JPH1012132A - Surface conduction type electron-emitting device, electron source using the same, image forming apparatus, and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] The durability of a surface conduction electron-emitting device is low. SOLUTION: A conductive film 4 is formed between device electrodes 2 and 3 formed on a substrate 1 so as to connect them.
A part of the device electrodes 2 and 3 is coated with a film 503 mainly composed of a metal having a higher melting point than the conductive film 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a surface conduction electron-emitting device, an electron source using the same, an image forming apparatus such as a display device and an exposure device, and furthermore, the surface conduction electron-emitting device, an electron source and an image. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a forming apparatus.

[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 Emis
zone ", Advance in Electron
Physics, 8, 89 (1956) or C.I.
A. Spindt, "Physical Proper
ties of thin-filmfield em
issue cathodes withmollyb
denum cones ", J. Appl. Phys.
s. , 47, 5248 (1976).

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

As an example of the surface conduction electron-emitting device,
M. I. Elinson, RadioEng. Elec
Tron Phys. , 10, 1290 (1965).

[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 a SnO ₂ thin film by Elinson et al., And a device using an Au thin film [G. Dittmer: "ThinSolid
Films ", 9,317 (1972)] , In 2 O 3
/ SnO ₂ thin film [M. Hartwell a
nd C.I. G. FIG. Fonstad: “IEEE Tran
s. ED Conf. , 519 (1975)], and those based on carbon thin films [Hisashi Araki et al .: Vacuum, Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 22 (1983)] and the like have been reported.

As a typical example of these surface conduction electron-emitting devices, the above-mentioned M.P. Figure 2 shows the device configuration of Hartwell
Is shown schematically in 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 mm
Is set with

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).

Conventionally, an element for emitting electrons from an electron source composed of a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices and emitting light from a phosphor is selected by paralleling the above-mentioned many surface conduction electron-emitting devices. In the direction perpendicular to the row direction wiring (called the column direction)
This is based on an appropriate drive signal to a control electrode (referred to as a grid) provided in the space between the electron-emitting device and the phosphor (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 1-283749 by the present applicant).

[0013]

As described above, in the surface conduction type electron-emitting device, an energization forming process is usually performed in order to form an electron-emitting portion. The material of the conductive film is
The use of a material having a high melting point seems to be desirable in terms of durability. However, if the melting point is too high, the formation of the electron-emitting portion by the energization forming process may not be successful.

That is, in order to cause local destruction, deformation or alteration of the conductive film for forming the electron-emitting portion, the required power becomes large, and the characteristics of the resulting element are not desirable. And also,
When manufacturing a plurality of elements at the same time in the manufacture of an electron source having a large number of elements, it is necessary to pass a large current through the wiring, which is a practical problem.

According to the present invention, a conductive film is formed from a material suitable for a forming process so that a highly durable surface-conduction electron-emitting device can be easily obtained. It is an object of the present invention to obtain an image forming apparatus capable of obtaining the following.

[0016]

The invention of claims 1 to 3 is
In the invention related to the surface conduction electron-emitting device, a surface conduction electron-emitting device that forms a conductive film between a pair of device electrodes formed on a substrate and forms an electron-emitting portion in the conductive film by performing a forming process, It is characterized in that a part of the conductive film and the device electrode is covered with a metal film having a higher melting point than the conductive film.

The invention of claims 4 to 8 relates to a method of manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device, wherein a step of forming a device electrode on a substrate and forming a conductive film connecting the device electrodes is provided. It is characterized in that it includes a forming step of forming an electron-emitting portion in a conductive film, and a step of covering a part of the conductive film and the device electrode with a metal film having a higher melting point than the conductive film.

The invention according to claims 9 to 13 relates to a method for manufacturing an electron source having a plurality of the above-mentioned surface conduction electron-emitting devices. Forming a plurality of pairs of device electrodes on a substrate, forming a conductive film connecting the pair of device electrodes, forming an electron emission portion in each conductive film, Covering the film and a part of each pair of device electrodes with a metal film having a higher melting point than the conductive film.

The invention according to claims 14 to 16 relates to an electron source obtained by the above-mentioned manufacturing method.

Further, the invention of claims 17 to 20 relates to an image forming apparatus using the above-mentioned electron source and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0021]

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

First, the surface conduction electron-emitting device will be described.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing one configuration example of the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 1B is a sectional view. In FIG. 1, 1 is a substrate,
2 and 3 are device electrodes, 4 is a conductive film, 5 is an electron emitting portion, 5
Numeral 03 denotes a film mainly composed of a metal formed by a photolithography technique.

As the substrate 1, quartz glass, glass with a reduced content of impurities such as Na, or the like can be used. Here, as the above-mentioned glass, a glass having a high ultraviolet light transmission characteristic is preferable.

Materials for the opposing device electrodes 2 and 3 include:
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, more preferably several μm.
m to several tens of μm.

The length W of the device electrode can be in the range of several μm to several hundred μm in consideration of the resistance value of the electrode and the electron emission characteristics. The film thickness of the 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.
A configuration in which the conductive film 4 and the opposing element electrodes 2 and 3 are stacked in this order may be adopted.

As the conductive film 4, a fine particle film composed of fine particles is preferably used in order to obtain good electron emission characteristics. The film thickness is appropriately set in consideration of step coverage for the device electrodes 2 and 3, a resistance value between the device electrodes 2 and 3, a forming condition described later, and the like. Usually, it is preferably in the range of several angstrom to several hundred nm, and more preferably in the range of 1 nm to 50 nm. The resistance value of Rs is 10 to the square of 10 to 7
It is a value of the power Ω / □.

Note that Rs is an amount that appears when the resistance R measured in the length direction of the thin film having a width of w and a length of 1 is set as R = Rs (1 / w). Also, in the present specification,
The forming process will be described using an energizing process as an example, but the forming process is not limited to this and includes a process of forming a crack in the conductive film to form a high resistance state.

As a material constituting the conductive film 4, for example, Pd, Pt, Ru, Ag, Au, Ti, In, Cu,
Metals such as Cr, Fe, Zn, Sn, Pb, PdO, Sn
Oxides such as O ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO, Sb ₂ O ₃ , Hf
Borides such as B ₂ , ZrB ₂ , LaB ₆ , CeB ₆ , YB ₄ , GdB ₄ , TiC, ZrC, HfC, TaC, SiC, W
Carbides such as C, nitrides such as TiN, ZrN, and HfN;
Semiconductors such as Si and Ge, and carbon are exemplified. Among these, materials having a relatively low melting point, such as Ag, Pd, and PdO, are preferable for performing the energization forming process.

