JPH08115652A - Electron-emitting device and method for manufacturing the same, electron source and image forming apparatus using the electron-emitting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To simplify fabrication processes and to provide a uniform electron emission characteristic by forming on an insulating substrate a pair of electrodes facing each other with a microclearance between them, and forming an electron emission element from a sediment accumulated in the clearance and composed chiefly of carbon. CONSTITUTION: An element electrode material is accumulated on an insulating substrate 1 and then a predetermined cliarance L is formed between element electrodes 2, 2' by means of a convergent ion beam. A sediment 3 composed mainly of carbon is accumulated in the clearance L. The sediment 3 is preferably fibrous carbons, consisting of graphite or amorphous carbons. The fibrous carbons are produced by heat decomposition of hydrocarbons, such as benzene, or CO in a gaseous phase with the use of particles of Fe, etc., as catalysts. The use of Pd as the nuclei for formation of the fibrous carbons is desirable since the maximum process temperature can then be lowered to 450 deg.C or less. Ni can also be used in addition to Fe and Pd.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electron-emitting device, an electron source in which a plurality of such devices are arranged, and an image forming apparatus such as a display device and an exposure device configured by using the electron source.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing the electron-emitting device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, two types of electron emitters, a thermoelectron source and a cold cathode electron source, are known. The cold cathode electron source includes a field emission type (hereinafter referred to as FE type), a metal / insulating layer. /
There are metal type (hereinafter referred to as MIM type) and surface conduction type.

As an example of the above-mentioned FE type, double field dyke and double double dran “Field Emission” Advance in Electron Physics, 8, 89 (1956) (W.P.D.
yke & W. W. Dolan "Field Emi
ssion ”, Advance in electro
n Physics) or Cay Spint, “Physical Properties of Thin-Film Field Emission Cassors with Molybdenium Cornes,” Journal of Applied Physics, 47, 5248 (1976) (CA Spin).
dt "PHYSICAL Properties of
thin-film field emission
cathodes with mollybdeniu
m cones "J.Appl.Phys.) and the like are known.

As an example of the MIM type,
Mead "The Tunnel-Emission Amplifier" Journal of Applied Physics, 3
2,646 (1961) (CA Mead "The
tunnel-emission amplifee
r "J. Appl. Phys.) and the like are known.

As an example of the surface conduction electron-emitting device, MI Elinson, Radio Engineering Electron Physics, 10 (1965)
(MI Elinson, Radio Eng. El
electron Phys. ) Etc.

[0006]

When a display device or the like is formed using a plurality of electron-emitting devices such as those mentioned above,
It is required that the electron emission characteristics of each element be uniform, and that the production of a uniform element does not involve complicated steps. Therefore, in the electron-emitting device, such requirements, further simplification of the manufacturing process, and earnest studies have been made to achieve a more excellent device.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly reliable electron-emitting device that exhibits uniform electron-emitting characteristics without complicated processes in the above situation.
An electron source, and further, an image forming apparatus is constructed by using the electron-emitting device.

[0008]

The invention according to claims 1 to 4 is an electron-emitting device which achieves the above-mentioned object, wherein a pair of electrodes are provided on an insulating substrate through a minute gap, It is characterized by having a deposit containing carbon as a main component in the minute gap.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device as described above, wherein a pair of electrodes are formed on an insulating substrate with a minute gap, and carbon is contained as a main component in the minute gap. It is characterized by depositing a deposit to be deposited.

According to a fifteenth and sixteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electron source characterized in that a plurality of the electron-emitting devices are arranged.
The seventeenth and eighteenth inventions are image forming apparatuses using the respective electron sources.

The present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the basic structure of the electron-emitting device of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an insulating substrate, 2 and 2'are device electrodes, and 3 is a deposit containing carbon as a main component.

The substrate 1 is, for example, quartz glass or Na.
Examples thereof include glass having a reduced content of impurities such as blue glass, soda lime glass, a laminated body obtained by laminating SiO ₂ on soda lime glass by a sputtering method, and ceramics such as alumina.

As a material for the opposing device electrodes 2 and 2 ', a general conductor material is used, for example, Ni, Cr, A.
Metals or alloys such as u, Mo, W, Pt, Ti, Al, Cu, Pd and Pd, Ag, Au, RuO ₂ , Pd-
It is appropriately selected from a printed conductor composed of a metal such as Ag or a metal oxide and glass, a transparent conductor such as In ₂ O ₃ —SnO ₂ and a semiconductor conductor material such as polysilicon.

The element electrode gap L and the element electrode length W are designed according to the applied form.

The device electrode length W is preferably several μm to several hundreds μm, and the device electrode thickness d is several hundred Å to several μm, considering the resistance value of the electrodes and the electron emission characteristics.

The element electrode gap L is very small, and preferably 500 nm or less.

A method of manufacturing the electron-emitting device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 denote the same members.

(A) After the substrate 1 is thoroughly washed with a detergent, pure water and an organic solvent, a device electrode material is deposited by a vacuum vapor deposition method, a sputtering method or the like, and then on the surface of the substrate 1 by a photolithography technique. The device electrodes 2 and 2'are connected to each other (FIG. 2A).

(B) Next, a focused ion beam (FIB)
Thus, a predetermined gap L is formed between the device electrodes 2 and 2 '(FIG. 2 (b)). In addition to the above FIB, the gap L is formed by
A method of forming using a photolithography process or a method of forming a gap by providing a step on the substrate 1 is possible.

(C) The deposit containing carbon as the main component is separated into the gap L.
Deposit on. In the present invention, the deposit is preferably fibrous carbon and is composed of graphite or amorphous carbon.

Fibrous carbon is produced when hydrocarbons such as benzene and CO are thermally decomposed in the gas phase by using fine particles as a catalyst, and may show irregular bending or be constricted (for example, ares). Tee baker
And Pies Harris: Chemistry And
Physics of Carbon Vol. 14 p84-
165, Philip L. Walker Jr. and Peter A. Slower, Marcel Deeker, Inc. (R.T.
S. Harris: Chemistry and Ph
ysics of Carbon, Philip L.
Walker Jr. and Peter A. T
rower, MARCEL DEEKER, in
c. )).

The catalytic activity of the metal surface such as Fe in the decomposition reaction of hydrocarbon gas has been studied for a long time, and there are many reports on the decomposition of ethylene (for example, Eriko Yagasaki and Yasuhiro Iwasaki “on the surface of transition metal”). "Chemistry of Ethylene": Surface 29, 879-891, 1991
Year).

