1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to flat panel displays (FPDs), and more specifically to field emission displays (FEDs). Even more specifically, the present invention relates to the cathode structure of a field emission display (FED).
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A field emission display (FED) is a low power, flat cathode ray tube type display that uses a matrix-addressed cold cathode to produce light from a screen coated with phosphor materials.
The anode plate 104 includes a transparent substrate 116 upon which is formed an anode 118. Various phosphors are formed on the anode 118 and oppose the respective emitters 112, for example, a red phosphor 120, a green phosphor 122 and a blue phosphor 124.
It is important in FEDs that the particle emitting surface of the cathode plate 102 and the opposed anode plate 104 be maintained insulated from one another at a relatively small, but uniform distance from one another throughout the full extent of the display face in order to prevent electrical breakdown between the cathode plate and the anode plate, provide a desired thinness, and to provide uniform resolution and brightness. Additionally, in order to allow free flow of electrons from the cathode plate 102 to the phosphors and to prevent chemical contamination, the cathode plate 102 and the anode plate 104 are sealed within a vacuum. In order to maintain the desired uniform separation between the cathode plate 102 and the anode plate 104 across the dimensions of the FED, structurally rigid spacers (not shown) are positioned between the cathode plate 102 and the anode plate 104.
The FED 100 operates by selectively applying a voltage potential between a respective one or more of the base electrodes 107, 109, 111 and the gate electrode 114, producing an electric field focused to cause a selective emission from the tips of the emitters 112.
In another conventional FED illustrated in
The invention provides an electron emitting structure that produces a substantially uniform electric field resulting in a substantially straight electron emission. In a preferred form, the electron emitting structure is used as a cathode plate of a field emission display (FED), which advantageously, does not require a separate focusing structure.
In one embodiment, the invention can be characterized as 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.
In another embodiment, the invention can be characterized as a method of electron emission comprising the steps of: 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.
In a further embodiment, the invention may be characterized as a field emission display comprising a cathode plate and an anode plate. The 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. The 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.
The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following more particular description thereof, presented in conjunction with the following drawings wherein:
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings.
The following description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing the general principles of the preferred embodiments. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims.
According to several embodiments of the invention, an electron emitting structure is provided that produces a substantially uniform electric field resulting in a substantially straight electron emission. In a preferred form, the electron emitting structure is used as a cathode plate of a field emission display (FED), which advantageously, does not require a separate focusing structure. An electron emitting structure is provided which includes linear base electrodes (also referred to as cathode lines) formed across a substrate and linear gate electrodes crossing over the linear base electrodes. The gate electrodes are separated from the base electrodes by a dielectric or insulating material that is formed over the substrate and optionally over portions of the base electrodes, such that portions of the gate electrodes contact the insulating material.
Active regions of the base electrodes are defined as regions of the base electrodes where an electron emitting material may be deposited. For example, in one embodiment, an active region of the base electrode is defined as the region of the base electrode directly underneath a portion of a gate electrode crossing thereover. Additionally, at least a portion of the portion of the gate electrode crossing over the base electrode includes a plurality of openings formed therein. An emitter material (e.g., several emitter portions, tips or nanotubes or a continuously deposited emitter material) is deposited on each active region. Alternatively, the emitter material is applied throughout each base electrode, such that the emitter material does not break in between adjacent active regions of the base electrodes. In preferred embodiments in use as a cathode plate of a field emission display, the active regions of the base electrodes may be referred to as cathode sub-pixel regions, each cathode sub-pixel region corresponding to a sub-pixel of the display device.
Each active region is driven by applying an appropriate voltage to a respective base electrode and applying an appropriate voltage to a gate electrode crossing over a respective active region of the respective base electrode. A substantially uniform electric field is produced across the active region, which is sufficient to cause a substantially straight electron emission from the active region. Portions of the electron emission pass through respective ones of the openings formed in the gate electrode thereabove, while other portions of the electron emission are blocked or intercepted by portions of the gate electrode.
Referring first to
As illustrated, preferably, the base electrodes 604 extend substantially parallel to each other across the substrate 602. In preferred form, the base electrodes 606 form rows extending across the substrate 602. The linear insulating members 606 extend across the substrate 602 substantially parallel to each other and formed in between respective base electrodes 604. Thus, according to one embodiment, the linear insulating members 606 resemble linear ribs, barriers or ridges of dielectric material formed in between linear base electrodes 604.
