm) on the face plate 3 side. By arranging through a frit glass (not shown) and baking in air at 400 ° C. to 500 ° C. for 10 minutes or more, sealing and electrical connection were performed. The spacer 5 is formed by depositing carbon having a thickness of 1000 angstroms as a static-removing thin film 5b on an insulative substrate 5a made of cleaned soda lime glass in an argon / oxygen atmosphere by ion plating using an electron beam method. Film. At this time, the surface resistance of the island-like carbon film 5b is about 10
¹⁰ [Ω / □].

In the image forming apparatus configured as described above, each of the electron-emitting devices 15 has an external terminal Doxl to
Through Doxm and Doyl to Doyn, a scanning signal and a modulation signal are applied by signal means (not shown) to emit electrons, and the metal back 8 has a high voltage terminal H
By applying a high voltage through v, the emitted electron beam was accelerated, electrons collided with the fluorescent film 7, and the phosphor was excited and emitted light to display an image.

The applied voltage Va to the high voltage terminal Hv is 3
kV to 10 kV, applied voltage V between device electrodes 16 and 17
f was 14V.

As the shape of the spacer 5, a columnar shape having a uniform cross-sectional shape with respect to the normal direction of the electron source 1 and the face plate 3 was employed. Since the required accuracy in alignment with the rear plate is looser, simple positioning was achieved.

[Experiment 7] This experiment is the same as the first experiment, except that the same spacer 5 is used, but the support frame 4 is set as close as possible to the electron source 1. And an island-like carbon film is formed on the inner surface side of the support frame 4.

FIG. 21 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the image forming apparatus of the present experimental example, and FIG. 22 is a sectional view of an essential part of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. Part). 21 and 22, the rear plate 2 includes:
The electron source 1 in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices 15 are arranged in a matrix is fixed. The electron source 1 includes a glass substrate 6
Face plate 3 as an image forming member having a fluorescent film 7 and a metal back 8 as an accelerating electrode formed on the inner surface of
Are opposed to each other with the support frame 4 interposed therebetween, and a high voltage is applied between the electron source 1 and the metal back 8 by a power supply (not shown). The rear plate 2, the support frame 4 and the face plate 3 are mutually sealed with frit glass or the like,
The envelope 10 is composed of the rear plate 2, the support frame 4, and the face plate 3. Further, a thin plate-shaped spacer 5 is provided inside the envelope 10 as an atmospheric pressure resistant structure.

The spacers 5 are made of a member in which the island-like carbon film 5b is formed on the surface of the insulating base material 5a. The spacers 5 are provided in a necessary number and at a necessary interval to achieve the above object.
It is arranged parallel to the Y direction, and is sealed to the inner surface of the envelope 10 and the surface of the electron source 1 with frit glass or the like. The island-like carbon film 5b is electrically connected to the inner surface of the face plate 3 and the surface of the electron source 1 (X-direction wiring 12).

The support frame 4 is made of a member in which an island-like carbon film 4b is formed on the inner surface side of the insulating base material 4a.
And the surface of the electron source 1 are sealed with frit glass or the like. The island-shaped carbon film 4b is electrically connected to the inner surface of the rear plate 2 and the inner surface of the face plate 3.

The island-like carbon film 4b is electrically connected to a ground potential electrode (not shown) on the rear plate 2 side, and is electrically connected to the high voltage terminal Hv on the face plate 3 side.

The spacer 5 is a 1.5 nm thick graphite / fullerene mixture formed as an island-like carbon film 5b on an insulated base material 5a made of cleaned soda lime glass. Note that the island-like carbon film is formed using a resistance heating evaporation method. The surface resistance of the island-shaped carbon film 5b formed at this time was about 10 ¹⁰ [Ω / □]. Similarly to the spacer 5, the support frame 4 forms a 1.5 nm thick graphite / fullerene mixture on the inner surface of the insulated base material 4a made of cleaned soda lime glass. Others
The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 21 was formed in the same manner as in Experimental Example 1.

The voltage Va applied to the high voltage terminal Hv is 3
kV to 10 kV, voltage Vf applied between device electrodes 16 and 17
Is 14V. At this time, a two-dimensional array of light-emitting spots including light-emitting spots generated by electrons emitted from the electron-emitting devices 15 located close to the spacer 5 and the support frame 4 is formed at two-dimensional intervals, and the color is clear and has good color reproducibility. Image display was completed. This means that the spacer 5 is installed and the support frame 4
It is shown that, even if was placed close to the electron source 1, no electric field disturbance affecting the electron trajectory occurred.