The fine particle film described here is a film in which a plurality of fine particles are aggregated. The fine structure thereof is not only a state in which the fine particles are individually dispersed and arranged, but also a state in which the fine particles are adjacent to each other or overlapped (some). Particles gather,
(Including the case where an island structure is formed as a whole). The particle size of the fine particles is in the range of several angstroms to several hundreds nm, preferably in the range of 1 nm to 20 nm.

In the present specification, the term “fine particles” is frequently used, and the meaning will be described.

Small particles are called "fine particles", and smaller ones are called "ultra fine particles". Particles smaller than "ultrafine particles" and having a few hundred atoms or less are widely called "clusters".

However, each boundary is not strict, and changes depending on what kind of property is focused on. Further, “fine particles” and “ultrafine particles” may be collectively referred to as “fine particles”, and the description in this specification is in line with this.

For example, in "Experimental Physics Course 14 Surface / Particles" (edited by Yoshio Kinoshita, published on September 1, 1986 by Kyoritsu Publishing Co., Ltd.), "fine particles in this paper have a diameter of about 2-3 μm to 10 nm. And especially when it is referred to as ultrafine particles, the particle size is about 10 nm to 2-3 n.
It means up to about m. It is not exactly strict because both are collectively written as fine particles, but it is a rough guide. When the number of atoms constituting a particle is two to several tens to several hundreds, it is called a cluster. (Page 195, lines 22 to 26).

In addition, the definition of "ultra-fine particles" in the "Hayashi / Ultra-fine Particle Project" of the New Technology Development Corporation has a lower limit of the particle size, which is as follows.

In the “Ultra Fine Particle Project” of the Promotion System for Creative Science and Technology (1981-1986), a particle having a size (diameter) in the range of about 1 to 100 nm is called “ultra fine particle”. Then, one ultrafine particle is about 100-
It is an aggregate of about 10 ⁸ atoms. Ultra-fine particles are large to giant particles on an atomic scale. ("Ultra Fine Particles-Creative Science and Technology" Hayashi Tax, Ryoji Ueda, Akira Tazaki
(Edited by Mita Publishing, 1988, page 2, lines 1 to 4) /
"A particle even smaller than an ultrafine particle, that is, a single particle composed of several to several hundred atoms, is usually called a cluster" (ibid., Page 2, lines 12 to 13).

[0039] Based on the general notation as described above,
In this specification, the term "fine particles" refers to an aggregate of a large number of atoms and molecules, and the lower limit of the particle size is about several angstroms to about 1 nm, and the upper limit is about several micrometers.

The electron-emitting portion 5 is constituted by a high-resistance crack formed in a part of the conductive film 4 and depends on the thickness, film quality, and material of the conductive film 4 and a method such as energization forming which will be described later. It will be. In some cases, conductive fine particles having a particle size in the range of several angstroms to several tens of nanometers are present inside the electron emission portion 5. The conductive fine particles contain some or all of the elements of the material constituting the conductive film 5. When the electron emitting portion 5 and the conductive film 4 in the vicinity thereof are subjected to an activation process described later, a simple substance and a compound composed of a part or all of the elements contained in the gas phase subjected to the activation process are used. May have. The role of the simple substance and the compound is known to function as a part of the conductive film 4 and to control electron emission characteristics as a material constituting the electron emission portion 5, but details are not clear. .

The metal serving as the main component of the film 503 formed by the photolithography technique is preferably one having a higher melting point, and W is a particularly preferred metal. The thickness of the film 503 is appropriately set depending on the type of metal serving as a main component, but is preferably 1 nm to 10 nm.

There are various methods for manufacturing the surface conduction 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 FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG.

1) The substrate 1 is sufficiently washed with a detergent, pure water, an organic solvent, and the like, and after the element electrode material is deposited by a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method, or the like, the substrate 1 is formed on the substrate 1 by using, for example, a photolithography technique. The device electrodes 2 and 3 are formed (FIG. 3
(A)).

2) On the substrate 1 provided with the device electrodes 2 and 3,
An organometallic solution is applied to form an organometallic thin film. As the organic metal solution, a solution of an organic metal compound containing the metal of the material of the conductive film 4 as a main element can be used.
The organic metal film is heated and baked, and patterned by lift-off, etching, or the like to form a conductive film 4 (FIG. 3).
(B)). Here, the method of applying the organometallic solution has been described, but the method of forming the conductive film 4 is not limited to this, and a vacuum deposition method, a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition method,
A dispersion coating method, a dipping method, a spinner method, or the like can also be used.

3) Subsequently, a forming step is performed. As an example of a method of the forming step, a method by an energization process will be described. When electricity is supplied from a power supply (not shown) between the device electrodes 2 and 3, an electron emitting portion 5 having a changed structure is formed at the portion of the conductive film 4 (FIG. 3C). According to the energization forming, a portion where the structure such as destruction, deformation or alteration is locally formed in the conductive film 4 is formed. This portion constitutes the electron emission section 5. FIG. 6 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. 6A in which a pulse with a constant pulse peak value is applied continuously and the method shown in FIG. 6B in which a pulse is applied 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. T1 in FIG. 6 (a)
And T2 are the pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform. Usually, T1 is 1 μsec to 10 msec, and T2 is 10 μsec to 100 msec.
It is set in the range of m seconds. The peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage during energization forming) is appropriately selected according to the form of the surface conduction electron-emitting device. Under these conditions,
For example, the 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.
T1 and T2 in FIG. 6B can be the same as those shown in FIG. The peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage during energization forming) can be increased, for example, by 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 T2, 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.

4) Further, a step of forming a film 503 mainly composed of a metal on the conductive film 4 by photolithography is performed (FIGS. 4D to 5F and FIGS. 5G to 5G).
(H)). Hereinafter, this step will be described step by step.

First, a high-resolution negative photoresist 501 (ONNR-20, manufactured by Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd.) is applied to the entire surface of the surface conduction electron-emitting device subjected to the energization forming (FIG. 4D). The thickness of the photoresist 501 is appropriately set depending on the type of the film 503 mainly containing a metal to be finally formed, but is preferably 10 nm to several hundred nm.

Thereafter, ultraviolet rays 502 are irradiated from the back surface of the substrate 1 to insolubilize only the portion of the photoresist 501 which is in direct contact with the substrate 1 (FIG. 4E). Note that the wavelength of the ultraviolet light 502 is preferably shorter, and a particularly preferable wavelength is 200 to 300 nm.

Next, the photoresist 5 in the non-irradiated part of the ultraviolet ray
01 is removed by a developer (FIG. 4F). continue,
Using the mask 504, a film 503 mainly containing a metal is formed by a sputtering method or the like (FIG. 5G). Finally, the photoresist 501 is removed by a lift-off method to complete the present step (FIG. 5H).