In this embodiment, each gate electrode 608 is a conductive material formed to cross over the base electrodes 604 and the insulating members 606 while contacting an upper surface of the insulating members 606. The gate electrodes 608 may be formed over the insulating members 606 or separately formed or manufactured, then positioned over and across the insulating members 606. Preferably, the gate electrodes 608 run generally perpendicular to the base electrodes 604 and the insulating members 606. The openings 610 are formed in at least a portion of the gate electrode 608 that crosses over a respective base electrode 604. For example, as illustrated, the openings 610 are formed in a portion of each gate electrode 608 that cross over the active region 612 of each base electrode 604. However, it is understood that the openings 610 may be formed over other portions (e.g., an entire gate electrode such as illustrated in
Generally, active regions 612 (also referred to as cathode sub-pixel regions in an FED) of each base electrode 604 are defined as the regions of a base electrode 604 below a portion of the gate electrode 608 crossing thereover and on which an electron emitting material may be deposited. For example, in the embodiment of
As illustrated in
In one embodiment, the emitter material 702 comprises a plurality of discrete electron emitting portions that are deposited to substantially cover the active region 612. For example, the emitter material 702 comprises many tiny emitter cones (i.e., Spindt tips) positioned closely together, such that collectively, the many emitter cones form the emitter material 702. In this embodiment, there is no dielectric material or other insulating or separating structure in between individual emitter cones on the surface of the active region. Additionally, many of the emitter cones are positioned directly under openings 610 of a given gate electrode 608, while many are positioned directly under solid portions of the given gate electrode 608. This is in contrast to the individual emitter cones located within individual emitter wells as shown in
In some embodiments, rather than using cones or tips of emitter material, the emitter material 702 the plurality of electron emitting portions comprise single wall or multi-wall nanotubes. For example, known single wall nanotubes have a tube-like structure approximately 1-100 μm tall and 1-7 nm in diameter, while multiwall nanotubes have approximately 1-100 μm tall and 10-100 nm. Many nanotubes are deposited on each active region 612. In the embodiment where an active region is sized 50×150 μm, several hundred nanotubes may be deposited on a given active region 612. Preferably, the nanotubes are spaced about 1-2 μm apart such that the height to spacing ratio is about 1:2. It has been found that in some embodiments, if the nanotubes are positioned too close together, the nanotubes shield the electric field, thus, reducing the electric field at the emitting surface.
It is noted it is not required that the spacing between nanotubes or emitter cones, or other pieces of discrete emitter portions be consistent. For example, many emitting portions may be spaced optimally apart (1:2 height to spacing ratio) as described above; however, many may be spaced closer than optimal. Thus, advantageously, the emitter material may be deposited in a relatively random pattern such that the emitter material substantially covers the active region 612.
It is noted that while in preferred embodiments, the active region 612 is sized for a 21-inch FED display (i.e., the active region 612 in one embodiment is 50×150 μm), the active regions may be scaled to any desired dimensions. However, in preferred embodiments, the active region 612 should be large enough to allow at least one discrete electron emitting portion, e.g., tips, cones, pyramids, nanotubes, etc., to be deposited thereon, the individual emitter portions not separated by gate electrode material or dielectric material therebetween. For example, the width of the active region (i.e., the distance between adjacent insulating members 606 should be at least 10 μm, preferably at least 20 μm and most preferably at least 30 μm, while the length may be varied depending on the size of the pixel and display desired.
Furthermore, in some embodiments, rather than comprising a plurality of discrete electron emitting portions, the electron emitting material 702 comprises a layer or thin film of emitting material that is applied to at least a portion of the active regions 612. That is, the electron emitting material 702 is a continuous nanocrystalline film layer (e.g., a powder or a molten liquid that hardens) substantially covering the active region 612. This continuous layer is preferably deposited to have a substantially uniform depth across the active region. This is a departure from the known tip emitter within well design since the emitter material is spread out over a larger area and additionally lacks a distinct tip or focal point for the electric field, i.e., the depth of the tip emitter varies dramatically from base to tip to base. Furthermore, since there is preferably no (or little) insulating material between the portion of the gate electrode 608 crossing over the active region 612, more emitter material may be deposited on the active region 612.
Additionally, the layer of emitting material may be continuously deposited across at least a portion of the width of the active region 612 and along at least a portion of the length of the base electrode 604. In other words, the active region and the emitter material layer extend continuously along the length of the base electrode 604 without breaking in between adjacent gate electrodes 608 crossing thereover. As such, there is one continuous active region formed along the base electrode 604, rather than discrete active regions 612 as illustrated in FIG. 6.