By using the support frame 4 described above, the portion outside the image display area can be reduced, so that the entire apparatus can be reduced in size.

[Experimental Example 8] FIG. 23 shows an image display apparatus constructed so that image information provided from various image information sources such as a television broadcast can be displayed on the image forming apparatus of the present invention. It is a figure for showing an example.
When the present display device receives a signal containing both video information and audio information, such as a television signal, it naturally reproduces the audio simultaneously with the display of the video. Descriptions of circuits, speakers, and the like relating to reception, separation, reproduction, processing, storage, and the like of audio information that are not directly related to the above are omitted.

Hereinafter, each component will be described along the flow of the image signal. First, the TV signal receiving circuit 513 is a circuit for receiving a TV image signal transmitted using a wireless transmission system such as radio waves or spatial optical communication. The format of the received TV signal is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, various systems such as the NTSC system, the PAL system, and the SECAM system. Further, a TV signal (for example, a so-called high-definition TV such as the MUSE system) composed of a larger number of scanning lines is used for a display panel 500 using the image forming apparatus of the present invention, which is suitable for a large area and a large pixel.
It is a suitable signal source for taking advantage of the above. The TV signal received by the TV signal receiving circuit 513 is output to the decoder 504.

The image TV signal receiving circuit 512 is a circuit for receiving a TV image signal transmitted using a wired transmission system such as a coaxial cable or an optical fiber. As with the TV signal receiving circuit 513, the T
The method of the V signal is not particularly limited, and the TV signal received by the present circuit is also output to the decoder 504.

The image input interface circuit 511 comprises:
For example, a circuit for taking in an image signal supplied from an image input device such as a TV camera or an image reading scanner, and the taken-in image signal is output to the decoder 504. The image memory interface circuit 510 is a circuit for capturing an image signal stored in a video tape recorder (hereinafter, abbreviated as VTR). The captured image signal is output to the decoder 504.

Image memory interface circuit 509
Is a circuit for taking in an image signal stored in the video disk.
4 is output. Image memory interface circuit 50
Reference numeral 8 denotes a circuit for taking in an image signal from a device that stores still image data, such as a so-called still image disk. The taken still image data is output to the decoder 504.

The input / output interface circuit 505 is a circuit for connecting the display device to an output device such as an external computer, computer network, or printer. In addition to inputting and outputting image data and character / graphic information, control signals and numerical data can be input and output between the CPU 506 of the display device and the outside in some cases.

The image generation circuit 507 displays image data and character / graphic information input from the outside via the input / output interface circuit 505, or display image data based on image data or character / graphic information output from the CPU 506. Is a circuit for generating. The circuit includes, for example, a rewritable memory for storing image data and character / graphic information, a read-only memory storing an image pattern corresponding to a character code, and a processor for performing image processing. And circuits necessary for generating an image. Image generation circuit 507
Is generated by the decoder 504.
However, in some cases, it is also possible to output to an external computer network or printer via the input / output interface circuit 505.

The CPU 506 mainly performs operations related to operation control of the display device and generation, selection, and editing of a display image. For example, a control signal is output to the multiplexer 503, and an image signal to be displayed on the display panel is appropriately selected or combined. In this case, the display panel controller 50 is controlled according to the image signal to be displayed.
2 to generate a control signal, the image display frequency and the scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced)
And the operation of the display device such as the number of scanning lines on one screen is controlled as appropriate. Further, image data or character / graphic information is directly output to the image generation circuit 507, or an external computer or memory is accessed via the input / output interface circuit 505 to input image data or character / graphic information. .

The CPU 506 may, of course, be involved in work for other purposes. For example, like a personal computer or word processor,
It may be directly related to the function of generating and processing information. Alternatively, as described above, the computer may be connected to an external computer network via the input / output interface circuit 505, and work such as numerical calculation may be performed in cooperation with an external device.