It is well known, as described above, that when fine particles of Fe are present, they are heat-treated in an atmosphere containing hydrocarbons to form fibrous carbon with the fine particles as nuclei. The Fe fine particles are formed by reducing an Fe compound such as a part of a ferrite substrate. The present inventors have found that even fine particles of Pd, which are widely used in the field of electron-emitting devices, serve as nuclei in the formation of fibrous carbon, like Fe. Therefore, in the present invention, when Pd is used as a nucleus for forming fibrous carbon, the maximum process temperature can be suppressed to 450 ° C. or lower (the temperature is 950 to 1000 ° C. when Fe is used), and it can be applied to other members. It is preferable in terms of influence and manufacturing cost.

Specifically, by applying an organic complex solution of a metal such as Pd and heating and baking it to form a metal oxide, it is exposed to an atmosphere containing hydrogen gas or heat-treated in the atmosphere. Then, the metal oxide is reduced and aggregated to form the metal fine particles 21 (FIG. 2C).

In the present invention, Ni is preferably used in addition to the above Fe and Pd as a carbon forming nucleus, and it is not necessary to take the shape of fine particles, and it becomes a peculiar point of growth of fibrous carbon such as protrusions. If the shape is obtained, the same effect can be obtained.

Fibrous carbon is deposited using the fine metal particles as nuclei (FIG. 2 (d)). As described above, the deposition method may be performed by thermally decomposing a carbon compound such as hydrocarbon, and for example, heat treatment may be performed at a temperature equal to or higher than the thermal decomposition of ethylene in an atmosphere containing ethylene gas. In addition to ethylene, it is also possible to use hydrocarbon gas such as methane, propane and propylene, or vapor of an organic solvent such as ethanol and acetone.

The present inventors have confirmed that fibrous carbon is not formed at 400 ° C. or lower. On the other hand, it can be formed in a sufficiently wide range on the high temperature side, and heat treatment at 900 ° C. forms fibrous carbon similar to that in Examples described later. However, as described above, heat treatment at 900 ° C. or lower is preferable because at high temperature, other members of the element are affected. In practice, it may be set based on the heat resistant temperature of the electrodes and the substrate.

The reducing step of the fine metal particles is performed by, for example, performing the reducing step of the fine metal particles at a temperature lower than the thermal decomposition temperature of ethylene in an atmosphere containing ethylene gas, and then performing a heat treatment at a temperature not lower than the thermal decomposition temperature of ethylene. And the fibrous carbon deposition step can be continuously performed, which is preferable from the viewpoint of simplifying the manufacturing process.

A sample obtained by heat-treating a Pd particle-dispersed film formed by forming Pd particles on a silicon substrate having a thermal oxide film formed on its surface in the same manner as in Examples described later in an ethylene atmosphere was observed with a scanning electron microscope. However, fibrous carbon was observed. It was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis and Raman spectroscopy analysis that this was carbon.
When the fibrous carbon was observed with a transmission electron microscope, a lattice image was observed and it was found that the fibrous carbon had crystallinity. However, the lattice image is very disordered and the crystallinity is poor.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of a measurement / evaluation system for measuring the electron emission characteristics of the electron-emitting device. First, this measurement / evaluation system will be described.

In FIG. 3, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 indicate the same members. Further, 31 is a power supply for applying a device voltage V _f to the device, 30 is an ammeter for measuring a device current I _f flowing between the device electrodes 2 and 2 ′, and 34 is for capturing an emission current I _e. Is an anode electrode, 33 is a high voltage power source for applying a voltage to the anode electrode 34, 32 is an ammeter for measuring the emission current I _e , 35 is a vacuum device, and 36 is an exhaust pump.

The electron-emitting device, the anode electrode 34, etc. are installed in a vacuum device 35, and this vacuum device 35 is equipped with necessary equipment such as a vacuum gauge (not shown) so that the electron-emitting device can be operated under a desired vacuum. It is possible to measure and evaluate.

The exhaust pump 36 is composed of a normal high vacuum system such as a turbo pump and a rotary pump, and an ultra high vacuum system such as an ion pump.
The entire vacuum device 35 and the substrate 1 of the electron-emitting device are
It can be heated up to about 200 ° C by a heater.

The basic characteristics of the electron-emitting device described below are
The voltage of the anode electrode 34 of the measurement and evaluation system is set to 1 kV to 1
0 kV, the distance H between the anode electrode 34 and the electron-emitting device
Is based on the measurement performed as 2 to 8 mm.

First, the emission current I _e and the device current I _f ,
A typical example of the relationship with the element voltage V _f is shown in FIG. still,
In FIG. 4, the emission current I _e is markedly smaller than the device current I _f, and therefore is shown in arbitrary units.

As is apparent from FIG. 4, the electron-emitting device of the present invention has the following three characteristic characteristics with respect to the emission current I _e .

First, the electron-emitting device has a device voltage V _f equal to or higher than a certain voltage (called a threshold voltage: V _{th in} FIG. 5).
When the voltage is applied, the emission current I _e rapidly increases, while at the threshold voltage V _th or less, the emission current I _e is hardly detected.
That is, it is a non-linear element having a clear threshold voltage V _th with respect to the emission current I _e .

Secondly, since the emission current I _e has a characteristic of monotonically increasing with respect to the device voltage V _f (referred to as MI characteristic), the emission current I _e can be controlled by the device voltage V _f .

Thirdly, the emitted charges captured by the anode electrode 34 (see FIG. 3) depend on the time for applying the device voltage V _f . That is, the amount of charges captured by the anode electrode 34 can be controlled by the time for which the device voltage V _f is applied.

The emission current I _e is MI with respect to the device voltage V _f .
At the same time having a characteristic, it may have a MI characteristic with respect to the device current I _f also the device voltage V _f. An example of the characteristic of such an electron-emitting device is the characteristic shown by the solid line in FIG. On the other hand, as indicated by the broken line in FIG. 4, the element current _If may exhibit a voltage control type negative resistance characteristic (called VCNR characteristic) with respect to the element voltage _Vf . Which characteristic is exhibited depends on the manufacturing method of the electron-emitting device and the measurement conditions at the time of measurement.
However, even in the electron-emitting device in which the device current I _f has the VCNR characteristic with respect to the device voltage V _f , the emission current I _e has the MI characteristic with respect to the device voltage V _f .

Next, the arrangement of electron-emitting devices in the electron source of the present invention will be described.

