JP2000243254A - Electron-emitting device, electron source, image forming apparatus, and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] To provide a novel configuration of an electron-emitting device capable of increasing the area at a low cost, an electron source, an image forming apparatus, and a method of manufacturing the same. A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device includes a resin composition that increases the hydrophilicity of a light-irradiated portion and increases the absorbability of a metal composition solution by irradiating the surface of a substrate 1 with light or irradiating light and heating. Forming the material layers 32 and 37, applying light or light irradiation and heating to a part of the resin composition layer 32, and applying a metal composition solution to the light-irradiated portion of the resin composition layer 32 And a step of thermally decomposing the resin composition layer 32 and the metal compositions 35 and 37 to form the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the conductive film 4, and a forming step of forming the electron emission portions 5 in the conductive film 4. And

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electron-emitting device, an electron source having a large number of such electron-emitting devices, and an image forming apparatus such as a display device or an exposure device using the electron source.
And their production methods.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, two types of electron-emitting devices are known, namely, a thermionic electron-emitting device and a cold cathode electron-emitting device. Field emission type (hereinafter, referred to as "FE")
Type ". ), Metal / insulating layer / metal type (hereinafter referred to as “MI
M type ". ) And surface conduction electron-emitting devices.

[0003] As an example of the FE type, W. P. Dyke
and W. W. Dolan, "Field Em
issue ", Advance in Elect
ron Physics, 8, 89 (1956) or C.I. A. Spindt, “Physical
Properties of thin-filmfi
eld emission cathodes wit
h molybdenum cones ", JA
ppl. Phys. , 47, 5248 (1976).
And the like are known.

As an example of the MIM type, C.I. A. Mea
d, “Operation of Tunnel-Em
issue Devices ", J. Appl.
Phys. , 32, 646 (1961).

As an example of the surface conduction electron-emitting device,
M. I. Elinson, Radio Eng.
Electron Phys. , 10, 1290 (1
965).

[0006] The surface conduction electron-emitting device utilizes a phenomenon in which electrons are emitted by passing a current through a small-area thin film formed on an insulating substrate in parallel with the film surface. Examples of the surface conduction electron-emitting device include a device using an SnO ₂ thin film by Elinson et al. And a device using an Au thin film [G. Dittmer: "Thin Solid
Films ", 9, 317 (1972)], In ₂
O ₃ / SnO ₂ thin film [M. Hartwell
and C.I. G. FIG. Fonstad: "IEEE T
rans. ED Conf. ", 519 (197
5)], using a carbon thin film [Hisashi Araki et al .: Vacuum,
26, No. 1, p. 22 (1983)].

As a typical example of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, the above-mentioned M.P. Figure 1 shows the device configuration of Hartwell
FIG. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a substrate. Reference numeral 4 denotes a conductive film, which is formed of a metal oxide thin film or the like formed in an H-shaped pattern. The electron emission portion 5 is formed by an energization process called energization forming described later. In the drawing, the element electrode interval L is 0.5 to 1 mm, and W ′ is 0.1 m.
m.

In these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, it is general that the electron-emitting portion 5 is formed beforehand by performing an energization process called energization forming on the conductive film 4 before electron emission. That is, the energization forming means that a voltage is applied to both ends of the conductive film 4, and the conductive film 4 is locally destroyed, deformed or deteriorated to change the structure, and the electrons in an electrically high-resistance state are formed. This is a process for forming the emission unit 5. Note that a crack is generated in a part of the conductive film 4 in the electron emitting portion 5, and electrons are emitted from the vicinity of the crack.

The above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting device has an advantage that a large number of devices can be arrayed over a large area because of its simple structure. Therefore, various applications for utilizing this feature are being studied. For example, a charged beam source,
Application to an image forming apparatus such as a display device is exemplified.

Conventionally, as an example in which a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arrayed, surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in parallel, and both ends (both device electrodes) of each surface conduction electron-emitting device are wired. (Also referred to as a common wiring). An electron source in which rows each connected by a common line (also referred to as a ladder-type arrangement) are provided (for example, JP-A-64-31332, JP-A-1-283737, 2-257552).

In particular, in the case of a display device, a flat panel display device similar to a display device using liquid crystal can be used, and a self-luminous display device that does not require a backlight is used as a surface conduction type electron emission device. There has been proposed a display device in which an electron source in which a number of elements are arranged and a phosphor that emits visible light when irradiated with an electron beam from the electron source are combined (US Pat. No. 5,066,883).

[0012]

However, when the area of an image forming apparatus using such an electron-emitting device is to be increased, it is difficult to manufacture the image forming apparatus using a conventional photolithography technique. There is a problem that it is necessary to increase the size of the device, and a huge cost is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel configuration of an electron-emitting device capable of increasing the area at a low cost, an electron source using the same, an image forming apparatus, and a method of manufacturing the same. Is to do.

[0014]

The structure of the present invention to achieve the above object is as follows.

That is, the first aspect of the present invention is to provide a resin composition layer which increases the hydrophilicity of a light-irradiated portion and increases the absorbability of a metal composition solution by irradiating the substrate surface with light or light irradiation and heating. Forming, a step of applying light irradiation or light irradiation and heating to a part of the resin composition layer, a step of applying a metal composition solution to a light irradiation portion of the resin composition layer, and a resin composition layer and A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device, comprising: a step of forming an element electrode and a conductive film by thermally decomposing a metal composition; and a forming step of forming an electron-emitting portion in the conductive film.

A second aspect of the present invention resides in an electron-emitting device manufactured by the first method of the present invention.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electron source for emitting electrons in response to an input signal, wherein a plurality of the second electron-emitting devices according to the present invention are arranged on a substrate. In the electron source.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is a method of manufacturing the third electron source of the present invention, wherein a plurality of electron-emitting devices are manufactured by the first method of the present invention. In a method of manufacturing an electron source.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is an apparatus for forming an image based on an input signal, comprising at least the third electron source of the present invention and irradiation of an electron beam emitted from the electron source. And an image forming member for forming an image by using the image forming apparatus.

A sixth aspect of the present invention is a method for manufacturing the fifth image forming apparatus of the present invention, wherein the electron source is manufactured by the fourth method of the present invention. A method for manufacturing a forming apparatus.

As a result of diligent studies by the present inventors, a resin composition layer that increases the hydrophilicity of a light-irradiated portion and increases the absorbability of a metal composition solution by light irradiation or light irradiation and heating on the substrate surface. Forming, a step of applying light irradiation or light irradiation and heating to a part of the resin composition layer, a step of applying a metal composition solution to a light irradiation portion of the resin composition layer, and a resin composition layer and A step of forming an element electrode and a conductive film by thermally decomposing the metal composition, and a forming step of forming an electron-emitting portion in the conductive film, and applying a metal composition solution to the light-irradiated portion. In the process, by applying the metal composition solution to the light irradiation part using an ink jet method such as a bubble jet method or a piezo jet method, an electron emitting device capable of increasing the area at a low cost and the electron emission thereof Child, an electron source of a large area with excellent productivity, to provide an image forming apparatus.

According to the above-described manufacturing method, it is not necessary to increase the size of a manufacturing apparatus such as a vacuum evaporation apparatus, and even when the conductive film forming the electron-emitting portion and the element electrode are different in metal material,
For example, first, by applying light or light irradiation and heating, a resin composition layer that increases the hydrophilicity of the light-irradiated portion and increases the absorbability of the metal composition solution is provided on the surface of the substrate. The part to be provided with light is irradiated with a metal composition solution containing the element electrode material to dry the solvent, and then the part to be provided with the conductive film material is irradiated with light to remove the conductive film material. The contained metal composition solution is applied, the solvent is dried, and finally, thermal decomposition is performed to obtain a device electrode and a conductive film patterned into a desired shape. The order of applying the device electrode material and the conductive film material is as follows.
The reverse is also acceptable.

As compared with the conventional manufacturing method using photolithography, not only the manufacturing apparatus itself but also the manufacturing cost including the number of steps can be reduced.