The input unit 514 is used by a user to input commands, programs, data, and the like to the CPU 506. For example, in addition to a keyboard and a mouse, various input devices such as a joystick, a barcode reader, and a voice recognition device can be used. Equipment can be used. The decoder 504 is
This is a circuit for inversely converting various image signals input from the image generation circuit 507 to the TV signal reception circuit 513 into three primary color signals or a luminance signal and an I signal and a Q signal. In addition,
As shown by a dotted line in the figure, the decoder 504 desirably includes an image memory therein. This is, for example, MUS
This is for handling television signals that require an image memory when performing the inverse conversion, such as the E method. Further, the provision of the image memory facilitates the display of a still image. Alternatively, the image generation circuit 507 and the CPU 506
The advantage is that image processing and editing including image thinning, interpolation, enlargement, reduction, and composition can be easily performed in cooperation with the above.

A multiplexer 503 selects a display image appropriately based on a control signal input from the CPU 506. That is, the multiplexer 503 selects a desired image signal from the inversely converted image signals input from the decoder 504 and outputs the selected image signal to the drive circuit 501. In that case, by switching and selecting an image signal within one screen display time, it is also possible to divide one screen into a plurality of areas and display different images depending on the areas, as in a so-called multi-screen TV. .

Display panel controller 502
Is a circuit for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 501 based on a control signal input from the CPU 506. As a signal related to the basic operation of the display panel 500, for example, a signal for controlling an operation sequence of a power supply (not shown) for driving the display panel 500 is output to the drive circuit 501. Display panel 500
For example, a signal for controlling a screen display frequency and a scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced) is output to the drive circuit 501 as related to the driving method. In some cases, a control signal relating to image quality adjustment such as brightness, contrast, color tone, and sharpness of a display image may be output to the drive circuit 501.

The driving circuit 501 includes the display panel 5
A circuit for generating a drive signal to be applied to 00,
It operates based on an image signal input from the multiplexer 503 and a control signal input from the display panel controller 502. The function of each unit has been described above. With the configuration illustrated in FIG. 23, the present display device can display image information input from various image information sources on the display panel 500. That is, various image signals such as television broadcasts are inversely converted by the decoder 504, and are appropriately selected by the multiplexer 503, and are appropriately selected by the multiplexer 503.
01 is input. On the other hand, the display controller 5
02 generates a control signal for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 501 according to an image signal to be displayed. Drive circuit 50
1 applies a drive signal to the display panel 500 based on the image signal and the control signal. Thus, an image is displayed on the display panel 500. These series of operations are totally controlled by the CPU 506.

In the present display device, the decoder 5
In addition to displaying the image information selected from among a plurality of pieces of image information, the image information to be displayed can be enlarged or reduced, for example, by the involvement of the image memory incorporated in the image information 04, the image generation circuit 507, and the CPU 506. , Rotate, move,
It is also possible to perform image processing such as edge emphasis, thinning, interpolation, color conversion, and image aspect ratio conversion, and image editing such as synthesis, deletion, connection, replacement, and insertion. Although not particularly described in the description of the present embodiment, a dedicated circuit for performing processing and editing of audio information at the same time as the image processing and image editing may be provided.

Therefore, the present display device is a television broadcast display device, a video conference terminal device, an image editing device that handles still images and moving images, a computer terminal device, an office terminal device including a word processor, a game terminal, and the like. A single unit such as a machine can be provided, and the range of application is extremely wide for industrial or consumer use. Note that FIG.
3 is merely an example of the configuration of a display device using the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, and it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this. For example, among the components shown in FIG. 23, circuits relating to functions that are not necessary for the purpose of use may be omitted. Conversely, additional components may be added depending on the purpose of use. For example, when the present display device is applied to a videophone, it is preferable to add a transmission / reception circuit including a television camera, an audio microphone, an illuminator, and a modem to the components.

In the display device according to the fifth embodiment, the depth of the display device can be reduced due to the effect that the thickness of the image forming apparatus according to the above-described embodiment can be easily reduced. In addition, since the screen can be easily enlarged, the brightness is high, and the viewing angle characteristics are excellent, the present display device can display an image full of a sense of reality and full of power with good visibility.

The present invention can be variously modified as follows without departing from the spirit thereof. The present invention can be applied to any of the cold cathode type electron emitting devices other than the surface conduction type electron emitting device. As a specific example, there is a field emission type electron-emitting device in which a pair of opposing electrodes are formed along a substrate surface forming an electron source as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-27447 by the present applicant.