5) It is preferable that the element after the forming step and the photolithography step be subjected to a process called an activation step. The activation step is a step in which the element current If and the emission current Ie are significantly changed by this step.

The activation step can be performed, for example, by repeatedly applying a pulse to the element in an atmosphere containing an organic substance gas, similarly to the energization forming. This atmosphere can be formed by using 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, or is sufficiently evacuated once by an ion pump or the like. It can also be obtained by introducing a gas of an appropriate organic substance into a vacuum. The preferable gas pressure of the organic substance at this time varies depending on the above-described application form, the shape of the vacuum vessel, the type of the organic substance, and the like, and is accordingly set as appropriate. 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. Specifically, methane, ethane, saturated hydrocarbon represented by CnH _{2n + 2} such as propane, ethylene, unsaturated hydrocarbon represented by a composition formula such as CnH _2n such as 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 the organic substance existing in the atmosphere, and the device current If and the emission current Ie are significantly changed.

The end of the activation step is determined as appropriate while measuring the device current If and the emission current Ie. The pulse width, pulse interval, pulse crest value, and the like are set as appropriate.

Carbon and carbon compounds include, for example, graphite (so-called HOPG, PG, GC), and HOPG has a substantially complete graphite crystal structure, PG
Are those with crystal grains of about 20 nm and a slightly disordered crystal structure,
GC refers to a crystal having a crystal grain of about 2 nm and further disorder in the crystal structure. ) And amorphous carbon (refer to amorphous carbon and a mixture of amorphous carbon and the microcrystals of graphite), and the thickness thereof is preferably in the range of 50 nm or less, and 30 n
More preferably, the range is not more than m.

6) 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.

In the activation step, when an oil diffusion pump or a rotary pump is used as an exhaust device and an organic gas derived from an oil component generated therefrom is used, it is necessary to keep the partial pressure of this component as low as possible. is there. The partial pressure of the organic component in the vacuum vessel is preferably 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁶ Pa or less, more preferably 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁸ Pa or less, at a partial pressure at which the carbon and the carbon compound are hardly newly deposited. 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 condition at this time is desirably 80 to 250 ° C., preferably 150 ° C. or higher, and it is desirable to perform the treatment for as long as possible. However, the present invention is not particularly limited to this condition, and the size and shape of the vacuum vessel,
This is performed under conditions appropriately selected according to various conditions such as the configuration of the electron-emitting device. The pressure in the vacuum vessel needs to be as low as possible, and is preferably 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ Pa or less.
Particularly preferred is 3 × 10 ⁻⁶ Pa or less.

It is preferable that the atmosphere at the time of driving after the stabilization process is performed is the same as the atmosphere at the end of the stabilization process, but the present invention is not limited to this. 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 carbon compound can be suppressed.
Further, H ₂ O, O ₂ , and the like adsorbed on a vacuum vessel, a substrate, and the like can be removed, and as a result, the element current If and the emission current Ie are stabilized.

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

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a vacuum processing apparatus. This vacuum processing apparatus also has a function as a measurement and evaluation apparatus. 7, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG.

In FIG. 7, 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. That is, 1 is a substrate constituting an electron-emitting device, 2 and 3 are device electrodes, 4 is a conductive film, 5 is an electron-emitting portion, and 503 is a film containing metal as a main component. Reference numeral 51 denotes a power supply for applying a device voltage Vf to the electron-emitting device; 50, an ammeter for measuring a device current If flowing through the conductive film 4 between the device electrodes 2 and 3; An anode electrode for capturing the emission current Ie emitted from the unit 5, a high-voltage power supply 53 for applying a voltage to the anode electrode 54, and a reference numeral 52 for measuring the emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission unit 5. It is an ammeter. As an example, the measurement can be performed with the voltage of the anode electrode 54 in the range of 1 kV to 10 kV and the distance H between the anode electrode 54 and the electron-emitting device in the range of 2 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 ultrahigh vacuum system such as an ion pump. The entire vacuum processing apparatus provided with the electron source substrate shown here can be heated by a heater (not shown). Therefore, by using this vacuum processing apparatus, the steps after the energization forming described above can also be performed.

FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing the relationship between the emission current Ie and the device current If measured by using the vacuum processing apparatus shown in FIG. 7, and the device voltage Vf. In FIG. 8, since the emission current Ie is significantly smaller than the element current If, it is shown in arbitrary units. The vertical and horizontal axes are linear scales.

As is clear from FIG. 8, the surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied has the following three characteristic characteristics regarding the emission current Ie.

First, when an element voltage higher than a certain voltage (called a threshold voltage; Vth in FIG. 8) is applied to the present element, the emission current Ie sharply increases, while the threshold voltage Vth Below, the emission current Ie is hardly detected. That is, it is a nonlinear element having a clear threshold voltage Vth with respect to the emission current Ie.

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

Thirdly, the amount of the emitted charges captured by the anode electrode 54 (see FIG. 7) 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 surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied can easily control the electron emission characteristics according to the input signal. By utilizing this property, it is possible to apply to various fields such as an electron source and an image forming apparatus having a plurality of electron-emitting devices.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which the device current If also monotonically increases with respect to the device voltage Vf (MI characteristic).
The element current If may exhibit a voltage-controlled negative resistance characteristic (VCNR characteristic) with respect to the element voltage Vf (not shown).
These properties can be controlled by controlling the steps described above.

Because of the characteristic characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present invention as described above, even in an electron source or an image forming apparatus in which a plurality of devices are arranged, the amount of emitted electrons can be easily adjusted according to an input signal. It can be controlled and can be applied to various fields.

An application example of the electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied will be described below. By arranging a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices to which the present invention can be applied 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 surface conduction electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied has three characteristics as described above. That is, when the electrons emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device are equal to or higher than the threshold voltage, they can be controlled by the peak value and the width of the pulse voltage applied between the opposing device electrodes. On the other hand, when the voltage is equal to or lower than the threshold voltage, it is hardly emitted. According to this characteristic, even when a large number of electron-emitting devices are arranged, if a pulse-like voltage is applied to each of the devices as appropriate,
The amount of electron emission can be controlled by selecting the surface conduction electron-emitting device.

Hereinafter, based on this principle, an electron source substrate obtained by disposing a plurality of electron-emitting devices to which the present invention can be applied will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 71 denotes an electron source substrate, 72 denotes an X-direction wiring, and 73 denotes a Y-direction wiring.
74 is a surface conduction electron-emitting device, and 75 is a connection.

The m X-directional 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-direction wiring 73 is formed of n of Dy1, Dy2,.
It is formed in the same manner as the X-direction wiring 72. These m X-direction wires 72 and n Y-direction wires 7
3, an interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is provided.
Both are electrically separated (m and n are both positive integers).