Additionally, the emitter material 702 is preferably substantially uniformly deposited as a smooth layer having a relatively constant thickness, depth or height on the active region 612, which in some embodiments is helpful in producing a substantially uniform electron emission. In another embodiment, the emitter material 702 may be made such that it has an uneven height, or has bumps, throughout the active region 612.
In the embodiment of the
In yet another embodiment, the active region may be segmented into smaller portions, for example, by one or more ribs of dielectric material extending across the active region 612. Again, each divided active sub-region is preferably large enough to allow one or more discrete electron emitting portions or a continuously applied material deposited thereon and does not substantially affect the generated electric field. Thus, generally, in the embodiment of the
In operation, each base electrode 604 is coupled to a drive voltage VB, e.g., a cathode drive voltage in an FED, which is controlled via driving/addressing software. Each gate electrode 608 is coupled to a gate drive or gate voltage VG, which is controlled via driving/addressing software. The driving/addressing software uses known row and column addressing and driving techniques. In order to cause an electron emission from an emitter material 702 on a respective active region 612, a voltage potential to applied to a respective base electrode 604 and a voltage potential is applied to a respective gate electrode 608. The application of appropriate potentials produces an electric field across the active region 612 that is sufficient to cause an electron emission from the emitter material 702 deposited on the active region 612. In preferred embodiments, through the selection of emitting materials, such as carbon-based nanotubes, a potential difference of approximately 20 volts between the base electrode voltage and the gate electrode voltage will result in an electric field that causes such an electron emission.
Advantageously, according to several embodiments, the base electrode 604 and the gate electric 608 are oriented in a parallel plate arrangement. A pure parallel plate arrangement produces a very uniform electric field therebetween; however, in a field emission device, the plate opposite the emitting surface would block the resulting emission. Thus, the openings 610 are formed in the gate electrode 608 and function to allow portions of the electron emission to escape therethrough. However, not all portions of the electron emission pass through respective openings 612, many portions of the emission are blocked or intercepted by the gate electrode 608 material itself (see
It is noted some amount of insulating material formed between the active region 612 and the gate electrode 608 crossing thereover, may be added without substantially affecting the electric field uniformity. However, the more insulating material formed in between the gate electrode and the active region, the less the base electrode and gate electrode resemble a parallel plate arrangement, which results in a less uniform electric field, and thus, an emission that may require additional focusing. The traditional emitter in well design represents an opposite extreme in which insulating material is formed between the gate and the base at all portions other than the well itself. The presence of the dielectric material causes the base and the gate to lose the parallel plate-like appearance and the resulting electric field is non-uniform, e.g., the electric field peaks in the well as illustrated in FIG. 2.
Advantageously, according to several embodiments, the electric field produced is substantially uniform across a majority of the active region, such that the resulting electron emission is substantially straight up. Thus, a focusing electrode or other focusing structure is not required in order to limit the spread of the electron emission, as is commonly required in traditional emitter in well FED designs. Additionally, due to the substantially straight emission, the phosphors of an FED are not required to be slightly oversized relative to the active regions as done in conventional FEDs that do not use a focusing structure.
The manufacture of the electron emitting structure 600 may be according to well-known semiconductor manufacturing techniques. For example, the base electrodes 604 are sputtered on the substrate 602 out of a suitable conducting material, e.g., gold, chrome, molybdenum, platinum, etc. A layer of photosensitive dielectric material, e.g., ceramic or glass, is then spin coated or formed over the substrate 602 and optionally over portions of the base electrodes 604. Next, a layer of conductive gate electrode material is formed over the layer of dielectric material. Then, the gate electrode material layer and the dielectric material layer are patterned using photolithography, for example, and etched away to form the gate electrodes 608 having the plurality of openings and crossing over the insulating members 606, as illustrated in FIG. 6. Next, the insulating material underneath the portion of the gate electrode 608 crossing over the active region that was not etched away when the openings were formed is then etched away. Next, the emitter material 702 is deposited on the active regions 612, e.g., as discrete electron emitting portions or as a continuous layer or film of emitting material.