The present invention can also be applied to an image forming apparatus using an electron source other than the simple matrix type. For example, in a case where the above-described supporting member is used in an image forming apparatus for selecting a surface conduction electron-emitting device using a control electrode as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-257551 by the present applicant. It is. Further, according to the idea of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the image forming display suitable for display, and the above-described alternative light emitting source such as a light emitting diode of an optical printer including a photosensitive drum and a light emitting diode. An image forming apparatus can also be used. At this time,
By appropriately selecting the above-mentioned m row-directional wirings and n column-directional wirings, the present invention can be applied not only to a linear light emitting source but also to a two-dimensional light emitting source.

Further, according to the concept of the present invention, the present invention can be applied to a case where a member to be irradiated with electrons emitted from an electron source is a member other than an image forming member, such as an electron microscope. . Therefore, the present invention can be embodied as an electron beam generator that does not specify a member to be irradiated. Also,
According to the idea of the present invention, the above-described image forming apparatus is not limited to the image forming apparatus suitable for display, but may be used as an alternative light emitting source such as a light emitting diode of an optical printer including a photosensitive drum and a light emitting diode. An apparatus can also be used. In this case, by appropriately selecting the above-mentioned m row-directional wirings and n column-directional wirings, the present invention can be applied not only to a linear light emitting source but also to a two-dimensional light emitting source.

Further, according to the concept of the present invention, the present invention can be applied to a case where a member to be irradiated with electrons emitted from an electron source is a member other than an image forming member, such as an electron microscope. . Therefore, the present invention can be embodied as an electron beam generator that does not specify a member to be irradiated. The present invention may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices or to an apparatus including a single device. Also,
Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0169]

As described above, in the electron beam generator and the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, a static elimination thin film is formed on the surface of an insulating spacer disposed between an electron source and an electrode, and the thin film is weakened. By applying a current, the charging of the spacer can be prevented. As a result, the trajectory of the electron beam emitted from the electron source becomes as expected. In particular, when this electron source is used for image formation, a position shift between a position where electrons collide with the image forming surface and an image forming surface which should originally emit light is prevented from occurring, and luminance loss can be prevented and a clear image can be obtained. It has become possible to provide an electron beam generator and an image forming apparatus capable of displaying images.

Further, according to the support frame and the spacer of the present invention, the electric charge accumulated on the surface can be suppressed, so that the trajectory of the generated electron beam is not bent.

The image forming apparatus of the experimental example described above has the following effects. (3): First, the charge to be prevented is generated on the surface of the spacer 5, so it is sufficient for the spacer 5 to have an antistatic function only on the surface thereof. Therefore, in this embodiment, the insulating base material 5a is used as a member forming the spacer 5, and the island-like carbon film 5b of the insulating base material 5a is formed. This allows
It is possible to realize the spacer 5 having a resistance value sufficient to neutralize the charging on the surface of the spacer 5 and keeping the amount of leakage current small enough not to significantly increase the power consumption of the entire device. A thin, large-area image forming apparatus was obtained. {Circle around (2)} Next, as the shape of the spacer 5, a flat plate or a rod having a uniform cross-sectional shape with respect to the normal direction of the electron source 1 and the face plate 3 was adopted. The electric field does not disturb. Therefore,
As long as the spacer 5 does not block the electron trajectory from the electron-emitting device 15, the spacer 5 and the electron-emitting device 15 can be arranged close to each other. Therefore, the electron-emitting devices 15 are densely arranged in the X direction orthogonal to the spacer 5. did it. In addition, since the leak current does not flow through the insulating base material 5a which occupies most of the cross section, there is no need to devise such a technique that the spacer 5 is pointed and joined to the electron source 1 or the face plate 3. It was also possible to reduce the leakage current. {Circle around (2)} Also, since the flat spacers 5 are arranged parallel to the XZ plane along the electron trajectories shifted in the X direction from the electron-emitting devices 15, the spacers 5 are parallel to the spacers 5 without being interrupted by the spacers 5. Electron emitting element 15 in X direction
Could be arranged at high density. (2): Each spacer 5 is electrically connected to one X-direction wiring 12 on the electron source 1 side, so that unnecessary electric coupling between the wirings on the electron source 1 can be avoided. Was. {Circle around (2)} Further, by providing the desired island-like carbon film 5b, the above effect is exhibited, and the spacer 5 of the present invention, which does not require a complicated additional structure for preventing electrification, is provided with the surface conduction proposed by the present applicant. Application to an image forming apparatus using a simple matrix type electron source 1 with a type of electron emitting element 15 provides a thin and large area image forming apparatus capable of forming a high quality image with a simple apparatus configuration. did it.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic structural view of a spacer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the first embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA ′ of FIG. 2 in the vicinity of a spacer of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a main part of an electron source of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line BB ′ of the electron source shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram sequentially illustrating a manufacturing process of the electron source of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of an example of a mask used when forming a thin film for forming an electron-emitting portion.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a voltage waveform used for forming processing.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an apparatus for measuring and evaluating an electron-emitting device according to an example.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining basic characteristics of the electron-emitting device of the example.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a fluorescent film.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a fluorescent film.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a drive circuit of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a partial circuit diagram of an electron source of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a partial circuit diagram of an electron source to which a driving voltage of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment is applied.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of an original image for describing a driving method of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining trajectories of electrons and scattered particles in the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment, and is a diagram in which an electron emission portion near a spacer is viewed from a Y direction.