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

A pair of device electrodes (not shown) constituting the surface conduction electron-emitting device 74 are connected to m X-direction wires 72 and n Y-direction wires 73 by a connection 75 made of a conductive metal or the like. It is electrically 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 have some or all of the same or different constituent elements. Good. These materials are appropriately selected, for example, from the above-described materials for the device electrodes. When the material forming the element electrode is the same as the wiring material, the wiring connected to the element electrode can also be called an element electrode.

The X-direction wiring 72 is connected to a scanning signal applying means (not shown) for applying a scanning signal for selecting a row of the surface conduction 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 surface conduction 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.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show an image forming apparatus constructed using such an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a display panel of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a fluorescent film used in the image forming apparatus of FIG. FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a driving circuit for performing display according to an NTSC television signal.

In FIG. 10, 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 8 on the inner surface of a glass substrate 83;
4 is 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 a surface conduction 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 installing 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. 11 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, it may be composed of a black conductive material 91 called a black stripe (FIG. 11A) or a black matrix (FIG. 11B) or the like and a fluorescent material 92 depending on the arrangement of the fluorescent materials. it can. The purpose of providing the black stripes and the black matrix is to make the mixed portions inconspicuous by making the painted portions between the phosphors 92 of the necessary three primary color phosphors black in the case of color display, An object of the present invention is to suppress a decrease in contrast due to light reflection. As the material of the black conductive material 91, a material which is conductive and has little light transmission and reflection can be used in addition to a commonly used material mainly containing graphite.

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. 10 is manufactured, for example, as follows.

The inside of the envelope 88 is evacuated through an exhaust pipe (not shown) by an exhaust device that does not use oil, such as an ion pump and a sorption pump, while appropriately heating, as in the above-described stabilization process. After setting the atmosphere with a vacuum degree of about 3 × 10 ⁻⁵ Pa and a sufficiently small amount of the organic substance, sealing is performed. In order to maintain the degree of vacuum after sealing the envelope 88,
Getter processing can also be performed. This is the envelope 88
Immediately before or after sealing, a getter (not shown) disposed at a predetermined position in the envelope 88 is heated by heating using resistance heating, high-frequency heating, or the like, to form a deposited film. Processing. The getter is usually composed mainly of Ba or the like.
The vacuum degree of 10 ^-5 Pa or more is maintained. Here, steps after the forming process of the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be appropriately set.

Next, an example of the configuration of a driving 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 synchronizing signal separation circuit, 107 is a modulation signal generator, and Vx and Va are DC voltage sources.

The display panel 101 has terminals Dx1 to Dx
m, terminals Dy1 to Dyn, and a high voltage terminal 87 are connected to an external electric circuit. Terminals Dx1 to Dxm sequentially drive electron sources provided in the display panel 101, that is, a group of surface conduction electron-emitting devices arranged in a matrix of m rows and n columns in a matrix (row by row). A scanning signal for performing the scanning is applied. The terminals Dy1 to Dyn include
A modulation signal for controlling an output electron beam of each element of one row of surface conduction electron-emitting devices 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. The DC voltage is applied to the electron beam emitted from the surface conduction electron-emitting device.
It is an accelerating voltage for applying sufficient energy to excite the phosphor.

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 Dx1 to Dxm 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 the present embodiment, the DC voltage source Vx is based on the characteristics (electron emission threshold voltage) of the surface conduction electron-emitting device. It is set to output a constant voltage that is equal to or lower than the value voltage.

The control circuit 103 has a function of matching the operation of each section 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 Id1 to Idn.

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

The modulation signal generator 107 outputs the image data I
a signal source for appropriately driving and modulating each of the surface conduction electron-emitting devices according to each of d′ 1 to Id′n;
The output signal is applied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the display panel 101 through the terminals Dy1 to Dyn.

As described above, the electron-emitting device to which the present invention can be applied has the following basic characteristics regarding the emission current Ie. That is, a clear threshold voltage Vth is required for electron emission.
And electron emission occurs only when a voltage equal to or higher than Vth 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 applying a pulsed voltage to this element,
For example, electron emission does not occur even when a voltage lower than the electron emission threshold voltage is applied. However, when a voltage higher than the electron emission threshold voltage is applied, an electron beam is output. that time,
By changing the pulse peak value Vm, the intensity of the output electron beam can be controlled. 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 performing 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 voltage of the pulse width modulated signal output from the comparator to the drive voltage of the surface conduction 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 oscillation circuit (VCO) can be employed, and an amplifier for amplifying the voltage up to the drive voltage of the surface conduction electron-emitting device can be added as necessary.

In the image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied, which has such a configuration, by applying a voltage to each of the electron-emitting devices via terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn outside the container, the electron-emitting devices can emit electrons. Occurs. A high voltage is applied to the metal back 85 or a transparent electrode (not shown) via the high voltage terminal 87 to accelerate the electron beam. 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 an image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention. The input signal has been described in the NTSC system. However, the input signal is not limited to this. In addition to the PAL and SECAM systems,
A TV signal composed of more scanning lines than these (for example,
A high-definition TV system such as the MUSE system can also be adopted.

Next, the electron source and the image forming apparatus having the ladder-type arrangement will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a ladder type electron source. In FIG. 13, reference numeral 110 denotes an electron source substrate, and 111 denotes an electron-emitting device. Reference numeral 112 denotes common wirings D1 to D10 for connecting the electron-emitting devices 111, and 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. Common wirings D2 to D9 located between the element rows are, for example, D2 and D3, D4
And D5, D6 and D7, and D8 and D9, respectively, may be formed as one and the same wiring.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing an example of a panel structure in an image forming apparatus having a ladder type electron source. Reference numeral 120 denotes a grid electrode, 121 denotes an opening through which electrons pass, D1 to Dm denote external terminals, and G1 to Gn denote external terminals connected to the grid electrode 120. 1
Reference numeral 10 denotes an electron source substrate in which the common wiring between the element rows is the same wiring. In FIG. 14, the same portions as those shown in FIGS. 10 and 13 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those shown in these drawings. The image forming apparatus shown here and FIG.
The major difference from the image forming apparatus of the simple matrix arrangement shown in FIG. 9 is whether or not the grid electrode 120 is provided between the electron source substrate 110 and the face plate 86.

In FIG. 14, 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 surface conduction electron-emitting device 111, and allows the electron beam to pass through a stripe-shaped electrode provided orthogonal to the ladder-type element row. Therefore, 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 may be provided in a mesh shape as openings, and a grid electrode may be provided around or near the surface conduction electron-emitting device.

The external terminals D1 to Dm 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 image line is simultaneously applied to the grid electrode rows in synchronization with the sequential driving (scanning) of the element rows one by one. This makes it possible to control the irradiation of each electron beam to the phosphor and display an image one line at a time.

