JP2002251954A - Electron emission element, electron source and manufacturing method for image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure the stability and quality of an electron emission characteristic and thereby to restrain element deterioration by discharge. SOLUTION: This manufacturing method comprises, a process for preparing an insulating substrate 1, a process for forming a pair of element electrodes 2 and 3 on a surface of the board 1, a process for forming a conductive film 4 containing a metal oxide as a main constituent for connecting the pair of element electrodes 2 and 3 with each other, a process for forming a space 5 in the conductive film 4 by carrying a current to the conductive film 4 containing the metal oxide as the main constituent in an atmosphere containing a gas having reducibility to the metal oxide, and a process for disposing a conductive film 6 having higher resistance than that of the conductive film 4 having the space 5 formed, on the conductive film 4 having the space 5 formed and on the surface of the substrate 1 exposed to the circumference of the conductive film 4 with the space 5 formed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electron-emitting device, an electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices, and a method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus using the electron source.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, electron emitters are roughly classified into two types, a hot cathode electron emitter and a cold cathode electron emitter.

[0003] Cold cathode electron-emitting devices include a field emission type (hereinafter, referred to as "FE type"), a metal / insulating layer / metal type (hereinafter, referred to as "MIM type"), and a surface conduction type electron-emitting device. is there.

[0004] The basic structure of a surface conduction electron-emitting device,
Manufacturing methods and the like, for example, JP-A-7-235255,
It is disclosed in JP-A-8-7749. The following is a brief description of the points.

FIGS. 13A and 13B show examples of a surface conduction electron-emitting device. FIG. 13A is a schematic plan view, and FIG. 13B is a schematic cross-sectional view of FIG.
The electron-emitting device includes a pair of device electrodes 2 and 3 having a width W facing each other on a substrate 1, and a conductive film 4 having a width W ′ connected to the device electrodes 2 and 3 and having a gap 5 in a part thereof. With
By applying a voltage between the device electrodes 2 and 3, the gap 5
Are emitted from the vicinity of. Further, a film containing carbon and / or a carbon compound as a main component may be formed in the gap 5 and on the conductive film 4 around the gap 5.

The gap 5 arranged in a part of the conductive film 4 is
By applying a voltage between the device electrodes 2 and 3 and passing a current through the conductive film 4, the conductive film 4 can be formed on a part of the conductive film 4. This step is called a "forming" step. The “forming” step is described in, for example, JP-A-06-01299.
No. 7, JP-A-09-298029 and the like.

Next, when a film containing carbon and / or a carbon compound as a main component is disposed in the gap 5 formed by the "forming" step and on the conductive film 4 around the gap 5, the "active" Process. The “activation” step is performed by applying a voltage between the electrodes 2 and 3 following the “forming” step in an atmosphere containing a carbon compound gas. This "activation" step is disclosed, for example, in the above-mentioned JP-A-7-235255. By this “activation” step, a film of carbon and / or carbon compound derived from the carbon compound present in the atmosphere is arranged near the gap 5. By this “activation” step, the emission current emitted from the vicinity of the gap 5 can be greatly increased.

Such an electron-emitting device has a simple structure and is easy to manufacture. Therefore, a large number of electron-emitting devices can be arranged and formed over a large area. Therefore, a large-area electron source can be formed by forming a plurality of electron-emitting devices on a substrate and electrically connecting the electron-emitting devices with wiring. Further, application to an image forming apparatus such as a charged beam source and a display device using the electron source can be given.

[0009]

However, in the case of the above-mentioned prior art, the following problems have occurred. Conventionally, in an image display device using an electron source,
The electrons emitted from the electron-emitting devices collide with the anode on which the phosphor is formed to emit light.

In these electron-emitting devices, if the surface of the insulating substrate is exposed in the vicinity of the electron-emitting portion, for example, JP-A-2630988, JP-A-2748128, and JP-A-11-3
As described in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 17149, the potential of the surface becomes unstable, and the electron emission sometimes becomes unstable. That is, in an image forming apparatus that responds in response to an input signal, it is necessary to electrically isolate each electron-emitting device, and an insulating substrate is usually used.

However, when a high potential is applied to the anode on which the fluorescent material is formed, a potential is generated on the insulating surface around the opposing electron-emitting device by capacitance division determined by vacuum and the dielectric constant of the insulator. This potential remains charged for a longer time as the insulating property of the substrate is higher. Furthermore, if electrons are emitted from the electron-emitting device in this state, the emitted electrons may collide with the charged insulating surface. As a result, secondary electrons are generated from the surface of the insulating substrate, depending on the charged potential of the insulating surface.

In particular, in an environment where the inside is maintained at a high electric field, such as a flat plate type image forming apparatus, an abnormal discharge which may be caused by the charging phenomenon may occur. for that reason,
The electron emission characteristics of the device are significantly reduced, and in the worst case, the device may be broken. Although there is still no clear point about this abnormal discharge phenomenon, it was triggered by charging of the surface of the insulating substrate by injection of electrons and ions emitted from the element or secondary electron emission on the surface of the charged insulating substrate. It is considered that the avalanche-like electrons are greatly increased, leading to abnormal discharge.

Another factor is that when electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device collide with the anode on which the phosphor is formed, if the potential applied to the anode is high, X-rays or ultraviolet rays are emitted at the anode. In some cases, such X-rays or ultraviolet rays may irradiate the surface of the insulating substrate to charge the surface of the insulating substrate. For example,
It is conceivable that X-rays are emitted to the surface of the insulating substrate, photoelectrons are emitted as a result of the photoelectric effect, and the photoelectrons are attracted to the anode, so that the surface of the insulating substrate is charged to a positive potential.

Therefore, in order to suppress the above-mentioned instability of the electron emission characteristics and the deterioration of discharge of the element, it is effective to cover the surface of the insulating substrate with a conductive film having a moderately high resistance. Therefore, for example, by the following manufacturing method,
It has been proposed to make electron-emitting devices. That is, a pair of element electrodes and a conductive film connecting the element electrodes are formed on an insulating substrate, and then a high-resistance conductive film (charge suppression film) is formed on the insulating substrate. Thereafter, a voltage is applied between the device electrodes, and the above-described “forming” step is performed.

Alternatively, after a conductive film (charge suppressing film) having a high resistance is formed in advance on an insulating substrate, a pair of device electrodes and a conductive film connecting the device electrodes are formed thereon. After the formation, a voltage is applied between the device electrodes, and the above-described “forming” step is performed.

