JP3023699B2 - Electron beam generator and image forming apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electron beam generator including an electron-emitting device and a back surface modulation electrode for modulating an electron beam emitted from the electron-emitting device. More specifically, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus applicable to a fluorescent display tube or the like.

[Prior art] Conventionally, as an element which can obtain electron emission with a simple structure, for example, MIElinson
And the like are known. [Radio Engineering Electron Phys. Vol. 10, pp. 1290-1296,
1965] Examples of this type of electron-emitting device include a device using a SnO ₂ (Sb) thin film developed by Elinson et al., And a device using an Au thin film [G. Diittmer: “Sin Solid Films”. Thin Solid Films "), Volume 9, 317
P., (1972)], using ITO thin film [M. Hartwell, Anc.
Hartwell and CGFonstad: “IEEE Trans.ED Conf.”) 5
19 (1975)], and those based on carbon thin films [Hisashi Araki et al .: "Vacuum", Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 22, (1983)].

In addition to the above, many promising electron-emitting devices such as a thin-film thermal cathode and a MIM-type electron-emitting device have been reported.

With the rapid progress of film formation technology and photolithography technology, it is becoming possible to form a large number of devices on a substrate.
Application to various image forming apparatuses such as a flat panel type CRT is expected.

When these elements are applied to an image forming apparatus, generally, a large number of elements are arranged on a substrate, and each element is electrically wired with a thin or thick film electrode, and used as a multi-electron beam source. .

These electron beam display devices basically have the following structure.

FIG. 7 shows an outline of a conventional display device. In the figure, 51 is a substrate, 52 is a support, 53 is a wiring electrode, 54
Denotes an electron emission portion, 55 denotes an electron passage hole, 56 denotes a modulation electrode, 57 denotes a glass plate, 58 denotes a transparent electrode, and 59 denotes an image forming member. It is composed of a member that is charged, deteriorated, etc. Numeral 60 denotes a face plate, and numeral 61 denotes a luminescent spot of the phosphor. The electron emission portion 54 is formed by a thin film technique, and has a hollow structure that does not come into contact with the substrate (glass) 51. The wiring electrode 53 may be formed using the same material as the electron-emitting member, or may be formed using a different material. Generally, an electrode having a high melting point and a low electric resistance is used. The support 52 is formed of an insulator material or a conductor material.

In these electron beam display devices, a voltage is applied to a wiring electrode 53 to emit electrons from an electron emission portion having a hollow structure, and a voltage is applied to a modulation electrode 56 that modulates these electron flows according to an information signal, thereby obtaining an electron. Is taken out, and the taken out electrons are accelerated to collide with the phosphor 59. Further, an XY matrix is formed by the wiring electrode 53 and the modulation electrode 56, and an image is displayed on the phosphor 59 as an image forming member.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the above-mentioned conventional electron beam display includes:
There were the following problems.

. As shown in FIG. 7, the modulation electrode 56 is an electron-emitting device (consisting of a support 52, a wiring electrode 53, and an electron-emitting portion 54).
Therefore, it is difficult to align the electron passage hole 55 of the modulation electrode 56 with the electron emission portion 54 of the electron emission element, and it is difficult to manufacture a large-screen and high-definition image display device.

. As shown in the same figure, since it is arranged side by side with a space between the modulation electrode 56 and the electron-emitting portion 54 of the electron-emitting device,
The distance between the modulation electrode 56 and the electron-emitting portion 54 of the electron-emitting device is
It is difficult to align all of the modulation electrodes 56 and the electron emission portions 54, and it is difficult to produce a large screen and high-definition image display.

. When an attempt is made to produce a large-screen, high-definition image display device, the luminance unevenness of the displayed image becomes remarkable.

On the other hand, in the conventional electron beam display shown in FIG. 8, the above-mentioned problem is solved because the modulation electrode 62 is arranged on the side opposite to the electron emission direction of the linear cathode 64 (electron emission element). However, the aforementioned problem cannot be solved.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving the above problems, and has the following configuration.