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

[0118]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples.

Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 The structure of the surface conduction electron-emitting device used in this example is the same as that shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b).

The manufacturing method of the surface conduction electron-emitting device is basically the same as the method described with reference to FIGS. Hereinafter, a basic configuration and a manufacturing method of the surface conduction electron-emitting device used in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 to 5.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a substrate, 2 and 3 are device electrodes, 4 is a conductive film, 5 is an electron emitting portion, and 503 is a film containing a metal as a main component.

The manufacturing procedure will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 and FIGS.

Step-a On a cleaned quartz substrate 1, a thin film
Ti having a thickness of 5 nm and Pt having a thickness of 25 nm were sequentially formed. Add a photoresist (RD-2000N-41
Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.) was spin-coated with a spinner, exposed and developed using an electrode pattern mask, and the photoresist was removed to form device electrodes 2 and 3 (FIG. 3).
(A)).

Step-b Next, a Cr film is formed on the entire surface by a sputtering method, and a photoresist is spin-coated thereon by a spinner, and a pattern for forming the conductive film 4 is exposed using a photomask. did. This was developed to remove the unnecessary photoresist, the unnecessary Cr film was removed by etching to form an opening, and the remaining photoresist was removed. An organic Pd complex solution (CCP4230, manufactured by Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) was spin-coated thereon with a spinner and heat-treated at 300 ° C. for 12 minutes to form a PdO film. This coating and baking process was repeated seven times, and the Cr film and unnecessary PdO film were removed by lift-off to form a conductive film 4 made of PdO (FIG. 3B).

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

Step-c The substrate 1 having undergone the above steps is set in the measurement and evaluation system shown in FIG. 7, evacuated by a vacuum pump, and reaches a degree of vacuum of 2.7 × 10 ⁻³ Pa. A voltage is applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 from a power supply 51 for applying a voltage, a current applying process (forming process) is performed, and an electron emitting portion 5 is formed on a part of the conductive film 4.
Was formed (FIG. 3C). The applied voltage was a triangular wave pulse having a pulse width T1 of 1 ms and a pulse interval T2 of 10 ms, and the pulse height was increased from 0 V to 14 V at 5 V / min.

Step-d Next, a high-resolution negative photoresist 501 is formed on the entire surface of the device.
(ONNR-20, manufactured by Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd.) was applied. The thickness of the photoresist 501 was 50 nm (FIG. 4).
(D)).

Step-e Further, ultraviolet rays 502 were irradiated from the back surface of the substrate 1 to insolubilize only the portion of the photoresist 501 directly in contact with the substrate 1 (FIG. 4E).

Step-f Then, the photoresist 501 in the non-irradiated part of the ultraviolet ray was removed by a developing solution (FIG. 4F).

Step-g Next, using the mask 504, the film 5 mainly containing metal is formed.
03 was formed by a sputtering method (FIG. 5G).

Step-h Then, the photoresist 501 was removed by a lift-off method (FIG. 5 (h)).

Subsequently, a constant-voltage pulse having a pulse peak value was repeatedly applied to the formed surface-conduction type electron-emitting device to perform an activation process. Surface conduction type electron emission
The activation process is performed in the measurement and evaluation system of FIG.
In the meantime, the measurement was performed by applying the pulse voltage while measuring the device current If and the emission current Ie. At this time, the degree of vacuum in the measurement / evaluation apparatus of FIG. 7 was 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa. When Ie was stabilized, the activation process was terminated.

Next, as a comparative example of Example 1, the surface conduction electron-emitting device of Comparative Example 1 was formed by the steps -a to c of Example 1.

The difference between the surface conduction electron-emitting device of Example 1 and the surface conduction electron-emitting device of Comparative Example 1 is that the conductive film 4
This is the presence or absence of the metal film 503 coated thereon.

In this way, a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices of Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 were manufactured and measured using the above-described measurement evaluation system of FIG. This measurement was performed using an ultra-high vacuum evacuation device such as an ion pump that does not use vacuum oil, and the measurement was performed under the condition that contamination of organic substances was prevented as much as possible.

The applied voltage is a 14V rectangular wave pulse.
The pulse width T1 was 0.1 ms, and the pulse interval T2 was 10 ms. Further, the distance between the anode electrode 54 and the surface conduction electron-emitting device in FIG. 7 was 2 mm, the potential of the anode electrode 54 was 1 kV, and the degree of vacuum in the vacuum apparatus when measuring the electron emission characteristics was 1.3 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa. did.

As a result, the initial values of the emission current Ie and the device current If and the changes due to the drive slightly differ from one device to another, but the electron emission efficiency η (=
Ie / If), the device of Example 1 was compared with Comparative Example 1
The value was about twice as large as that of the device of the above. this is,
This indicates that the durability of the surface conduction electron-emitting device has been improved.

Although the melting point in the thin film state is unknown,
The melting point of bulk metal is W at 3655 ° C. and Pd at 1
555 ° C.

Example 2 In the same manner as in Example 1, the surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 1 was manufactured. However, the film 50 mainly composed of metal is used.
As No. 3, Ir was used in place of W used in Example 1.

When the surface conduction electron-emitting device was measured and evaluated using the measurement and evaluation system shown in FIG. 7 in the same manner as in Example 1, the electron emission efficiency η ( = Ie / If) is slightly inferior to the surface conduction electron-emitting device of Example 1, but is about 1.7 times as large as that of the surface conduction electron-emitting device of Comparative Example 1. In addition,
Although the melting point in a thin film state is unknown, the melting point of Ir as a bulk metal is 2454 ° C.

Embodiment 3 and Comparative Example 2 This embodiment is an example of an image forming apparatus using an electron source in which many surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged in a simple matrix.

FIG. 15 is a plan view of a part of the electron source. FIG. 16 is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ in FIG.
7 and FIG. However, the same reference numerals in FIGS. 15, 16, 17, and 18 denote the same members.

Here, 1 is a substrate, 72 is an X-direction wiring (also called lower wiring), 73 is a Y-direction wiring (also called upper wiring),
Reference numerals 2 and 3 denote device electrodes, 4 denotes a conductive film, 141 denotes an interlayer insulating layer, and 142 denotes a contact hole for electrical connection between the device electrode 2 and the lower wiring 72.

Next, the manufacturing method will be specifically described in the order of steps with reference to FIGS. The following steps a to h correspond to (a) to (h) in FIGS. 17 and 18.