In the devices obtained by these manufacturing methods, the charging of the surface of the insulating substrate exposed near the device is suppressed, so that the effect of improving the stability of the electron emission characteristics and suppressing the discharge of the device is obtained. there were.

However, in these manufacturing methods, heat generated at the time of forming the electron-emitting portion or the like causes
Conductive film (antistatic film) formed between electron-emitting parts
May dissolve, evaporate or change in quality, resulting in a high resistance value.Therefore, a minute charged area is formed between the electron emission portions, which may cause instability of the electron emission characteristics and element discharge. there were.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a device having excellent stability of electron emission characteristics, suppressing element deterioration due to discharge, and The present invention provides a method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device, an electron source, and an image forming apparatus having high quality.

[0019]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a substrate, a pair of opposing element electrodes provided on the substrate, and a gap disposed between the element electrodes. A method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device comprising: a conductive film containing a metal as a main component; and a conductive film disposed on the conductive film and the base, and having a higher resistance than the conductive film. Preparing, and forming the pair of device electrodes on the surface of the base, and forming a conductive film containing metal oxide as a main component by connecting the pair of device electrodes,
A step of forming a gap in the conductive film by flowing a current through a conductive film containing the metal oxide as a main component in an atmosphere containing a gas having a reducing property with respect to the metal oxide; A conductive film having a higher resistance than the conductive film in which the gap is formed, on the conductive film in which the gap is formed, and on the surface of the base exposed around the conductive film in which the gap is formed. And a step of disposing.

In this case, a step of activating the electron-emitting device in an atmosphere containing a carbon compound gas;
Discharging the residue of the carbon compound introduced during the activation treatment, and the gap may be formed on a surface intersecting the surface of the base.

The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing an electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices on a substrate, wherein the electron-emitting device is manufactured by any one of the above-described methods. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus in which an electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices on a substrate and a substrate having an image forming member are arranged to face each other, wherein the electron source is The present invention is also applicable to a method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus manufactured by the manufacturing method.

According to the manufacturing method of the present invention, the charging of the insulating surface near the electron-emitting device can be suppressed.
Therefore, the stability of the electron emission characteristics can be improved, and the occurrence of discharge can be suppressed.

[0023]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the dimensions of the components described in this embodiment,
The materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to them unless otherwise specified. An example of a method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining a method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing a configuration of an electron-emitting device manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention, wherein FIG. 2A is a schematic plan view and FIG. 2B is a schematic cross-sectional view thereof.

In FIG. 1, 1 is an insulating substrate as a base, 2 and 3 are device electrodes, 4 is a conductive film, 5 is a conductive film 4
Is a conductive film having a higher resistance than the conductive film 4. In FIG. 2, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. The electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 2 is manufactured by a method described below.

1) In the step of preparing a substrate, a detergent,
The substrate 1 is sufficiently washed using pure water and an organic solvent.
Then, in the step of forming the element electrode, after depositing the element electrode material by a vacuum evaporation method or a sputtering method,
For example, using photolithography technology, the device electrodes 2
3 is formed on one surface of the substrate 1 (FIG. 1A).

Examples of the substrate 1 include quartz glass, glass having a reduced content of impurities such as Na, blue plate glass, a glass substrate obtained by laminating a blue plate glass with SiO ₂ formed by a sputtering method, ceramics such as alumina, and a Si substrate. It can be used by selecting from any of the above.

As a material for the device electrodes 2 and 3, a general conductor material can be used. This is, for example, N
i, Cr, Au, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu,
Metals or alloys such as Pd and Pd, Ag, Au, Ru
It can be appropriately selected from a printed conductor composed of a metal such as O ₂ or Pd-Ag or a metal oxide and glass, a transparent conductor such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ and a semiconductor material such as polysilicon. it can.

The element electrode interval L, the element electrode width W, and the like are set in consideration of the applied form and the like. Element electrode interval L
Can be preferably in the range of several hundred nm to several hundred μm, and more preferably in the range of several μm to several tens μm.

The element electrode width W 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 d of the device electrodes 2 and 3 can be in the range of several tens nm to several μm.

2) Next, in the step of forming a conductive film, first, an organic metal solution is applied and dried on the substrate 1 provided with the device electrodes 2 and 3 to form an organic metal film. Note that, as the organic metal solution, a solution of an organic metal compound containing the metal constituting the metal oxide of the conductive film 4 containing the metal oxide as a main component as a main element can be used.

Thereafter, the organic metal film is subjected to a heating and baking treatment, and is patterned by lift-off, etching, or the like.
A conductive film 4 containing a metal oxide as a main component is formed (FIG. 1).
(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, or the like. Method, dipping method, spin coating method, ink jet method and the like can also be used. The metal oxide which is the main component of the conductive film 4 is PdO, SnO
₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , PbO, Sb ₂ O _{3 and the} like.

Here, the conductive film 4 preferably has a sheet resistance of 10 ⁷ Ω / □ or less. Note that the sheet resistance value is defined assuming that the resistance of a thin film having a width w and a length 1 is R.
Rs that satisfies R = Rs (l / w).

The conductive film 4 containing the metal oxide as a main component
Is preferably not less than 10 ³ Ω / □ and not more than 10 ⁷ Ω / □ in order to form a good gap 5 in the “forming” step described later.

On the other hand, after the gap 5 is formed, it is preferable that the voltage applied through the device electrodes 2 and 3 is sufficiently applied to the gap, and the conductivity when finally driven as an electron-emitting device is obtained. The resistance of the film 4 is preferably as low as possible.

3) Next, a "forming" step (a step of forming a gap in the conductive film) is performed. The “forming” step according to the present invention is performed between the device electrodes 2 and 3 in an atmosphere containing a gas (for example, hydrogen) having a reducing property for the metal oxide as a main component of the conductive film 4. This is performed by applying a pulse voltage using the power supply of (1). By this step, the conductive film 4 is reduced, and a gap 5 is formed in a part thereof (FIG. 1C). In other words,
The gap 5 is formed in a part of the conductive film 4 while reducing the resistance value of the conductive film 4 containing a metal oxide as a main component. By doing so, the gap gradually starts to be formed from the portion where heat generated in the conductive film 4 is concentrated by application of the pulse voltage, so that the width of the finally formed gap 5 can be reduced. it can. Also, the power required for “forming” can be reduced. After the “forming” of the metal oxide, which is the main component of the conductive film 4, is completed, the conductive film can be made to be a metal-based conductive film, thereby reducing the parasitic resistance component when driving the element. can do.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a voltage waveform used in the "forming" step. The voltage waveform is preferably a pulse waveform. The method shown in FIG. 4A in which a pulse having a constant pulse height is applied as a constant voltage is applied to the voltage waveform, and a voltage pulse is applied while increasing the pulse peak value. Figure 4
There is a method shown in FIG.