As an arrangement method of the electron-emitting devices in the electron source of the present invention, the electron-emitting devices are arranged in parallel, and both ends (both device electrodes) of the individual devices are wired (also called common wiring).
And a ladder-type arrangement in which a plurality of rows connected to each other are arranged, and n Y-direction wirings are installed on m X-direction wirings with an interlayer insulating layer interposed therebetween to form a pair of element electrodes of an electron-emitting device. An arrangement method in which the X-direction wiring and the Y-direction wiring are connected to each other can be mentioned.
This is hereinafter referred to as a simple matrix arrangement. First, this simple matrix arrangement will be described in detail.

According to the basic characteristics of the electron-emitting device described above, the emitted electrons in the electron-emitting device arranged in the simple matrix have a pulse-like voltage applied between the opposing device electrodes at a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage. It can be controlled by the peak value and pulse width. On the other hand, almost no electrons are emitted below the threshold voltage. Therefore, even when a plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged, if the pulsed voltage is appropriately applied to each device, the electron-emitting device can be selected in accordance with the input signal, and the electron emission amount can be controlled. Individual electron-emitting devices can be selected and driven independently by only matrix wiring.

The simple matrix arrangement is based on such a principle, and the structure of the electron source having the simple matrix arrangement, which is an example of the electron source of the present invention, will be further described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 5, the substrate 1 is a glass plate or the like as already described, and the number and shape of the electron-emitting devices 54 arranged on the substrate 1 are appropriately set according to the application.

The m X-direction wirings 52 are connected to the external terminals D, respectively.
_x1 , D _x2 , ..., D _xm , which is a conductive metal or the like formed on the substrate 1 by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method, or the like. Further, the material, the film thickness, and the wiring width are set so that the voltages are supplied to the plurality of electron-emitting devices 54 almost uniformly.

The n Y-direction wirings 53 are connected to the external terminals D, respectively.
_{which has y1} , D _y2 , ..., D _yn, and has an X-direction wiring 52
Created as.

An interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is provided between the m number of X-direction wirings 52 and the n number of Y-direction wirings 53 and electrically separated to form a matrix wiring.
In addition, both m and n are positive integers.

The interlayer insulating layer (not shown) is SiO ₂ or the like formed by a vacuum deposition method, a printing method, a sputtering method or the like, and has a desired shape on the entire surface or a part of the substrate 1 on which the X-direction wiring 52 is formed. And the X-direction wiring 52 and the Y-direction wiring 53.
The film thickness, material, and manufacturing method are appropriately set so as to withstand the potential difference at the intersection of

Further, the opposing device electrodes (not shown) of the electron-emitting device 54 are formed by m X-direction wirings 52, n Y-direction wirings 53, a vacuum evaporation method, a printing method, a sputtering method or the like. They are electrically connected by a connection wire 55 made of a conductive metal or the like.

Here, the m number of X-direction wirings 52, the n number of Y-direction wirings 53, the connection lines 55, and the opposing element electrodes may have the same or partial constituent elements. Further, they may be different from each other, and are appropriately selected from the above-mentioned material of the element electrode and the like. The wiring to these element electrodes is
When the material is the same as that of the device electrode, it may be collectively referred to as a device electrode. Further, the electron-emitting device 54 may be formed either on the substrate 1 or on an interlayer insulating layer (not shown).

Further, as will be described later in detail, a scanning signal is applied to the X-direction wiring 52 in order to scan a row of electron-emitting devices 54 arranged in the X-direction according to an input signal. The scanning signal applying means is electrically connected.

On the other hand, in the Y-direction wiring 53, a modulation signal generating means (not shown) for applying a modulation signal in order to modulate each of the rows of the electron-emitting devices 54 arranged in the Y-direction according to the input signal. Are electrically connected. Furthermore, the driving voltage applied to each electron-emitting device 54 is determined by
4 is supplied as a difference voltage between the scanning signal and the modulation signal applied to No. 4.

Next, an example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention using the electron source of the present invention having the above simple matrix arrangement will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 is a basic configuration diagram of the display panel 81, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the fluorescent film 64, and FIG. 8 is a display panel 81 of FIG. 6 for displaying a television according to an NTSC system television signal. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the drive circuit for performing.

In FIG. 6, 1 is a substrate of the electron source in which the electron-emitting devices are arranged as described above, 61 is a rear plate to which the substrate 1 is fixed, 66 is a fluorescent film 64 and a metal back 65 on the inner surface of the glass substrate 63. And the like, a face plate 62, a support frame 62, a rear plate 61, a support frame 6
2 and face plate 66 are coated with frit glass or the like, and the temperature is 400 to 500 ° C. for 10 hours in the air or nitrogen.
The envelope 68 is configured by sealing by firing for more than a minute.

[0057] In FIG. 6, 52 and 53, a pair of device electrodes 2 and 2 'and the connected X-direction wiring and Y-direction wiring of the electron-emitting device 54, respectively external terminals D _x1 ~D _xm, D _y1 ~
_Have D _yn .

The envelope 68 is composed of the face plate 66, the support frame 62, and the rear plate 61 as described above. However, the rear plate 61 is provided mainly for the purpose of reinforcing the strength of the substrate 1, and if the substrate 1 itself has sufficient strength, the separate rear plate 61 is not necessary, and the rear plate 61 is directly supported on the substrate 1. 62 may be sealed, and the face plate 66, the support frame 62, and the substrate 1 may constitute the envelope 68. In addition, the face plate 66 and the rear plate 6
An envelope 68 having sufficient strength against atmospheric pressure can be obtained by further installing a support body (not shown) called a spacer between the two.

In the case of monochrome, the fluorescent film 64 is composed of only the phosphor 72, but in the case of the color fluorescent film 64,
Depending on the arrangement of the phosphors 72, black stripes (see FIG.
(A)) or a black matrix (FIG. 7 (b)) and the like, which is composed of a black conductive material 71 and a phosphor 72. The purpose of providing the black stripes and the black matrix is to make the color mixture, etc., inconspicuous by making the coating portions between the phosphors 72 of the three primary colors necessary for color display black, and to reflect external light on the phosphor film 74. This is to suppress the decrease in contrast due to. As the material of the black conductive material 71, not only a commonly used material containing graphite as a main component, but also another material may be used as long as it is a material having conductivity and little light transmission and reflection. it can.