Step-a A 5 nm-thick Cr film and a 600 nm-thick Au are sequentially laminated on a cleaned glass substrate 71, and a photoresist (A
Z1370, manufactured by Hoechst Co.) is spin-coated with a spinner and baked, and then a photomask image is exposed and developed to form a resist pattern of the lower wiring 72, and Au / C
The r-deposited film was wet-etched to form a lower wiring 72 having a desired shape (FIG. 17A).

Step-b Next, an interlayer insulating layer 141 made of a silicon oxide film having a thickness of 100 nm was deposited by a high frequency sputtering method (FIG. 17).
(B)).

Step-c The contact hole 1 was formed in the silicon oxide film deposited in the step b.
A photoresist pattern for forming 42 was formed, and the interlayer insulating layer 141 was etched using the photoresist pattern as a mask to form a contact hole 142. Etching is CF ₄
(Reactive Ion) using H2 and H ₂ gas
Etching) method (FIG. 17 (c)).

Step-d A photoresist (RD-2000N-41, manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.) is formed as a pattern to be a gap L between device electrodes, and 5 nm thick Ti and 100 nm are formed by vacuum evaporation.
Are sequentially laminated, and the photoresist pattern is dissolved in an organic solvent to remove an excess Ni film by a lift-off method, thereby forming device electrodes 2 and 3 having a device electrode interval L of 2 μm (FIG. 17D). ).

Step-e After forming a photoresist pattern of the upper wiring 73 on the device electrodes 2 and 3, Ti having a thickness of 5 nm and a thickness of 300 nm
Are sequentially deposited by vacuum evaporation, and unnecessary portions are removed by lift-off to form an upper wiring 73 having a desired shape (FIG. 18E).

Step-f Next, as a mask for forming the conductive film 4,
m Cr film 151 is deposited and patterned by vacuum evaporation, and organic palladium (CCP4230, manufactured by Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) is spin-coated thereon by a spinner,
A heating and baking treatment was performed for 0 minutes (FIG. 18F).

Step-g The Cr film 151 was removed by etching with an acid etchant, and the conductive film 4 having a desired pattern was formed by lift-off (FIG. 18 (g)). The conductive film 4 made of Pd fine particles thus formed had a thickness of 10 nm and a sheet resistance of 2 × 10 ⁴ Ω / □. This Pd fine particle film was a film in which a plurality of fine particles were aggregated.

Step-h A resist is applied to portions other than the contact hole 142 to form a pattern, and 5 nm thick Ti,
Au having a thickness of 500 nm was sequentially deposited. Unnecessary portions were removed by lift-off to bury the contact holes 142 (FIG. 18H).

Subsequently, in the same manner as in Example 1, energization forming was performed to form a film 503 containing a metal as a main component (FIGS. 3C, 4D to 4F, FIG. 5 (g)
-(H)). FIG. 19 illustrates a connection configuration during energization forming of the electron source according to the third embodiment.

Thus, the simple matrix electron source shown in FIGS. 9 and 15 was obtained.

Next, as Comparative Example 2, an electron source without the film 503 containing a metal as a main component in the surface conduction electron-emitting device shown in Example 3 was produced. That is, in the electron source of Comparative Example 2, the step of forming the film 503 containing a metal as a main component shown in Step-h of Example 3 (FIGS. 4D to 4F, FIG.
(G) to (h)).

The electron sources of Example 3 and Comparative Example 2
As shown in FIG. 5, the extraction electrode 398 and the fluorescent plate were attached, and all the surface conduction electron-emitting devices were sequentially scanned and driven. A surface conduction electron-emitting device applies a driving pulse to the X-direction wiring during driving, utilizing the characteristic of exhibiting nonlinear characteristics that almost no current flows and does not emit electrons when the applied voltage is below a certain threshold value. By setting the Y-direction wiring connected to the element to be lit to the ground level, and setting the other Y-direction wirings to the middle of the ground level and the maximum voltage of the pulse (half-selection voltage), the surface conduction type at the desired position is obtained. Electrons can be emitted only from the electron-emitting device.

The measurement system shown in FIG. 20 will be described. Reference numeral 391 denotes a vacuum chamber, which is 6.7 × 10 ⁻⁵ Pa by an exhaust system (not shown).
Exhausted below. 392 is a window, 71 is an element substrate,
Reference numeral 74 denotes an element main body composed of an electron emitting portion, an element electrode, wiring, and the like. Numerals 395 and 396 denote driving wirings for X and Y direction lines, respectively. A driver 397 applies an appropriate pulse to the wiring. Reference numeral 398 denotes an extraction electrode, in which glass formed with an ITO thin film of a transparent electrode is fitted into an aluminum frame, and a phosphor is applied to the lower surface thereof.

The driver 39 is supplied to the surface conduction electron-emitting device 74 so that the driving voltage is 14 V and the half-selection voltage is 7 V.
At 7, a square wave pulse was applied. The extraction voltage was 5 kV.

After the respective electron sources were driven for 1000 hours, the emission of the phosphor due to the electron emission was visually observed through the window 392. The electron source of Example 3 was different from that of Comparative Example 2
The brightness was about twice as high as that of the electron source.

Next, an example in which an image forming apparatus is configured by using the electron source created as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

After fixing the substrate 71 provided with a large number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices 74 on the rear plate 81 as described above, a face plate 86 (fluorescent light is applied to the inner surface of the glass substrate 83) 5 mm above the substrate 71. A film 84 and a metal back 85 are formed via a support frame 82, and frit glass is applied to a joint between the face plate 86, the support frame 82, and the rear plate 81. Sealing was carried out by baking at 400 ° C. to 500 ° C. for 10 minutes or more in a vacuum oven. The fixing of the substrate 71 to the rear plate 81 was also performed with frit glass.

In FIG. 10, reference numerals 72 and 73 denote wirings in the X and Y directions, respectively.

The fluorescent film 84 is composed of only the phosphor 92 in the case of monochrome, but in this embodiment, the phosphor 92 adopts a stripe shape (FIG. 11A), and a black stripe is formed first. The phosphors 92 of the respective colors were applied to the gaps to form the phosphor films 84. As a material of the black stripe, a material mainly containing graphite, which is generally used, was used.

As a method of applying the phosphor 92 on the glass substrate 83, a slurry method was used. Further, a metal back 85 is provided on the inner surface side of the fluorescent film 84. Metal back 85
Was manufactured by performing a smoothing process (usually called filming) on the inner surface of the fluorescent film 84 after the formation of the fluorescent film 84, and then performing vacuum deposition of Al.

The face plate 86 is further provided with a fluorescent film 8.
In some cases, a transparent electrode (not shown) is provided on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 84 in order to improve the conductivity of the metal film 4. However, in the present embodiment, only the metal back 85 provided sufficient conductivity. Omitted.

At the time of performing the above-mentioned sealing, in the case of color, since the phosphors 92 of each color must correspond to the surface conduction electron-emitting devices 74, sufficient alignment was performed.