T1 and T2 in FIG. 4A are the pulse width and pulse interval of the voltage waveform, respectively. Normal,
The pulse width T1 is 1 μsec. -10 msec. , And the pulse interval T2 is 10 μsec. ~ 1se
c. Is set in the range. The peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage at the time of energization forming) is appropriately selected according to the form of the electron-emitting device. Under such conditions, for example, a voltage is applied for several seconds to several tens of minutes. Note that the pulse waveform is not limited to a triangular wave, and a desired waveform such as a rectangular wave can be adopted.

The values of the pulse width T1 and the pulse interval T2 in FIG. 4B can be the same as those shown in FIG. 4A. The peak value of the triangular wave (peak voltage during energization forming) can be increased, for example, by about 0.1 V steps.

4) Next, proceed to the step of arranging a high-resistance conductive film. That is, after the “forming” step,
A reduced conductive film 6 having a higher resistance than the conductive film 4 containing a metal as a main component is formed (FIG. 1D). Here, as the material of the conductive film 6, a material that can easily and uniformly form a large area is preferable. For example, a carbon material, a metal oxide such as tin oxide, chromium oxide, antimony oxide, and ITO, or A material in which a conductive material is dispersed in silicon oxide or the like can be preferably used.

In the present invention, the "forming" step is performed in an atmosphere containing a reducing gas. Therefore, if the “forming” step is performed in an atmosphere containing the reducing gas after forming the conductive film 6 for suppressing charge on the conductive film 4 containing metal oxide as a main component, Depending on the material (for example, metal oxide) of the conductive film 6 for suppression, the quality may be changed by the reducing gas, and it may be difficult to control a desired resistance value described later. However, in the present invention, after performing the “forming” step in an atmosphere containing a reducing gas, the conductive film 6 for suppressing charging is formed. Therefore, without considering the influence of the reducing gas, A desired material can be selected, and as a result, a favorable charge suppressing effect can be obtained.

When the conductive film 6 has high conductivity, the device current If flowing between the device electrodes 2 and 3 increases. Regarding the electron emission characteristics of the device, it is preferable that the device current If is small, and it is particularly preferable that the reactive current that does not contribute to electron emission is as small as possible. Therefore, the conductive film 6 is 1 ×
It preferably has a sheet resistance of 10 ⁹ Ω / □ or more and 1 × 10 ¹³ Ω / □ or less, and more preferably 5 × 10 ¹⁰ Ω / □.
More preferably, it has a sheet resistance value of not less than Ω / □ and not more than 5 × 10 ¹² Ω / □.

Examples of the method for forming the conductive film 6 include a sputtering method, a vacuum evaporation method, a dipping method, a spray coating method, a spin coating method, a polymerization method using an electron beam with a carbon-based gas, a plasma polymerization method, and a CVD method. No.

The thickness of the conductive film 6 is equal to or greater than the thickness at which the conductivity required to suppress charging is obtained.
The thickness is preferably not more than a thickness that does not hinder electron emission from the electron emitting portion. Therefore, the thickness of the conductive film 6 is 1 nm.
Or more and preferably 100 nm or less,
Further, the thickness is more preferably 2 nm or more and 50 nm or less.

5) Subsequently, it is preferable to perform the above-mentioned "activation" step. This step can be obtained, for example, by introducing a gas of an appropriate carbon compound into a vacuum and applying a pulse voltage between the device electrodes 2 and 3. The preferable gas pressure of the carbon compound at this time varies depending on the above-mentioned application form, the shape of the vacuum vessel, the type of the carbon compound, and the like, and is appropriately set according to the case.

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

By this treatment, a film made of carbon and / or a carbon compound is formed from the carbon compound present in the atmosphere on the conductive film 4 in and near the gap formed by the “forming” step. You.

The "activation" step is performed while measuring the device current If or the emission current Ie, and can be terminated when the device current If or the emission current Ie reaches a desired value. Note that the pulse width, pulse interval, pulse crest value, and the like of the applied pulse voltage are appropriately set.

The carbon and / or carbon compound is
For example, graphite (which includes so-called HOPG, PG, and GC), HOPG has a crystal structure of almost perfect graphite, PG has a crystal grain of about 20 nm and has a slightly disordered crystal structure, and GC has a crystal grain of about 2 nm. And amorphous carbon (refer to amorphous carbon and a mixture of amorphous carbon and the fine crystals of graphite).

6) It is preferable that the electron-emitting device in which the electron-emitting portion is formed through the above-described process further perform a stabilizing process. This step is a step of exhausting organic substances remaining in the vacuum vessel.

Here, it is preferable to use a vacuum evacuation device for evacuating the vacuum vessel, which 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 above 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 is used, the partial pressure of this component is kept as low as possible. There is a need.

The partial pressure of the organic component in the vacuum vessel is a partial pressure of 1 × 1 at which the carbon and the carbon compound are hardly newly deposited.
The ^pressure is preferably 0 ^-6 Pa or less, more preferably 1 × 10 ^-8 Pa or less.

Further, when evacuating the vacuum chamber,
It is preferable that the entire vacuum vessel is heated so that the organic substance molecules adsorbed on the inner wall of the vacuum vessel and the electron-emitting device are easily exhausted.

The heating conditions at this time are suitably in the range of 80 to 250 ° C., preferably at 150 ° C. or higher, and it is desirable to carry out the treatment for as long as possible. This is performed under conditions appropriately selected according to various conditions such as the size and shape of the device and the configuration of the electron-emitting device.

The atmosphere at the time of driving after the stabilization step is preferably the same as that at the end of the stabilization treatment, but is not limited to this. If the organic substance is sufficiently removed, Even if the degree of vacuum itself is slightly reduced, sufficiently stable characteristics can be maintained.