FIG. 18 is a view for explaining trajectories of electrons and scattered particles in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and is a view in which an electron emission portion near a spacer is viewed from an X direction.

FIG. 19 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a third embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line EE ′ shown in FIG. 19 near a spacer of the image forming apparatus according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a partially broken perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a sectional view taken along the line FF ′ shown in FIG. 21 near the spacer and the support frame of the image forming apparatus according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a circuit diagram of a fifth embodiment in which the image forming apparatus of the present invention is applied to an image display device.

FIG. 24 is a plan view of a conventional surface conduction electron-emitting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 electron source 2 rear plate 3 face plate 4 support frame 5 spacer 5 a insulating base material 5 b island-like carbon film (static thin film) 6 glass substrate 7 fluorescent film 8 metal back 10 envelope 11 insulating substrate 12 X-directional wiring DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 Y direction wiring 14 Interlayer insulating layer 15 Electron emission element 18 Thin film for electron emission formation (thin film including an electron emission part) 20 Mask 20a Opening 21 Cr film 23 Electron emission part 30, 32 Ammeter 31, 33 Power supply 34 Anode electrode 1701 Display panel 1702 Scanning circuit 1703 Control circuit 1704 Shift register 1705 Line memory 1706 Synchronous signal separation circuit 1707 Modulation signal generator 500 Display panel 501 Drive circuit 502 Display panel controller 503 Multiplexer 504 Decoder 505 Input / output interface Face circuit 506 CPU 507 Image generation circuit 508, 509, 510 Image memory interface circuit 511 Image input interface circuit 512, 513 TV signal receiving circuit 514 Input section 3001 Insulating substrate 3002 Thin film for forming electron emission section 3003 Electron emission section 3004 Electron emission Thin film containing part

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H01J 31/12 H01J 31/12 C

Claims (33)