The atmosphere in the glass container completed as described above is exhausted by a vacuum pump through an exhaust pipe (not shown), and after reaching a sufficient degree of vacuum, the external terminals Dx1 to Dx1
Example 1 A voltage was applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 of the surface conduction electron-emitting device 74 through xm and Dy1 to Dyn.
The electron-emitting portion 6 is formed by performing the same forming process as described above.
It was created.

The voltage waveform of the forming process is shown in Example 1.
The process was performed in a vacuum atmosphere of about 1.3 × 10 ⁻³ Pa.

Next, in a vacuum atmosphere of 2.7 × 10 ⁻³ Pa, a voltage pulse of 20 V is repeatedly applied for 30 minutes, and an activation process is performed while measuring the device current If and the emission current Ie to remove carbon. 8 nm of a compound as a main component was deposited.

By performing the forming step and the activation step as described above, an electro-surface conduction electron-emitting device 74 having the electron-emitting portion 5 was manufactured.

Thereafter, the gas was evacuated to a degree of vacuum of about 10 ^-4 Pa, and an exhaust pipe (not shown) was welded by heating with a gas burner to seal the envelope. In order to maintain the value, gettering was performed by a high-frequency heating method.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention completed as described above, the scanning signal and the modulation signal are transmitted to the surface conduction electron-emitting device 74 from the signal generating means (not shown) through the external terminals Dx1 to Dxm and Dy1 to Dyn. Electrons are emitted by applying the voltage, and a high voltage of several kV or more is applied to the metal back 85 through the high voltage terminal 87,
The display of an image was obtained by accelerating the electron beam, colliding with the fluorescent film 84, and exciting and emitting light. When the display state of the image after driving for 1000 hours was visually observed, when the electron source obtained in Example 3 was used, an extremely good image display was performed as compared with the case where the electron source obtained in Comparative Example 2 was used. was gotten.

Embodiment 4 FIG. 21 shows an image forming apparatus according to the present invention in which the image forming apparatus of Embodiment 3 is configured to display image information provided from various image information sources such as television broadcasting. It is a figure showing an example of an apparatus.

In the figure, reference numeral 1700 denotes a display panel;
01 is a display panel driving circuit, 1702 is a display controller, 1703 is a multiplexer,
704 is a decoder, 1705 is an input / output interface circuit, 1706 is a CPU, 1707 is an image generation circuit, 1
708, 1709 and 1710 are image memory interface circuits, 1711 is an image input interface circuit, 1712 and 1713 are TV signal receiving circuits,
Reference numeral 14 denotes an input unit.

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

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

First, the TV signal receiving circuit 1713 is a circuit for receiving a TV signal transmitted using a wireless transmission system such as radio waves or spatial optical communication.

The format of the received TV signal is not particularly limited. For example, NTSC, PAL, SEC
Any method such as the AM method may be used. Further, a TV signal comprising a larger number of scanning lines than these, for example, a so-called high-definition TV including the MUSE system is a signal suitable for taking advantage of the display panel suitable for a large area and a large number of pixels. Source.

T received by TV signal receiving circuit 1713
The V signal is output to the decoder 1704.

The TV signal receiving circuit 1712 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 1713, the type 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 1704.

Image input interface circuit 1711
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 1704.

Image memory interface circuit 171
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 1704.

Image memory interface circuit 170
Reference numeral 9 denotes a circuit for capturing an image signal stored in the video disk.
704.

Image memory interface circuit 170
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 1704.

The input / output interface circuit 1705 is
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 1706 provided in the image forming apparatus and the outside in some cases. .

The image generation circuit 1707 is provided with image data and character / graphic information input from the outside via the input / output interface circuit 1705 or the CPU 170.
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 1704, but may be output to an external computer network or printer via the input / output interface circuit 1705 in some cases.

The CPU 1706 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 1703, 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 the display device 702 to appropriately control the operation of the display device such as the screen display frequency, the scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced), and the number of scanning lines on one screen. Further, image data and character / graphic information are directly output to the image generation circuit 1707, or an external computer or memory is accessed via the input / output interface circuit 1705 to output image data or character / graphic information. input.

It should be noted that the CPU 1706 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 1705
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 1714 is for the user to input commands, programs, data, and the like to the CPU 1706. 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.

The decoder 1704 converts the various image signals input from the signals 1707 to 1713 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 1707
And cooperate with the CPU 1706 to perform image thinning, interpolation,
There is an advantage that image processing and editing including enlargement, reduction, and composition become easy.

The multiplexer 1703 is connected to the CPU 1
A display image is appropriately selected based on a control signal input from 706. That is, the multiplexer 1703
Selects a desired image signal from the inversely converted image signals input from the decoder 1704 and selects a driving circuit 1701
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 1702
Is a circuit for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 1701 based on a control signal input from the CPU 1706.

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 1701. As a method related to the display panel driving method, a signal for controlling, for example, a screen display frequency and a scanning method (for example, interlaced or non-interlaced) is output to the driving circuit 1701. In some cases, a control signal related to image quality adjustment such as luminance, contrast, color tone, and sharpness of a display image may be output to the driving circuit 1701.

The drive circuit 1701 is a circuit for generating a drive signal to be applied to the display panel 1700, based on an image signal input from the multiplexer 1703 and a control signal input from the display panel controller 1702. It works.

The function of each unit has been described above. With the configuration illustrated in FIG. 21, in the present image forming apparatus, image information input from various image information sources can be displayed on the display panel 1700. . That is, various image signals including a television broadcast are transmitted to the decoder 1.
After the inverse conversion at 704, the multiplexer 1703
Are appropriately selected and input to the driving circuit 1701. On the other hand, the display controller 1702 generates a control signal for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 1701 according to the image signal to be displayed. The drive circuit 1701 controls the display panel 1 based on the image signal and the control signal.
A drive signal is applied to 700. Thus, an image is displayed on display panel 1700. These series of operations are totally controlled by the CPU 1706.

In the present image forming apparatus, an image memory built in the decoder 1704, an image generation circuit 170
7 and information selected from the information, as well as, for example, enlargement, reduction, rotation, movement, edge enhancement, thinning, interpolation, color conversion, image aspect ratio conversion, etc., for the image information to be displayed. It is also possible to perform image processing such as initial image processing and image editing such as combining, erasing, connecting, exchanging, and fitting. Although not specifically mentioned in the description of the present embodiment, a dedicated circuit for processing and editing audio information may be provided as in the above-described image processing and image editing.

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

FIG. 21 shows only an example of the configuration of an image forming apparatus using a display panel using a surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron beam source. It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this.