That is, in the conventional manufacturing method using the photolithography technique, for example, an element electrode material is vapor-deposited on a substrate, a photosensitive resin is applied, and then a photosensitive mask is used to pattern the photosensitive resin. Then, after removing unnecessary portions of the element electrode material by etching, the photosensitive resin is removed, a conductive film material is deposited and the photosensitive resin is applied, and then the photosensitive resin is exposed by a photomask. Pattern the photosensitive resin, and
After the unnecessary portion of the conductive thin film material is removed by etching, the photosensitive resin is removed. Although the order of patterning the device electrode material and the conductive film material may be reversed, a larger number of steps are required to manufacture the electron-emitting device than the manufacturing method of the present invention.

In the present invention, since the light irradiation and the application of the metal composition solution can be performed simultaneously by using a method such as laser scanning instead of the method using a photomask, the number of steps is reduced. It is possible to reduce even further.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a fine conductive film and element can be formed over a large area without using a conventional photolithography technique which requires an increase in the size of a manufacturing apparatus as the area of an image forming apparatus or the like increases. An electrode pattern can be formed at low cost, and a large-area electron source excellent in productivity and an image forming apparatus can be obtained.

[0027]

Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of the structure of an electron-emitting device according to the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) is a plan view and FIG. 1 (b).
Is a longitudinal sectional view. In FIG. 1, 1 is a substrate, 2 and 3 are electrodes (element electrodes), 4 is a conductive film, and 5 is an electron emitting portion.

Examples of the substrate 1 include quartz glass, glass having a reduced impurity content such as Na, blue plate glass, a laminate of blue plate glass with SiO ₂ laminated thereon by sputtering or the like, ceramics such as alumina, and a Si substrate. Can be used.

The materials of the opposing device electrodes 2 and 3 are as follows.
General conductor materials can be used, for example, Ni, C
metals or alloys such as r, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu, Pd and Pd, Ag, Au, RuO ₂ , Pd
Metal or metal oxide and printed conductor composed of glass or the like, such as -ag, is appropriately selected from a semiconductor conductive materials such as transparent conductor and polysilicon or the like In ₂ O ₃ -SnO _2.

The element electrode interval L, the element electrode length W, the shape of the conductive film 4 and the like are designed in consideration of the applied form and the like. The element electrode interval L can be preferably in the range of several hundred nm to several hundred μm, and more preferably several μm to several tens μm in consideration of the voltage applied between the element electrodes.
In the range. The element electrode length W is set to several μm to several hundred μm in consideration of the resistance value of the electrode and the electron emission characteristics.
In the range. Film thickness d of device electrodes 2 and 3
Can be in the range of several tens nm to several μm.

In addition to the structure shown in FIG. 1, a structure in which a conductive film 4 and element electrodes 2 and 3 are formed on a substrate 1 in this order may be adopted. Further, depending on the manufacturing method, the entire space between the opposing element electrodes 2 and 3 may function as an electron emitting portion.

As a material constituting the conductive film 4, for example, Pd, Pt, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, In, Cu,
It is appropriately selected from metals such as Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, Ta, W, and Pb. These metals form the organometallic compound of the conductive film material.

The thickness of the conductive film 4 is appropriately set in consideration of the step coverage of the device electrodes 2 and 3, the resistance between the device electrodes 2 and 3, and the like. nm, more preferably 1 nm to 50 n
m. The resistance value of Rs is 10 ²
The value is preferably from Ω / □ to 10 ⁷ Ω / □. Note that Rs is a value that appears when a resistance R measured in the length direction of a thin film having a width w and a length 1 is set as R = Rs (l / w).

In the present specification, the forming process will be described by taking an energizing process as an example. However, the forming process is not limited to this, and a process for forming a crack in the film to form a high resistance state is performed. Includes

The electron-emitting portion 5 is constituted by a high-resistance crack formed in a part of the conductive film 4, in which conductive fine particles having a particle size ranging from several Å to several tens nm are present. In some cases. The conductive fine particles contain some or all of the elements of the material constituting the conductive film 4. Further, the electron-emitting portion 5 and the conductive film 4 in the vicinity thereof may have carbon or a carbon compound formed by an activation step described later.

There are various methods for manufacturing the electron-emitting device of the present invention. One example will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIGS. 2 and 3, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

1) The substrate 1 is sufficiently washed with a detergent, pure water, an organic solvent and the like, and the hydrophilicity of the light-irradiated portion is increased by light irradiation or light irradiation and heating. The resin composition layer 32 in which the absorbency of the resin composition is increased is formed (FIG. 2B). Formation of the resin composition layer 32
Although an ink jet method such as a bubble jet method or a piezo jet method as shown in FIG. 2A is preferably used, a coating method such as a spinner method may be used.

2) Pattern exposure is performed on the resin composition layer 32 where the device electrodes 2 and 3 are to be formed (FIG. 2).
(C)). In the exposed portion 34, a hydrophilic group such as a hydroxyl group is generated and increased with the progress of the reaction, and the organometallic composition 35 for an electrode
Becomes easier to absorb. The progress of the reaction at this time can be monitored by quantifying a hydrophilic group such as a hydroxyl group by an infrared absorption spectrum or the like. The pattern exposure is performed as shown in FIG.
The patterning is not limited to the method using the photomask 33 as shown in FIG.

The application of the droplets of the organometallic composition 35 for an electrode is preferably performed by an ink jet method such as a bubble jet method or a piezo jet method (FIG. 2).
(D) (e)), a dipping method or the like may be used in which the substrate entirely coated with the resin composition layer 32 is patterned and the substrate 1 is immersed in the organometallic composition 35 for electrodes.

3) The same pattern exposure as in the above 2) is performed on the resin composition layer 32 at the portion where the conductive film 4 is to be formed (FIG. 3F), and the exposed portion 36 is exposed to the metal for the conductive film. The composition 37 is applied in the same manner as in the above 2) (FIG. 3)
(G)). This step is not limited to the method shown in the figure, but may be a patterning method such as laser scanning or an application method such as a dipping method.

4) The substrate 1 formed in the above 3) is thermally decomposed in a baking furnace or a hot plate in an atmosphere such as the air.

As a result, the metal compositions 35 and 37 become metals or metal oxides, and the resin composition layer 32 is almost removed. Thus, the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the conductive film 4 are formed (FIG. 3H).

5) Next, an energization process called forming is performed. When an electric current is applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3, an electron-emitting portion 5 is formed at the portion of the conductive film 4 (FIG. 3 (i)).
In the forming step, heat energy is locally concentrated on a part of the conductive film 4 instantaneously, and the electron emitting portion 5 having a changed structure is formed at that portion.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the voltage waveform of the energization forming.

The voltage waveform is particularly preferably a pulse waveform.
For this purpose, the method shown in FIG. 4A for continuously applying a pulse with a constant pulse peak value and the method shown in FIG. 4B for applying a pulse while increasing the pulse peak value are used. is there.

First, the case where the pulse peak value is a constant voltage will be described with reference to FIG. T ₁ in FIG.
And T ₂ are the pulse width and the pulse interval of the voltage waveform. The peak value (peak voltage) of the triangular wave is appropriately selected according to the form of the electron-emitting device. Under such conditions, for example, a voltage is applied for several seconds to several tens minutes. The pulse waveform is
The waveform is not limited to the triangular wave, and a desired waveform such as a rectangular wave can be adopted.

Next, a case where a voltage pulse is applied while increasing the pulse peak value will be described with reference to FIG.
T ₁ and T ₂ in FIG. 4B can be the same as those shown in FIG. 4A. The peak value (peak voltage) of the triangular wave can be increased, for example, in steps of about 0.1 V.

The end of the energization forming process can be detected by applying a voltage that does not locally destroy or deform the conductive film 4 during the pulse interval T ₂ and measuring the current. For example, a current flowing when a voltage of about 0.1 V is applied is measured, and a resistance value is obtained. When a resistance of 1 MΩ or more is indicated, the energization forming is terminated.