That is, a first aspect of the present invention is a plurality of electron-emitting devices having an electron-emitting portion to which a voltage is applied via device electrodes between device electrodes arranged in parallel along a substrate surface arranged on the substrate. Is disposed between a pair of high-potential-side wiring and low-potential-side wiring arranged side by side along the substrate surface, and the element electrode is electrically connected to each of the high-potential-side wiring and the low-potential-side wiring. One of the two wirings has a plurality of protrusions protruding in the direction of the other wiring opposed to each other so as to sandwich each of the electron-emitting devices, and has a thickness of the protrusions. The electron beam generator is characterized in that it is thicker than the element electrode.

The first electron beam generating apparatus of the present invention further has a feature that the protrusion is disposed on the same substrate surface as the electron-emitting device, and the protrusion is centered on the electron-emitting device. Having a thickness gradient such that it becomes thicker as the distance from the electron-emitting device increases, and in this case, the thickness gradient is formed by a step provided in the projection, The protrusion has a thickness gradient such that it becomes thicker in the direction of the high-potential side wiring, and in this case, the thickness gradient is formed by a step provided in the protrusion. The thickness of the protrusion is in the range of 0.05 μm to 3000 μm, and the thickness of the electrode of the electron-emitting device is 0.01 μm to 500 μm.
m.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, at least an image forming member is provided on the electron emission side of the first electron beam generator of the present invention, the image forming member configured to form an image by collision of electrons. In the device.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an electron beam generator according to the present invention, wherein 1 is a substrate (rear plate), 2 is a projection of a wiring electrode according to the present invention, 3 is an element wiring electrode, and 4 is an electron. This is the discharge section. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA 'of FIG.

Here, the material of the substrate 1 may be any material such as metal, glass, and ceramics as long as it has excellent heat resistance and solvent resistance.

In addition, regarding the formation of the electron-emitting portion 4 in the present invention, a conventionally known method can be used, and any material having high conductivity may be used as a material of the electrode, for example, Au, Ag, Al, In, and the like. Numerous materials, such as metals such as Pt, Pt, Pd, Sn, and Pb, and alloys thereof, can be considered.

Next, regarding the specific dimensions of the components described above,
The thickness of the substrate 1 does not particularly affect the element characteristics, but is preferably 0.8 mm to 1 mm in terms of mechanical strength and the like.

In the present invention, the electron-emitting device is an electron-emitting device having an electron-emitting portion to which a voltage is applied via electrodes between electrodes arranged side by side along the substrate surface, and the projections 2 of the wiring electrode. Must be greater than the thickness of the electrode of the electron-emitting device. Here, the thickness of the electrode of the electron-emitting device refers to the thickness of the electrode portion adjacent to the electron-emitting portion of the electron-emitting device. Normally, the thickness of this projection (in FIG. 2,
L) is 0.05 to 3000 μm, and the device electrode thickness (in FIG. 2,
l) is 0.01 to 500 μm.

Further, the following effects can be obtained by forming the projections of the wiring electrodes in a stepped shape.

Shaping action of electron beam Improvement of convergence of electron beam Reduction of modulation voltage Firstly, by using a step-like projection, it is possible to easily correct the disturbance of the electric field in the immediate vicinity of the electron emission part. Therefore, the emitted electron beam can be controlled to have a desired shape. The disturbance of the electric field described here is
This is caused by a potential difference applied between a pair of device electrodes forming emission, and the higher the device applied voltage, the greater the disturbance. Also, the manner of disturbance differs depending on the shape of the element electrode, and a corrector suitable for the element shape is required to obtain a desired beam shape. Therefore, by variously changing the shape of the step provided on the projection according to the present invention, it is possible to extremely easily perform beam shaping and obtain a uniform electron-emitting device.