For example, of the components shown in FIG. 21, 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 this display device is applied as a video phone, a TV camera, a voice microphone,
It is preferable to add an illuminator, a transmission / reception circuit including a modem, and the like to the components.

In the present image forming apparatus, in particular, since the surface conduction electron-emitting device is used as the electron source, the thickness of the display panel can be easily reduced, so that the depth of the image forming apparatus can be reduced. In addition, a display panel using a surface conduction electron-emitting device as an electron beam source is easy to enlarge the screen, has high brightness, and has excellent viewing angle characteristics, so that the image forming apparatus is full of a sense of reality and has a powerful image. Can be displayed with good visibility.

[0204]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A highly durable surface conduction electron-emitting device can be obtained by using a conductive film material suitable for energization forming.
Further, by using the element, a highly durable electron source and further a highly durable image forming apparatus can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional surface conduction electron-emitting device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a method of manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a forming waveform.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a measurement evaluation system for a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows emission current of the surface conduction electron-emitting device of the present invention.
It is a figure which shows an element voltage characteristic (IV characteristic).

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of the electron source of the present invention in a simple matrix arrangement.

FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of a display panel used in an image forming apparatus of the present invention using an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a fluorescent film in the display panel of FIG.

12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a drive circuit that drives the display panel of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a schematic plan view of an electron source in a trapezoidal arrangement.

FIG. 14 is a schematic configuration diagram of a display panel used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention using a trapezoidal arrangement of electron sources.

FIG. 15 is a schematic plan view showing an electron source according to a third embodiment.

16 is a sectional view taken along line A-A 'in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for manufacturing the electron source according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a manufacturing procedure of the electron source according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a connection mode during energization forming in the third embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a measurement system of an electron source according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to a fourth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Base 2, 3 Element electrode 4 Conductive film 5 Electron emission part 50 Ammeter for measuring element current If 51 Power supply 52 Ammeter for measuring emission current Ie 53 High voltage power supply 54 Anode electrode 55 Vacuum device 56 Exhaust Pump 57 Gas inlet tube 71 Substrate 72 X-directional wiring (lower wiring) 73 Y-directional wiring (upper wiring) 74 Surface conduction electron-emitting device 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 envelope 91 black conductive material 92 phosphor 101 display panel 102 scanning circuit 103 control circuit 104 shift register 105 line memory 106 synchronization signal separation circuit 107 modulation signal generator 111 surface conduction electron-emitting device 112 common wiring 120 Grid electrode 121 Opening 141 Interlayer insulating layer 142 Contact hole 151 Cr layer 381 Common electrode 382 Pulse generator 383 Shunt resistor 384 Oscilloscope 391 Vacuum chamber 392 Window 395 X-direction drive wire 396 Y-direction drive wire 397 Driver 398 Leader electrode 399 Power supply 501 Photoresist 502 Ultraviolet 503 Metal-based film 504 Mask 1700 Display panel 1701 Drive circuit 1702 Display controller 1703 Multiplexer 1704 Decoder 1705 Input / output interface circuit 1706 CPU 1707 Image generation circuit 1708 Image memory interface circuit 1709 Image memory interface circuit 1710 Image Memory interface circuit 1711 Image input in Over face circuit 1712 TV signal reception circuit 1713 TV signal reception circuit 1714 input section

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A surface conduction electron-emitting device in which a conductive film is formed between a pair of device electrodes formed on a substrate, and an electron-emitting portion is formed in the conductive film by performing a forming process. A surface conduction electron-emitting device, wherein a part of an electrode is covered with a metal film having a higher melting point than a conductive film. 2. The surface conduction electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the metal film is formed by a photolithography technique. 3. The surface conduction electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein a main component of the metal film is W. 4. A step of forming a device electrode on a substrate and forming a conductive film connecting between the device electrodes, a forming step of forming an electron emission portion in the conductive film, a conductive film and a device electrode Covering a part of the substrate with a metal film having a higher melting point than the conductive film. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the step of coating the metal film is performed by a photolithography technique. 6. The surface conduction electron emission according to claim 5, wherein the photolithography technique includes at least a negative photoresist coating, light irradiation from the back surface of the substrate, formation of a metal film from the substrate surface, and lift-off. Device manufacturing method. 7. The surface according to claim 4, further comprising, after the step of covering the metal film, an activation step of applying a voltage to the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the presence of the organic substance. A method for manufacturing a conduction electron-emitting device. 8. The method for manufacturing a surface conduction electron-emitting device according to claim 7, further comprising a stabilizing step of applying a voltage under a higher vacuum than the forming step and the activating step after the activating step. . 9. A method of manufacturing an electron source having a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices, wherein a plurality of pairs of device electrodes are formed on a substrate, and a conductive film connecting between each pair of device electrodes is formed. A forming step of forming an electron emission portion on each conductive film; and a step of covering a part of each conductive film and each pair of device electrodes with a metal film having a higher melting point than the conductive film. Manufacturing method of electron source. 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the step of coating the metal film is performed by a photolithography technique.
Method of manufacturing electron source. 11. The method for manufacturing an electron source according to claim 10, wherein the photolithography technique includes at least coating of a negative photoresist, irradiation of light from the back surface of the substrate, formation of a metal film from the surface of the substrate, and lift-off. . 12. The method according to claim 9, further comprising, after the step of covering the metal film, an activation step of applying a voltage to the surface conduction electron-emitting device in the presence of the organic substance.
1. The method for manufacturing any one of the electron sources. 13. The electron according to claim 12, further comprising, after the activation step, a stabilizing step of applying a voltage to each surface conduction electron-emitting device under a higher degree of vacuum than the forming step and the activation step. Source manufacturing method. 14. An electron source manufactured by the method according to claim 9. 15. A semiconductor device comprising: at least one element row in which a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged; and wirings for driving each surface conduction electron-emitting element are arranged in a matrix. The electron source of claim 14. 16. A semiconductor device comprising: at least one element array in which a plurality of surface conduction electron-emitting devices are arranged; and wiring for driving each surface conduction electron-emitting device is arranged in a ladder shape. The electron source of claim 14, wherein: 17. An image forming apparatus, comprising: the electron source according to claim 14; and an image forming member that forms an image by irradiating an electron beam from the electron source. 18. An electron source according to claim 14, further comprising: a modulator for modulating an electron beam emitted from the electron source in accordance with an information signal; and irradiating the electron beam from the electron source to form an image. An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming member to be formed. 19. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, comprising: combining the electron source according to claim 14 with an image forming member that forms an image by irradiating an electron beam from the electron source. 20. An electron source according to claim 14, modulating means for modulating an electron beam emitted from said electron source according to an information signal, and irradiating the electron beam from said electron source to form an image. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, comprising combining an image forming member to be formed.