JP2000251690A - Surface treatment device, electron-emitting device, electron source, image forming device, and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] As a surface treatment method for surface energy adjustment,
When surface treatment is performed by supplying a treatment agent to a substrate to be treated in a gaseous state, the surface treatment device can perform surface treatment with less in-plane variation in a shorter time and with a smaller amount of treatment agent, and has good electron emission characteristics. Electron-emitting devices, highly uniform electron sources,
Provided are an image forming apparatus having high uniformity and good display quality, and a method for manufacturing the image forming apparatus which can be manufactured with high yield. A surface treatment apparatus for supplying a treatment agent (1205) in a gaseous state to a substrate (1201) disposed in a treatment container (1202) to perform a surface treatment, wherein the treatment container (1202) has a specific gravity larger than that of air. Agent 1205 is provided,
A substrate outlet 1203 is provided above the substrate arrangement position of the processing container 1202.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a surface treatment device, an electron-emitting device manufactured by using the device, an electron source having a large number of the electron-emitting devices, and a display device using the electron source. And an image forming apparatus such as an exposure apparatus, and a manufacturing method thereof.

[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 2 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]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The applicant of the present invention has proposed a method of manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device which employs a conductive film as a manufacturing method advantageous for a large area, regardless of a sputtering method or a vapor deposition method using a vacuum. Are proposed. One example is a method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device in which a solution containing an organic metal is applied onto a substrate by a spinner, then patterned into a desired shape, and the organic metal is thermally decomposed to obtain a conductive film.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-171850, in a step of patterning a conductive film into a desired shape, a lithography method is not used, but an ink jet method such as a bubble jet method or a piezo jet method is used. To give a droplet of a solution containing an organic metal,
A manufacturing method for forming a conductive film having a desired shape has been proposed.

However, in a method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device in which a solution containing an organic metal is applied to a substrate and the organic metal is thermally decomposed to obtain a conductive film, the surface energy of the substrate and the surface of the solution containing the organic metal are reduced. If the energy is not a desired value, a uniform film thickness cannot be obtained when the composition is applied by a spinner, and a desired shape cannot be obtained when a droplet is applied by an inkjet method.

The electron-emitting device using the conductive film formed as described above has a problem in that the step of forming an electron-emitting portion in the conductive film is affected and the reproducibility of the electron-emitting characteristics is poor. Further, in an electron source in which a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged, there is a problem that electron emission characteristics vary. Further, even in an image forming apparatus in which an electron source and an image forming member such as a phosphor are arranged to face each other, there is a problem that variations in electron emission characteristics lead to a decrease in image quality.

For this reason, the present inventors are studying a method of supplying a treating agent in a gaseous state into a treating vessel and treating the surface as a surface treating method for uniform adjustment of surface energy. There is a problem that the processing container becomes large with the increase in area, and it takes time to fill the processing agent in the container, and the amount of the processing agent used increases. In addition, there is a problem that if the processing container is made as small as possible with respect to the substrate, distribution and fluctuation of the processing agent concentration are likely to occur.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a surface treatment method for adjusting the surface energy in a shorter time, when supplying a treatment agent to a substrate to be treated in a gaseous state and treating the surface. A surface treatment apparatus capable of performing surface treatment with little in-plane variation with a small amount of treatment agent, a novel configuration of an electron emission element having good electron emission characteristics,
An object of the present invention is to provide an electron source with high uniformity, an image forming apparatus with high uniformity and good display quality, and a method for manufacturing them with good yield.

[0018]

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

That is, a first aspect of the present invention is a surface treatment apparatus for supplying a treatment agent in a gaseous state to a substrate to be treated disposed in a treatment vessel to perform a surface treatment. The surface treatment apparatus is also characterized in that a processing agent having a large specific gravity is supplied, and a substrate outlet is provided above the substrate arrangement position of the processing container.

A second aspect of the present invention is a step of forming a pair of device electrodes on the substrate, a step of adjusting the surface energy of the substrate on which the device electrodes are formed, and applying a solution containing an organic metal to the substrate. A step of thermally decomposing the applied solution to form a conductive film, and a forming step of forming an electron emission portion in the conductive film by applying a current between the device electrodes. In the method of manufacturing the electron-emitting device, the surface of the base is treated by using the first surface treatment apparatus of the present invention in the step of adjusting.

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

A fourth aspect of the present invention is an electron source which emits electrons in response to an input signal, wherein a plurality of the third electron-emitting devices of the present invention are arranged on a substrate. In the electron source.

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

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for forming an image based on an input signal, comprising at least the fourth 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.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing the sixth image forming apparatus of the present invention, wherein the electron source is manufactured by the fifth method of the present invention. A method for manufacturing a forming apparatus.

According to the surface treatment apparatus of the present invention, since a treatment agent having a specific gravity larger than that of air is used as a treatment agent, when a processing substrate is taken in and out, it is taken out from the upper substrate take-out port. The amount of the processing agent leaking out of the container at the time of substrate replacement can be minimized, the fluctuation of the concentration of the processing agent at the time of introducing the substrate can be reduced, and the amount of the processing agent used can be reduced.

When the processing agent is supplied in a gaseous state into the processing container, a circulating device such as a fan is driven to prevent an increase in the concentration only in the vicinity of the processing agent supply portion. By accelerating the evaporation rate of the agent, a desired concentration can be obtained over the entire processing vessel in a short time. Furthermore, by turning the fan during substrate processing, even if the processing agent adheres to the substrate surface or the like and is consumed, the concentration can be maintained at a constant concentration throughout the processing container.