As a method for applying the phosphor 72 to the glass substrate 73, a precipitation method or a printing method is used regardless of monochrome or color.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A metal back 65 is usually provided on the inner surface side of the. The purpose of the metal back 65 is to improve the brightness by specularly reflecting the light toward the inner surface side of the light emission of the phosphor 72 (see FIG. 7) to the glass substrate 63 side, and to apply the electron beam acceleration voltage. It acts as an electrode and protects the phosphor 72 from damage due to collision of negative ions generated in the envelope 68. The metal back 65 is the fluorescent film 64.
After the production, the inner surface of the fluorescent film 64 is smoothed (usually called filming), and then Al is deposited by vacuum evaporation or the like.

The face plate 66 is further provided with a fluorescent film 6
In order to enhance the conductivity of No. 4, a transparent electrode (not shown) may be provided on the outer surface side of the fluorescent film 64.

When performing the above-mentioned sealing, in the case of a color, the phosphors 72 of the respective colors must correspond to the electron-emitting devices 64, so that it is necessary to perform sufficient alignment.

Inside the envelope 68, through an exhaust pipe (not shown),
It has been ^-7 torr vacuum of about 10, are sealed. In addition, the getter process may be performed immediately before or after sealing the envelope 68. This is a process of heating a getter (not shown) arranged at a predetermined position in the envelope 68 to form a vapor deposition film. The getter usually has Ba or the like as a main component, and is, for example, 1 × 1 due to the adsorption action of the deposited film.
This is for maintaining the degree of vacuum of 0 ^-5 to 1 × 10 ^-7 torr.

The display panel 81 described above can be driven by a driving circuit as shown in FIG. 8, for example. In FIG. 8, 81 is a display panel, 82 is a scanning circuit, and 83.
Is a control circuit, 84 is a shift register, 85 is a line memory, 86 is a sync signal separation circuit, 87 is a modulation signal generator,
V _x and V _a are DC voltage sources.

As shown in FIG. 8, the display panel 81
Is connected to an external electric circuit via the external terminals D _{x1 to} D _xm , the external terminals D _{y1 to} D _yn, and the high voltage terminal Hv. Among them, the external terminals D _{x1 to} D _xm are provided with electron-emitting devices provided in the display panel 81, that is, electron-emitting device groups arranged in a matrix of m rows and n columns in one row (n elements each). ) A scanning signal for sequentially driving is applied.

On the other hand, a modulation signal for controlling the output electron beam of each electron-emitting device in one row selected by the scanning signal is applied to the external terminals D _{y1 to} D _yn . Also,
The high-voltage terminal Hv receives, for example, 10 k from the DC voltage source V _a.
A DC voltage of V is supplied. This is an acceleration voltage for giving enough energy to excite the phosphor to the electron beam output from the electron-emitting device.

The scanning circuit 82 has m switching elements (schematically shown by S _{1 to} S _m in FIG. 8) inside, and each of the switching elements S _{1 to} S _m is a DC voltage source V _x. Either the output voltage of the display panel 81 or 0 V (ground level) is selected, and the external terminals D _x1 to
It is electrically connected to D _xm . Each of the switching elements S _{1 to} S _m has a control signal T output by the control circuit 83.
It operates based on _scan . Actually, for example, FE
It can be easily configured by combining elements such as T having a switching function.

In the DC voltage source V _x in this example, the driving voltage applied to the unscanned electron-emitting device is equal to or lower than the threshold voltage based on the characteristics (threshold voltage) of the electron-emitting device. It is set to output such a constant voltage.

The control circuit 83 has a function of matching the operation of each part so that an appropriate display is performed based on the image signal input from the outside. Based on a _sync signal T _sync sent from a sync signal separation circuit 86 described next, control signals T _scan , T _sft, and T _mry are generated for each unit.

The synchronizing signal separating circuit 86 is a circuit for separating a synchronizing signal component and a luminance signal component from an NTSC television signal inputted from the outside, and as is well known, a frequency separating (filter). It can be easily constructed by using a circuit. The sync signal separated by the sync signal separation circuit 86 is, as is well known,
It consists of a vertical sync signal and a horizontal sync signal. Here, it is shown as T _sync for convenience of description. On the other hand, the luminance signal component of the image separated from the television signal is shown as a DATA signal for convenience. This DATA signal is transferred to the shift register 84
Is input to

The shift register 84 is for serial / parallel conversion of the DATA signal serially input in time series for each line of the image, and is based on the control signal T _sft sent from the control circuit 83. Works. In other words, the control signal T _sft is the shift clock of the shift register 84. In addition, the data of one line of the serial / parallel-converted image (corresponding to the driving data of n elements of the electron-emitting device) is I _d1 ~.
It is output from the shift register 84 as n parallel signals of I _dn .

The line memory 85 is a storage device for storing the data for one line of the image for a required time, and is appropriately I in accordance with the control signal T _mry sent from the control circuit 83.
stores the contents of _d1 ~I _dn. The stored content is I _d'1
~ I _d'n is output and input to the modulation signal generator 87.

The modulation signal generator 87 outputs the image data I
A signal source for appropriately driving and modulating each of the electron-emitting devices according to each of _{d'1 to} I _d'n , the output signal of which is an electron emission in the display panel 81 through the terminals D _{y1 to} D _yn. Applied to the device.

As described above, the electron-emitting device has a clear threshold voltage for electron emission, and electron emission occurs only when a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage is applied. Further, when the voltage exceeds the threshold voltage, the emission current also changes according to the change in the voltage applied to the electron-emitting device.
The value of the threshold voltage and the degree of change of the emission current with respect to the applied voltage may change by changing the material, configuration, and manufacturing method of the electron-emitting device, but the following can be said in any case.

That is, when a pulsed voltage is applied to the electron-emitting device, for example, when a voltage below the threshold voltage is applied, no electron emission occurs, but when a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage is applied. Produces electron emission. At that time, firstly, it is possible to control the intensity of the output electron beam by changing the peak value of the voltage pulse. Second
In addition, it is possible to control the total amount of charges of the output electron beam by changing the width of the voltage pulse.

Therefore, as a method of modulating the electron-emitting device according to the input signal, there are a voltage modulation method and a pulse width modulation method. In the case of performing the voltage modulation method, the modulation signal generator 87 uses a circuit of the voltage modulation method that generates a voltage pulse of a fixed length, but can appropriately modulate the peak value of the pulse according to the input data. When the pulse width modulation method is used, the modulation signal generator 87 is
A circuit of a pulse width modulation system is used, which generates a voltage pulse having a constant peak value, but can appropriately modulate the pulse width according to the input data.

