INVESTIGATION OF CATHODOLUMINESCENT DISPLAY DEVICE WITH FIELD-EMISSION CATHODES

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the applicability of field emission (FE) cathode arrays for a cathodoluminescent display device. We proposed a tetrode structure which has a grid inserted between the Mo emitter FE cathode arrays and the anode. The focusing properties o f electron beams were measured using the Y2 SiO5:Tb phosphor, and a gr een emission of about 66,700 cd/m2 was achieved at the anode current o f about 90 mA/cm2 and the anode voltage of 8 kV in a vacuum chamber ke pt at 1 x 10(-9) Torr, in which 14,700 Spindt-type cathode tips were u sed. The experimental results showed that the dispersion of electron b eams can be controlled to a considerable extent by the shape, distance and voltage of the grid. An effect of SO2 gas on the emission propert y of FE cathode arrays was measured, too.