Further, when the processing agent is supplied into the processing container in a gaseous state, the processing agent may be temporarily heated to accelerate the evaporation rate, and the desired concentration may be obtained in a short time over the entire processing container. it can.

Further, when the processing agent is supplied in a gaseous state into the processing container, the evaporating speed of the processing agent is further accelerated by rotating the fan and temporarily heating the processing agent, thereby shortening the time. The desired concentration can be achieved throughout the processing vessel.

Further, since the temperature in the processing container is constant, a constant concentration can be maintained throughout the processing container even if there is a fluctuation in room temperature or the like. Further, when the evaporating speed is accelerated by heating the treating agent, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of dew condensation on the container wall, and to reduce the amount of the treating agent used.

That is, according to the present invention, in the step of adjusting the surface energy of the substrate, the above-mentioned surface treatment apparatus is used. An electron-emitting device having electron-emitting characteristics can be manufactured. As a result, even when a large number of electron-emitting devices are formed over a large area,
It is possible to provide an electron source with uniform electron emission characteristics, a highly uniform electron source, and an image forming apparatus with high uniformity and good display quality.

[0032]

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

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of the configuration 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. FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing another configuration example of the electron-emitting device of the present invention. 1 and 2,
1 is a substrate, 2 and 3 are electrodes (element electrodes), 4 is a conductive film,
Reference numeral 5 denotes an electron emitting portion.

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

The materials of the opposing element 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 device electrodes 2 and 3 are formed on a substrate 1 in this order may be adopted.

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 metals such as Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, Ta, W, and Pb. These metals form an organometallic compound of the conductive film forming material.

The thickness of the conductive film 4 is appropriately set in consideration of the step coverage of the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the resistance value between the device electrodes 2 and 3, and is usually several to several hundreds. 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).

The electron-emitting portion 5 is formed by a high-resistance crack formed in a part of the conductive film 4, and has inside thereof a
In some cases, conductive fine particles having a particle size ranging from several times 0.1 nm to several tens nm are present. 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 FIG. In FIG. 3, the same parts as those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIGS.
In FIG. 3, 31 is a surface treatment apparatus, and 33 is a droplet of a solution containing an organic metal provided on a substrate.

1) Device electrodes 2 and 3 are formed on a substrate 1 so as to face each other. The device electrodes 2 and 3 are formed, for example, by forming a film of the device electrode material on the cleaned blue glass substrate 1 by a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method, or the like, and patterning the film by lift-off, etching, or the like. It is formed by a method of printing and firing a paste including the paste (FIG. 3A).

2) The surface energy of the substrate 1 on which the device electrodes 2 and 3 are formed is initialized. That is, the device electrodes 2 and 3
The substrate 1 on which is formed is washed with warm water. By this step, the surface energy of the substrate becomes a hydrophilic surface.

3) Next, a step of adjusting the surface energy of the substrate is performed (FIG. 3B). First, the processing agent is charged into the processing agent container in the processing container, and the atmosphere in the processing container 31 is set as the processing agent atmosphere. Next, the substrate prepared in the step 2) is placed in the processing container 31 and left for a certain period of time to adjust the surface energy of the substrate.

Examples of the means for setting the inside of the processing container to a processing agent atmosphere include a method of disposing a processing agent in a solution state in the processing container and evaporating it, and a method of introducing the processing agent from the outside of the processing container together with a carrier gas such as nitrogen. There is a way.

Further, in order to obtain a desired substrate surface with good reproducibility, it is preferable that the concentration of the processing agent in the processing container is controlled. There is a method of performing a surface treatment at a corresponding concentration. Alternatively, the substrate may be placed in a processing container, the inside of the processing container may be evacuated, and then the surface treatment agent may be introduced into the container at an appropriate partial pressure.

The treatment agent adheres to the surface of the substrate,
Those capable of providing a hydrophobic group such as a methyl group or an ethyl group on the substrate are suitable. For example, a silane coupling agent, an organic compound such as an aliphatic or aromatic compound, or the like can be used.

In this step, the treatment agent adheres to the substrate surface,
The surface state of the substrate changes from the surface of water emission.

The conditions for applying the processing agent to the substrate are set by the partial pressure and the temperature of the processing agent. The temperature is not limited to room temperature, and a suitable value may be selected depending on the type of the treatment agent and the type of the base, and the desired surface energy value and the adhesion speed of the treatment agent.

4) An aqueous solution containing an organic metal is applied to the substrate after the surface treatment (FIG. 3C). Specifically, droplets of an aqueous solution containing an organic metal are applied between the element electrodes 2 and 3 and the element electrodes by an ink jet method such as a bubble jet method or a piezo jet method.
The shape of the applied droplet 33 is determined by the surface energy of the main surface of the substrate and the surface energy of the droplet of the aqueous solution containing the organic metal prepared in advance in the step 3).

The aqueous solution containing the organic metal may be applied to the substrate by a coating method using a spinner. In this case, however, in order to obtain a desired conductive film form,
A patterning step is required.

5) Next, the droplets applied on the substrate are thermally decomposed to form a conductive film (FIG. 3D). The solution containing the organic metal provided on the substrate in the step 4) is
By heating the substrate on a firing furnace or a hot plate, the substrate is thermally decomposed in an atmosphere such as the air, and the conductive film 4 made of metal or metal oxide is formed.