The shift register 84 and the line memory 85
May be a digital signal type or an analog signal type as long as it can perform serial / parallel conversion and storage of an image signal at a predetermined speed.

When the digital signal type is used, it is necessary to convert the output signal DATA of the sync signal separation circuit 86 into a digital signal. This can be done by providing an A / D converter at the output of the sync signal separation circuit 86.

Further, in connection with this, the line memory 85
The circuit provided in the modulation signal generator 87 is slightly different depending on whether the output signal is a digital signal or an analog signal.

That is, in the case of the voltage modulation method using a digital signal, for example, a well-known D / A conversion circuit may be used as the modulation signal generator 87, and an amplification circuit or the like may be added if necessary. In the case of a pulse width modulation method using a digital signal, the modulation signal generator 87 is, for example, a high-speed oscillator and a counter (counter) that counts the number of waves output by the oscillator.
It can be easily configured by using a circuit in which a comparator (comparator) that compares the output value of the counter and the output value of the memory is combined. In addition, if necessary,
An amplifier for voltage-amplifying the pulse-width-modulated modulation signal output from the comparator to the drive voltage of the electron-emitting device may be added.

On the other hand, in the case of the voltage modulation method using an analog signal, the modulation signal generator 87 may be, for example, an amplifier circuit using a well-known operational amplifier or the like, and a level shift circuit or the like may be added if necessary. May be. Also,
In the case of the pulse width modulation method using an analog signal, for example, a well-known voltage control type oscillation circuit (VCO) may be used, and an amplifier for amplifying the voltage up to the driving voltage of the electron-emitting device may be added if necessary. Good.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention having the display panel 81 and the driving circuit as described above, by applying a voltage from the terminals D _{x1 to} D _xm and D _{y1 to} D _yn , electrons are emitted from necessary electron-emitting devices. Can be discharged and the high voltage terminal H
Through v, a high voltage is applied to the metal back 55 or a transparent electrode (not shown) to accelerate the electron beam, and the excited electron beam is caused to collide with the fluorescent film 54 to generate light. According to the above, a television display can be performed.

The structure described above is a schematic structure necessary for obtaining the image forming apparatus of the present invention used for display and the like, and the detailed parts such as the material of each member are limited to the above contents. However, it is appropriately selected so as to suit the purpose of the image forming apparatus. Further, although the NTSC system is mentioned as the input signal, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to this, and other systems such as PAL and SECAM systems may be used, and more than a plurality of scanning lines may be used. It is also possible to use a high-definition TV system such as a TV signal such as the MUSE system.

Next, an example of the above-mentioned ladder-type electron source and the image forming apparatus of the present invention using the electron source will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

In FIG. 9, 1 is a substrate, 54 is an electron-emitting device, and 94 is a common wiring for connecting the electron-emitting device 54.
Zero of them are provided, each having external terminals D _{1 to} D ₁₀ .

A plurality of electron-emitting devices 54 are arranged in parallel on the substrate 1. This is called an element row. A plurality of these element rows are arranged to form an electron source.

Each element row can be independently driven by applying an appropriate drive voltage between the common wiring 94 of each element row (for example, the common wiring 94 of the external terminals D ₁ and D ₂ ). That is, a voltage exceeding the threshold voltage may be applied to the element row where the electron beam is desired to be emitted, and a voltage lower than the threshold voltage may be applied to the element row where the electron beam is not desired to be emitted. The application of such a driving voltage is performed on the common wirings D _{2 to} D ₉ located between the respective element rows by using the common wirings 94 adjacent to each other, that is, the external terminals D ₂ adjacent to each other.
And D _3, D ₄ and D _5, can also be performed as the same wiring integrally common wiring 94 of D ₆ and D _7, D ₈ and D _9.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the structure of a display panel 91 provided with the above-mentioned ladder-shaped electron source, which is another example of the electron source of the present invention.

In FIG. 10, reference numeral 92 is a grid electrode, 93 is an opening through which electrons pass, D _{1 to} D _m are external terminals for applying a voltage to each electron-emitting device, and G _{1 to} G _n are grid electrodes 92. Is an external terminal connected to. Further, the common wiring 94 between each element row is formed on the substrate 1 as an integrated single wiring.

Note that, in FIG. 10, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 6 indicate the same members, and a big difference from the display panel 81 using the electron source of the simple matrix arrangement shown in FIG. 6 is that the substrate 1 and the face plate are different. The point is that the grid electrode 92 is provided between 66.

Between the substrate 1 and the face plate 66,
The grid electrode 92 is provided as described above. The grid electrode 92 is capable of modulating the electron beam emitted from the electron-emitting device 54, and in order to pass the electron beam through the stripe-shaped electrode provided orthogonal to the device row in the ladder arrangement. In addition, one circular opening 93 is provided for each electron-emitting device 54.

The shape and position of the grid electrode 92 need not necessarily be as shown in FIG. 10, and a large number of openings 93 may be provided in a mesh shape. Element 54
It may be provided around or near.

The external terminals D _{1 to} D _m and G _{1 to} G _n are connected to a drive circuit (not shown). Then, by applying a modulation signal for one line of an image to the columns of the grid electrode 92 in synchronization with the sequential driving (scanning) of the element rows one column at a time, irradiation of each electron beam to the fluorescent film 64 is performed. Control the
Images can be displayed line by line.

As described above, the image forming apparatus of the present invention is
An image formation that can be obtained by using the electron source of the present invention in either a simple matrix arrangement or a trapezoidal arrangement and is suitable not only as a display device for the television broadcast described above but also as a display device for a video conference system, a computer, or the like. The device is obtained. Further, it can also be used as an exposure device of an optical printer configured with a photosensitive drum.

[0096]

【Example】

Example 1 As the first example of the present invention, the electron-emitting device shown in FIG. 1 was produced.

First, using a metal mask, Ti having a thickness of 5 nm and Pt having a thickness of 30 nm were vacuum-deposited on a quartz glass substrate to form a device electrode. Next, FI between element electrodes
Locally removed by B, L = 240 nm, W = 100
A gap of μm was formed.

Next, an organic Pd complex solution (CCP423
(0: Okuno Seiyaku Co., Ltd., diluted 3-fold with butyl acetate) was spinner-coated, then heat-treated at 300 ° C. in the atmosphere, and further heat-treated at 180 ° C. in a 2% hydrogen stream diluted with nitrogen. At this stage, φ = 3 to 7 on the element surface
nm particles were formed.