Next, to explain, since the effect of the electric field received by the electron immediately after the emission restricts the convergence of the emitted electron beam, the beam is shaped as close to the element as possible immediately after the emission. Subsequent spread of the beam can be suppressed. Therefore, a desired beam diameter can be obtained without newly providing a focusing electrode.

Next, by beam shaping and converging immediately after emission, the modulation electrode can be kept to the minimum necessary size, for example, even when the modulation electrode is laminated with an electron-emitting device via an insulating layer. Therefore, the modulation voltage can be concentrated only in the vicinity of the emission element. Therefore, modulation at a lower voltage becomes possible.

As described above, by giving the protrusion a step,
A higher performance electron beam generator can be realized.

[Examples] Hereinafter, specific examples of the present invention and the effects thereof will be described by examples according to the present invention.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

The manufacturing process of this embodiment shown in FIG. 3 will be described in detail.

First, a quartz glass is used for the insulating substrate 1 and rubbing and cleaning is performed with a neutral detergent. Then, ultrasonic cleaning and the like are sufficiently performed with an organic solvent such as acetone, IPA, and butyl acetate. The photoresist patterns of the device electrodes 3, 3 'and the projections 2, 2' of the first layer were formed by the technique.

Next, Ti is used as a material for improving adhesion by using a resistance heating method, and a vacuum film is formed to a thickness of about 50 mm on the entire surface of the insulating substrate 1 and the photoresist formed as described above. Was used to form a film of about 950 mm in vacuum. Next, the photoresist was removed by a lift-off method to form device electrodes 3, 3 'and step-like projections 2, 2' of the first layer.
In this embodiment, the device electrode width is 15 μm and the electrode interval is 2 μm.
m, and the distance between the device electrode and the modulation electrode was 25 μm.

Next, in order to form the electron-emitting material only in the vicinity of the electron-emitting portion, Cr was used as the electron-emitting material forming material, and a vacuum film was formed to a thickness of about 1000 mm over the entire surface by a resistance heating method.

Next, a photoresist was formed by photolithography in order to remove Cr only in the vicinity of 25 μm × 150 μm near the electron-emitting portion.

Next, Cr was removed to a desired size by wet etching. The etchants used were cerium ammonium nitrate and aqueous perchloric acid.

Next, in order to form an electron emission material, organic palladium (CCP-4230 manufactured by Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) is dispersed and applied, and about 3
Baking was performed at 00 ° C. for 12 minutes to form an electron emission material on the entire surface.

Next, the electron-emitting material pattern forming Cr was etched using the etchant used in the above to form an electron-emitting material only at a desired position.

Next, protrusions for the second and subsequent layers were formed. First, the projections of the second layer were formed by EB evaporation and lift-off (by the same method as for the device electrodes) using Cr as a material for improving the adhesion and using Cu as the modulation electrode material with a film thickness of about 50 mm. , Film thickness about 1.0
μm was formed as shown in FIG. 3 by 5 μm shorter than the end of the wiring electrode.

Then, the third-layer protrusion is formed 5 μm from the electrode end of the second layer by the method, material, and configuration of the second-layer protrusion.
Formed short.

As described above, together with the manufactured electron beam generator and the fluorescent plate 5 (not shown) composed of a transparent electrode, a phosphor material, and a metal back on a glass substrate arranged at a position 5 mm above the electron beam generator. Under a vacuum atmosphere of about 2 × 10 ⁻⁶ torr, a voltage of 1 KV was applied to the phosphor 5 from the outside, and a voltage pulse of 14 V was applied between the device electrodes 3 and 3 ′.

As a result, spot light corresponding to the electron beam emitted to the fluorescent screen 5 was observed. The above-mentioned spot light emits on the fluorescent screen 5 in a form in which the electron beam in the longitudinal direction of the projection, that is, the direction perpendicular to the electron emission portion is shaped and converged, since the projection of the wiring electrode is formed. I was able to do it.