The electrical processing after the forming processing can be performed in a vacuum processing apparatus as shown in FIG. 5, for example. This vacuum processing device also has a function as a measurement evaluation device. Also in FIG. 5, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 55 denotes a vacuum vessel,
Reference numeral 6 denotes an exhaust pump. An electron-emitting device is provided in the vacuum vessel 55. Reference numeral 51 denotes a power supply for applying a device voltage Vf to the electron-emitting device, 50 denotes an ammeter for measuring a device current If flowing between the device electrodes 2 and 3, and 54 denotes a device emitted from the electron-emitting portion 5 of the device. An anode electrode 53 for capturing the emission current Ie, a high-voltage power supply 53 for applying a voltage to the anode electrode 54, and an ammeter 52 for measuring the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission section 5. As an example, the voltage of the anode electrode 54 is 1 kV to 1 kV.
The measurement can be performed with the range of 0 kV and the distance H between the anode electrode 54 and the electron-emitting device in the range of 2 mm to 8 mm.

The vacuum vessel 55 is provided with equipment necessary for measurement in a vacuum atmosphere, such as a vacuum gauge (not shown).
The measurement and evaluation can be performed in a desired vacuum atmosphere.

The exhaust pump 56 is composed of a normal high vacuum system such as a turbo pump and a rotary pump, and an ultra-high vacuum system such as an ion pump. The entire vacuum processing apparatus provided with the electron-emitting device substrate shown here can be heated by a heater (not shown).

6) Next, the element after the forming is subjected to a process called an activation step.

The activation step can be performed, for example, by repeatedly applying a pulse between the device electrodes 2 and 3 in an atmosphere containing an organic substance gas in the same manner as in the energization forming. Device current If, emission current Ie
Changes significantly.

The atmosphere containing the organic substance gas in the activation step is formed by utilizing the organic gas remaining in the atmosphere when the inside of the vacuum vessel is evacuated using, for example, an oil diffusion pump or a rotary pump. Alternatively, it can be obtained by introducing a gas of an appropriate organic substance into a vacuum once sufficiently evacuated by an ion pump or the like that does not use oil. The preferable gas pressure of the organic substance at this time varies depending on the form of the above-described element, the shape of the vacuum vessel, the type of the organic substance, and the like, and is appropriately set according to the case.

Suitable organic substances include organic acids such as aliphatic hydrocarbons of alkane, alkene and alkyne, aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, amines, phenols, carboxylic acids, sulfonic acids and the like. Specific examples thereof include saturated hydrocarbons represented by C _n H _{2n + 2} such as methane, ethane, and propane, and unsaturated hydrocarbons represented by a composition formula such as C _n H _2n such as ethylene and propylene. Hydrocarbon, benzene, toluene, methanol, ethanol, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methylamine, ethylamine, phenol, formic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid and the like can be used.

By this treatment, carbon or a carbon compound is deposited on the device from organic substances existing in the atmosphere,
The element current If and the emission current Ie change remarkably.

The carbon or carbon compound includes, for example, graphite (so-called HOPG, PG, GC), and HOPG has an almost perfect graphite crystal structure, P
G indicates that the crystal grain is about 20 nm and the crystal structure is slightly disordered, and GC indicates that the crystal grain is about 2 nm and the disorder of the crystal structure is further increased. ), Amorphous carbon (refers to amorphous carbon and a mixture of amorphous carbon and the microcrystals of graphite);
The film thickness is preferably in the range of 50 nm or less,
More preferably, the thickness is 30 nm or less.

The termination of the activation step can be appropriately determined while measuring the device current If and the emission current Ie.

7) The electron-emitting device obtained through such a step is preferably subjected to a stabilization step. This step is a step of exhausting the organic substance in the vacuum container. It is preferable to use a vacuum exhaust device that does not use oil so that the oil generated from the device does not affect the characteristics of the element. Specifically, a vacuum exhaust device such as a sorption pump or an ion pump can be used.

The partial pressure of the organic component in the vacuum vessel is 10 partial pressure at which the carbon or carbon compound is not newly deposited.
^-6 Pa or lower is preferable, and 10 ^-10 Pa or lower is particularly preferable. Further, when evacuating the inside of the vacuum vessel, it is preferable to heat the entire vacuum vessel to facilitate evacuating the organic substance molecules adsorbed on the inner wall of the vacuum vessel and the electron-emitting device. The heating conditions at this time are desirably 80 to 250 ° C., preferably 150 ° C. or more, and it is desirable to perform the treatment as long as possible. However, the present invention is not particularly limited to this condition, and the size and shape of the vacuum vessel, the configuration of the electron-emitting device, The conditions are appropriately selected according to the above conditions. The pressure in the vacuum vessel needs to be as low as possible, and is preferably 10 ^-5 Pa or less, more preferably 10 ^-6 Pa or less.

The atmosphere at the time of driving after performing the stabilization step is preferably the same as the atmosphere at the end of the stabilization treatment, but is not limited to this. If the organic substance is sufficiently removed, Even if the pressure itself increases somewhat, it is possible to maintain sufficiently stable characteristics. By adopting such a vacuum atmosphere, the deposition of new carbon or a carbon compound can be suppressed, and as a result, the device current If and the emission current Ie
But it stabilizes.

The basic characteristics of the electron-emitting device of the present invention obtained through the above steps will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing the relationship between the emission current Ie and the device current If measured using the vacuum processing apparatus shown in FIG. 5, and the device voltage Vf. In FIG. 6, since the emission current Ie is significantly smaller than the element current If, it is shown in arbitrary units. The vertical and horizontal axes are linear scales.

As is clear from FIG. 6, the electron-emitting device of the present invention has the following three characteristic characteristics with respect to the emission current Ie.

First, the emission current Ie of the present device rapidly increases when an element voltage higher than a certain voltage (referred to as a threshold voltage; Vth in FIG. 6) is applied. On the other hand, when the element voltage is lower than the threshold voltage Vth, the emission current Ie is increased. 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.

Second, since the emission current Ie depends monotonically on the device voltage Vf, the emission current Ie can be controlled by the device voltage Vf.

Thirdly, the amount of charge emitted by the anode electrode 54 (see FIG. 5) depends on the time during which the device voltage Vf is applied. That is, the amount of charge captured by the anode electrode 54 can be controlled by the time during which the device voltage Vf is applied.

As understood from the above description, the electron-emitting device of the present invention can easily control the electron-emitting characteristics according to the input signal. By utilizing this property, it is possible to apply to various fields such as an electron source and an image forming apparatus having a plurality of electron-emitting devices.

FIG. 6 shows an example in which the device current If monotonically increases with respect to the device voltage Vf (MI characteristic).
The element current If may exhibit a voltage-controlled negative resistance characteristic (VCNR characteristic) with respect to the element voltage Vf (not shown).
These properties can be controlled by controlling the steps described above.

Next, application examples of the electron-emitting device of the present invention will be described below. By arranging a plurality of electron-emitting devices of the present invention on a substrate, for example, an electron source or an image forming apparatus can be configured.

Various arrangements of the electron-emitting devices can be adopted. As an example, each of a large number of electron-emitting devices arranged in parallel is connected at both ends, a large number of rows of electron-emitting devices are arranged (referred to as a row direction), and a direction perpendicular to the wiring (referred to as a column direction). There is a ladder-type arrangement in which electrons from the electron-emitting devices are controlled and driven by control electrodes (also referred to as grids) disposed above the electron-emitting devices. Separately, a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix in the X and Y directions, and one of the electrodes of the plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in the same row is commonly connected to a wiring in the X direction. One example is one in which the other of the electrodes of a plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in the same column is commonly connected to a wiring in the Y direction. This is a so-called simple matrix arrangement. First, the simple matrix arrangement will be described in detail below.

The electron-emitting device of the present invention has three characteristics as described above. That is, the emission electrons from the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be controlled by the peak value and the width of the pulse-like voltage applied between the opposing device electrodes when the electrons are equal to or higher than the threshold voltage. On the other hand, below the threshold voltage, almost no emission occurs. According to this characteristic, even when a large number of electron-emitting devices are arranged, if a pulse-like voltage is appropriately applied to each device,
The electron emission amount can be controlled by selecting the surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the input signal.

Hereinafter, based on this principle, an electron source substrate obtained by arranging a plurality of electron-emitting devices of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 7, reference numeral 71 denotes an electron source substrate;
Reference numeral 2 denotes an X-direction wiring, and 73 denotes a Y-direction wiring. 74 is an electron-emitting device, and 75 is a connection.

