KR100195174B1 - Structure of cathode for field emission display device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a negative electrode structure for a field emission display device.

In the negative electrode structure for the field emission display device according to the present invention, since a bypass current path is provided in the cathode and / or the gate electrode, a part of the main current path due to the destruction of the pixel due to local abnormal discharge or the like when the electron emission display device is driven. Even if is electrically cracked, the entire energized state is maintained through the bypass conduction path, thereby preventing pixel defects in the line unit.

Description

Cathode structure for field emission display device

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cathode structure for a field emission display, and more particularly to an anode structure for a field emission display device in which the structure of the cathode and the gate electrode is improved so that pixel defects in a row unit can be suppressed. .

Unlike the vacuum tube cathode structure, in which the electron emission material is heated to generate hot electrons, the cathode structure for the field emission display device forms a strong electric field in a pointed silicon or metallic electron emission tip to form an electron using a quantum mechanical transmission phenomenon. It is intended to emit electrons from the emitting tip. An example of such a cathode structure for a field emission display device is schematically illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 2. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view thereof, and FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of cathodes 3 are arranged side by side on the substrate 2, and above the cathodes 3, a plurality of gate electrodes 4 are connected to the cathodes 3. It is arrange | positioned in the direction which crosses each other. The cathodes 3 and the gate electrodes 4 are insulated from each other by the insulating material layer 5. An intersection point of each cathode 3 and each gate electrode 4 corresponds to one pixel 6 in the field emission display device. In each pixel 6, a plurality of conical electron emitting tips 3a are arranged on the cathode 3 side, and the electrons are placed at positions corresponding to the respective electron emitting tips 3a on the gate electrode 4 side. The through hole 4a is formed to expose the discharge tip 3a. The cathode 3 serves as an electric current path through which a current for replenishing electrons is applied to the electron emission tips 3a, and the gate electrode 4 emits electrons from the electron emission tips 3a of the cathode 3. It serves as an conducting path to which a voltage is applied to form an electric field. Such a cathode structure 1 is disposed below a cathode (not shown) coated with a phosphor, and when a sufficient voltage is applied to the anode, any electron emitting tip 3a, and the gate electrode 4 in a vacuum atmosphere, Electrons are emitted from the electron-emitting tip 3a by a strong electric field, and the electrons emit light by colliding with the phosphor of the anode corresponding to the electron-emitting tip 3a. However, due to a local abnormal discharge or the like generated during operation of the conventional field emission display device cathode structure 1 of the above-described configuration, the cathode 3 is electrically interrupted at an arbitrary pixel or the gate electrode 4 is disconnected. When electrically interrupted at any pixel, they do not function as the conduction path described above. In this case, the electron emission tips cannot emit electrons in all the pixels after the electrically disconnected pixel, so that a so-called row-level pixel defect occurs that phosphors of the corresponding pixels of the anode do not emit light. There is a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve this problem, and even if any pixel is electrically interrupted at the pixel by a local abnormal discharge or the like, prevention of pixel defects in a row unit along the interrupted cathode is prevented. An object of the present invention is to provide an anode structure for a field emission display device that can be improved.

Another object of the present invention is to improve the cathode for the field emission display device so that even if the main conduction path of the gate electrode is electrically interrupted at an arbitrary pixel by a local abnormal discharge or the like, pixel defects in the line unit along the gate electrode can be prevented. In providing a structure.

1 is a schematic plan view of a negative electrode structure for a field emission display device according to the related art;

2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of the negative electrode structure shown in FIG. 1;

3 is a schematic plan view of a cathode structure for a field emission display device according to the present invention;

4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the pixel portion of the cathode structure shown in FIG.

5 is a schematic plan view of a cathode of an anode structure for a field emission display device according to another embodiment of the present invention;

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

10 cathode structure 20 substrate

30: cathode 31: electron emission tip

32: bypass conduction path 40: gate electrode

41: through hole 42: bypass conduction path

60 pixels

In order to achieve the above object, a cathode structure for a field emission display device according to the present invention is provided.

Strip-shaped cathodes arranged side by side on the substrate and strip-shaped gate electrodes arranged side by side in a direction crossing the cathodes above the cathodes, and the portions where the cathodes and the gate electrodes cross each other And each pixel comprises a plurality of electron emitting tips disposed on the cathode and through holes formed in the gate electrode to expose the electron emitting tips, wherein each cathode has a bypass conduction path on the side of each pixel. It has a feature in that it is provided. In such a case, it is preferable that each gate electrode also has a bypass conduction path on the side of each pixel.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a negative electrode structure for a field emission display device according to the present invention, wherein the strip-shaped cathodes arranged parallel to each other on a substrate and are parallel to each other in a direction crossing the cathodes above the cathodes. And a band-shaped gate electrode disposed in such a manner that the intersections of the cathodes with the gate electrodes form pixels, and each pixel includes a plurality of electron emission tips disposed on the cathode and the gate electrode so that the electron emission tips are exposed. In the through holes formed, each gate electrode is characterized in that it has a bypass conduction path on the side of each pixel.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a cathode structure for a field emission display device according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a schematic cross sectional view of a pixel portion of the cathode structure shown in FIG.