6) Next, an energization process called forming is performed. When a current is applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3, the electron-emitting portion 5 is formed at the site of the conductive film 4 (FIG. 3E).
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. Usually, T ₁ is 1 μsec to 10 μsec, and T ₂ is 10 μsec to 100 μsec.
It is set in the range of m seconds. 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 not limited to a 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 by, for example, about 0.1 V steps.

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, for example, a vacuum processing apparatus as shown in FIG. This vacuum processing device also has a function as a measurement evaluation device. In FIG. 5, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

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 an electron-emitting portion 5 of the device. An anode electrode for capturing the emission current _Ie emitted, 53 is a high-voltage power supply for applying a voltage to the anode electrode 54, and 52 is a current for measuring the emission current _Ie emitted from the electron emission unit 5. It is total. 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).

7) Next, a process called an activation step is performed on the element after the forming (FIG. 3 (f)). 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 energization forming. _f and the emission current _Ie change remarkably.

An atmosphere containing an organic substance gas in the activation step is formed by utilizing an 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 aliphatic hydrocarbons of alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes, aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, amines, and organic acids such as phenols, carboxylic acids, and sulfonic acids. And specifically, C, methane, ethane, propane, etc.
saturated hydrocarbons represented by _n H _{2n + 2} , unsaturated hydrocarbons represented by a composition formula such as C _n H _2n such as ethylene and propylene,
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 .

8) 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 can be suppressed.
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 device 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, when an element voltage higher than a certain voltage (referred to as threshold voltage; V _{th in} FIG. 6) is applied to the present element, the emission current _Ie rapidly increases, while the threshold voltage V _{th is} lower. , The emission current _Ie is hardly detected. That is, it is a non-linear element having a clear threshold voltage V _th with respect to the emission current I _e .

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 discharged to 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.

[0078] In Figure 6, the device current I _f showed (MI characteristic) Example monotonically increasing with respect to the device voltage V _f,
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 element electrodes (not shown) constituting the electron-emitting device 74 are electrically connected to m X-directional wirings 72 and n Y-directional wirings 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 partially or entirely the same or different from each other. 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 simple matrix wiring.

An image forming apparatus constructed using such an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement will be described with reference to FIGS. 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.

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 diagram 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 performing the above-described sealing, 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.

[0098] in the envelope 88 is evacuated from a suitable heating Shinano, ion pump, through an exhaust pipe (not shown) by an exhaust device not using oil, such as a sorption pump, ^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 a method for manufacturing the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 11, reference numeral 1201 denotes a substrate to be processed;
Denotes a processing container, 1203 denotes a substrate outlet, 1204 denotes a processing agent container, and 1205 denotes a processing agent.

Step-1 First, a step of forming a substrate, element electrodes, wirings and the like is performed. An element electrode is formed on a substrate by a method similar to the step 1) in the above-described method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device. Further, the row direction wiring and the column direction wiring are formed by a screen printing method, a known photolithography technique, and a semiconductor manufacturing method such as a sputtering method.

Step-2 A step of initializing the surface energy of the substrate is performed in the same manner as in the step 2) in the above-described method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device.

Step-3 A step of adjusting the surface energy of the substrate is performed in the same manner as in the step 3) in the above-described method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device.

Step-4 A step of applying a droplet of an aqueous solution containing an organic metal on a substrate is performed in the same manner as in the step 4) in the above-described method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device.

Step-5: A step of thermally decomposing droplets of the organic metal-containing solution applied onto the substrate to form a conductive film in the same manner as in the step 5) in the above-described method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device. I do.

Step-6 The substrate after the above step-5 is placed in a vacuum chamber, and the inside of the vacuum chamber is sufficiently evacuated. Then, the energization forming step is performed by the same method as the step 6) in the method for manufacturing the electron-emitting device.

Step-7 The above-mentioned organic gas is introduced into the vacuum chamber, and an activation step is performed in the same manner as in the step 7) in the above-mentioned method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device.

Step-8 Next, the face plate, the support frame, and the rear plate are bonded via a frit to form an envelope.

Step-9 The envelope is sufficiently evacuated from an exhaust pipe (not shown), and a stabilization step is performed in the same manner as in step 8) in the method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device. Finally, flash the getter.

The method of manufacturing the image forming apparatus of the present invention as described above is not limited to this, and the process-6 and subsequent steps may be performed after the envelope is formed as in the embodiment described later. The order of the steps and the contents of the steps are not limited thereto.

Next, a description will be given of a surface treatment apparatus used in the method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. This surface treatment apparatus is an apparatus suitable for performing the surface treatment step in Step 3 of the method for manufacturing the electron-emitting device, the electron source, and the image forming apparatus described above. Hereinafter, referring to FIGS. 10 and 12 to 18, 1) a surface treatment apparatus having a substrate take-out port at the top of the processing vessel, 2) a surface treatment apparatus having a fan in the processing vessel, and 3) processing. The surface treatment apparatus provided with means for heating the agent, 4) the treatment vessel and the surface treatment apparatus provided with heating means for maintaining the inside of the treatment vessel at a constant temperature will be described in this order.

1) FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a surface treatment apparatus provided with a substrate take-out port at the top of a processing vessel.
In FIG. 10, reference numeral 1201 denotes a substrate to be processed; 1202, a processing container; 1203, a substrate outlet; 1204, a processing agent container; and 1205, a processing agent.

The method of introducing the treatment agent 1205 into the treatment container 1202 during the surface treatment is performed by installing a treatment agent container 1204 containing the treatment agent 1205 in the treatment container 1202. Also processing container 1
A processing agent container containing a processing agent may be installed outside 202 and introduced into the processing container 1202 together with a carrier gas such as nitrogen, or a gas inlet for purging the processing container 1202. Etc. can be provided in the processing container.