The m X-direction wirings 72 are Dx1, Dx
2,..., Dxm, and can be formed of a conductive metal or the like formed using a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. The material, thickness and width of the wiring are appropriately designed.
The Y-directional wiring 73 includes n wirings Dy1, Dy2,..., Dyn, and is formed in the same manner as the X-directional wiring 72. An interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is provided between the m X-directional wirings 72 and the n Y-directional wirings 73 to electrically separate them (m and n are both Positive integer).

The interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is made of SiO ₂ or the like formed by using a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. For example, it is formed in a desired shape on the entire surface or a part of the substrate 71 on which the X-directional wiring 72 is formed. The material and the production method are appropriately set. The X-direction wiring 72 and the Y-direction wiring 73 are respectively drawn out as external terminals.

A pair of device electrodes (not shown) constituting the electron-emitting device 74 are electrically connected to m X-directional wires 72 and n Y-directional wires 73 by a connection 75 made of a conductive metal or the like. It is connected.

The material forming the wiring 72 and the wiring 73, the material forming the connection 75, and the material forming the pair of element electrodes may be the same or different in some or all of the constituent elements. Good. These materials are appropriately selected, for example, from the above-described materials for the device electrodes. When the material forming the element electrode is the same as the wiring material, the wiring connected to the element electrode can also be called an element electrode.

The X-direction wiring 72 is connected to a scanning signal applying means (not shown) for applying a scanning signal for selecting a row of the electron-emitting devices 74 arranged in the X-direction. On the other hand, a modulation signal generating means (not shown) for modulating each column of the electron-emitting devices 74 arranged in the Y direction according to an input signal is connected to the Y-direction wiring 73. The driving voltage applied to each electron-emitting device is supplied as a difference voltage between a scanning signal and a modulation signal applied to the device.

In the above configuration, individual elements can be selected and driven independently using a simple matrix wiring.

An image forming apparatus configured using such an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement will be described with reference to FIGS. 8, 9 and 10. FIG. FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing an example of a display panel of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a fluorescent film used in the image forming apparatus of FIG. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a drive circuit for performing display according to an NTSC television signal.

In FIG. 8, reference numeral 71 denotes an electron source substrate on which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged; 81, a rear plate on which the electron source substrate 71 is fixed; 86, a fluorescent film 84 on the inner surface of a glass substrate 83;
And a face plate on which a metal back 85 and the like are formed. Reference numeral 82 denotes a support frame, and a rear plate 81 and a face plate 86 are connected to the support frame 82 using frit glass or the like. Reference numeral 88 denotes an envelope, which is sealed by firing at a temperature range of 400 to 500 ° C. for 10 minutes or more in the atmosphere or nitrogen, for example.

Reference numeral 74 denotes an electron-emitting device as shown in FIG. Reference numerals 72 and 73 denote an X-direction wiring and a Y-direction wiring connected to a pair of device electrodes of the surface conduction electron-emitting device.

The envelope 88 includes the face plate 86, the support frame 82, and the rear plate 81 as described above. Since the rear plate 81 is provided mainly for the purpose of reinforcing the strength of the substrate 71, if the substrate 71 itself has sufficient strength, the separate rear plate 81 can be unnecessary. That is, the support frame 82 is directly sealed to the substrate 71, and the envelope 8 is formed by the face plate 86, the support frame 82 and the substrate 71.
8 may be configured. On the other hand, by providing a support (not shown) called a spacer between the face plate 86 and the rear plate 81, the envelope 88 having sufficient strength against atmospheric pressure can be configured.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a fluorescent film. The fluorescent film 84 can be composed of only a phosphor in the case of monochrome. In the case of a color fluorescent film, a black conductive material 91 called a black stripe (FIG. 9A) or a black matrix (FIG. 9B) or the like and a fluorescent material 92 may be used depending on the arrangement of the fluorescent materials. it can. The purpose of providing a black stripe and black matrix is
In the case of color display, the color separation between the phosphors 92 of the necessary three primary color phosphors is made black so that color mixing and the like become inconspicuous, and the reduction in contrast due to reflection of external light on the phosphor film 84 is suppressed. It is in. Black conductive material 91
As the material of, other than a commonly used material containing graphite as a main component, a material having conductivity and low light transmission and reflection can be used.

As a method of applying the phosphor on the glass substrate 83, a precipitation method or a printing method can be adopted regardless of monochrome or color. Usually, a metal back 85 is provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 84. The purpose of providing a metal back is
The light emitted from the phosphor toward the inner surface is converted into a face plate 8.
Improving the brightness by specular reflection on the 6 side,
The purpose is to function as an electrode for applying an electron beam acceleration voltage, and to protect the phosphor from damage due to collision of negative ions generated in the envelope. The metal back can be manufactured by performing a smoothing process (usually called “filming”) on the inner surface of the fluorescent film after manufacturing the fluorescent film, and then depositing Al using vacuum evaporation or the like.

The face plate 86 further has the fluorescent film 8
A transparent electrode (not shown) may be provided on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 84 in order to increase the conductivity of the phosphor film 84.

When the above-mentioned sealing is performed, in the case of color, it is necessary to make each color phosphor correspond to the electron-emitting device, and sufficient alignment is indispensable.

The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 8 is manufactured, for example, as follows.

While the inside of the envelope 88 is appropriately heated, it is evacuated through an exhaust pipe (not shown) by an exhaust device that does not use oil, such as an ion pump and a sorption pump, and is discharged at 10 ^−5.
After the atmosphere is made sufficiently low in the organic substance with a degree of vacuum of about Pa, sealing is performed. In order to maintain a vacuum degree after the envelope 88 is sealed, a getter process may be performed. This is, immediately before or after sealing the envelope 88,
This is a process of heating a getter (not shown) arranged at a predetermined position in the envelope 88 by heating using resistance heating, high-frequency heating, or the like to form a vapor deposition film. The getter usually contains Ba or the like as a main component, and maintains a degree of vacuum of, for example, 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ Pa or more by the adsorption action of the deposited film. Here, steps after the forming process of the electron-emitting device can be set as appropriate.

Next, an example of the configuration of a drive circuit for performing television display based on an NTSC television signal on a display panel configured using electron sources in a simple matrix arrangement will be described with reference to FIG. . In FIG.
101 is an image display panel, 102 is a scanning circuit, 103 is a control circuit, 104 is a shift register, 105 is a line memory, 106 is a synchronization signal separation circuit, 107 is a modulation signal generator, and Vx and Va are DC voltage sources.

The display panel 101 has terminals Dox1 to Dox1
oxm, terminals Doy1 to Doyn, and a high voltage terminal 87 are connected to an external electric circuit. Terminals Dox1 to Doxm are used to sequentially drive electron sources provided in the display panel 101, that is, electron emission element groups arranged in a matrix of m rows and n columns, one row (n elements) at a time. A scanning signal is applied. To the terminals Doy1 to Doyn, a modulation signal for controlling an output electron beam of each of the electron-emitting devices in one row selected by the scanning signal is applied. The high-voltage terminal 87 is supplied with a DC voltage of, for example, 10 kV from a DC voltage source Va. This is for applying sufficient energy to the electron beam emitted from the electron-emitting device to excite the phosphor. Is the accelerating voltage.

Next, the scanning circuit 102 will be described. The circuit includes m switching elements (S1 to S
m is schematically shown). Each switching element selects either the output voltage of the DC voltage power supply Vx or 0 [V] (ground level),
It is electrically connected to terminals Dox1 to Doxm of the display panel 101. Each of the switching elements S1 to Sm operates based on a control signal Tscan output from the control circuit 103, and can be configured by combining switching elements such as FETs, for example.

In the case of this example, the DC voltage source Vx is such that the drive voltage applied to the non-scanned element is equal to or lower than the electron emission threshold voltage based on the characteristics of the electron emission element (electron emission threshold voltage). It is set to output a constant voltage.

The control circuit 103 has a function of matching the operation of each unit so that an appropriate display is performed based on an image signal input from the outside. The control circuit 103 controls the synchronization signal Tsync sent from the synchronization signal separation circuit 106.
, Tscan, Tsft and T
mry control signals are generated.

