I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to display devices implementing Field Emission Display (FED) technology. More specifically, the invention relates to a method for increasing the emission current of the current emitters of a Field Emission Display (FED).
II. Description of the Related Art
Until recently, the cathode ray tube (“CRT”) had been the primary device for displaying information. While having sufficient display characteristics with respect to color, brightness, contrast, and resolution, CRT's are relatively bulky and consume large amounts of power. In view of the advent of portable laptop computers, the demand has intensified for a display technology which is light-weight, compact, and power efficient.
One available technology is flat panel displays, and more particularly, Liquid Crystal Display (“LCD”) devices. LCDs are currently used for laptop computers. However, these LCD devices provide poor contrast in comparison to CRT technology. Further, LCDs offer only a limited angular display range. Moreover, color LCD devices consume power at rates incompatible with extended battery operation. Lastly, a color LCD type screen tends to be far more costly than an equivalent CRT.
FED technology has recently come into favor as one technology for developing low power, flat panel displays. This technology uses an array of cold cathode emitters and cathodoluminescent phosphors for conversion of energy from an electron beam into visible light. Part of the desire to use FED technology for flatpanel displays is that such technology is conducive to producing flat screen displays having high performance, low power and light weight.
In FED structures and devices a plurality (array) of microelectronic emission elements are employed to emit a flux of electrons from the surface of the emission element(s). The emitter surface, referred to as a “tip”, is specifically shaped to facilitate effective emission of electrons, and may for example be conical, pyramidal, or ridge-shaped in surface profile, or alternatively the tip may comprise a flat emitter surface of low work function material.
In the construction of FED current emitters, various materials are deposited onto a substrate to form the device. Thereafter, a panel containing spaced phosphors is sealed to a panel containing the emitters under conditions where the temperature is approximately 400 degrees Celsius. When the material used to construct the FED current emitter tip, an amorphous silicon doped with boron or phosphorus, is deposited, native oxides form on the tip due to exposure to the atmosphere. This change in the chemical nature of the tip results in an increased work function yielding a decrease in the current emission of the tip nearly ten fold. As a general principal the work function is an instrumental factor in the resulting current emission. The practical effect is the manifestation of a display which is dimmer than that desired or expected, often resulting in an increase in power usage in order to try to achieve a brighter display.
The present invention relates to a system and method for increasing the emission current of the current emitters of a FED device by removing native oxygen from silicon deposited on the tip of the FED device through PECVD hydrogenation and subsequently incorporating nitrogen onto the surface without exposing the tip to the atmosphere.
In the invention an amorphous silicon tip doped with boron or phosphorus is subjected to PECVD hydrogenation followed by an infusing nitrogen plasma, preferably a NH3 plasma, which deposits onto the tip surface, while the FED structure is still in the PECVD chamber. PECVD hydrogenation removes oxides from the silicon surface by infusing hydrogen. The result is the tip being free of approximately one third of the native oxides, which formed when the tip was exposed to atmospheric conditions and which would have otherwise remained on the tip increasing the work function and yielding a less than desirable emission current. The nitrogen plasma treatment is used to complete the process. After the PECVD and nitrogen plasma treatment, the FED structure is sealed in a vacuum under high temperature.
The foregoing and other advantages and features of the invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention given below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring now to the drawings, where like reference numerals designate like elements.
Next, as shown in
To finish the construction of the FED device 100, silicon dioxide is deposited using PECVD processing to form a insulating layer 112 around the sides of the current emitter 116. The insulating layer 112 is provided around the sides of the current emitter 116 so that current does not radiate out of the sides of the current emitter 116 and provide cross-talk to nearby current emitters. Furthermore, this insulating layer 112 helps direct the current to the tip 118 of the current emitter 116 which is desired.
A grid layer 120 is then deposited using PECVD. The grid layer 120 is composed of amorphous silicon doped with phosphorus. Another metal layer 122 is deposited using DC magnetron sputtering on top of grid layer 120. Lasdy, a passivation layer 124, containing nitride, is deposited on top of the metal layer 122. To ensure an opening for emission current to pass from the tip 118, an open area 126 is etched from the passivation layer 124 down to the insulating layer 112.
At this point native oxides are present in the tip 118 as a result of the silicon at tip 118 being exposed to the atmosphere. If left untreated, these natural oxides will reduce the emission current at the tip 118 approximately ten fold. To combat this problem, this invention, treats the tip 118 of
This PECVD hydrogenation is performed with about 1000 sccm silane gas flow, with the RF power set between about 200–300 watts, and the PECVD chamber pressure at about 1200 mtorr for a period of about 5 to 10 minutes. The nitrogen plasma treatment is performed with about 500 sccm NH3 (ammonia) gas flow, with the RF power set between about 300–400 watts, and the PECVD chamber pressure at about 1200 mtorr for a period of about 10 to 15 minutes. This treatment changes the chemical nature of the current emitter tip 118.
After the PECVD and nitrogen plasma treatment, a panel containing a plurality of
A comparison of
The overall process of the invention is illustrated in
It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Many variations to the above-described method and structure will be readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art. For example, the micropoint structures may be manufacture with more than one insulating layer.
Accordingly, the present invention is not to be considered as limited by the specifics of the particular structures which have been described and illustrated, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/387,776, filed Sep. 1, 1999, now abandoned, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20020119328 A1 | Aug 2002 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 09387776 | Sep 1999 | US |
Child | 10086555 | US |