Alternatively, rather than forming the gate electrodes 608 over the dielectric layer, the gate electrodes 608 are separately manufactured and predrilled. Thus, the dielectric layer is patterned using photolithography, for example, and etched away to form the insulating members 606 and the base electrodes 604. Next, the electron emitting material 702 is deposited on the active regions 612 of the base electrodes 604, e.g., deposited as a plurality of electron emitting portions or as a continuous layer. It is noted that the electron emitting material may be deposited continuously along the base electrode such that there is no break in electron emitting material between adjacent active regions 612 (i.e., the whole length of the base electrode defines an active region). In this embodiment, the manufacture is simpler since it is easier to deposit the electron emitting material 702 with the gate electrodes 608 not in position.
Next, the separately manufactured gate electrodes 608 are then placed and aligned in position over the insulating members 606, then tensioned and affixed, e.g., using an appropriate sealant, such as frit, or spot welding. In one embodiment, the gate electrode 608 is preformed and predrilled using known laser micromachining techniques. For example, the openings 610 may be drilled having a diameter of 10-25 μm and having a 10:1 aspect ratio (e.g., height to diameter). It is noted that in this alternative embodiment, the gate electrodes are typically thicker than in the embodiment where the gate electrode is formed as a layer over the dielectric layer. For example, a separately formed gate electrode 608 may be 25-150 μm thick (e.g., 100 μm in one embodiment), depending on the micromachining process and the materials used, in comparison to a formed gate electrode having a thickness of about 1-10 μm thick. It is noted that as laser micromachining techniques and materials improve, the thickness of the gate electrode may be made smaller. It is noted that the thicker, separately made gate electrode 608 additionally, provides an aperturing effect as the escaping electrons pass through the openings 610, although since the electric field produced is substantially uniform, the openings 610 are not needed to focus the emission.
Additionally, it is noted that separately manufactured gate electrodes are currently preferred to gate electrodes formed over a dielectric layer, since it may be difficult to completely etch out the insulating material from underneath the portion of the gate electrode 608 crossing over the base electrode 604. Thus, it is noted that many of the figures presented herein are not necessarily drawn to scale.
In a preferred embodiment, the electron emitting structure 600 is implemented as a cathode plate for an FED, e.g., a 21-inch FED. For example, the base electrodes 604 are each about 50 μm wide and about 1000 angstroms thick extending about the substrate 602, and spaced about 50 μm apart. The linear insulating members 606 are each about 50 μm wide, about 10 μm thick and spaced about 50 μm apart. Each gate electrode 608 is about 150 μm wide and about 1000 angstroms to about 100 μm thick extending across the length of at least a portion of the display and crossing over the base electrodes 604 and the insulating members 606. Adjacent gate electrodes 608 are spaced about 50 μm apart. Each active region 612 is about 50 μm in width and 150 μm in length. Furthermore, the electron emitting material 702 comprises carbon-based nanotubes having a height of about 1-3 μm and a diameter of about 1 μm, which are deposited to substantially cover at least a portion of the active region 612. It is noted that the dimensions of the various components may be altered depending on the specific implementation without departing from the invention.
As illustrated in the cross-sectional view of
In operation, by selectively applying a voltage potential to a respective base electrode 604 and a respective gate electrode 608, the emitter material 702 deposited on a respective active region 612 (i.e., a cathode sub-pixel region) will emit electrons toward and illuminate a corresponding portion (i.e., an anode sub-pixel region) of a corresponding phosphor, e.g., phosphor 808, formed on the anode plate 802 above. Portions of the electron emission pass through the openings 610 formed in the gate electrode 608 crossing thereover, while other portions of the emission are blocked by the gate electrode 608 (see FIG. 13). Furthermore, as is similarly done in conventional FEDs, in order to accelerate the electron emission toward the phosphor material providing greater brightness of the illuminated anode sub-pixel region of phosphor, a potential is also applied to the anode material 804.
According to preferred embodiments, since the electric field produced is substantially uniform across the majority of the active region 612 and the resulting electron emission passing through the openings 610 is generally straight up with virtually no dispersion, the phosphors may be sized to more closely match the size of the active region 612. For example, in many conventional FEDs, the spread of an electron emission is not focused, but rather the corresponding phosphor is made larger than the area covered by the emitters forming the cathode sub-pixel, such that all of the spread electrons strike the desired phosphor. Advantageously, since the electron emission according to several embodiments is substantially straight up, the phosphor material does not have to be oversized without using additional focusing electrodes.