The synchronizing signal separation circuit 106 is a circuit for separating a synchronizing signal component and a luminance signal component from an NTSC television signal input from the outside, and uses a general frequency separation (filter) circuit or the like. Can be configured. The synchronizing signal separated by the synchronizing signal separating circuit 106 includes a vertical synchronizing signal and a horizontal synchronizing signal, but is shown here as a Tsync signal for convenience of explanation. The luminance signal component of the image separated from the television signal is represented as a DATA signal for convenience. This DATA signal is output to the shift register 10
4 is input.

The shift register 104 is for serially / parallel converting the DATA signal input serially in time series for each line of an image, and is based on a control signal Tsft sent from the control circuit 103. (In other words, the control signal Tsft may be rephrased as a shift clock of the shift register 104). Data for one line of serial / parallel converted image (equivalent to drive data for n electron-emitting devices)
Are output from the shift register 104 as n parallel signals of Id1 to Idn.

The line memory 105 is a storage device for storing data of one line of an image for a required time only, and stores the contents of Id1 to Idn as appropriate according to a control signal Tmry sent from the control circuit 103. The stored contents are output as Id′1 to Id′n and input to the modulation signal generator 107.

The modulation signal generator 107 outputs the image data I
A signal source for appropriately driving and modulating each of the electron-emitting devices in accordance with each of d'1 to Id'n, and an output signal thereof is supplied to the display panel 1 through terminals Doy1 to Doyn.
01 is applied to the electron-emitting device.

As described above, the electron-emitting device of the present invention has the following basic characteristics regarding the emission current Ie. That is, electron emission has a clear threshold voltage Vth, and Vth
Electron emission occurs only when the above voltage is applied. For a voltage equal to or higher than the electron emission threshold, the emission current also changes according to the change in the voltage applied to the device. From this, when a pulse-like voltage is applied to this element, for example, when a voltage lower than the electron emission threshold voltage is applied, electron emission does not occur, but when a voltage higher than the electron emission threshold voltage is applied, electrons are not emitted. A beam is output. At that time, the intensity of the output electron beam can be controlled by changing the peak value Vm of the pulse. Further, by changing the pulse width Pw, it is possible to control the total amount of charges of the output electron beam.

Therefore, as a method of modulating the electron-emitting device according to the input signal, a voltage modulation method, a pulse width modulation method, or the like can be adopted. When implementing the voltage modulation method, the modulation signal generator 107 generates a voltage pulse of a fixed length, and a voltage modulation circuit capable of appropriately modulating the peak value of the voltage pulse according to input data. Can be used. When implementing the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 107 generates a voltage pulse having a constant peak value and modulates the width of the voltage pulse appropriately according to input data. A circuit can be used.

The shift register 104 and the line memory 10
5 can be a digital signal type or an analog signal type. This is because the serial / parallel conversion and storage of the image signal may be performed at a predetermined speed.

When the digital signal type is used, it is necessary to convert the output signal DATA of the synchronization signal separation circuit 106 into a digital signal. For this purpose, an A / D converter is provided at the output of the synchronization signal separation circuit 106. Just do it. In this connection, the circuit used for the modulation signal generator 107 is slightly different depending on whether the output signal of the line memory 105 is a digital signal or an analog signal. That is, in the case of the voltage modulation method using a digital signal, the modulation signal generator 107 includes:
For example, a D / A conversion circuit is used, and an amplification circuit and the like are added as necessary. In the case of the pulse width modulation method, the modulation signal generator 107 includes, for example, a high-speed oscillator, a counter for counting the number of waves output from the oscillator, and a comparator for comparing the output value of the counter with the output value of the memory. (Comparator) is used. If necessary, an amplifier for amplifying the pulse width modulated signal output from the comparator to the drive voltage of the electron-emitting device can be added.

In the case of the voltage modulation method using an analog signal, an amplification circuit using, for example, an operational amplifier or the like can be used as the modulation signal generator 107, and a level shift circuit or the like can be added as necessary. In the case of the pulse width modulation method, for example, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) can be employed, and an amplifier for amplifying the voltage up to the driving voltage of the electron-emitting device can be added as necessary.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention which can have such a configuration, each of the electron-emitting devices is provided with an external terminal Do.
By applying a voltage via x1 to Doxm and Doy1 to Doyn, electron emission occurs. High voltage terminal 8
A high voltage is applied to the metal back 85 or the transparent electrode (not shown) via the, and the electron beam is accelerated. The accelerated electrons collide with the fluorescent film 84 and emit light to form an image.

The configuration of the image forming apparatus described here is an example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention, and various modifications are possible based on the technical idea of the present invention. N for input signal
Although the TSC system has been described, the input signal is not limited to this, and a PAL, SECAM system, or other TV signal including a larger number of scanning lines (eg, a high-quality TV including the MUSE system). A method can also be adopted.

Next, an electron source and an image forming apparatus having the above-mentioned ladder arrangement will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12. FIG.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing an example of a ladder type electron source. In FIG. 11, reference numeral 110 denotes an electron source substrate, and 111 denotes an electron-emitting device. 112 denotes common wirings Dx1 to Dx10 for connecting the electron-emitting devices 111.
These are drawn out as external terminals. A plurality of electron-emitting devices 111 are arranged on the substrate 110 in parallel in the X direction (this is called an element row). A plurality of the element rows are arranged to constitute an electron source. By applying a drive voltage between the common wires of each element row, each element row can be driven independently. That is, a voltage equal to or higher than the electron emission threshold is applied to an element row in which an electron beam is to be emitted, and a voltage equal to or lower than the electron emission threshold is applied to an element row in which an electron beam is not desired to be emitted. The common wirings Dx2 to Dx9 located between the element rows are, for example, Dx2 and Dx3,
Dx4 and Dx5, Dx6 and Dx7, and Dx8 and Dx9 may be formed as one and the same wiring.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a panel structure in an image forming apparatus having a ladder-type electron source. Reference numeral 120 denotes a grid electrode, 121 denotes an opening through which electrons pass, Dox1 to Doxm denote external terminals, and G1 to Gn denote external terminals connected to the grid electrode 120. Reference numeral 110 denotes an electron source substrate in which the common wiring between each element row is the same wiring. In FIG. 12, the same portions as those shown in FIGS. 8 and 11 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those shown in these drawings. An image forming apparatus shown here;
The major difference from the image forming apparatus having the simple matrix arrangement shown in FIG.
Between the grid electrodes 120.

In FIG. 12, a grid electrode 120 is provided between the substrate 110 and the face plate 86. The grid electrode 120 is for modulating the electron beam emitted from the electron-emitting device 111,
In order to allow an electron beam to pass through stripe-shaped electrodes provided orthogonally to the ladder-type element rows, one circular opening 121 is provided for each element. The shape and arrangement position of the grid electrodes are not limited to those shown in FIG. For example, a large number of passage openings can be provided in a mesh shape as openings, and a grid electrode can be provided around or near the electron-emitting device.

The external terminals Dox1 to Doxm and the external terminals G1 to Gn are electrically connected to a control circuit (not shown).

In the image forming apparatus of this embodiment, a modulation signal for one line of an image is simultaneously applied to the grid electrode rows in synchronization with sequentially driving (scanning) the element rows one by one. This makes it possible to control the irradiation of each electron beam to the phosphor and display an image one line at a time.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention described above is a display apparatus for a television broadcast, a display apparatus such as a video conference system or a computer, and an image forming apparatus as an optical printer using a photosensitive drum or the like. Etc. can also be used.

[0115]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below with reference to specific examples. However, the present invention is not limited to these examples, and the present invention is not limited to these examples. This includes the case where the element is replaced or the design is changed.

[Embodiment 1] The basic structure of an electron-emitting device according to this embodiment is the same as that of FIG. FIG. 13 shows FIG.
This is a substrate on which ten similar electron-emitting devices are arranged. The method for manufacturing the electron-emitting device according to the present embodiment is basically the same as that shown in FIGS. Hereinafter, the manufacturing method of the electron-emitting device according to the present embodiment will be sequentially described with reference to FIGS.