A surface treatment apparatus provided with a substrate outlet 1203 at the upper part of the treatment container 1202 is particularly suitable when a treatment agent 1205 heavier than air is used. By taking out the substrate to be processed 1201 from the upper substrate outlet 1203, the amount of the processing agent leaking out of the container at the time of substrate replacement can be reduced as compared with the case where the substrate outlet is provided below. In addition, the consumption of the treating agent can be reduced.

When a substrate outlet is provided on the upper side of the processing container 202 as shown in FIG. 12 separately from FIG. 10, the processing agent slightly leaks as an installation position of the substrate outlet 1203. Substrate outlet 1203
And it is easy to reduce the amount of leakage by reducing the area of the.

Further, as shown in FIG. 13, when the substrate is placed vertically and the substrate take-out port 1203 is provided at the upper portion and taken out from the upper side, the installation position of the substrate take-out port 1203 is hardly leaked. Also, it is easy to form a small size.

2) FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a surface treatment apparatus having a fan in a treatment container. 14, reference numeral 1201 denotes a substrate to be processed; 1202, a processing container;
03 is a substrate take-out port, 1204 is a processing agent container, 12
05 is a processing agent, 1206 is a circulation device (fan).

In the present processing apparatus, a circulating device 1206 such as a fan is driven to circulate the gas in the processing container 1202, whereby the processing agent 120 in the processing container 1202 is circulated.
It is easy to carry out the process while keeping the density of No. 5 constant. As a device for circulating the gas in the processing container 1202, a pump or the like may be used.

In FIG. 14, the fan 1206 is installed at a location away from the processing agent container 1204.
As shown in FIG.
06, by turning the fan 1206 when the processing agent 1205 reaches the desired concentration in the container,
Keeping the concentration of the processing agent near the processing agent container 1204 low,
A decrease in the evaporation rate of the processing agent 1205 can be prevented, so that the desired concentration in the processing container 1202 can be reached in a short time.

3) FIG. 16 is a schematic view showing a surface treatment apparatus provided with a means for heating a treatment agent in a treatment container.
In FIG. 16, reference numeral 1201 denotes a substrate to be processed, 1202 denotes a processing container, 1203 denotes a substrate outlet, 1204 denotes a processing agent container, 1205 denotes a processing agent, and 1207 denotes a heating means (heater).

When the concentration of the processing agent is set to a desired value in the processing container 1202, the desired concentration can be obtained in a short time by heating the processing agent 1205 and accelerating the evaporation rate.

As shown in FIG. 17, in addition to this,
Further, by providing a fan, the inside of the processing container 1202 can be set to a desired concentration in a shorter time. Further, it becomes easier to perform the surface treatment while keeping the concentration of the treatment agent 1205 in the treatment container 1202 constant.

4) FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram showing a surface treatment provided with a processing vessel and a heating means for maintaining the inside of the processing vessel at a constant temperature. In FIG. 18, reference numeral 1201 denotes a substrate to be processed, 1202 denotes a processing container, 1203 denotes a substrate outlet,
1204 is a treatment agent container, 1205 is a treatment agent, 1208
Is a temperature control means.

When the concentration of the processing agent is set to a desired value in the processing container 1202, the evaporation rate is accelerated by heating the processing agent 1205 together with the processing container 1202, so that the desired concentration can be obtained in a short time. it can. In particular, when the evaporating rate was increased by heating the processing agent 1205, dew condensation and the like sometimes occurred in a place where the temperature of the container wall was low, but by maintaining the entire processing container at a constant temperature, The processing can be performed with a small amount of the processing agent without dew condensation on the wall or the like. Further, even if the room temperature of the installation place of the processing container 1202 fluctuates,
It can be processed under certain conditions.

Next, an example of the configuration of a drive circuit for performing television display based on NTSC television signals 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 unscanned 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 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 separating 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 separating (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 for one line of an image for a required time only, and stores the contents of Id1 to Idn as appropriate according to a control signal Tmry sent from the control circuit 103. The stored contents are output as Id′1 to Id′n and input to the modulation signal generator 107.

Modulation signal generator 107 outputs 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 with respect to 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, for example, an amplification circuit using 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, the ladder-type electron source and the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21. FIG.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the ladder-type electron source. In FIG. 20, 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. 21 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a panel structure in an image forming apparatus having a ladder-type arrangement of electron sources. 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. 21, the same portions as those shown in FIGS. 8 and 20 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. 21, 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 electrode 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 and a computer, and an image forming apparatus as an optical printer using a photosensitive drum or the like. Etc. can also be used.

[0147]

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] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a surface treatment apparatus of Embodiment 1. In FIG.
Denotes a substrate to be processed, 1202 denotes a processing container, 1203 denotes a substrate outlet, 1204 denotes a processing agent container, and 1205 denotes a processing agent.

In this embodiment, a vertical container in which the substrate to be processed 1201 can be placed vertically is used as the processing container 1202, and the processing container 1202 is also provided with a substrate take-out port 1203 at the upper side, so that the substrate can be taken in and out from above the container. It is like that. In this embodiment, since the substrate outlet 1203 is provided at the upper side of the processing container 1202, if a processing agent 1205 having a higher specific gravity than air is used when loading and unloading the substrate, the leakage of the processing agent 1205 can be prevented. Can be reduced as much as possible.
Since the area of No. 3 is also small, the amount of leakage of the processing agent 1205 can be further reduced.

