Investigation of Cathodoluminescent Display Device with Field Emission Cathodes

Abstract

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 of electron beams were measured using the Y₂SiO₅:Tb phosphor, and a green emission of about 66,700 cd/m² was achieved at the anode current of about 90 mA/cm² and the anode voltage of 8 kV in a vacuum chamber kept at 1×10^-9 Torr, in which 14,700 Spindt-type cathode tips were used. The experimental results showed that the dispersion of electron beams can be controlled to a considerable extent by the shape, distance and voltage of the grid. An effect of SO₂ gas on the emission property of FE cathode arrays was measured, too.