Step-a A toluene solution in which 3% by weight of methylphenylpolysilane was dissolved by weight was applied to a cleaned blue plate glass substrate 1 by a piezo jet type ink jet apparatus (a piezo jet printer FP510 manufactured by Canon Inc.). ,
Pre-baking is performed at 90 ° C. for 20 minutes to form a resin composition layer 3
2 was formed. The resin composition layer 32 is wider than a region where the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the conductive film 4 are to be formed.
The solution was applied to the same portion of the substrate 1 eight times to form the solution (FIGS. 2A and 2B).

Step-b: Resin composition layer 3 in a portion where device electrodes 2 and 3 are to be formed
2 is subjected to pattern exposure (FIG. 2C), and an exposed portion 34 is formed.
Drops of an aqueous solution having a composition described later are applied to the same portion four times by a bubble jet type ink jet apparatus (Bubble Jet Printer Head BC-01 manufactured by Canon Inc.) (FIGS. 2D and 2E). The ink was dried at 90 ° C. for 10 minutes. In addition, pattern exposure was performed so that the element electrode interval L became 30 μm, and droplets were applied.

The aqueous solution was prepared by dissolving polyvinyl alcohol in a concentration of 0.05% by weight, 2-propanol in a concentration of 15% in weight, and glycerin in a concentration of 1% in a solution of tetramonoethanolamine-platinum acetic acid (Pt ( N
This is a solution in which H ₂ CH ₂ CH ₂ OH) ₄ (CH ₃ COO) ₂ ) is dissolved such that the platinum concentration by weight is about 0.75%.

Step-c Pattern exposure is performed on the resin composition layer 32 where the conductive film 4 is to be formed (FIG. 3 (f)), and a droplet of an aqueous solution having a composition described later is bubble-jetted onto the exposed portion 36. The ink was applied four times to the same spot by a system type ink jet apparatus (bubble jet printer head BC-01 manufactured by Canon Inc.) (FIG. (G)), and the ink was dried at 90 ° C. for 10 minutes.

The aqueous solution was prepared by dissolving polyvinyl alcohol in a concentration of 0.05% by weight, 2-propanol in a concentration of 15% by weight, and glycerin in a concentration of 1% in a solution of tetramonoethanolamine-palladium acetic acid (P
_{d (NH 2 CH 2 CH 2} OH) 4 (CH 3 COO) 2)
Is dissolved so that the weight concentration of palladium becomes about 0.15%.

Step-d The sample prepared in step-c was fired at 480 ° C. in the air. The device electrodes 2 and 3 made of Pt and the conductive film 4 made of PdO were formed. Through the above steps, the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the conductive film 4 were formed on the base 1.

Next, the substrate of this example after the step d was set in the vacuum processing apparatus of FIG. 1.3 × with vacuum pump
Evacuation was performed to a degree of vacuum of 10 ⁻⁶ Pa.

This vacuum processing apparatus can perform not only the forming step, the activation step, and the stabilization step, but also has a function as a measurement evaluation apparatus.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 55 denotes a vacuum vessel;
Reference numeral 6 denotes an exhaust pump. An electron-emitting device is provided in the vacuum vessel 55. Reference numeral 1 denotes a base constituting an electron-emitting device, 2 and 3 denote device electrodes, 4 denotes a conductive film, and 5 denotes an electron-emitting portion. Reference numeral 51 denotes a power supply for applying a device voltage Vf to the electron-emitting device, and 50 denotes a conductive film 4 between the device electrodes 2 and 3.
Is an ammeter for measuring the device current If flowing through the device, and 54 is an anode electrode for capturing the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission portion. Reference numeral 53 denotes a high-voltage power supply for applying a voltage to the anode electrode 54, and reference numeral 52 denotes an ammeter for measuring an emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission section 5.

As an example, the voltage of the anode electrode is 1 kV
The measurement can be performed with the range of 10 to 10 kV and the distance H between the anode electrode and the electron-emitting device of 2 mm to 8 mm. Reference numeral 57 denotes an organic gas generation source used when performing the activation step.

In the vacuum vessel 55, there are provided devices necessary for measurement in a vacuum atmosphere such as a vacuum gauge (not shown).
The measurement and evaluation can be performed in a desired vacuum atmosphere. The exhaust pump 56 was constituted by an ultrahigh vacuum device system including a terpo pump, a dry pump, an ion pump and the like. The entire vacuum processing apparatus provided with the electron source substrate shown here can be heated to 350 ° C. by a heater (not shown).

Step-e Subsequently, a forming step was performed in the vacuum processing apparatus shown in FIG. When current was applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3, a crack was formed at the portion of the conductive film 4. The voltage waveform of the energization forming was a pulse waveform, and a voltage pulse for increasing the pulse peak value from 0 V in 0.1 V steps was applied. The pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform are 1 msec and 10 msec, respectively.
The rectangular wave was c. The energization forming process was terminated when the resistance value of the conductive film showed 1 MΩ or more.

FIG. 14 shows a forming waveform used in this embodiment. In the element electrodes 2 and 3, a voltage is applied with one of the electrodes at a low potential and the other at a high potential.

Step-f A process called an activation step was performed on the device after the forming. As described above, the activation step is a step in which the element current If and the emission current Ie are significantly changed by forming carbon and a carbon compound in the high resistance portion formed by the forming.

In the activation step, acetone gas was introduced into the measuring apparatus to 1.3 × 10 ⁻¹ Pa, and the pulse peak value was 15 V,
Application of a rectangular pulse having a pulse width of 1 msec and a pulse interval of 10 msec was repeated for 20 minutes.

FIG. 15 shows a pulse waveform used in the activation step. In this embodiment, the low and high potentials are applied to the device electrodes 2 and 3 alternately at every pulse interval.

Step-g Subsequently, a stabilization step was performed. The stabilization step is a step of exhausting an organic gas present in the atmosphere in the vacuum vessel or the like, suppressing the deposition of carbon or a carbon compound, and stabilizing the device current If and the emission current Ie. 25 whole vacuum container
By heating at 0 ° C., the organic substance molecules adsorbed on the inner wall of the vacuum vessel and the electron-emitting device were exhausted. At this time, the degree of vacuum was 1.3.
× 10 ⁻⁶ Pa.

Thereafter, the characteristics of the electron-emitting device were measured at this degree of vacuum. The electron emission characteristics are such that the device current If is 1.5 m
At A, the emission current Ie was 1.3 μA.

[Embodiment 2] This embodiment is an example in which an image forming apparatus is manufactured. FIG. 16A is a schematic diagram showing a plan view of a part of the electron source, and FIG. 16B is a cross-sectional view showing a part of the electron-emitting device. In FIG. 16, reference numeral 191 denotes a base, 1
98 is a row direction wiring corresponding to Dxm, 199 is Dyn
, 194 is a conductive film, 192 and 193 are device electrodes, and 197 is an interlayer insulating layer. The image forming apparatus of this embodiment is the same as that of FIG. 8, but uses a base as a rear plate. FIG. 10 is a configuration example of a drive circuit for performing television display based on an NTSC television signal.

Next, a method of manufacturing the image forming apparatus will be specifically described in the order of steps.

Step-1 Column wirings 199 were formed on the cleaned blue glass substrate 1 by screen printing. Next, an interlayer insulating layer 197 having a thickness of 1.0 μm was formed by a screen printing method. Further, the row wiring 198 was printed.

Step-2 A toluene solution containing 3% by weight of methylphenylpolysilane dissolved on a blue plate glass 1 on which wirings are formed, so as to be wider than regions where the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the conductive film 4 are to be formed. Is a piezo jet type ink jet apparatus (Piezo jet printer FP-510 manufactured by Canon Inc.)
And prebaked at 90 ° C. for 20 minutes to form a resin composition layer 32. The resin composition layer 32 was formed by applying the above solution eight times to the same portion of the substrate so as to be wider than the regions where the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the conductive film 4 were to be formed (FIG. 2A). b)).