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 or a substrate can be removed, and as a result, the element current If and the emission current Ie are stabilized.

The above is a basic method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to the present invention. According to the manufacturing method of the present invention, high resistance is provided over the entire insulating surface, including minute gaps between electron-emitting portions. Can be easily formed.

The structure of the electron-emitting device is not limited to the structure shown in FIG. 2, but may be, for example, a structure shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a view showing a vertical surface conduction electron-emitting device, in which an electron-emitting portion (gap) 5 is provided on a substrate 1.
2 except that it is formed perpendicular to the electron-emitting device shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 31 denotes an interlayer insulating layer provided on a surface portion of the substrate 1 to secure electrical insulation between the device electrodes 2 and 3.

In this electron-emitting device, the device electrode 2 is
The element electrode 3 is disposed on the surface of the interlayer insulating layer 31 and the conductive film 4 mainly composed of a metal oxide and the high-resistance conductive film 6 are formed on the surface of the substrate 1 and the interlayer insulating layer 31. The gap 5 of the conductive film 4 is formed on the surface of the interlayer insulating layer 31 intersecting with the surface of the substrate 1. In this case, basically, the same manufacturing method as the manufacturing method shown in FIG. 1 can be applied.

Next, the basic characteristics of the electron-emitting device obtained by the above-described manufacturing method will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 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. In FIG. 5, the same portions as those shown in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 55 denotes a vacuum vessel;
Reference numeral 6 denotes an exhaust pump. An electron-emitting device 74 is provided in the vacuum vessel 55.

Reference numeral 51 denotes a power supply for applying a device voltage Vf to the electron-emitting device 74; 50, an ammeter for measuring a device current If flowing through the conductive film 4 between the device electrodes 2 and 3; Emission current I emitted from the electron emission portion of the device
This is an anode electrode for capturing e. Reference numeral 53 denotes a high-voltage power supply for applying a voltage to the anode electrode 54;
Reference numeral 2 denotes an ammeter for measuring an emission current Ie emitted from the electron emission portion 5 of the device.

Here, as an example, the voltage of the anode electrode 54 is set in the range of 1 kV to 10 kV,
The measurement can be performed with the distance H between the electron emitter 74 and the electron emitter 74 in the range of 2 mm to 8 mm.

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

The exhaust pump 56 is composed of a normal high vacuum device system composed of any one of a turbo pump, a rotary pump, or a combination thereof, and an ultrahigh vacuum device system composed of an ion pump or the like.

The entire vacuum processing apparatus provided with the electron-emitting device 74 can be heated by a heater (not shown).

FIG. 6 shows emission current Ie, device current If, and device voltage V measured using the vacuum processing apparatus shown in FIG.
It is the figure which showed the relationship of f typically. In FIG.
Since the emission current Ie is significantly smaller than the element current If, it is shown in arbitrary units. The vertical and horizontal axes are linear scales. As is clear from FIG. 6, the electron-emitting device configured as described above has the following three characteristic properties (i) to (iii) with respect to the emission current Ie. (I) The present element has a certain voltage (referred to as a threshold voltage,
When an element voltage equal to or higher than Vth) is applied, the emission current Ie sharply increases. On the other hand, when the element voltage is equal to or lower than the threshold voltage Vth, the emission current Ie is hardly detected. That is, the emission current I
This is a non-linear element having a clear threshold voltage Vth for e. (Ii) Since the emission current Ie depends monotonically on the device voltage Vf, the emission current Ie can be controlled by the device voltage Vf. (Iii) The emission charge captured by the anode electrode 54 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 can be understood from the above description, the electron-emitting device configured as described above responds to an input signal by
The electron emission characteristics can be easily controlled. In the electron-emitting device manufactured by the manufacturing method according to the present invention, by providing the conductive film 6 after forming the electron-emitting portion 5, not only the surface of the insulating substrate near the electron-emitting device but also the electron-emitting portion is provided. It is also possible to suppress charging in the minute gap region between them.

For this reason, the instability of the electron emission characteristics due to the potential instability of the insulating surface, and the discharge between the vicinity of the element and the anode are suppressed, so that stable electron emission characteristics for a long time can be obtained. .

As described above, the electron-emitting device according to the embodiment of the present invention has stable electron emission characteristics for a long time,
That is, since the device current If and the emission current Ie have a monotonically increasing characteristic with respect to the device applied voltage, application to various fields such as an electron source and an image forming apparatus becomes possible. That is, by arranging a plurality of the electron-emitting devices configured as described above on a substrate, for example, an electron source or an image forming apparatus can be configured.

Next, an electron source and an image forming apparatus to which the electron-emitting device according to the present invention is applied, and a method of manufacturing them will be described.

First, an electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices and a method of manufacturing the electron source will be described. Various arrangements of the electron-emitting devices can be adopted. As an example, a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a matrix in the X and Y directions, and a plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in the same row are arranged. One of the electrodes is commonly connected to a wiring in the X direction, and the other electrode 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.

Hereinafter, an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement and a method of manufacturing the same will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement. 7, reference numeral 71 denotes an electron source substrate provided with electron-emitting devices, 72 denotes an X-direction wiring, 73 denotes a Y-direction wiring,
74 is an electron-emitting device. At the intersection of the X-directional wiring 72 and the Y-directional wiring 73, an interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is provided.

Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing an electron source according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 8, reference numeral 1 denotes a substrate having no electron-emitting device, reference numerals 2 and 3 denote device electrodes, 4 a conductive film, 5 an electron-emitting portion, 6 a high-resistance conductive film, and 71 an electron-emitting device. An electron source substrate provided with: 72, an X-direction wiring, 73, a Y-direction wiring, 74, an electron-emitting device,
75 is an interlayer insulating layer.

1) In the step of preparing the base, the substrate 1
Is sufficiently washed with a detergent, pure water, an organic solvent and the like.
In the step of forming the device electrodes, the device electrodes 2 and 3 made of a conductive material such as a metal are formed by using a combination of a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method, and a photolithography technique, a printing method, or the like (see FIG. a)).

2) On the substrate 1 provided with the device electrodes 2 and 3,
The Y-directional wiring 73 made of a conductive material such as a metal is formed by using a combination of a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method, and a photolithography technique, a printing method, or the like (FIG. 8).
(B)).