Therefore, when a plurality of substrates to be processed 1201 are continuously processed, the amount of the processing agent used can be reduced to the amount required for the substrate processing itself when performing a plurality of processes.

A substrate surface treatment method performed by using the surface treatment apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

First, a liquid processing agent 1205 was stored in the processing agent container 1204 in the processing container 1202. In this example, dimethyldiethoxysilane was used as the treatment agent 1205. The processing agent 1205 was left for a while in a housed state, and the atmosphere in the processing container 1202 was changed to the processing agent atmosphere.

Next, the substrate to be processed 1201 to be processed is
The substrate was set in the processing container 1202 through the substrate outlet 1203. The substrate was left for one hour to adjust the surface energy of the substrate. In this step, the treatment agent adheres to the surface of the substrate, and the surface state of the substrate changes to a water emitting surface. When the surface state after the treatment was evaluated based on the contact angle to water, the surface state was 48
Degree.

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a surface treatment apparatus of Embodiment 2. Referring to FIG.
Denotes a substrate to be processed, 1202 denotes a processing container, 1203 denotes a substrate outlet, 1204 denotes a processing agent container, 1205 denotes a processing agent, and 1206 denotes a circulation device (fan).

In the surface treatment apparatus of this embodiment, the circulation device 1
By turning the fan as 206 and circulating the gas in the processing container 1202, the processing could be performed while maintaining the processing agent concentration in the processing container 1202 at a constant value. In FIG. 15, the fan 1 is located near the treating agent container 1204.
The processing agent 206 is installed, but by turning the fan 1206 when the processing agent 1205 is saturated in the container, the processing agent concentration near the processing agent container 1204 is kept low, and the evaporation rate of the processing agent 1205 decreases. There was also the effect of preventing. Therefore, the concentration of the processing agent in the processing container 1202 could be adjusted to a desired concentration in a short time.

A surface treatment method performed by using the surface treatment apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

First, a liquid processing agent 1205 was stored in the processing agent container 1204 in the processing container 1202. In this example, dimethyldiethoxysilane was used as the treatment agent 1205. With the processing agent 1205 inserted, the fan 120
6 was left to stand for a while, and the atmosphere in the processing container 1202 was set as the processing agent atmosphere.

Next, the substrate to be processed 1201 to be processed is
The substrate was set in the processing container 1202 through the substrate outlet 1203. Thereafter, the substrate was left for one hour to adjust the surface energy of the substrate. In this step, the treatment agent adheres to the surface of the substrate, and the surface state of the substrate changes to a water emitting surface. When the surface state after the treatment was evaluated by the contact angle with water, it was 48 degrees on the glass surface.

[Third Embodiment] FIG. 16 is a schematic view showing a surface treatment apparatus of a third embodiment. In FIG.
Denotes a substrate to be processed, 1202 denotes a processing container, 1203 denotes a substrate take-out port, 1204 denotes a processing agent container, 1205 denotes a processing agent, and 1207 denotes a heating means (heater).

In this embodiment, the heater 1 for heating the treating agent is used.
As 207, a hot plate type having a temperature control range from room temperature to 200 ° C. was installed.

In this embodiment, when the processing agent 1205 is adjusted to a desired concentration in the processing container 1202, the heater 1207 is used.
By heating the treating agent 1205 to accelerate the evaporation rate, the desired concentration could be obtained in a short time.

A surface treatment method using the surface treatment apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

First, a liquid processing agent 1205 was stored in the processing agent container 1204 in the processing container 1202. In this example, dimethyldiethoxysilane was used as a treatment agent. Subsequently, the treating agent 1205 is placed on a hot plate for 30 minutes.
The container was left for a while in a state of being heated to ℃, and the atmosphere in the container was set as a treatment agent atmosphere.

Next, the processed substrate 1201 was set in the processing container 1202 through the substrate outlet 1203. Thereafter, the substrate was left for one hour to adjust the surface energy of the substrate.

In this step, the treatment agent adheres to the substrate surface,
The surface state of the substrate changes to a water emitting surface. When the surface state after the treatment was evaluated by the contact angle with water, it was 48 degrees on the glass surface.

[Embodiment 4] FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing a surface treatment apparatus of Embodiment 1. In FIG. 17, 1201
Denotes a substrate to be processed, 1202 denotes a processing container, 1203 denotes a substrate outlet, 1204 denotes a processing agent container, 1205 denotes a processing agent, 1206 denotes a circulation device (fan), and 1207 denotes a heating means (heater).

In this embodiment, by providing a processing agent heating heater 1207 and a fan 1206 together with the processing container 1202, the processing agent concentration in the processing container 1202 can be set to a desired value in a shorter time. It was possible to reduce the concentration distribution in the container.

A surface treatment method performed by using the surface treatment apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

First, a liquid processing agent 1205 was stored in the processing agent container 1204 in the processing container 1202. In this example, dimethyldiethoxysilane was used as the treatment agent 1205. Subsequently, while the treatment agent 1205 was heated to 30 ° C. on a hot plate as a heater 1207, a fan as a circulating device 1206 was turned on and left for a while to set the atmosphere in the container to the treatment agent atmosphere.

Next, the substrate to be processed 1201 to be processed was set in the processing chamber 1202 through the substrate outlet 1203. Thereafter, the substrate was left for one hour to adjust the surface energy of the substrate. In this step, the treatment agent adheres to the surface of the substrate, and the surface state of the substrate changes to a water emitting surface. When the surface state after the treatment was evaluated by the contact angle with respect to ice, it was 48 degrees on the glass surface.