Step-3 Resin composition layer 3 in the portion where device electrodes 2 and 3 are to be formed
2 is subjected to pattern exposure (FIG. 2C), and an exposed portion 34 is formed.
Drops of an aqueous solution having a composition described later are applied to the same portion four times by a bubble jet type ink jet apparatus (Bubble Jet Printer Head BC-01 manufactured by Canon Inc.) (FIGS. 2D and 2E). The ink was dried at 90 ° C. for 10 minutes. In addition, pattern exposure was performed so that the element electrode interval L was 20 μm and the element electrode width W was 125 μm, and droplets were applied.

The composition of the above aqueous solution was prepared by dissolving polyvinyl alcohol in a concentration of 0.05% by weight, 2-propanol in a concentration of 15% in weight, and glycerin in a concentration of 1% in a solution of tetramonoethanolamine-platinum acetic acid (Pt ( N
This is a solution in which H ₂ CH ₂ CH ₂ OH) ₄ (CH ₃ COO) ₂ ) is dissolved such that the platinum concentration by weight is about 0.75%.

Step-4 Pattern exposure is performed on the resin composition layer 32 where the conductive film 4 is to be formed (FIG. 3F), and a droplet of an aqueous solution having a composition described later is bubble-jetted onto the exposed portion 36. The ink was applied four times to the same spot by an ink-jet apparatus (Bubble Jet Printer Head BC-01 manufactured by Canon Inc.) (FIG. 3 (g)), and the ink was dried at 90 ° C. for 10 minutes.

The aqueous solution was prepared by dissolving polyvinyl alcohol in a concentration of 0.05% by weight, 2-propanol in a concentration of 15% in weight, and glycerin in a concentration of 1% in a solution of tetramonoethanolamine-palladium acetic acid (P
_{d (NH 2 CH 2 CH 2} OH) 4 (CH 3 COO) 2)
Is dissolved so that the weight concentration of palladium becomes about 0.15%.

Step-5 The sample prepared in step-4 was fired at 480 ° C. in the air. The device electrodes 2 and 3 made of Pt and the conductive film 4 made of PdO were formed. Through the above steps, the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the conductive film 4 were formed on the base 1.

Step-6 Next, a face plate was formed. The face plate had a structure in which a phosphor film on which a phosphor was disposed and a metal back were formed on the inner surface of a glass substrate. The arrangement of the phosphors is
A black stripe between the three primary color phosphors was provided. As a material of the black stripe, a commonly used material mainly composed of graphite was used. These were all formed by a screen printing method.

Step-7 A face plate was sealed via a support frame using the base formed in steps-1 to 5 as a rear plate. An exhaust pipe used for air passage and exhaust was previously bonded to the support frame.

Step-8 After evacuation to 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁵ Pa, each wiring Dxm, Dyn
Forming was performed line by line with a manufacturing apparatus capable of supplying a voltage to each element. The forming conditions are the same as in the first embodiment.

Step-9 After evacuating to 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁵ Pa, acetone was added to 1.3 × 1 ⁻⁵ Pa.
0 ^-1 Pa from the exhaust pipe, and each wiring Dxm, Dyn
In a manufacturing apparatus capable of supplying a voltage to each element, a voltage was applied such that a pulse voltage similar to that in Example 1 was applied to each element in the line sequential scanning, and an activation step was performed. A voltage is applied for 25 minutes for each line, and the element current is 3 m on average for each line.
When it became A, the activation step was completed.

Step-10 Subsequently, the air was sufficiently exhausted from the exhaust pipe, and then the air was exhausted while heating the entire vessel at 250 ° C. for 3 hours. Finally, the getter was flushed and the exhaust pipe was sealed.

The image forming apparatus constructed by using the electron sources of the simple matrix arrangement prepared as described above has the NTS
A configuration example of a drive circuit for performing television display based on a C-system television signal is as described with reference to FIG.

[Embodiment 3] FIG. 17 shows an image according to the present invention which is configured so that image information provided from various image information sources such as a television broadcast can be displayed on a display panel (FIG. 8). It is a figure showing an example of a forming device.

In the figure, reference numeral 201 denotes a display panel;
1 is a display panel driving circuit, 1002 is a display controller, 1003 is a multiplexer, 10
04 is a decoder, 1005 is an input / output interface circuit, 1006 is a CPU, 1007 is an image generation circuit, 10
08, 1009 and 1010 are image memory interface circuits, 1011 is an image input interface circuit, 1012 and 1013 are TV signal receiving circuits, 101
Reference numeral 4 denotes an input unit.

When the present image forming apparatus receives a signal including both video information and audio information, such as a television signal, it naturally reproduces the audio simultaneously with the display of the video. Descriptions of circuits, speakers, and the like related to reception, separation, reproduction, processing, storage, and the like of audio information that are not directly related to the features of the present invention are omitted.

Hereinafter, the function of each section will be described along the flow of the image signal.

First, the TV signal receiving circuit 1013 is a circuit for receiving a TV 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. For example, NTSC, PAL, SEC
Any method such as the AM method may be used. Further, a TV signal comprising a larger number of scanning lines than these, for example, a so-called high-definition TV including the MUSE system is a signal suitable for taking advantage of the display panel suitable for a large area and a large number of pixels. Source.

T received by TV signal receiving circuit 1013
The V signal is output to the decoder 1004.

The TV signal receiving circuit 1012 is a circuit for receiving a TV signal transmitted using a wired transmission system such as a coaxial cable or an optical fiber. Similarly to the TV signal receiving circuit 1013, the system of the TV signal to be received is not particularly limited, and the TV signal received by this circuit is also output to the decoder 1004.

Image input interface circuit 1011
Is a circuit for capturing an image signal supplied from an image input device such as a TV camera or an image reading scanner. The captured image signal is output to the decoder 1004.

Image memory interface circuit 101
Reference numeral 0 denotes a circuit for capturing an image signal stored in a video tape recorder (hereinafter abbreviated as VTR). The captured image signal is output to a decoder 1004.

Image memory interface circuit 100
Reference numeral 9 denotes a circuit for capturing an image signal stored in the video disk.
004 is output.

Image memory interface circuit 100
Reference numeral 8 denotes a circuit for taking in an image signal from a device storing still image data, such as a still image disk. The taken still image data is input to the decoder 1004.

The input / output interface circuit 1005
A circuit for connecting the display device to an external computer, a computer network, or an output device such as a printer. In addition to inputting and outputting image data and character / graphic information, control signals and numerical data can be input and output between the CPU 1006 of the image forming apparatus and the outside in some cases. .

The image generation circuit 1007 is provided with image data and character / graphic information input from outside via the input / output interface circuit 1005, or the CPU 100.
6 is a circuit for generating display image data based on the image data and character / graphic information output from 6. Inside this circuit, 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, a processor for performing image processing, etc. And other circuits necessary for generating an image.

The display image data generated by this circuit is output to the decoder 1004. In some cases, the display image data can be output to an external computer network or a printer via the input / output interface circuit 1005. .

The CPU 1006 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 1003, and image signals to be displayed on the display panel are appropriately selected or combined. In that case, the display panel controller 1
A control signal is generated for 002 to appropriately control the operation of the display device such as the screen display frequency, the scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced), and the number of scanning lines on one screen. Further, image data and character / graphic information are directly output to the image generation circuit 1007, or image data or character / graphic information is accessed by accessing an external computer or memory via the input / output interface circuit 1005. Enter

Note that the CPU 1006 may be involved in work for other purposes. For example, it may directly relate to a function of generating and processing information, such as a personal computer or a word processor. Alternatively, as described above, the input / output interface circuit 1005
The computer may be connected to an external computer network via a computer, and work such as numerical calculation may be performed in cooperation with an external device.

The input unit 1014 is used by a user to input commands, programs, data, and the like to the CPU 1006. For example, in addition to a keyboard and a mouse, various inputs such as a joystick, a barcode reader, and a voice recognition device. Input devices can be used.

A decoder 1004 converts various image signals input from the above 1007 to 1013 into three primary color signals,
Alternatively, it is a circuit for inversely converting a luminance signal into an I signal and a Q signal. As shown by the dotted line in FIG.
4 preferably has an image memory inside. This is for handling a television signal that requires an image memory when performing inverse conversion, such as the MUSE method.

The provision of the image memory facilitates the display of a still image. Alternatively, the image generation circuit 1007
And cooperate with the CPU 1006 to perform image thinning, interpolation,
There is an advantage that image processing and editing including enlargement, reduction, and composition become easy.