3) Next, an interlayer insulating layer 75 made of an insulating material such as silicon oxide is formed by using a combination of a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method, and a photolithography technique, a printing method, or the like (FIG. 8 ( c)). Interlayer insulating layer 7
For No. 5, the material, film thickness, and manufacturing method are appropriately set so as to withstand the potential difference at the intersection of the X-directional wiring 72 and the Y-directional wiring 73.

4) On the interlayer insulating layer 75, the Y-direction wiring 7
8, the X-direction wiring 72 is formed.
(D)). The X direction wiring 72 and the Y direction wiring 73 are shown in FIG.
A pair of device electrodes 3 and 2 of the electron-emitting device 74 shown in FIG.
Are electrically connected to each other.

5) Next, a conductive film 4 is formed between the device electrodes 2 and 3 by a process of forming a conductive film (FIG. 8).
(E)). As the material and manufacturing method of the conductive film 4, the same materials as those of the above-described electron-emitting device can be applied.

6) Next, the above-mentioned "forming" step is performed. The “forming” step includes the X-direction wiring 72 and the Y
This can be performed by applying a voltage between the device electrodes 2 and 3 of each electron-emitting device 74 through the directional wiring 73. Thereby, the gap 5 is formed in the conductive film 4 of each electron-emitting device 74 (FIG. 8F). For the applied voltage and the like, a method similar to the above-described method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device can be applied.

7) Next, the conductive film 4 which has been subjected to “forming”, the X-directional wiring 72, the Y-directional wiring 73, and the interlayer insulating layer 75 are formed, and on the electron source substrate 71 having the electron-emitting devices 74. Then, the above-described high-resistance conductive film 6 is formed (FIG. 8G). Here, the same material, thickness and manufacturing method of the conductive film 6 as those of the above-described electron-emitting device can be applied. The sheet resistance of the conductive film 6 is equal to or more than 1 × 10 ⁹ Ω / □ as in the case of the above-described electron-emitting device.
× 10 ¹³ Ω / □ or less.
It is more preferably 5 × 10 ¹⁰ Ω / □ or more and 5 × 10 ¹² Ω / □ or less.

8) Next, preferably, the above-mentioned "activation"
Perform the process. The activation step can be performed by applying a voltage between the device electrodes 2 and 3 of each electron-emitting device 74 through the X-direction wiring 72 and the Y-direction wiring 73 in an atmosphere containing a carbon compound gas. . The same method as in the above-mentioned "activation" step can be applied to the carbon compound to be used, the voltage to be applied, and the like.

9) Subsequently, a stabilization step is preferably performed in the same manner as in the above-described method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device.

In the electron source of the simple matrix array manufactured as described above, the scanning signal for selecting the row of the electron-emitting devices 74 arranged in the X direction is applied to the X-direction wiring 72 (not shown). Are connected.

On the other hand, a modulation signal generating means (not shown) for modulating each column of the electron-emitting devices 74 arranged in the Y direction according to an input signal is connected to the Y-direction wiring 73. The drive voltage applied to each electron-emitting device 74 is supplied as a difference voltage between a scanning signal and a modulation signal applied to the device. In the above configuration, individual elements can be selected and driven independently using a simple matrix wiring.

In the electron source having the simple matrix arrangement manufactured as described above, charging can be suppressed on the surface of the insulating substrate, the surface of the interlayer insulating layer, and the minute gap region between the electron emitting portions.

For this reason, the instability of the electron emission characteristics due to the potential instability of the insulating surface, and the discharge between the vicinity of the element and the anode are suppressed, so that stable electron emission characteristics for a long time can be obtained. . The arrangement of the electron-emitting devices 74 is not limited to the above-described simple matrix arrangement.

FIG. 9 shows a ladder-like arrangement of electron sources as another arrangement. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 90 denotes an electron source substrate provided with a plurality of electron-emitting devices, 91 denotes an electron-emitting device, and 92 denotes a common wiring for electrically connecting the electron-emitting devices 91. As shown in FIG. 2, the electron-emitting device 91 includes a pair of device electrodes 2 and 3 and the conductive film 4 including the electron-emitting portion 5. A control electrode (not shown) (not shown) is provided above each electron-emitting device 91.
The trajectory of electrons emitted from each electron-emitting device 91 is controlled.

The manufacturing method of the present invention can be applied to such a ladder-shaped electron source. Basically, it is the same as the above-described method of manufacturing an electron source in a matrix arrangement except that a common wiring 92 is formed instead of forming the X-directional wiring 72, the interlayer insulating layer 75, and the Y-directional wiring 73 on the substrate 1. It can be. That is, after the device electrodes 2 and 3, the common wiring 92, and the conductive film 4 are formed on the substrate 1, the electron emission portions 5 are formed in the conductive film 4 of each electron emission device 91 by a forming process. Next, a high-resistance conductive film 6 is formed on the substrate 90 provided with the electron-emitting devices 91. Subsequently, an activation step and a stabilization step are preferably performed.

In the ladder-shaped electron source manufactured as described above, charging can be suppressed not only in the surface of the insulating substrate but also in the minute gap region between the electron emission portions.

Therefore, the instability of the electron emission characteristics due to the potential instability of the insulating surface, and the discharge between the vicinity of the element and the anode are suppressed, so that stable electron emission characteristics for a long time can be obtained. .

Next, an image forming apparatus constituted by using the electron source manufactured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.
1 will be described.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus using a simple matrix array of electron sources manufactured by the manufacturing method according to the present invention. In FIG. 10, reference numeral 71 denotes an electron source substrate on which a plurality of electron-emitting devices 74 are arranged;
101 is a rear plate to which a substrate 71 is fixed, 106 is a fluorescent film 104 and a metal back 1 on the inner surface of a glass substrate 103.
Reference numeral 05 denotes a face plate formed thereon. Reference numeral 102 denotes a support frame.
01, the face plate 106 is bonded using low melting point frit glass or the like. 107 is a high voltage terminal, 72
Is an X-direction wiring, and 73 is a Y-direction wiring. These wirings are connected to a pair of device electrodes of the electron-emitting device 74.

The envelope 108 includes the face plate 106, the support frame 102, and the rear plate 101, as described above. The rear plate 101 mainly includes the electron source substrate 7.
Since it is provided for the purpose of reinforcing the strength of the first substrate 1, if the electron source substrate 71 itself has sufficient strength, the separate rear plate 101 can be unnecessary.

