KR20060029077A - A pixel structure for an electron emission display device and an electron emission display device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A pixel structure for an electron emission display device according to the present invention includes a plurality of scan lines and data lines formed in an insulated and intersecting structure, and a plurality of unit pixels defined by them, each unit pixel having a corresponding scan. It has two areas separated on both sides of the wiring. Each of the two separate regions and the corresponding scan line are each connected through at least one fuse. Therefore, when excessive current is applied to any one of the two regions, only the corresponding region can be isolated from the scan wiring. This isolation prevents the entire scan wiring from becoming defective.

Flat panel display, electron emission display, pixel structure, driving circuit

Description

Pixel Structure for Electron Emission Display Device and Electron Emission Display Device Using Them {PIXEL STRUCTURE FOR ELECTRON EMISSION DISPLAY AND ELECTRON EMISSION DISPLAY USING THE SAME}

1 is a schematic diagram of a part of a pixel structure for an electron emission display device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of manufacturing a unit pixel of FIG. 1.

3 is a schematic perspective view of a portion of an electron emission display device employing a pixel structure according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram for driving a display panel including the pixel structure of FIG. 1.

5 is a conceptual diagram schematically illustrating the pixel structure of FIG. 1.

6 and 7 are timing diagrams of a scan signal and a data signal applied to the pixel structure of FIG. 4.

The present invention relates to a pixel structure for an electron emission display device and an electron emission display device using the same. More specifically, the unit pixel is divided into two regions based on the scan wiring, and each of them is connected to the corresponding scan wiring and fuses. Therefore, when excessive current is applied to one region, only that region can be isolated from the scan wiring.

The display device, which is a main medium for transmitting information to humans, has been mainly used as a monitor and a TV of a personal computer, but recently, its application field has been widely created. In general, when the display device is classified, the display device can be roughly divided into a CRT and a flat panel display. The flat panel display includes a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, a fluorescent display, and an electron beam display.

A representative example of a flat panel display device is an electron emission display device. In general, an electron emission display device includes an electron emission device using a hot cathode and a cold cathode as an electron source. The electron-emitting devices using the cold cathode are FEA (Field Emitter Array) type, SCE (Surface Conduction Emitter) type, MIM (Metal-Insulator-Metal) type, MIS (Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor) type, BSE (Ballistic) electron surface emitting) and the like are known.

An electron emission display device is provided with an electron emission element and includes an electron emission region for emitting electrons, and an image expression region for emitting the emitted electrons by colliding with a fluorescent layer. In general, an electron emission display device includes a plurality of electron emitters and driving electrodes for controlling their electron emission on a first substrate, and electrons emitted from the first substrate are efficiently directed toward a fluorescent layer formed on the second substrate. It is provided with a fluorescent layer and an electrode connected thereto to be accelerated to.

A large number of pixel structures and driving methods thereof used in an electron emission display device are known. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-342636 discloses an example thereof. In the electron emission display device, a plurality of surface conduction electron emission devices are arranged in a matrix by a plurality of scan wires and a plurality of data wires. A selection signal is applied to one scan wiring and a data signal is applied to each of the plurality of data wirings. When display by one wiring is performed in this manner, image display of one frame is realized by sequentially switching the scan wiring to be selected at a predetermined frequency and scanning in the vertical direction.

The electron emission display device according to the related art has a limit in improving display efficiency since the maximum value of the scan period required for scanning one scan wiring is limited. In addition, as the flat panel display device becomes larger, in particular, the configuration of the data line driving circuit becomes complicated, and design difficulties are a problem. In addition, in the case of the electron emission display device according to the related art, the unit pixels driven by one scan wiring are operated at the same time, thereby causing interference by adjacent unit pixels. Such interference has a problem of reducing the emission amount of the effective electrons. In addition, all of the above-mentioned prior arts have a pixel structure in the form of a stripe, which limits the representation of a moving image.                         

On the other hand, the distance between the wirings for controlling the electron-emitting device or the distance between the wiring and the electron-emitting part is only a few to several tens of micrometers in the electron-emitting display device, so that short circuits are often caused by foreign matter or arcing. Attempts have been made to solve this problem. The prior art according to the example is disclosed in Korea Patent Publication No. 10-289638. However, this technology has a complicated laminated structure, the manufacturing cost is excessive, and there is a problem that it is difficult to manufacture a reliable device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a pixel structure for an electron emission display device having a new structure and an electron emission display device using the same.

Another object of the present invention is to prevent the phenomenon that the entire scan wiring is disconnected due to excessive current flow between the scan wiring and the electron emitting portion.

Still another object of the present invention is to solve a phenomenon in which unit pixels driven by one scan wiring are operated at once, thereby being interfered by adjacent unit pixels.

As a technical means for solving the above problems, the first aspect of the present invention comprises a plurality of first wirings and second wirings formed in a structure that is insulated and crossed with each other; And a plurality of unit pixels defined by them, each unit pixel having a structure divided into two regions based on the first wiring, wherein the two regions and the first wiring are each at least A pixel structure for an electron emission display device connected through one fuse is provided. The melting point of the fuse is preferably configured to be smaller than the melting point of the first wiring and the second wiring.

The two separated regions mean that they are separated on the basis of the first wiring, and each of the divided regions may be further subdivided. For example, assuming that the first wiring is formed in the x direction, the meaning of the two regions means that the first region in the + y direction and the second region in the-y direction are separated. The second region may be subdivided again.