[Embodiment 5] FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram showing a surface treatment apparatus of Embodiment 5. In FIG.
Denotes a substrate to be processed, 1202 denotes a processing container, 1203 denotes a substrate outlet, 1204 denotes a processing agent container, 1205 denotes a processing agent, 1206 denotes a processing agent container, and 1208 denotes a temperature adjusting means.

In this embodiment, the processing vessel 1202 has a double structure having the temperature control means 1208, and the entire processing vessel is maintained at a constant temperature.

In this embodiment, when the processing agent 1205 is adjusted to a desired concentration in the processing container 1202,
Can heat the treatment agent 1205 together with the treatment agent 1
By accelerating the evaporation rate of 205, a desired concentration could be obtained in a short time. In addition, since the temperature of the container wall becomes uniform over the entire container, no dew condensation occurs on the container wall or the like, and the treatment can be performed with a small amount of the processing agent. Furthermore, even if the room temperature of the installation location of the processing container 1202 fluctuated, the processing could be performed under constant conditions.

[Embodiment 6] The basic structure of an electron-emitting device according to the present invention is the same as that of FIG. FIG. 22 shows a substrate on which ten electron-emitting devices similar to those in FIG. 1 are arranged.

Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to the present invention will be described step by step with reference to FIGS.

Step-1 A pattern of device electrodes was formed on a cleaned blue glass substrate 1 by photoresist (RD-2000N-41 manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.), and Pt having a thickness of 50 nm was deposited by a vacuum evaporation method. The photoresist pattern was dissolved in an organic solvent, and the deposited film was lifted off to form device electrodes 2 and 3. The element electrode interval L was 30 microns. Then, the substrate was washed with pure water.

Step-2 Next, the substrate 1 on which the device electrodes 2 and 3 were formed was washed with hot water.

Step-3 First, a liquid processing agent was stored in a processing agent container in the processing container. In this example, dimethyldiethoxysilane was used as a treatment agent. Subsequently, while the treatment agent was heated to 30 ° C. on a hot plate, the fan was turned and left for a while to set the atmosphere in the container to the treatment agent atmosphere.

Next, the substrate to be processed was set in the processing container from the substrate outlet. Thereafter, the substrate was left for one hour to adjust the surface energy of the substrate. In this step, the treatment agent adheres to the surface of the substrate, and the surface state of the substrate changes to a water emitting surface. When the surface state after the treatment was evaluated by the contact angle with water, it was 48 degrees on the glass surface.

Step-4 Droplets of an aqueous solution of a Pd organometallic compound (Pd concentration: 0.15%), isopropyl alcohol 20%, ethylene glycol 1%, and polyvinyl alcohol 0.05% were formed by the inkjet method using a pubable jet method. -1 was applied four times between the device electrodes formed between the device electrodes.

Step-5 The sample prepared in step-4 was fired at 350 ° C. in the air. A conductive film made of PdO thus formed was formed.

Through the above steps, the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the conductive film 4 were formed on the substrate 1.

Next, it was set in the measuring apparatus of FIG. 5, evacuated by a vacuum pump, and after reaching a degree of vacuum of 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁶ Pa, the resistance of the conductive film on the element electrode was measured. A pulse voltage of 0.1 V was applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 of each device from a power source, and a current flowing between the device electrodes was measured. The voltage waveform of the pulse has a pulse width of 0.1 m.
sec, the pulse interval was 10 msec, the measurement was repeated ten times, and the average value was taken as the resistance value.

The above-described steps are performed for ten substrates,
When the resistance value is measured, the average value of 10 elements is 2000Ω.
The variation was as small as ± 80Ω. This is considered to be because the shape when the aqueous solution containing the organic metal was applied as droplets by the ink jet method was stabilized, so that the resistance value of the conductive film also had little variation among the substrates.

[Embodiment 7] In this embodiment, an electron-emitting device is manufactured by performing a number of further steps after Step-5 of Embodiment 6. In addition, an element similar to FIG.
The same process was performed for the comparative example.

Hereinafter, the steps after the step-5 will be described step by step.

Step-6 Subsequently, a forming step was performed in the measuring 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.
Rectangular wave. The end of the energization forming process
It was determined that the resistance value of the conductive film reached 1 MΩ or more. FIG. 23 shows a forming waveform used in this embodiment. still,
In the device electrodes 2 and 3, one of the electrodes is set to a low potential,
The voltage is applied with the other being on the high potential side.

Step-7 The element after the forming was subjected to a process called an activation step. The activation step is to form the carbon inside the crack formed by the forming as described above so that the crack becomes narrower, so that the device current _If and the emission current _{Ie are formed.}
Is a step that changes significantly.

In the activation step, acetone gas was introduced into the measuring apparatus to 1.3 × 10 ^-1 Pa, and the pulse peak value was increased to 15 × 10 ^-1 Pa.
V, pulse width of 1 msec, pulse interval of 10 msec, and application of a rectangular pulse was repeated for 20 minutes. FIG. 24 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-8 Subsequently, a stabilizing step was performed. The stabilization step is a step of exhausting an organic gas present in an atmosphere or the like in the vacuum vessel, suppressing the deposition of carbon or a carbon compound, and stabilizing the device current _If and the emission current _Ie . 250 whole vacuum container
The organic substance molecules adsorbed on the inner wall of the vacuum vessel and the electron-emitting device were evacuated by heating at ℃. At this time, the degree of vacuum is 1.
It was 3 × 10 ⁻⁶ Pa. Thereafter, the characteristics of the electron-emitting device were measured at this degree of vacuum.