Referring to the drawings, the cathode structure 10 for the field emission display device according to the present embodiment is similar to the cathode structure 1 for the field emission display device described above, and has a plurality of strip-shaped cathodes arranged side by side on the substrate 20. 30 and a plurality of strip-shaped gate electrodes 40 arranged in the direction crossing each other above the cathode 30. The cathodes 30 and the gate electrodes 40 are electrically insulated from each other by the insulating material layer 50. In addition, portions of the cathode 30 and the gate electrode 40 intersecting each other form a pixel 60, and each pixel 60 includes a plurality of electron emission tips 31 disposed on the cathode 30. The viscosity including the through-holes 41 formed in the gate electrode 40 so that the electron emission tips 31 are exposed is the same as in the conventional cathode structure 1 for the field emission display device. The cathode 30 serves as an electric current path through which a current for replenishing electrons is applied to the electron emission tips 31, and the gate electrode 40 has an electric field to emit electrons from the electron emission tips 31. It serves as an energization path to which a voltage is applied to form a.

On the other hand, in the negative electrode structure 10 of the present embodiment, unlike the conventional negative electrode structure 1 described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, each cathode 30 is bypassed to the side of each pixel 60. The conduction path 32 is provided, and the bypass conduction path 42 is provided also in the side of each said pixel 60 also in each gate electrode 40. As shown in FIG. 3, the bypass conduction path 32 of the cathode 30 is provided by forming a branching hole 33 between the side end of the cathode 30 and a portion of the pixel 60. It is preferable that the bypass conduction path 42 of the gate electrode 40 is also provided by forming a branching hole 43 between the side end of the gate electrode 40 and the portion of the pixel 60. . Since the basic function of the negative electrode structure 10 is the same as the basic function of the conventional negative electrode structure 1, the description thereof will be omitted. However, in the negative electrode structure 10 of the present embodiment, bypass current paths 32 and 42 are provided in the negative electrode 30 and the gate electrode 40, respectively, as described above. Therefore, even if any pixel 60 is electrically interrupted in the main conduction path of the cathode 30 due to a local abnormal discharge or the like that may be generated when the field emission display element is driven, a bypass conduction formed on the side of the portion. Through the furnace 32, the entire conduction path of the cathode 30 can be continued. Similarly, even in the main conduction path of the gate electrode 40, even if any pixel 60 is electrically interrupted, the entire conduction path of the gate electrode 40 can be continued through the bypass passage 42. Therefore, the plurality of pixels 60 by the cathode 30 and / or the gate electrode 40 electrically disconnected from part of the main conducting path can also emit electrons during driving, and thus, the phosphor applied to the anode eventually. Among these, a so-called pixel defect is prevented in which phosphors disposed along a cathode or gate electrode in which part of the main conducting path is electrically interrupted do not emit light as a whole.

In this embodiment, the bypass conduction paths 32 and 42 are provided in both the cathode 30 and the gate electrode 40, but they are not necessarily provided in both of them, and in some cases, only the cathode 30 or the gate. The bypass current path described above may be formed only on the electrode 40. In this embodiment, the bypass conduction paths 32 are formed only on one side of each cathode 30, and the bypass conduction paths 42 are formed only on one side of each gate electrode 40, respectively. The bypass conduction paths 42 are arc-shaped. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and for example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, bypass conduction paths 32 may be formed on both sides of the pixels of each cathode 30, and the bypass conduction path 32 may be formed. The shape of may also be straight. Similarly, the linear bypass conduction path 42 can also be formed in each gate electrode 40 at both sides.

As described above, in the negative electrode structure for the field emission display device according to the present invention, since a bypass conduction path is provided in the cathode and / or the gate electrode, an arbitrary pixel is destroyed by a local abnormal discharge or the like and a part of the main conduction path is formed. Even if it is electrically cracked, the entire conduction state is maintained through the bypass conduction path, thereby preventing pixel defects in the line unit.

Claims (3)

Strip-shaped cathodes arranged side by side on the substrate and strip-shaped gate electrodes arranged side by side in a direction crossing the cathodes above the cathodes, and the portions where the cathodes and the gate electrodes cross each other In the pixel structure, each pixel comprises a plurality of electron emitting tips disposed on the cathode and through holes formed in the gate electrode so that the electron emitting tips are exposed, And each cathode includes a bypass conduction path on a side of each of the pixels. The method of claim 1, And each gate electrode has a bypass conduction path on the side of each pixel. Strip-shaped cathodes arranged side by side on the substrate and strip-shaped gate electrodes arranged side by side in a direction crossing the cathodes above the cathodes, and the portions where the cathodes and the gate electrodes cross each other In the pixel structure, each pixel comprises a plurality of electron emitting tips disposed on the cathode and through holes formed in the gate electrode so that the electron emitting tips are exposed, And each gate electrode has a bypass conduction path on the side of each pixel.