That is, the support frame 1 is directly mounted on the electron source substrate 71.
02, the face plate 106, the support frame 102
In addition, the envelope 108 may be constituted by the substrate 71.

On the other hand, by providing a support (not shown) called a spacer between the face plate 106 and the rear plate 101, the envelope 108 having sufficient strength against atmospheric pressure can be formed. Can also.

In manufacturing such an image forming apparatus,
By manufacturing the electron source by the above-described manufacturing method according to the present invention, charging can be suppressed on the surface of the insulating substrate and the surface of the interlayer insulating layer, and on the minute gap region between the electron emission portions.

As a result, the instability of the electron emission characteristic due to the potential instability of the insulating surface and the discharge between the vicinity of the element and the anode (face plate) are suppressed. And high quality images can be provided.

FIG. 11 shows an example of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus using ladder-shaped electron sources manufactured by the manufacturing method according to the present invention. In FIG. 11, 110
Is a grid electrode, 111 is an opening through which electrons pass, and 112 is an external terminal made of Dox1, Dox2,... Doxm. 113 is a G connected to the grid electrode 110
An external terminal 90 consisting of 1, G2,... Gn is an electron source substrate in which the common wiring between the element rows is the same. In FIG. 11, the same parts as those shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those shown in these figures. A major difference between the image forming apparatus shown here and the image forming apparatus having the simple matrix arrangement shown in FIG. 10 is whether or not the grid electrode 110 is provided between the electron source substrate 90 and the face plate 106.

In FIG. 11, a grid electrode 110 is provided between the electron source substrate 90 and the face plate 106. The grid electrode 110 is connected to the electron-emitting device 9.
For modulating the electron beam emitted from 1, the electron beam passes through a stripe-shaped electrode provided orthogonally to the ladder-type arrangement of element rows. A circular opening 111 is provided for each piece.
The shape and installation position of the grid are not limited to those shown in FIG. For example, a large number of passage openings may be provided in a mesh shape as the openings 111, and a grid may be provided around or near the electron-emitting device 91. Outer container terminal 112 and grid outer terminal 113
Are electrically connected to a control circuit (not shown).

In the image forming apparatus of this embodiment, a modulation signal for one line of an image is simultaneously applied to the grid electrode rows in synchronization with sequentially driving (scanning) the element rows one by one. Thus, the irradiation of each electron beam to the phosphor can be controlled, and the image can be displayed line by line.

In manufacturing such an image forming apparatus,
By manufacturing the electron source by the above-described manufacturing method of the present invention, charging can be suppressed not only on the surface of the insulating substrate but also in a minute gap region between the electron emission portions.

Therefore, the instability of the electron emission characteristics due to the potential instability of the insulating surface and the discharge between the vicinity of the element and the anode (face plate) are suppressed.
Long-term stable electron emission characteristics can be obtained, and a high-quality image can be provided.

[0107]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, based on more specific examples, a method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device, an electron source, and an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be sequentially described. (Embodiment 1) The configuration of the electron-emitting device according to the present embodiment is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 2 described above, and the manufacturing method is basically the same as that described with reference to FIG. Is the same as

The manufacturing method will be described below step by step. Step (a) A lift-off pattern for the device electrodes 2 and 3 is formed on a substrate 1 in which a 0.5-micron-thick silicon oxide film is formed on a cleaned blue plate glass by a CVD method.
-2000N-41 manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.) and 5 nm thick Ti, 100 nm thick Pt by vacuum evaporation.
Were sequentially deposited. Then, the photoresist pattern was dissolved with an organic solvent, and the Pt / Ti deposited film was lifted off to form device electrodes 2 and 3 having a device electrode interval of 10 μm and a device electrode width of 300 μm.

Step (b) Next, a palladium complex solution (palladium acetate monoethanolamine complex was added to the electrode gap between the device electrodes 2 and 3 using an injector of a bubble jet (registered trademark) type).
After dissolving in a mixed solution of PA and water)
Heating and baking treatment was performed at 00 ° C. for 15 minutes to form a conductive film 4 mainly containing palladium oxide. The thickness of the conductive film 4 thus formed was 10 nm.

Step (c) The substrate 1 on which the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the conductive film 4 were formed was placed in a vacuum vessel as shown in FIG. 5, and the inside of the vessel was evacuated by a vacuum pump. When the pressure in the container reached 2 × 10 ⁻³ Pa, the exhaust valve was closed, and N ₂ gas mixed with 2% H ₂ was introduced into the container as a reducing gas.
A voltage was applied between the element electrodes 2 and 3 from the power supply 51 to perform a “forming” step. The voltage waveform of “forming” is the waveform shown in FIG. 4A. In this embodiment, the pulse width T1 is 0.1 msec, and the pulse interval T2 is 10 msec.
c, and the peak value (peak voltage at the time of “forming”) was 10 V. During the “forming” process,
At a voltage of 0.1 V, a resistance measurement pulse is inserted between T2 and the resistance is measured, and the measured value of the resistance measurement pulse is about 1 MΩ.
At this point, the voltage application was terminated. Thus, the conductive film 4 having the gap 5 and containing Pd as a main component was formed. In the above resistance measurement, when the resistance of the conductive film 4 is not sufficiently reduced (when the reduction of the conductive film 4 is insufficient), N ₂ gas mixed with 2% H ₂ in the container is used. Is introduced to 2 × 10 ⁴ Pa, and then a step of completely reducing the conductive film 4 by holding the electron-emitting device in the container for 30 minutes may be added.

Step (d) After taking out the substrate 1 provided with the conductive film 4 in which the device electrodes 2 and 3 and the gap 5 are formed from the vacuum container, chromium oxide is applied to the entire surface of the substrate by RF magnetron sputtering. A conductive film 6 having a higher resistance than the conductive film 4 was formed by forming a film so as to have a thickness of 6 nm. The thickness of the formed conductive film 6 was 6 nm. When the sheet resistance of the chromium oxide film separately formed on the substrate was measured in the same manner as described above, the sheet resistance was 5 × 10 ¹¹ Ω /.
It was □.