Subsequently, heat treatment was performed at 500 ° C. for 10 minutes in a 0.1% ethylene stream diluted with nitrogen. Observing this with a scanning electron microscope, the diameter is 10 to 25 nm in the electrode gap.
It was found that a large number of fibrous carbons, which were bent and extended in a fibrous form, were formed to some extent. Neither Pd particles nor fibrous carbon was found on the device electrode, and it is considered that the Pd particles were absorbed by the Pt electrode.

I _e and I _f of the electron-emitting device manufactured as described above were measured by the measurement evaluation system shown in FIG.

As a result, I _e gradually increased, I _f decreased sharply, then gradually increased, and reached saturation in about 600 seconds. At this time, I _e is 0.5 μA and I _f is 0.5 mA.
It was about.

[Embodiment 2] The gap between the device electrodes is set to 500 n.
An electron-emitting device was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that m was set, and I _e and I _f were measured. Each of I _e and I _f was saturated in about 400 seconds, and its value was almost the same as that of the electron-emitting device of Example 1.

In observation with a scanning electron microscope, Example 1 was used.
Similarly to the above, it was observed that many fibrous carbons were formed in the gap. However, it was slightly sparse in the center of the gap.

[Example 3] Similar to Example 1, a device electrode and a gap between the electrodes were formed, an organic Pd complex solution was applied, baked at 300 ° C, and diluted with nitrogen. A heat treatment was performed at 180 ° C. for 10 minutes in a 1% ethylene gas stream, and then the temperature was raised to 450 ° C. and a heat treatment was performed for 10 minutes. The electrical characteristics of this electron-emitting device were almost the same as in Example 1.

[Comparative Example 1] Device electrodes and electrode gaps were formed by the same steps as in Example 1, and Pd fine particles were formed.
By omitting the heat treatment step in the ethylene atmosphere, I _e and I
_f was measured. As a result, neither I _e nor I _f was observed.

[Comparative Example 2] An electron-emitting device was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the electrode gap was set to 900 nm.
_{When e} and I _f were measured, neither I _e nor I _f was observed at all.

Observation of this electron-emitting device with a scanning electron microscope revealed that fibrous carbon was formed in the vicinity of the end face of the device electrode, but it did not exist in the central portion of the gap, and the spacing between both carbons was I found it wide open.
This is because when the organic Pd solution is applied, the solution gathers near the end faces of the electrode due to surface tension and the amount near the center decreases, so that Pd particles are not formed in the center of the gap, and thus the fibers deposited using this as a nucleus. It is presumed that the particulate carbon was hard to deposit. Therefore, it is presumed that the gap between carbons was wide and I _e and I _f were not observed, that is, current did not flow between the device electrodes and electron emission was not performed.

[Embodiment 4] An electron source was prepared in which electron-emitting devices were arranged by simple matrix wiring. The procedure is shown below.

After sequentially stacking Cr with a thickness of 5 nm and Au with a thickness of 60 nm on a washed soda-lime glass substrate by a vacuum deposition method, a photoresist (AZ1370: manufactured by Hoechst) was spin-coated and baked. The photomask image was exposed and developed to form a resist pattern for the lower wiring, and the Au / Cr laminated film was wet-etched to form the lower wiring.

An interlayer insulating layer made of a silicon oxide film having a thickness of 0.1 μm was formed by a high frequency sputtering method.

A photoresist pattern for forming a contact hole is formed on the deposited silicon oxide film,
Using this as a mask, the interlayer insulating layer was etched to form a contact hole. The etching is performed by RIE (Reactive Ion Etch) using CF ₄ and H ₂ gas.
ing) method.

A pattern to be an element electrode is formed with a photoresist (RD-2000N-41: manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.), Ti having a thickness of 5 nm and a thickness of 100 n are formed by a vacuum evaporation method.
m of Ni were sequentially laminated. The photoresist pattern was dissolved in an organic solvent and the Ni / Ti deposition film was lifted off to form a device electrode.

After forming a photoresist pattern for the upper wiring on the device electrode, Ti having a thickness of 5 nm and a thickness of 100 n are formed.
m of Au is sequentially deposited by a vacuum evaporation method, and unnecessary portions are removed by lift-off to form upper wiring.

A resist film is formed so as to cover portions other than the contact hole portion, and the thickness is 5 nm by the vacuum evaporation method.
Ti and Au with a thickness of 500 nm were sequentially laminated. Contact holes were buried by removing unnecessary parts by lift-off.

As in Example 1, a gap was formed between the device electrodes by FIB. Further, in the same manner as in Example 1, the organic Pd complex solution was applied with a spinner, and the temperature was set to 300 ° C. in the atmosphere.
Was fired to PdO and further heat-treated at 180 ° C. for 10 minutes in a N ₂ -2% H ₂ mixed gas stream to form Pd fine particles.

In the same manner as in Example 1, heat treatment was carried out in a 0.01% C ₂ H ₂ gas stream at 500 ° C. for 10 minutes to form fibrous carbon. High resolution SEM (scanning electron microscope)
When observing the electron-emitting device of this electron source, the Pd fine particles on the device electrode seemed to diffuse into the electrode due to the heat treatment, and neither fine particles nor fibrous carbon was found on the device electrode.

As shown in FIG. 11, extraction electrodes and fluorescent plates were attached to this electron source, and all electron-emitting devices were time-sequentially scan-driven. The system of FIG. 11 will be described. 111 in the figure
Is a vacuum chamber, and an exhaust system (not shown) provides 5 × 10 ⁻⁵ P
Exhausted below a. Reference numeral 112 is a window, and 114 is an element body including an electron emitting portion (electrode gap), electrodes, wirings, and the like. Denoted at 115 and 116 are drive wirings for X-direction and Y-direction lines. A driver 117 applies an appropriate pulse to the wiring. Reference numeral 118 denotes a lead electrode, which is obtained by inserting glass having an ITO thin film as a transparent electrode into an aluminum frame and applying a phosphor on the lower surface thereof.

A rectangular wave pulse was applied to the electron-emitting device by the driver 117 so that the driving voltage was 14V and the half-selection voltage was 7V. The extraction voltage is 5 kV.

When the light emission of the phosphor due to electron emission is visually observed through the window 112, it can be seen that in the electron source of this embodiment, there is little variation in the luminance between the elements and the uniformity of the electron emission characteristics is high. confirmed.

[Embodiment 5] By combining the electron source of Embodiment 4 with an image forming member as shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to display image information provided from various image information sources such as television broadcasting. Configured the display device. FIG. 12 shows its block diagram.