The above-described steps are performed for ten substrates,
When the measurement of electron emission characteristics, the device current at an average value of 10 elements I _f is 2.0 mA ± 0.02 mA, the emission current I _e
Was 3.0 μA ± 0.04 μA with little variation.

As described above, it has been found that adjusting the surface energy of the substrate also contributes to a reduction in variation in the characteristics of the electron-emitting devices.

[Embodiment 8] This embodiment is an example in which an image forming apparatus is manufactured by the manufacturing process shown in FIG.
In FIG. 11, only the electron source substrate closely related to the present invention is described in detail. FIG. 25 (a)
FIG. 25B is a plan view of a part of the electron source, and FIG. 25B is a longitudinal sectional view thereof. In FIG. 25, 191 is a substrate, 198 is Dx
The row direction wiring corresponding to m, 199 is the column direction wiring corresponding to 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 an electron source substrate 191 as a rear plate.

Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing an electron source will be specifically described in the order of steps.

Step-1 The device electrode 19 was placed on the cleaned blue glass substrate 191.
2,193 was prepared by the offset printing method. The element electrode interval L was 20 μm, and the element electrode width W was 125 μm. Next, a column-direction wiring 199 having a thickness of 20 μm and a thickness of 3
A 0 μm interlayer insulating layer 197 and a 20 μm thick row-direction wiring 198 were sequentially formed by a screen printing method.

Step-2 The row-direction wiring 198 and the column-direction wiring 19 created in Step-1
9. The substrate 191 on which the device electrodes 192 and 193 were formed was washed with warm water.

Step-3 Next, the above-described substrate was set in a chamber, and the inside of the chamber was replaced with nitrogen under atmospheric pressure. Then, an organic compound gas was introduced and allowed to stand. The used organic compound gas and its partial pressure were the same as in Example 7.

Step-4 Drops of an aqueous solution of 0.15% of a Pd organometallic compound, 20% of isopropyl alcohol, 1% of ethylene glycol, and 0.05% of polyvinyl alcohol were applied to each of the element electrodes 192 and 192 by a piezo jet ink jet method. 193 and four times between the device electrodes.

Step-5 The sample prepared in step-4 was fired at 350 ° C. in the air. A conductive film made of PdO thus formed was formed.

Through the above steps, the row direction wiring 198, the column direction wiring 199, the device electrodes 192, 19
3. A conductive film 194 and the like were formed.

Step-6 Next, a face plate was formed. The face plate had a configuration in which a fluorescent 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 Using the electron source substrate 191 formed in steps-1 to 5 as a rear plate, a face plate was sealed via a support frame. An exhaust pipe used for ventilation is previously bonded to the support frame.

Step-8 After evacuating 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 seventh 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 7 was applied to each element in line sequential scanning, and an activation step was performed. The activation step was completed when the device current was 3 mA on average for each line when a voltage was applied for 25 minutes for each line.

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

A drive circuit for performing a television display based on the NTSC television signal shown in FIG. 19 is provided in the image forming apparatus constituted by using the electron sources of the simple matrix arrangement prepared as described above. did.

With such a driving circuit, external terminals Dox1 to Doxm,
By applying a voltage via Doy1 to Doyn, electron emission occurs. A high voltage is applied to the metal back via the high voltage terminal 87 to accelerate the electron beam. The accelerated electrons collide with the fluorescent film and emit light to form an image.

The image forming apparatus formed in the above-described steps can produce a stable image forming apparatus with little luminance variation and high reproducibility and high yield by inputting the NTSC signal.

[Embodiment 9] FIG. 26 shows an image according to the present invention which is configured to be able to display image information provided from various image information sources such as a television broadcast 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 image forming apparatus receives a signal containing both video information and audio information, such as a television signal, it reproduces the audio simultaneously with the display of the video. Descriptions of circuits 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, a speaker, and the like are omitted.

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

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 system, PAL system, 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 comprises:
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 generating circuit 1007 is provided with image data, character / graphic information input from the 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, but may be output to an external computer network or printer via the input / output interface circuit 1005 in some cases.

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 an image signal to be displayed on the display panel is 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. In addition, image data and character / graphic information are directly output to the image generation circuit 1007, or an external computer or memory is accessed via the input / output interface circuit 1005 to convert the image data or character / graphic information. input.

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 power supply (not shown) for driving 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.

[0233] 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. 26, 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 and 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 as 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. 26 can be variously modified based on the technical concept of the present invention. For example, FIG.
Of the six components, circuits relating to functions that are unnecessary for the purpose of use may be omitted. Conversely, additional components may be added depending on the purpose of use. For example, when the present display device is applied 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.

[0239]

As described above, according to the surface treatment apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to perform the surface treatment with less in-plane variation and the like in a shorter time and with a smaller amount of the treatment agent.
High-throughput, low-cost surface treatment with little variation can be realized. Therefore, by performing surface treatment using the present apparatus, an electron-emitting device with less fluctuation can be manufactured at high throughput and 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 schematic view showing another example of the 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 schematic view showing an example of the surface treatment apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing another example of the surface treatment apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a surface treatment apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating a surface treatment apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a schematic view illustrating a surface treatment apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating a surface treatment apparatus according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating a surface treatment apparatus according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram illustrating a surface treatment apparatus according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a drive circuit for performing display according to an NTSC television signal on the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a schematic view showing an example of an electron source having a ladder-type arrangement according to the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a display panel of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a view showing a substrate on which ten electron-emitting devices of Example 6 are arranged.

FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram showing a voltage waveform of energization forming in Example 7.

FIG. 24 is a schematic view showing a voltage waveform in an activation step in the seventh embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a schematic view showing a part of an electron source according to an eighth embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram of an image display device according to a ninth embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a schematic view of a conventional surface conduction electron-emitting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2, 3 Device electrode 4 Conductive film 5 Electron emission part 31 Surface treatment device 33 Droplet of solution containing organic metal applied on substrate 50 Ammeter for measuring device current _If 51 51 Electron emission Power supply 52 for applying element voltage _Vf to the device 52 Ammeter for measuring emission current _Ie emitted from electron emission section 5 53 High voltage power supply for applying voltage to anode electrode 54 Electron emission section 5 Anode electrode for capturing emitted electrons 55 Vacuum container 56 Exhaust pump 61 Substrate on which element electrodes and the like are formed 63 Surface energy measuring means 64 Comparison circuit for comparing measured values with reference values 65 Surface energy adjustment Device control circuit 71 Electron source board 72 X direction wiring 73 Y direction wiring 74 Electron emitting element 75 Connection 81 Rear plate 82 Support frame 83 Glass Substrate 84 Fluorescent film 85 Metal back 86 Face plate 87 High voltage 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 Substrate 198 Row direction wiring corresponding to 198 Dxm 199 Dyn corresponding to Column direction wiring 194 Conductive film 192, 193 Device electrode 197 Interlayer insulating layer 201 Display panel 1001 Display panel driving circuit 1002 Display controller 1003 Multiplexer 1004 Decoder 10 5 Input / output interface circuit 1006 CPU 1007 Image generation circuit 1008, 1009, 1010 Image memory interface circuit 1011 Image input interface circuit 1012, 1013 TV signal receiving circuit 1014 Input section 1201 Substrate to be processed 1202 Processing container 1203 Substrate takeout port 1204 For processing agent Container 1205 Treatment agent 1206 Circulating device (fan) 1207 Heating means (heater) 1208 Temperature adjustment mechanism

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Mitsutoshi Hasegawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Seiji Mishima 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Non-corporation F term (reference) 5C036 EE01 EE02 EE14 EE19 EF01 EF06 EF09 EG12 EH01

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. A surface treatment apparatus for supplying a treatment agent in a gaseous state to a substrate to be treated disposed in a treatment container to perform surface treatment, wherein a treatment agent having a specific gravity larger than air is supplied into the treatment container. A surface treatment apparatus, wherein the substrate is supplied and the substrate outlet is provided above the substrate arrangement position of the processing container. 2. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the treatment container is provided with a circulation device for circulating gas in the container. 3. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circulation device is disposed near a treatment agent supply unit. 4. The processing container according to claim 1, further comprising a heating means for heating the processing agent.
The surface treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a temperature control unit for maintaining the processing vessel and the inside of the processing vessel at a constant temperature. 6. A step of forming a pair of element electrodes on a substrate, a step of adjusting surface energy of the substrate on which the element electrodes are formed, a step of applying a solution containing an organic metal to the substrate, A step of forming a conductive film by thermal decomposition; and a forming step of applying an electric current between the device electrodes to form an electron-emitting portion in the conductive film. A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device, comprising: treating a surface of a substrate using the surface treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5. 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the surface treatment is a hydrophobic treatment. 8. The method according to claim 6, further comprising a step of initializing the surface energy of the substrate before the step of adjusting the surface energy of the substrate. 9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of applying the solution applies droplets by an inkjet method.
9. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to any one of items 1 to 8. 10. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 9, wherein the ink jet method is a bubble jet method in which bubbles are formed in the solution by thermal energy and the solution is discharged as droplets. 11. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 9, wherein the ink-jet method is a piezo-jet method for discharging a solution using mechanical energy. 12. A method according to claim 6, further comprising, after the forming step, a stabilizing step of applying a voltage to the electron-emitting device under a higher degree of vacuum than the forming step.
The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to any one of the above. 13. The method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 6, further comprising an activation step of applying a voltage to the electron-emitting device in the presence of the organic substance after the forming step. Method. 14. The electron-emitting device according to claim 13, further comprising, after the activation step, a stabilizing step of applying a voltage to the electron-emitting element under a higher degree of vacuum than the forming step and the activation step. Manufacturing method. 15. An electron-emitting device manufactured by the method according to claim 6. Description: 16. The electron-emitting device according to claim 15, wherein the electron-emitting device is a surface conduction electron-emitting device. 17. An electron source for emitting electrons in response to an input signal, wherein a plurality of the electron-emitting devices according to claim 15 or 16 are arranged on a substrate. 18. The electron source according to claim 17, wherein the plurality of electron-emitting devices are wired in a matrix. 19. The electron source according to claim 17, wherein the plurality of electron-emitting devices are wired in a ladder shape. 20. A method of manufacturing an electron source according to claim 17, wherein a plurality of electron-emitting devices are manufactured by the method according to claim 6. Description: Characteristic method of manufacturing an electron source. 21. An apparatus for forming an image on the basis of an input signal, wherein the image is formed by irradiating at least the electron source according to claim 17 and an electron beam emitted from the electron source. An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming member to be formed. 22. A method for manufacturing the image forming apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the electron source is manufactured by the method according to claim 20.