Step (f) Subsequently, the substrate on which the conductive film 6 was formed was placed in a vacuum vessel as shown in FIG. 5, and the inside of the vessel was evacuated by a vacuum pump. When the pressure in the container reached 2 × 10 ⁻⁵ Pa, tolunitrile was introduced into the vacuum container through a slow leak valve to maintain 1 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa. Next, a voltage was applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 to perform an “activation” step. The voltage waveform is a bipolar waveform shown in FIG.
Pulse width T1 is 1 msec, pulse interval T2 is 10 ms
ec and the peak value were set to 16V. The voltage application time is 6
0 minutes.

Step (g) After the “activation” step was completed, the tolunitrile in the vessel was evacuated. Subsequently, while evacuating the container, the substrate 1 was heated to 300 ° C.
Further, the vacuum container was heated at 200 ° C. for 10 hours to perform a stabilization process. The electron emission characteristics of the electron-emitting device manufactured as described above were evaluated in the same vacuum vessel. Here, the distance between the anode electrode and the electron-emitting device was 3 mm, the potential of the anode electrode was 6 kV, and the pressure in the vacuum device at the time of measuring the electron emission characteristics was 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ Pa. Device electrodes 2 and 3
When a voltage of 14 V was applied during the driving of the electron-emitting device, the electron-emitting characteristics were stable, and the rate of change in the amount of emitted electrons was within 5% after 100 hours of driving. At this time, no destruction of the device due to discharge occurred.

(Example 2) A plurality of electron-emitting devices having the same structure as that shown in FIG. 2 were arranged on a substrate as shown in FIG. 7, and an electron source in which matrix wirings were further arranged was prepared. The manufacturing method is basically the same as that described with reference to FIG.

Step (a) A substrate 1 having a silicon oxide film formed on a blue plate glass by a CVD method is washed with a detergent and pure water, and then a lift-off pattern for the device electrodes 2 and 3 is formed with a photoresist, followed by vacuum evaporation. 5 nm thick Ti and 100 nm thick P
t were sequentially deposited. Then, the photoresist pattern is dissolved with an organic solvent, the Pt / Ti deposited film is lifted off,
Device electrodes 2 and 3 were formed.

Step (b) Next, using a paste material containing Ag as a metal component, a pattern of the Y-directional wiring 73 is formed by screen printing, printed, dried, and then baked to form a Y-directional wiring. 73 was formed.

Step (c) Next, using a paste containing PbO as a main component, a pattern of the interlayer insulating layer 75 was printed and baked under the same conditions as in step (b) to form an interlayer insulating layer 75. This interlayer insulating layer 7
No. 5 was formed in a region including at least the intersection of the X direction wiring 72 and the Y direction wiring 73.

Step (d) An X-directional wiring 72 was formed in the same manner as in the above step (b).

Step (e) Next, a palladium complex solution is dropped between the device electrodes 2 and 3 by using a bubble jet type spraying device, followed by baking treatment to form a conductive film 4 made of palladium oxide. Was formed.

Step (f) As described above, the electrodes 2 and 3 having the conductive film 4 therebetween, and the electron source substrate 7 having the wiring and the interlayer insulating layer formed thereon
1 was placed in a vacuum vessel as shown in FIG. 5, and the inside of the vessel was evacuated with a vacuum pump. The pressure in the container is 2 × 10 ^-3
Close the valve for exhaust at reaching the Pa, while introducing 2% N ₂ gas mixture of H ₂ in the container, the power source 51, through the vessel terminals, X-direction wiring 72 and Y
A "forming" step of applying a voltage between the directional wirings 73 to form a gap in each conductive film 4 was performed. The voltage waveform of “forming” is the waveform shown in FIG. 4A. In this embodiment, the pulse width T1 is 0.1 msec, and the pulse interval T2
Was set to 10 msec, and the peak value (peak voltage during forming) was set to 10V. During the “forming” process, at the same time, a resistance measurement pulse is inserted between T2 at a voltage of 0.1 V to measure the resistance. When the measured value of the resistance measurement pulse becomes about 1 M ohm or more, the voltage is measured. Was terminated.
Thereafter, in the present embodiment, N ₂ gas mixed with 2% H ₂ was introduced into the container in an amount of 2% so that the conductive film 4 was sufficiently reduced.
After introducing up to × 10 ⁴ Pa, it was kept for 30 minutes. However, as described above, this step is not always necessary.

Step (g) After taking out the electron source substrate 71 from the vacuum vessel, the substrate 7
A chromium oxide film was formed on the entire surface of 1 by RF magnetron sputtering to form a conductive film 6. The thickness of the formed conductive film 6 was 6 nm. The sheet resistance of the conductive film 6 was 5 × 10 ¹¹ Ω / □.

Step (h) Subsequently, the electron source substrate 71 on which the conductive film 6 has been formed is moved to the position shown in FIG.
Was placed in a vacuum vessel as shown in Table 2 and the inside of the vessel was evacuated with a vacuum pump. When the pressure in the container reached 2 × 10 ⁻⁵ Pa, tolunitrile was introduced into the vacuum container through a slow leak valve to maintain 1 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa.
Next, a voltage was applied between the X-directional wiring 72 and the Y-directional wiring 73 through the external terminal, and a voltage was applied between the device electrodes 2 and 3 to perform an “activation” step. The voltage waveform is shown in FIG.
2 and a pulse width T1 of 1 msec.
c, the pulse interval T2 was 10 msec, and the peak value was 16 V. The voltage application time was 60 minutes.

Step (i) After the “activation” step was completed, the tolunitrile in the vessel was evacuated. Then, while evacuating the inside of the container, the electron source
Stabilization treatment was performed by heating the vacuum vessel at 00 ° C. and 200 ° C. for 10 hours. The electron emission characteristics of the electron source manufactured as described above were evaluated in the same vacuum vessel. A voltage of 14 V was applied between the X-directional wiring 72 and the Y-directional wiring 73 through the external terminal to drive the electron-emitting device 74. The distance between the anode electrode and the electron source substrate is 3 mm,
The potential of the anode electrode was set to 6 kV, and the pressure in the vacuum device at the time of measuring the electron emission characteristics was set to 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ Pa. here,
In this example, the conductive film 6 was formed on the surface of the insulating substrate and the surface of the interlayer insulating layer, so that charging could be effectively prevented. As a result, the amount of emitted electrons was very stable.

Example 3 An electron source was prepared in the same manner as in Example 2 except for the step of forming the conductive film 6. A substrate 71 was formed in the same manner as in the steps (a) to (f) of the second embodiment, and the steps up to the “forming” step were performed.