Furthermore, the FED 800 incorporates spacers (not shown) that will prevent the anode plate 801 from collapsing on the electron emitting structure 600 in the vacuum. These spacers may be implemented as one or more thin wall segments (e.g., having an aspect ratio of 10-50×1000 μm) evenly spaced across the substrate. For example, wall-like or rib-like spacers are preferably periodically formed in between active regions 612, e.g., on the insulating members 606, across the gate electrodes 608 above the insulating members 606, etc. Preferably, the spacers are located at a desired spacing across the display, e.g., for a 5-inch display, one spacer every 25 mm. Additionally, spacers are preferably located in between pixels (a grouping of three active (sub-pixel) regions, e.g., red, green and blue). Alternatively, these spacers may be implemented as support pillars that are evenly spaced across the substrate 602.
According to preferred embodiments, in addressing and driving the cathode plate 600, a 20 volt difference between the base drive voltage VB applied to the base electrode 604 and the gate voltage VG applied to the gate electrode 608 generates an electric field in the active region 612 sufficient to create an electron emission. For example, in preferred embodiments, a voltage potential of −10 volts is selectively applied to a respective base electrode, where an un-energized state of the base electrode is at 0 volts. At the same time, a voltage potential of +10 volts is applied to the respective gate electrode crossing over the respective base electrode 604, and where an un-energized state of the gate electrode 608 is at 0 volts. Thus, at different active regions 612 of the electron emitting structure 600 (see also FIG. 16), there is a voltage difference of either 0 volts (0 volts at the base and gate), 10 volts (i.e., −10 volts at the base and 0 volts at the gate, or 0 volts at the base and +10 volts at the gate) or 20 volts (−10 volts at the base and +10 volts at the gate) between the respective active region 612 and the gate electrode 608 crossing thereover. In preferred embodiments, the voltage difference of 20 volts provides an electric field sufficient to cause an electron emission from the emitter material 702 located on a given active region 612, whereas a voltage difference of 10 volts or 0 volts will not result in an electron emission. While the values herein are provided for example, it is understood that the voltage values may be other values or may be DC shifted, for example, the gate voltage may be +40 volts and the base electrode drive voltage may be +20 volts relative to +30 volts undriven.
Referring next to
Additionally, the electric field 1202 is substantially uniform across the active region 612, particularly across the middle 75% of the distance across the active region 612. For example, the electric field 1202 has a variation of only about 0.906 v/μm across the entire distance of the active region 612. However, the majority of the non-uniformity occurs proximate to the edge or periphery portions of the active region 612, which is seen as spikes 1204. Moving further toward the middle of the active region from the periphery edges, a middle region 1206 of the electric field 1202 is exceptionally uniform. Thus, across the middle 75% of the distance across the active region 612, the electric field has a variation of about 0.05 v/μm. Similarly, across the middle 80% of the distance across the active region 612, the electric field has a variation of about 0.1 v/μm. This is contrast to the electric field produced in known FEDs, which produce an electric field that is specifically designed to be non-uniform within an emitter well. For example, a known electric field is about 100 v/μm at the tip of the emitter (e.g., a Spindt tip) and a difference of about 106 v/μm between the center and edge of the emitter well.
As such, in preferred embodiments and in general terms, the substantially uniform electric field may be defined having a variation of less than 1.0 v/μm (e.g., 0.906 v/μm) across the entire active region 612, more preferably having a variation of less than 0.5 v/μm (e.g., 0.1 v/μm) across the middle 80% of the distance across the entire active region 612, and most preferably having a variation of less than 0.1 v/μm (e.g., 0.05 v/μm) across the middle 75% of the distance across the entire active region 612.
Alternatively described, the electric field generated is substantially uniform over a relatively large distance across the active region 612. For example, the generated electric field at the surface of the active region 612 has a variation of less than 0.2 v/μm, more preferably, less than 0.15 v/μm across a distance of the active region 612 of at least 10 μm, more preferably, at least 20 μm, and most preferably, at least 30 μm.
The substantially uniform electric field across the active region 612 provides for a substantially uniform and straight electron emission that does not require additional focusing (see FIGS. 13-15). Additionally, combined with an emitter material that easily emits electrons, the substantially uniform electric field allows for a lower drive voltage than in conventional FEDs, for example, in preferred embodiments, the drive voltages are 10 volts, i.e., 10 volts to the base electrodes 604 and 10 volts to the gate electrodes 608. In contrast, in order to create the electric field having the shape to sufficiently rip electrons off of the tip of a conventional emitter, a drive voltage of 20-100 volts is common.