The multiplexer 1003 is connected to the CPU 1
A display image is appropriately selected based on a control signal input from 006. That is, the multiplexer 1003
Selects a desired image signal from the inversely converted image signals input from the decoder 1004 and selects a driving circuit 1001
Output to 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 television. .

Display panel controller 1002
Is a circuit for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 1001 based on a control signal input from the CPU 1006.

As a signal related to the basic operation of the display panel, for example, a signal for controlling an operation sequence of a drive power source (not shown) for the display panel is output to the drive circuit 1001. For example, a signal for controlling a screen display frequency and a scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced) is output to the driving circuit 1001 as a signal related to the display panel driving method. In some cases, a control signal relating to image quality adjustment such as luminance, contrast, color tone, and sharpness of a display image may be output to the driving circuit 1001.

The drive circuit 1001 is a circuit for generating a drive signal to be applied to the display panel 201, based on an image signal input from the multiplexer 1003 and a control signal input from the display panel controller 1002. It works.

The function of each unit has been described above. With the configuration illustrated in FIG. 17, in the present image forming apparatus, image information input from various image information sources can be displayed on the display panel 201. . That is, various image signals including television broadcasting are transmitted to the decoder 10.
After the inverse conversion in 04, the signal is appropriately selected in the multiplexer 1003 and input to the drive circuit 1001.
On the other hand, the display controller 1002 generates a control signal for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 1001 according to an image signal to be displayed. The drive circuit 1001 controls the display panel 201 based on the image signal and the control signal.
Is applied with a drive signal. Thus, an image is displayed on the display panel 201. These series of operations are totally controlled by the CPU 1006.

In the present image forming apparatus, the image memory built in the decoder 1004, the image generation circuit 100
7 and information selected from the information, as well as, for example, enlargement, reduction, rotation, movement, edge enhancement, thinning, interpolation, color conversion, image aspect ratio conversion, etc., for the image information to be displayed. It is also possible to perform image processing such as initial image processing and image editing such as combining, erasing, connecting, exchanging, and fitting. Although not specifically mentioned in the description of the present embodiment, a dedicated circuit for processing and editing audio information may be provided as in the above-described image processing and image editing.

Therefore, the present image forming apparatus can be used for a television broadcast display device, a video conference terminal device, an image editing device for handling still images and moving images, a computer terminal device,
It can be equipped with the functions of a word processor and other office terminal equipment, game machines, and the like, and has a very wide range of applications for industrial or consumer use.

The display device shown in FIG. 17 can be variously modified based on the technical concept of the present invention. For example, FIG.
Circuits related to functions unnecessary for the purpose of use may be omitted from the seven components. Conversely, additional components may be added depending on the purpose of use. For example, when the present display device is applied as 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 present display device, in particular, it is easy to reduce the thickness of a display panel using an electron-emitting device as an electron beam source, so that the depth of the display device can be reduced. In addition, since it is easy to increase the area, the brightness is high, and the viewing angle characteristics are excellent, it is possible to display an image full of presence and full of power with good visibility. Further, by using an electron source having a large number of electron-emitting devices having uniform characteristics, a high-quality color flat television that is very uniform and bright compared to a conventional display device has been realized.

[0180]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Fine conductive films and element electrode patterns can be formed over a large area at low cost.

Also, a large number of electron-emitting devices are arranged and formed,
An electron source that emits electrons in response to an input signal can be manufactured stably and with high yield.

Further, in an image forming apparatus using such an electron source, a bright, high-quality image forming apparatus with a low current can be obtained.
For example, a color flat television is realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of an electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a voltage waveform in an energization process that can be employed in manufacturing the electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a vacuum processing apparatus (measurement evaluation apparatus) that can be used for manufacturing the electron-emitting device of the present invention.

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

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a display panel of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a fluorescent film in a display panel.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a drive circuit for performing display in accordance with an NTSC television signal in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing an example of an electron source having a ladder-type arrangement according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a display panel of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing an electron-emitting device arranged on a substrate in Example 1.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating a voltage waveform in a forming process according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating a voltage waveform in an activation process according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating a part of the electron source according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of an image display device according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a schematic view of a conventional surface conduction electron-emitting device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2, 3 Device electrode 4 Conductive film 5 Electron emission part 31 Ink jet nozzle 32 Resin composition layer 33 Photomask 34 Exposed part 35 Electrode metal composition 36 Exposed part 37 Metal composition for conductive film Object 50 Ammeter for measuring device current If 51 Power supply for applying device voltage Vf to electron-emitting device 52 Ammeter for measuring emission current Ie emitted from electron-emitting portion 5 53 Anode electrode 54 High voltage power supply for applying voltage 54 Anode electrode 55 for capturing electrons emitted from electron emitting section 5 55 Vacuum container 56 Exhaust pump 71 Electron source substrate 72 X direction wiring 73 Y direction wiring 74 Electron emission element 75 Connection 81 Rear plate 82 Support frame 83 Glass substrate 84 Fluorescent film 85 Metal back 86 Face plate 87 Compression terminal 88 Enclosure 91 Black conductive material 92 Phosphor 101 Display panel 102 Scan circuit 103 Control circuit 104 Shift register 105 Line memory 106 Synchronous signal separation circuit 107 Modulation signal generator Vx, Va DC voltage source 110 Electron source substrate 111 Electron Emitting element 112 Common wiring for wiring electron emitting element 120 Grid electrode 121 Opening for passing electrons 191 Base 192, 193 Element electrode 194 Conductive film 197 Interlayer insulating layer 198 Row wiring corresponding to Dxm 199 Dyn Corresponding row direction wiring 201 display panel 1001 display panel driving circuit 1002 display controller 1003 multiplexer 1004 decoder 1005 input / output interface circuit 1006 CPU 1007 Forming circuit 1008,1009,1010 image input memory interface circuit 1011 image input interface circuit 1012 and 1013 TV signal receiving circuit 1014 input

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. a step of forming a resin composition layer on a substrate surface by light irradiation or light irradiation and heating to increase the hydrophilicity of a light irradiation part and increase the absorbability of a metal composition solution; A step of applying light irradiation or light irradiation and heating to a part of the composition layer; a step of applying a metal composition solution to a light irradiation portion of the resin composition layer; and thermally decomposing the resin composition layer and the metal composition. And forming a device electrode and a conductive film, and a forming step of forming an electron-emitting portion in the conductive film. 2. The step of applying the metal composition solution,
A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device, which is performed by an inkjet method. 3. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 2, wherein the ink-jet method is a bubble-jet method in which bubbles are generated in the solution using thermal energy and the solution is ejected. 4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the ink jet method is a piezo jet method that discharges a solution using mechanical energy. 5. The electron-emitting device according to claim 1, further comprising, after the forming step, a stabilizing step of applying a voltage to the electron-emitting element under a higher degree of vacuum than the forming step. Manufacturing method. 6. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1, further comprising an activation step of applying a voltage to the electron-emitting device in the presence of an organic substance after the forming step. Method. 7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising, after the activation step, a stabilizing step of applying a voltage to the electron-emitting device under a higher degree of vacuum than the forming step and the activation step.
3. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to 1. 8. An electron-emitting device manufactured by the method according to claim 1. 9. The electron-emitting device according to claim 8, wherein the electron-emitting device is a surface conduction electron-emitting device. 10. An electron source that emits electrons in response to an input signal, wherein a plurality of the electron-emitting devices according to claim 8 are arranged on a substrate. 11. The electron source according to claim 10, wherein the plurality of electron-emitting devices are wired in a matrix. 12. The electron source according to claim 10, wherein the plurality of electron-emitting devices are wired in a ladder shape. 13. A method for manufacturing an electron source according to claim 10, wherein a plurality of electron-emitting devices are manufactured by the method according to claim 1. Description: Characteristic method of manufacturing an electron source. 14. An apparatus for forming an image based on an input signal, wherein at least the electron source according to claim 10 and an electron beam emitted from the electron source are irradiated with the image. An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming member to be formed. 15. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the electron source is manufactured by the method according to claim 13.