Step (g) After the substrate 71 which has been subjected to the “forming” is taken out from the vacuum container, fine particles of tin oxide and antimony oxide are dispersed in an organic solvent by spray coating over the entire surface of the substrate 71. The resulting solution was applied and baked at 430 ° C. for 20 minutes to form a conductive film 6. The thickness of the formed conductive film 6 was 10 nm. The sheet resistance of the conductive film 6 was 2 × 10 ¹¹ Ω / □. Next, an electron source was prepared in the same manner as in steps (h) to (i) of Example 2. The electron emission characteristics of the electron source manufactured as described above were evaluated in the same vacuum vessel. A voltage of 14 V was applied between the X-direction wiring 72 and the Y-direction wiring 73 through the external terminal to drive the electron-emitting device 74. The distance between the anode electrode 54 and the electron source substrate 71 was 3 mm, the potential of the anode electrode was 6 kV, and the pressure in the vacuum device at the time of measuring the electron emission characteristics was 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ Pa. Here, in this embodiment, the surface of the insulating substrate, and the surface of the interlayer insulating layer,
Further, in the minute gap region between the electron emitting portions, the conductive film 6 is formed.
Formed, it was possible to effectively prevent charging.

(Embodiment 4) This embodiment is an example in which the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 10 is produced by using the electron source produced according to the present invention. “Activation” is performed in the same manner as in the second embodiment.
An electron source substrate 71 having been subjected to the process was created.

Next, after fixing the substrate 71 on the rear plate 101, the face plate 10 is placed 3 mm above the substrate.
6 was arranged via the support frame 102. Subsequently, the face plate 106, the rear plate 101, and the support frame 102
Sealing was performed in a vacuum atmosphere with an adhesive disposed at each of the joints to form an envelope 108. Also, rear plate 1
A spacer (not shown) is arranged between the first and the first and the face plate 106 so that the structure can withstand the atmospheric pressure.
Further, a getter (not shown) for keeping the inside of the container at a high vacuum is arranged in the envelope 108. Thus, FIG.
The image forming apparatus shown in FIG.

In the image display device completed as described above, the outer terminals Dox1 to Doxm,
Electrons were emitted by applying a voltage of 14.5 V through Doy1 to Doyn. Further, a high voltage of 6 kV is applied to the metal back 105 through the high voltage terminal 107,
An image was displayed by causing the emitted electrons to collide with the fluorescent film 104 to excite and emit light.

The image display device of this embodiment has a stable emission current and no deflection of the electron beam. Therefore, there is no noticeable variation in luminance or color unevenness, and the image display device can be sufficiently satisfactory as a television. Images could be displayed. In addition, no defects were generated in the pixels due to element destruction due to discharge, and the reliability was excellent.

[0130]

As described above, according to the manufacturing method of the present invention, the charging of the insulating surface near the electron-emitting device can be suppressed, and at the same time, the gap forming the device can be formed with low power. It can be formed with high uniformity and reproducibility,
In the “forming” step, it is also possible to suppress a change in the characteristics of the high-resistance conductive film coated to suppress the charging. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the influence of the charging on the electron emission characteristics and improve the stability of the electron emission characteristics. In addition, it is possible to suppress element deterioration due to discharge generated due to charging. Therefore, it is possible to provide an electron-emitting device, an electron source, and an image forming apparatus which are excellent in stability of electron emission characteristics and excellent in quality.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a method for manufacturing a planar electron-emitting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing a configuration of a planar electron-emitting device according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 2A is a schematic plan view, and FIG.
Is a schematic sectional view.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view illustrating a configuration of a vertical electron-emitting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a forming voltage waveform diagram of the electron-emitting device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an apparatus for measuring and evaluating an electron-emitting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the emission current Ie, the device current If, and the device voltage Vf of the electron-emitting device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view illustrating a method of manufacturing an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a ladder-shaped electron source according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus using an electron source having a simple matrix arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus using ladder-shaped electron sources according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a voltage waveform according to the embodiment of the present invention.

13A and 13B are diagrams showing a configuration of a conventional electron-emitting device, wherein FIG. 13A is a schematic plan view and FIG. 13B is a schematic cross-sectional view.

[Description of Signs] 1: Insulating substrate, 2, 3: element electrode, 4: conductive film,
5: electron-emitting portion (gap), 6: high-resistance conductive film, 3
1: Interlayer insulating layer, 50: Ammeter, 51: Power supply, 52: Ammeter, 53: High voltage power supply, 54: Anode electrode, 55: Vacuum container, 56: Exhaust pump, 71: Electron source equipped with an electron emitting element Substrate, 72: X direction wiring, 73: Y direction wiring,
74: electron-emitting device, 75: interlayer insulating layer, 90: electron source substrate, 91: electron-emitting device, 92: common wiring, 101:
Rear plate, 102: support frame, 103: glass substrate,
104: fluorescent film, 105: metal back, 106: face plate, 107: high voltage terminal, 108: envelope, 1
10: grid electrode, 111: opening, 112, 11
3: Terminal outside the container.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A base, a pair of opposing element electrodes provided on the base, a conductive film mainly composed of a metal having a gap disposed between the element electrodes, and the conductive film A method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device having a conductive film having a higher resistance than the conductive film and disposed on the base and the base, wherein the step of preparing the base; A step of forming an element electrode; a step of connecting the pair of element electrodes to form a conductive film mainly containing a metal oxide; and an atmosphere containing a gas having a reducing property to the metal oxide. Forming a gap in the conductive film by passing a current through the conductive film containing the metal oxide as a main component, and forming the gap on the conductive film where the gap is formed, and The gap is formed on the substrate surface exposed around the formed conductive film. A method of manufacturing an electron-emitting element and a step of placing the made conductive high resistance conductive film than film. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: activating the electron-emitting device in an atmosphere containing a carbon compound gas; and discharging a residue of the carbon compound introduced during the activation process. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 1. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the gap is formed on a plane crossing a surface of the base. 4. A method of manufacturing an electron source including a plurality of electron-emitting devices on a substrate, wherein the electron-emitting devices are manufactured by the manufacturing method according to claim 1. Method for manufacturing an electron source. 5. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, comprising: an electron source having a plurality of electron-emitting devices on a base; and a substrate having an image forming member, which are arranged to face each other. 5. A method for manufacturing an image forming apparatus, which is manufactured by the manufacturing method according to 4.