Claims
- 1. An electron emitting structure comprising:
a substrate; a first electrode formed on the substrate; a second electrode crossing over an active region of the first electrode; an insulating material separating a portion of the first electrode and a portion of the second electrode and electrically insulating the first electrode from the second electrode; a plurality of openings formed in at least a portion of the second electrode crossing over the active region; and an electron emitting material deposited on at least a portion of the active region of the first electrode, portions of the electron emitting material not underneath respective ones of the plurality of openings of the second electrode.
- 2. The structure of claim 1 wherein upon applying a first voltage potential to the first electrode and applying a second voltage potential to the second electrode, an electric field is produced in the active region sufficient to cause an electron emission from the electron emitting material.
- 3. The structure of claim 2 wherein portions of the electron emission pass through respective ones of the plurality of openings and portions of the electron emission are blocked by portions of the second electrode.
- 4. The structure of claim 2 wherein each of the plurality of openings function to allow portions of the electric emission to pass therethrough and to aperture the electron emission.
- 5. The structure of claim 2 wherein the electric field is substantially uniform across the active region.
- 6. The structure of claim 5 wherein the electron emission is substantially straight up from the active region without requiring the use of a focusing structure to collimate the electron emission.
- 7. The structure of claim 5 wherein a variation of the electric field at a surface of the active region across the active region is less than 1.0 v/μm.
- 8. The structure of claim 5 wherein a variation of the electric field at a surface of the active region is less than 0.5 v/μm across a middle 80% of the active region.
- 9. The structure of claim 5 wherein a variation of the electric field at a surface of the active region is less than 0.1 v/μm across a middle 75% of the active region.
- 10. The structure of claim 5 wherein a variation of the electric field at a surface of the active region is less than 0.2 v/μm across a distance of at least 10 μm across the active region.
- 11. The structure of claim 1 wherein the electron emitting material comprises a plurality of electron emitting portions deposited on at least a portion of the active region, such that at least one electron emitting portion is aligned underneath a respective opening of the second electrode.
- 12. The structure of claim 11 wherein individual ones of the plurality of electron emitter portions are not separated on the surface of the active region from each other by an insulating material.
- 13. The structure of claim 1 wherein the electron emitting material comprises a continuous electron emitting material deposited as a layer or film on at least a portion of the active region.
- 14. The structure of claim 1 wherein the second electrode comprises a layer of conductive material formed over the insulating material and etched to form the second electrode.
- 15. The structure of claim 1 wherein the first electrode and the insulating material comprise etched layers formed over the substrate; and
wherein the second electrode comprises a discrete electrode separately manufactured and positioned over the first electrode and the insulating material such that the second electrode contacts the insulating material.
- 16. The structure of claim 1 wherein the electron emitting material is not deposited at periphery portions of the active region.
- 17. The structure of claim 1 wherein the insulating material is not formed in between the active region and edges of the plurality of openings formed in the portion of the second electrode crossing over the active region.
- 18. The structure of claim 1 wherein the insulating material comprises linear insulating members extending on opposite sides of the first electrode.
- 19. A method of electron emission comprising:
applying a first potential to a first electrode formed on a substrate of an electron emitting structure; applying a second potential to a second electrode crossing over an active region of the first electrode, the second electrode electrically insulated from the first electrode, the first electrode and the second electrode separated and electrically insulated from each other, wherein a plurality of openings are formed in at least a portion of the second electrode that crosses over the active region; producing an electric field across the active region as a result of the applying the first potential and the applying the second potential; and causing, as a result of the producing step, an electron emission from an electron emitting material located on the active region, wherein portions of the electron emission pass through respective ones of the plurality of openings and portions of the electron emission are blocked by the second electrode.
- 20. The method of claim 19 wherein the producing comprises producing the electric field, the electric field being substantially uniform across the active region.
- 21. The method of claim 20 wherein the causing comprises causing the electron emission, wherein the electron emission is substantially straight up from the active region without requiring the use of a focusing structure to collimate the electron emission.
- 22. The method of claim 20 wherein the producing comprises producing the electric field, wherein a variation of the electric field at a surface of the active region across the active region is less than 1.0 v/μm.
- 23. The method of claim 20 wherein the producing comprises producing the electric field, wherein a variation of the electric field at a surface of the active region is less than 0.5 v/μm across a middle 80% of the active region.
- 24. The method of claim 20 wherein the producing comprises producing the electric field, wherein a variation of the electric field at a surface of the active region is less than 0.1 v/μm across a middle 75% of the active region.
- 25. The method of claim 20 wherein the producing comprises producing the electric field, wherein a variation of the electric field at a surface of the active region is less than 0.2 v/μm across a distance of at least 10 μm across the active region.
- 26. A field emission display comprising:
a cathode plate comprising:
a substrate; base electrodes formed on the substrate, the base electrodes functioning as cathodes; gate electrodes crossing over the base electrodes, wherein each gate electrode crosses over an active sub-pixel region of each base electrode; an insulating material separating portions of the base electrodes and portions of the gate electrodes and electrically insulating the base electrodes from the gate electrodes; a plurality of openings formed in at least a portion of each gate electrode crossing over a respective active sub-pixel region of a respective base electrode; and an electron emitting material deposited on at least a portion of the active sub-pixel regions of the base electrodes, portions of the electric emitting material not underneath respective ones of the plurality of openings of the gate electrodes; and an anode plate comprising:
a transparent substrate separated above the substrate; and phosphor material coupled to the transparent substrate, portions of the phosphor material corresponding to active sub-pixel regions of the base electrodes.
- 27. The display of claim 26 wherein upon applying a first voltage potential to a respective base electrode and applying a second voltage potential to a respective gate electrode, an electric field is produced in a respective active sub-pixel region sufficient to cause an electron emission from the electron emitting material deposited on the respective active sub-pixel region.
- 28. The display of claim 27 wherein portions of the electron emission pass through respective ones of the plurality of openings and portions of the electron emission are blocked by portions of the respective gate electrode.
- 29. The display of claim 27 wherein the electric field is substantially uniform across the respective active sub-pixel region.
- 30. The display of claim 26 wherein the insulating material is not formed in between the active sub-pixel regions and edges of the plurality of openings formed in the portion of the gate electrodes crossing over the active sub-pixel regions.
- 31. The display of claim 26 wherein the insulating material comprises linear insulating members extending in between adjacent base electrodes.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/372,853, filed Apr. 16, 2002, of Russ, et al., for NOVEL CATHODE STRUCTURE FOR FED UTILIZING PERFORATED GATE, which U.S. Provisional Patent Application is incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60372853 |
Apr 2002 |
US |