Further, since the width of the protrusion is sufficiently large, it is possible to realize a state where there is no charge-up on the insulating substrate.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention.

This embodiment was manufactured by the same manufacturing process as the embodiment shown in FIG. The structure of the protruding portion is such that the distance between the device electrode and the protruding portion is 25 μm, the second layer is 50 μm from the end of the wiring electrode, and the third layer is 50 μm from the electrode end of the second layer. Then, a step-like electrode having three steps was used.

With the electron beam generator manufactured as described above, spot light corresponding to the electron beam emitted from the image display member (face plate) 5 was observed in the same manner and configuration as in Example 1. As a result, it was possible to irradiate the phosphor 5 with the electron beam without the electron beam being shifted to the positive potential side of the wiring electrode and jumping.

Further, since the width of the protrusion is sufficiently large, it is possible to realize a state where there is no charge-up on the insulating substrate.

Embodiment 3 FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention.

This example was manufactured by the same manufacturing process as in Example 1.
Incidentally, the configuration of the protruding portion is such that the distance between the device electrode and the protruding portion is
5 μm from the electrode end of the first layer and 50 μm from the wiring electrode end.
A second layer was formed at a position of .mu.m, and a third layer was formed at a position of 5 .mu.m and 50 .mu.m from the end of the electrode in a stepped manner as shown in FIG.

An image display member (face plate) is manufactured by using the electron beam generator manufactured as described above in the same manner and configuration as in the first embodiment.
The spot light corresponding to the electron beam emitted by 5 was observed. As a result, the electron beam can be shaped in the longitudinal direction of the protrusion, that is, in the direction perpendicular to the electron emission portion. Further, the electron beam is not shifted to the positive potential side of the wiring electrode and jumps, and the electron beam is applied to the phosphor 5. Irradiation was possible.

Further, similarly to Examples 1 and 2, the width of the protrusion was sufficiently widened, so that a state without any charge-up on the insulating substrate could be realized.

Embodiment 4 FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an image display device as another embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a rear plate, 2 is a projection, 3 is a device electrode, 4 is an electron emission portion, 5 is a device wiring electrode, 6 is a modulation wiring electrode, 7 is a face plate, 8 is a glass plate, 9
Is a transparent electrode, 10 is a phosphor, 11 is a metal back, and 12 is an insulating layer for maintaining insulation between the modulation wiring electrode and the element wiring electrode.

A plurality of electron-emitting devices are arranged in a line at a pitch of 2 mm,
Blue plate glass, which is a rear plate 1, in exactly the same manner as in Example 1 except that a plurality of modulation electrodes (not shown) are perpendicular to the linear electron-emitting devices while maintaining insulation from the wiring electrodes. An electron beam generator 13 was formed on (Ichikawa Specialty Glass). Note that the wiring electrodes were formed in the same manner as the protrusions in Example 1, and the insulating layer was formed by sputtering.
SiO ₂ was mask-deposited only on the necessary parts.

Next, a face plate 7 having a phosphor 10 as an image forming member was provided at a distance of 5 mm (= h) from the rear plate 1 to produce an image display device.

A voltage of 1.5 KV is applied to the phosphor surface, and a pair of wiring electrodes 5
A voltage pulse of 14V was applied to the device to emit electrons from a plurality of electron-emitting devices arranged in a line. At the same time, the electron beam was turned on / off by applying a voltage to the modulation electrode group as an information signal.

Further, a voltage pulse was applied to the adjacent wiring electrode to perform the one-line display described above. This was sequentially performed to form an image of one screen. That is, an image display was possible by forming an XY matrix with the scanning electrodes and the modulation electrodes using the wiring electrodes as the scanning electrodes.

Fifth Embodiment FIG. 9 shows an example in which the image display device according to the present invention is applied to a recording device (optical printer) that performs recording using light as a signal source.