It is noted that in many embodiments, the electron emitting material is deposited to substantially cover the active region 612. However, to produce an electron emission that is as uniform and straight as possible, it is desirable to pass the portions of the electron emission emitted from the most uniform portions of the electric field (e.g., the middle portion 1206) across the active region 612. Thus, in preferred embodiments, the openings 610 are formed or aligned in a central portion of the gate electrode 608 in order to avoid the majority of the non-uniformity in the electric field (e.g., at spikes 1204) at the edges of the active region as illustrated in FIG. 12. Thus, openings 610 of the gate electrodes 608 are preferably not formed or aligned above the periphery portions of the active region 612. For example, the openings 610 preferably correspond to the middle 80% of the distance across the active region 612 in FIG. 12. For example, the openings are formed and aligned to cover the middle 50-80%, more preferably the middle 60-75%, and most preferably the middle 70-75% of the active region 612. It is noted that the emitter material, however, may be patterned across the entire active region if desired, since electrons emitted from the emitting material at the periphery of the active region 612 (i.e., the less uniform portions, although still considerably more uniform than in traditional FEDs) are blocked or intercepted by the gate electrode 608. It is also understood that the emitting material may also be deposited within a central or middle portion of the active region 612 if desired.
Additionally, according to several embodiments of the invention, an electron emitting structure in accordance with several embodiments reduces the problem of crosstalk in an FED. For example, crosstalk occurs when electrons are unintentionally emitted from active regions (sub-pixels) adjacent to active regions (sub-pixels) that are intended to emit electrons. In an FED, crosstalk leads to a poor contrast ratio in the resulting display.
As illustrated in FIG. 16 and according to one embodiment, a voltage differential of about 20 volts between a given base electrode 604 and a given gate electrode 608 is required to fully turn on an active region 612 (e.g., a sub-pixel region of an FED). Thus, in one embodiment, the base electrode drive voltage VB and the gate electrode drive voltage VG are each set to 10 volts (having opposite polarity). A threshold voltage VTH is set at 10 volts, such that above a 10 volt difference between the base electrode and the gate electrode, electrons may be emitted from an emitter material located at a given active region, i.e., if the voltage difference is greater than 10 volts, then the electric field at the emitter material may be greater than 2.0 volts/micron. However, it is noted that while a difference of 10 volts may cause a partial electron emission, it is not enough to fully turn on the given active region. Furthermore, the crosstalk voltage VCT is at 10 volts, such that crosstalk may occur if the voltage differential at an adjacent active region is greater than 10 volts.
As seen in the example of
Next referring to
On the other hand, by patterning the openings 610 as illustrated in the gate electrode 608 of
Referring next to
The additional ribs 1804 do not substantively affect the electric field produced within the active region or the resulting electron emission since there is not enough dielectric material present to cause the base electrode and the gate electrode to behave other than in a parallel plate arrangement. Thus, in some embodiments, additional dielectric material may be located in a variety of configurations between the active region 612 and the gate electrode 608; however, too much dielectric material may affect the uniformity of the electric field produced. For example, too much insulating material may reduce the parallel plate-like structure of the base and gate and result in a non-uniform electric field. The traditional emitter in well design represents an opposite extreme in which dielectric material occupies all of the space between the base electrode and the gate electrode other than where wells are formed. In the known emitter in well design, the base electrode and the gate electrode do not produce an electric field similar to that of a parallel plate, i.e., the electric field is non-uniform across the wells and focuses on the tip of an emitter cone (see FIG. 2).
As such, in the embodiment of
In one implementation, the electron emitting structure 600 according to several embodiments of the invention is implemented as a cathode plate of an FED and is used to make a large FED type display, such as greater than 13 inches. Additionally, such a large FED cathode plate may be implemented in a spacerless FED, such as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/386,172, of Russ, et al., entitled SPACER-LESS FIELD EMISSION DISPLAY, filed concurrently herewith, and which is incorporated herein by reference.
In another alternative use, the electron emitting structure is used as a field ionizer, rather than an emitter. For example, as is known, the gate electrode drive voltage is made negative with respect to the base electrode drive voltage. Additionally, the electron emitting structures described herein may be implemented as field emission displays (FEDs) or any other application requiring an electron emission, such as an imaging device (X-ray device).
While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.
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.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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60372853 | Apr 2002 | US |