Cold cathode field emission display with each microtip having its own ballast resistor
AssigneeIndustrial Technology Research Institute
InventorJammy C.-M. Huang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cold cathode field emission display is described. A key feature of its design is that each individual microtip has its own ballast resistor. The latter is formed from a resistive layer that has been interposed between the cathode line and the substrate. When openings for the microtips are formed in the gate line, extending down as far as the resistive layer, an overetching step is introduced. This causes the dielectric layer to be substantially undercut immediately above the resistive layer thereby creating an annular resistor positioned between the gate line and the base of the microtip.
Claims12
A cold cathode field emission display comprising:
- an insulating substrate;
- cathode columns for said display, formed of parallel, spaced conductors over said insulating substrate;
- an electrically resistive layer between said columns and said substrate;
- gate lines for said display, formed of parallel, spaced conductors, over, and at an angle to, and comprising a different material from, said cathode columns;
- a dielectric layer between said cathode columns and said gate lines;
- a plurality of openings, located at the intersections of said cathode columns and said gate lines, passing through said gate lines, said dielectric layer and said cathode columns, wherein the width of the gate line aperture is smaller than the width of the dielectric layer aperture and the width of the cathode line aperture is greater than the width of the dielectric layer aperture;
- and
- a plurality of cone shaped field emission microtips, each centrally located within one of the openings, the base of each of said microtips being in contact with said electrically resistive layer and the apex of each microtip being in the same plane as that of said gate lines.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.