In the figure, 120 is a display panel and 121
Is a display panel drive circuit, 122 is a display controller, 123 is a multiplexer, 124 is a decoder, 125 is an input / output interface circuit, 126
Is a CPU, 127 is an image generation circuit, 128, 129 and 130 are image memory interface circuits, 131 is an image input interface circuit, and 132 and 133 are TVs.
The signal receiving circuit, 134 is an input unit. (Note that the present display device, when receiving a signal including both video information and audio information, such as a television signal, naturally reproduces audio at the same time as displaying video. A description of circuits, speakers, etc. relating to reception, separation, reproduction, processing, storage, etc. of audio information not directly related to the characteristics will be omitted.)

Each section will be described below along the flow of the image signal.

First, the TV signal receiving circuit 133 is a circuit for receiving a TV image signal transmitted using a wireless transmission system such as radio waves or spatial optical communication. The system of the TV signal to be received is not particularly limited, and various systems such as NTSC system, PAL system and SECAM system may be used. Further, a TV signal (for example, a so-called high-definition TV such as the MUSE method) including a larger number of scanning lines than these is suitable for taking advantage of the display panel suitable for a large area and a large number of pixels. It is a signal source. TV received by the TV signal receiving circuit 133
The signal is output to the decoder 124.

The image TV signal receiving circuit 132 is a circuit for receiving a TV image signal transmitted using a wire transmission system such as a coaxial cable or an optical fiber. Similar to the TV signal receiving circuit 133, the system of the TV signal to be received is not particularly limited, and the TV signal received by this circuit is also output to the decoder 124.

Further, the image input interface circuit 13
Reference numeral 1 is a circuit for capturing an image signal supplied from an image input device such as a TV camera or an image reading scanner, and the captured image signal is output to the decoder 124.

Further, the image memory interface circuit 1
30 is a video tape recorder (hereinafter abbreviated as VTR)
The circuit for fetching the image signal stored in is output to the decoder 124.

Further, the image memory interface circuit 1
Reference numeral 29 is a circuit for capturing the image signal stored in the video disc, and the captured image signal is output to the decoder 124.

The image memory-interface circuit 128 is a circuit for fetching an image signal from a device that stores still image data, such as a so-called still image disc.
4 is output.

In addition, the input / output interface circuit 125
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 / outputting image data and character / graphic information, in some cases, it is possible to input / output control signals and numerical data between the CPU 126 of the display device and the outside.

Further, the image generation circuit 127 uses the input / output interface circuit 125 to externally input image data, character / graphic information, or the CPU 156.
It is a circuit for generating display image data based on image data and character / graphic information output from the output. Inside this circuit, for example, a rewritable memory for accumulating image data and character / graphic information, a read-only memory that stores image patterns corresponding to character codes,
The circuits necessary for image generation, such as a processor for image processing, are incorporated.

The display image data generated by this circuit is output to the decoder 124, but in some cases, it can be output to an external computer network or printer via the input / output interface circuit 125.

Further, the CPU 126 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 123 to appropriately select or combine image signals to be displayed on the display panel. At that time, a control signal is generated to the display panel controller 122 according to the image signal to be displayed, and the screen display frequency, the scanning method (for example, interlace or non-interlace), the number of scanning lines in one screen, etc. are displayed. The operation of the device is controlled appropriately.

Image data or character / graphic information is directly output to the image generation circuit 127, or an external computer or memory is accessed through the input / output interface circuit 125 to generate image data or character / figure information.
Enter graphic information.

It should be noted that the CPU 126 may of course be involved in work for purposes other than this. For example, like a personal computer or word processor,
It may be directly related to the function of generating and processing information.

Alternatively, as described above, the computer may be connected to an external computer network through the input / output interface circuit 125, and work such as numerical calculation may be performed in cooperation with an external device.

The input section 134 is the CPU 126.
The user inputs commands, programs, data, and the like, and various input devices such as a joystick, a bar code reader, and a voice recognition device can be used in addition to a keyboard and a mouse.

The decoder 124 converts the various image signals input from the above 127 to 133 into three primary color signals,
Alternatively, it is a circuit for inverse conversion into a luminance signal, an I signal, and a Q signal. In addition, as shown by a dotted line in FIG.
It is desirable that 24 has an image memory therein. This is to handle a television signal that requires an image memory for reverse conversion, such as the MUSE method. Further, the provision of the image memory facilitates the display of a still image, or the image generation circuit 12
This is because, in cooperation with the CPU 7 and the CPU 126, it is possible to easily perform image processing and editing such as image thinning, interpolation, enlargement, reduction, and composition.

The multiplexer 123 is the CPU
The display image is appropriately selected based on the control signal input from 126. That is, the multiplexer 123 selects a desired image signal from the inversely converted image signals input from the decoder 124 and outputs it to the drive circuit 121. In that case, by switching and selecting image signals within one screen display time, it is 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. .

Also, the display panel controller 1
Reference numeral 22 is a circuit for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 121 based on a control signal input from the CPU 126.

First, regarding the basic operation of the display panel, for example, a signal for controlling the operation sequence of the drive power source (not shown) for the display panel is output to the drive circuit 121.

Further, regarding the driving method of the display panel, for example, a signal for controlling the screen display frequency and the scanning method (for example, interlace or non-interlace) is output to the drive circuit 121.

In some cases, control signals relating to adjustment of image quality such as brightness, contrast, color tone and sharpness of a display image may be output to the drive circuit 121.

The drive circuit 121 is a circuit for generating a drive signal to be applied to the display panel 120. The drive circuit 121 receives an image signal input from the multiplexer 123 and a control signal input from the display panel controller 122. It operates based on.

The functions of the respective parts have been described above. With the configuration illustrated in FIG. 12, the display panel 1 displays image information input from various image information sources in this display device.
20 can be displayed. That is, various image signals such as television broadcasts are inversely converted by the decoder 124, appropriately selected by the multiplexer 123, and input to the drive circuit 121. On the other hand, the display controller 122 generates a control signal for controlling the operation of the drive circuit 121 according to the image signal to be displayed. The drive circuit 121 applies a drive signal to the display panel 120 based on the image signal and the control signal. As a result, the image is displayed on the display panel 120. These series of operations are performed by the CPU 1
It is totally controlled by 26.