[Claims] 1. An electron beam generator having at least an electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices in a vacuum vessel and a spacer supporting the vacuum vessel, wherein the spacer is provided on a surface of an insulating base material. An electron beam generator characterized by being coated with a static elimination thin film made of a static elimination substance. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the static elimination thin film is electrically connected to the outside of the vacuum vessel.
An electron beam generator according to claim 1. 3. An electron source having a plurality of cold-cathode-type electron-emitting devices, an electrode disposed opposite to the electron source and acting on electrons emitted from the electron source, and disposed between the electron source and the electrode. In the electron beam generator having a spacer, the spacer has a static elimination thin film on a surface of an insulating substrate, and the static elimination thin film is electrically connected to the electron source and / or the electrode. An electron beam generator characterized by being connected. 4. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein the charge eliminating thin film is formed discretely on the surface of the spacer in an island shape. 5. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein the charge eliminating thin film is formed by discretely forming a carbon thin film on the surface of the spacer. 6. The static elimination thin film contains carbon as a main component,
The electron beam generator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein any one or a mixture of amorphous carbon, graphite, fullerene, and diamond is used. 7. The antistatic film according to claim 7, wherein said thin film has a resistance of 10 ⁹ to 10 ¹¹ [Ω].
/ □].
An electron beam generator according to any one of claims 1 to 6. 8. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein the insulating substrate is glass or a heat-resistant polymer member. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the spacer has an upright surface between the electron source and the electrode, and has a uniform cross-sectional shape with respect to a normal direction of the electron source and the electrode. The electron beam generator according to claim 1. 10. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein the spacer has a shape of a flat plate or a column. 11. The electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the electron-emitting device is a surface conduction electron-emitting device including a pair of device electrodes facing each other and a thin film including an electron-emitting portion extending between the device electrodes. The electron beam generator according to any one of 1 to 10. 12. The electron source, wherein a plurality of row-direction wirings and a plurality of column-direction wirings are arranged via an insulating layer, and wherein the row-direction wirings and the column-direction wirings and a plurality of electron-emitting devices are provided. By respectively connecting the pair of element electrodes,
The electron beam generator according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix on an insulating substrate. 13. The electron source, wherein a plurality of row-direction wirings are arranged, and the pair of element electrodes of each of the electron-emitting devices are connected to a pair of row-direction wirings of the plurality of row-direction wirings. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix on an insulating substrate. 14. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein the charge eliminating thin film is electrically connected to the row wiring or the column wiring. 15. The charge removing thin film is electrically connected to one wiring on the electron source side, and the spacer is provided on the row wiring or the column wiring. The electron beam generator according to any one of claims 1 to 14. 16. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein the spacer has a flat plate shape arranged in parallel or orthogonal to the row wiring or the column wiring. . 17. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein the pair of device electrodes of each of the electron-emitting devices are arranged to face each other in a direction parallel to the spacer. . 18. A support frame of an envelope for maintaining a vacuum atmosphere or a support member installed in the envelope is formed by forming a static elimination thin film on the insulating base material. The electron beam generator according to claim 1. 19. An electron source having a plurality of cold-cathode-type electron-emitting devices, an electrode disposed opposite to the electron source and acting on electrons emitted from the electron source, and an external space between the electron beam and the electrode. An electron beam generator having a case member that is isolated from the case member, wherein the case member has a static elimination thin film on its inner surface,
The said static elimination thin film is electrically connected with the said electron source and / or the said electrode.
19. The electron beam generator according to any one of claims 18 to 18. 20. An image forming apparatus, comprising: the electron beam generator according to claim 1; and a light emitting unit that emits light when irradiated with electrons emitted from the electron beam generator. apparatus. 21. An electron source having a plurality of cold-cathode type electron-emitting devices, at least one electrode disposed opposite to the electron source and acting on electrons emitted from the electron source, and An image forming member disposed to face the electron source; and a spacer disposed between the electron source and the electrode, or between the electrode and the image forming member, or between the electrodes, and an electron emitted from the electron source. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the spacer has a static elimination thin film on a surface of an insulating substrate, and the static elimination thin film is electrically connected to the outside. apparatus. 22. The static elimination thin film, comprising: the spacer;
At the contact point of the sealed partition chamber where electrons are generated, the thin film is formed to extend to the end of the spacer so as to be electrically connected to a predetermined conductor provided near the partition. 22. The method according to claim 20, wherein
An image forming apparatus according to claim 1. 23. An island-like carbon film as the charge-removing thin film, wherein the carbon film has a sheet resistance of 1 × 10 ^{5 to} 9 × 1.
21. The range of 0 ¹² Ω / □.
23. The image forming apparatus according to 22. 24. The method according to claim 20, further comprising an island-like carbon film as the charge removing thin film, wherein the thickness of the carbon film is 0.5 to 10 nm. Image forming device. 25. The material according to claim 20, wherein the material of the static elimination thin film has carbon as a main component, and any one or a mixture of amorphous carbon, graphite, fullerene, and diamond is used. The image forming apparatus as described in the above. 26. The image forming apparatus according to claim 20, further comprising a step of previously forming a charge-removing thin film from a charge-removing substance source contained in the spacer. Method for manufacturing a forming apparatus. 27. The method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the step of coating the charge removing substance is performed by a voltage applying step. 28. The method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the step of coating the charge removing substance is performed by a heating step. 29. The method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 26, wherein a carbon source is previously charged in a rear plate or the spacer, and carbon is coated on the spacer by heating or applying a voltage. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, comprising: 30. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, wherein the base of the spacer according to claim 26 is glass or a heat-resistant polymer member. 31. The image forming apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the island-shaped carbon film on the surface of the spacer is formed by sputtering a graphite target. Method of manufacturing. 32. The image forming apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the island-like carbon film on the surface of the spacer is formed by depositing amorphous carbon by an ion plating method using an electron beam. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus. 33. The image forming apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the island-like carbon film on the surface of the spacer is formed by applying an oil or fat to the spacer using a spray method, A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, wherein the method is performed by baking.