Claims
- 1. A method for operating a field emission display, the method comprising steps of:biasing an extraction grid to a first potential sufficient to extract electrons from an emitter tip surrounded by an opening in the extraction grid; biasing a substrate to a second potential less than the first potential to form a depletion region between the substrate and a n-tank disposed in the substrate beneath the emitter; and displacing the depletion region from an area that can be illuminated by photons traveling through the opening wherein the displacing comprises providing an insulating region along a boundary portion of the n-tank opposite from the emitter.
- 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of applying an accelerating potential to a cathodoluminescent-coated anode disposed near the substrate, the accelerating potential for accelerating a portion of the electrons emitted from the emitter to the anode to strike the cathodoluminescent coating to provide light.
- 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of applying a control signal to a gate of a field effect transistor, wherein the n-tank forms a drain of the field effect transistor, the control signal controlling the number of electrons emitted from the emitter per unit time.
- 4. The method of claim 1, including steps of:applying control signals to a plurality of gates of field effect transistors to spatially modulate the number of electrons emitted from emitters; and applying an accelerating potential to a cathodoluminescent-coated anode disposed near the substrate, the accelerating potential for accelerating a portion of the electrons emitted from the emitters to the anode to strike the cathodoluminescent coating to provide light and form a visible image.
- 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the providing an insulating region of the displacing step includes providing a localized insulating region within the substrate.
- 6. The method of claim 5 wherein the providing an insulating region of the displacing step includes providing an insulating region that extends beyond an area that is illuminable by photons traveling through the opening or a portion of the extraction grid that is exposed to incident photons.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a divisional of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/126,695, filed Jul. 30, 1998.
GOVERNMENT RIGHTS
This invention was made with government support under Contract No. DABT63-93-C-0025 awarded by Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). The government has certain rights in this invention.
US Referenced Citations (13)