Further, in this display device, the image memory built in the decoder 124 and the image generation circuit 127.
With the involvement of the CPU 126, not only is one selected from a plurality of image information displayed, but also image information to be displayed is enlarged, reduced, rotated, moved, edge emphasized, thinned, interpolated, or the like. It is also possible to perform image processing such as color conversion and aspect ratio conversion of images, and image editing such as combining, erasing, connecting, replacing, and fitting. Further, in the description of this embodiment,
Although not particularly mentioned, a dedicated circuit for processing and editing audio information may be provided as in the above-mentioned image processing and image editing.

Therefore, the present display device is a display device for television broadcasting, a terminal device for a video conference, an image editing device for handling still images and moving images, a computer terminal device, an office terminal device such as a word processor, and a game. It is possible to combine the functions of a machine, etc., and has a very wide range of applications for industrial or consumer use.

It is needless to say that FIG. 12 described above merely shows an example of the configuration of a display device using a display panel having an electron-emitting device as an electron source, and is not limited to this. For example, of the constituent elements shown in FIG. 12, circuits relating to functions that are unnecessary for the purpose of use may be omitted. On the contrary, the constituent elements may be added depending on the purpose of use. For example, when the display device is applied as a videophone, it is preferable to add a television camera, a voice microphone, an illuminator, a transmission / reception circuit including a modem, and the like to the constituent elements.

In this display device, in particular, since the display panel using the electron-emitting device as an electron source can be easily thinned, the depth of the display device can be reduced.
In addition, a display panel using an electron-emitting device as an electron source can easily have a large screen, has high brightness, and has excellent viewing angle characteristics. Therefore, this display device displays a highly realistic and powerful image with good visibility. It is possible.

Furthermore, since the electron source of the present invention has uniform electron emission characteristics among the electron-emitting devices, the quality of the formed image is high and a high-definition image can be displayed.

[0151]

As described above, according to the present invention,
An electron-emitting device exhibiting good electron-emitting characteristics can be provided with high reliability, and no complicated process or effective material is used in manufacturing the device. Therefore, in the electron source of the present invention including a plurality of the elements, and in the image forming apparatus, the brightness of the bright spots formed by the elements is uniform and uniform, so that a high quality image can be formed. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of an electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a manufacturing process of an electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a measurement evaluation system for evaluating electron emission characteristics of the electron-emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing electron emission characteristics of the electron emitting device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a simple matrix electron source of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a fluorescent film used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a ladder type electron source of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an image forming apparatus of the present invention using a ladder type electron source.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a measurement evaluation system of the electron source of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an application example of an image forming apparatus according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Insulating substrate 2, 2'Element electrode 3 Carbon-based deposit 21 Metal fine particles 30 Ammeter 31 Power supply 32 Ammeter 33 High voltage power supply 34 Anode electrode 35 Vacuum device 36 Exhaust pump 52 X-direction wiring 53 Y-direction wiring 54 Electron Emitting Element 55 Connection 61 Rear Plate 62 Support Frame 63 Glass Substrate 64 Fluorescent Film 65 Metal Back 66 Face Plate 68 Envelope 71 Black Conductive Material 72 Phosphor 81 Display Panel 82 Scan Circuit 83 Control Circuit 84 Shift Register 85 Lines Memory 86 Synchronous signal separation circuit 87 Modulation signal generator 92 Grid electrode 93 Opening 94 Common wiring 111 Vacuum chamber 112 Window 114 Element body 115 X direction driving wiring 116 Y direction driving wiring 117 Driver 118 Extraction electrode 119 Power source 120 Display pad Channel 121 Drive circuit 122 Display panel controller 123 Multiplexer 124 Decoder 125 Input / output interface 126 CPU 127 Image generation circuit 128 Image memory interface 129 Image memory interface 130 Image memory interface 131 Image input memory interface 132 TV signal receiving circuit 133 TV signal receiving circuit 134 Input unit 130 Display panel

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. An insulating substrate, at least a pair of electrodes facing each other across a minute gap formed on the insulating substrate, and a deposit containing carbon as a main component deposited in the minute gap. An electron-emitting device characterized by the above. 2. The electron-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the minute gap is 500 nm or less. 3. The carbon-based deposit is an aggregate of fibrous carbons.
The electron-emitting device described. 4. The electron-emitting device according to claim 3, wherein the fibrous carbon is made of graphite, amorphous carbon, or a mixture thereof. 5. A method comprising: forming a pair of electrodes facing each other with a minute gap on an insulating substrate; and depositing a deposit containing carbon as a main component in the gap between the electrodes. Method for manufacturing electron-emitting device. 6. The method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 5, wherein the depositing step of depositing carbon as a main component is a pyrolysis step of a carbon compound. 7. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 6, wherein the carbon compound is a hydrocarbon. 8. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 7, wherein the hydrocarbon is ethylene. 9. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 6, wherein the thermal decomposition step of the carbon compound is a step of heating in an atmosphere containing the carbon compound. 10. A step of depositing a deposit containing carbon as a main component, a step of forming metal fine particles in a gap between electrodes, and a step of thermally decomposing a carbon compound to deposit fibrous carbon using the metal fine particles as nuclei. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 5, comprising: 11. The step of forming fine metal particles comprises the steps of applying an organic complex solution of the metal to electrode gaps, firing the organic metal complex to form a metal oxide, and reducing and aggregating the metal oxide. 11. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 10, comprising the step of: 12. The method of manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 11, wherein the step of reducing and aggregating the metal oxide is a step of exposing to an atmosphere containing hydrogen gas or a heat treatment step in the atmosphere. 13. The process of depositing fibrous carbon is a process of heat-treating at a temperature not lower than the thermal decomposition temperature of ethylene in an atmosphere containing ethylene gas.
7. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to any one of 1. 14. A fibrous material obtained by heat-treating the metal oxides in a reducing and aggregating step at a temperature lower than the thermal decomposition temperature of ethylene in an atmosphere containing ethylene gas, and subsequently heating at a temperature higher than the thermal decomposition temperature of ethylene in the same atmosphere. 13. The method for manufacturing an electron-emitting device according to claim 10, wherein a carbon deposition step is performed. 15. An electron source comprising at least one element array formed by arranging and connecting a plurality of electron-emitting devices according to claim 1 in parallel. 16. At least one row of a plurality of electron-emitting devices according to claim 1 is arranged, and wirings for driving the devices are arranged in a matrix. An electron source characterized by being present. 17. An image forming apparatus comprising at least the electron source according to claim 15, an image forming member, and a control electrode for controlling an electron beam emitted from each electron emitting element according to an information signal. 18. An image forming apparatus comprising at least the electron source according to claim 16 and an image forming member.