In the present optical printer, an image display device 71 as an optical signal providing device is provided with a face plate (in FIG. 6,
7) is disposed facing the photoreceptor 72 with the photoreceptor 72 facing the photoreceptor 72 side. Around the drum-shaped photoreceptor 72, in addition to the optical signal providing device 71, a developing machine 73, a static eliminator 74, a cleaner 75, and a discharger 76 are provided in this order along the rotation direction.

First, an image is represented by the light emission of the optical signal providing device 71, and the light of this image is radiated to the photoreceptor 72 to cause the photoreceptor 72 to emit light.
To expose. The photosensitive portion of the photoreceptor 72 is charged,
Adsorbs the toner supplied from 73.

The portion on which the toner is adsorbed moves with the rotation of the photoreceptor 72, and when the charge is released by the neutralizer 74, the adsorbed toner drops. At this time, a paper 77 on which an image is to be formed is arranged between the photoreceptor 72 and the static eliminator 74,
The toner is dropped on the paper 77.

The paper 77 having received the toner moves to a fixing device (not shown), where the toner is fixed on the paper 77,
The image represented by the optical signal providing device 71 is reproduced and recorded on 77.

On the other hand, the drum-shaped photoreceptor 72 further rotates and moves to the cleaner 75, where the remaining toner is removed,
Further, the charged state is completely cleared by the discharger 76.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the electron beam generator of the present invention, a sufficient amount of electron emission can be obtained as compared with the related art, and the unintended fluctuation in the amount of electron emission during driving is significantly improved. In addition, the shaping and convergence of the electron beam is improved.

Further, in the image forming apparatus using the electron beam generator of the present invention, the image forming apparatus is excellent in the contrast of the displayed image, has high luminance, and has little luminance unevenness.

Further, also in the recording apparatus using the electron beam generator of the present invention, the recorded image has excellent contrast and can provide a clear image.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an electron beam generator according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA 'of FIG. 3 to 5 are perspective views showing examples of an image display device having a step-like projection. Sixth
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the image display device of the present invention. FIG. 7 shows an outline of a conventional display device, and FIG. 8 shows another example of the conventional display device. FIG. 9 shows an example in which the image display device according to the present invention is applied to a recording device that performs recording using light as a signal source.

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Ichiro Nomura 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Hidetoshi Suzuki 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Tetsuya Kaneko 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-1-283735 (JP, A) JP-A-2-112125 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01J 1/30

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] A plurality of electron-emitting devices each having an electron-emitting portion to which a voltage is applied via device electrodes between device electrodes arranged in parallel along a substrate surface disposed on the substrate, Is disposed between a pair of high-potential-side wiring and low-potential-side wiring arranged side by side, and the element electrode is electrically connected to each of the high-potential-side wiring and the low-potential-side wiring. One of the two wirings has a plurality of protrusions protruding in the direction of the other wiring facing each other so as to sandwich each of the electron-emitting devices, and the thickness of the protrusions is An electron beam generator characterized by being thicker than a device electrode. 2. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein said projection is arranged on the same substrate surface as said electron-emitting device. 3. The projection according to claim 1, wherein the projection has a thickness gradient centering on the electron-emitting device and increasing with increasing distance from the electron-emitting device. Electron beam generator. 4. The electron beam generator according to claim 3, wherein the thickness gradient is formed by a step provided on the projection. 5. The electron beam generator according to claim 1, wherein the projection has a thickness gradient such that the thickness becomes thicker in the direction of the high-potential-side wiring facing the projection. 6. The electron beam generator according to claim 5, wherein the thickness gradient is formed by a step provided on the projection. 7. A method according to claim 1, wherein said projection has a thickness in a range of 0.05 μm to 3000 μm, and said electrode of said electron-emitting device has a thickness of 0.01 μm.
7. The range of from 1 to 500 .mu.m.
An electron beam generator according to any one of the above. 8. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least an image forming member for forming an image by colliding electrons is provided on the electron emitting side of the electron beam generating apparatus according to claim 1. apparatus.