On the other hand, the "unit pixel" refers to the smallest unit that can be separated to implement an image in the electron emission display device. For example, in the case of an electron emission display device consisting of respective RGB unit pixels, one or more electron emission units may be included to implement a unit pixel, and each unit pixel may be independently implemented to represent an entire image.

Preferably, the first wirings have a structure penetrating the central portion of the unit pixel, and the two regions can be configured to have the same area. According to this structure, the luminance can be reduced by the same ratio even if any one of the two regions cannot be contributed to the image realization by the fuse.                     

In addition, it is preferable to implement the pixel structure in a delta type. According to the delta structure, a moving picture can be displayed more effectively. In addition, in the case of including M scan wires and N data wires formed in a structure insulated from each other and intersecting with each other, and the unit pixels of MXN defined by the respective scan wires and data wires, the x th scan wire The unit pixels adjacent to each unit pixel connected to each other in the scan wiring direction are implemented in a structure connected to the xth scan wiring and the adjacent scan wiring ((x-1) or (x + 1) th) (M, N, x Is 2 or more natural numbers). In this case, since the unit pixels driven by one first wiring are operated all at once, the phenomenon of being interfered by the adjacent unit pixels can be eliminated, thereby increasing the amount of effective electrons emitted.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there are provided M scan wires and N data wires formed in an insulated and intersecting structure; And unit pixels of MXN defined by the respective scan lines and data lines, wherein each unit pixel has a structure divided into two regions based on an x-th scan line. The x-th scan wiring provides a pixel structure (M, N, x is a natural number of 2 or more) for an electron emission display device, each connected through at least one fuse.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device comprising: a first substrate having unit pixels; A plurality of first wires facing the first substrate and having a second substrate including image implementing parts corresponding to the unit pixels to implement an image, wherein the unit pixels are insulated from each other and intersected with each other; And the second wirings, each of the unit pixels has electron emission regions separated based on the first wiring, and the electron emission regions and the first wiring are each connected through at least one fuse. Provided is a connected electron emission display device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily implement the technical idea of the present invention.

1 is a schematic diagram of a part of a pixel structure for an electron emission display device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The pixel structure for the electron-emitting display device includes a plurality of scan lines (..., Sp, Sp + 1, Sp + 2, ...) and data lines (...) formed in an insulated and intersecting structure. , Dq, Dq + 1, Dp + 2, ...), and a plurality of unit pixels defined by them. The unit pixels mean parts indicated by reference numerals 10, 20, and 30.

The unit pixel 30 has a structure that is divided up and down based on the scan line Sp, and each of the divided regions and the scan line Sp are connected through at least one fuse F, respectively. have. The one unit pixel 10 and the other unit pixels 20 adjacent to each other may be formed to face each other and face each other only. The shape of each unit pixel is not particularly limited, and various modifications are possible, for example, rectangular, square, hexagonal, and the like.                     

Electron emission regions are provided in each hole of the unit pixel, and for example, in each data line (..., D _q , D _{q + 1} , D _{p + 2} , ...) Scanning wires (..., S _p , S _{p + 1} , S _{p + 2} , ...) and data wires (... ,, D _q , D _{q + 1} , D _The electron beam is emitted by the voltage applied to _{p + 2} , ...).

This structure is effective to prevent a short circuit caused by a defect between the electron emission region and the scan wiring. That is, in general, when a short circuit occurs between the electron emission region and the scan wiring, an excessive current is generated, and when the excessive current is applied to the fuse to break the connection part, the corresponding scan wiring and disconnection are generated. Therefore, excessive current can prevent the problem that the whole scan wiring becomes bad. Preferably, the fuse is made of a metal having a relatively low melting point compared to the wiring metals.

As a material that can be used as a fuse, it is effective to employ a relatively low melting point metal such as Ag, Al, Zn, Mg, Sr, or an alloy thereof, or to control the thickness of the fuse to configure a larger resistance than the wiring. . The fuse may have a thickness of several hundreds of micrometers to several micrometers. Table 1 shows the melting point of each material by reference.

material Melting Point (℃) material Melting Point (℃) Ag 961 Mg 651 Al 660 Mo 2620 Au 1063 Ni 1455 Cu 1083 Sr 800 Fe 1535 Ta 2850 Th 1845 W 3370 Zn 420 Zr 1900 Cr 1890 Pt 1774

Meanwhile, according to the present exemplary embodiment, since the unit pixels 10 and 30 are connected to one scan wire S _p , every other data wires (..., D _q , D _{q + 2} , ..) are sequentially connected to each unit pixel (10,30). Therefore, the remaining data lines (..., D _{q + 1} ,...) Are connected to the other scan line S _{p + 1} . That is, the scan lines of one of the scanning lines of the (S _p), the unit pixel 20 adjacent to the scan line direction for each pixel unit (10,30) connected to the scan line (S _p) and the adjacent scan line (S _{p + 1} ) has a structure connected to.

Preferably, the scan wirings S _p and S _{p + 1} have a structure penetrating the central portion of the unit pixels 10, 20 and 30, and the unit pixels 10, 20 and 30 refer to the corresponding scan wiring. It has a structure divided into two regions.

2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of manufacturing the unit pixel 30 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 shows the scan wiring Sp formed on the substrate 1, the insulating layer 3 formed on the substrate 1, the band-shaped data wiring Dq + 2, and the fuse F. The substrate 1 may be made of, for example, a material such as glass or glass with reduced impurities such as Na, and a silicon substrate, a ceramic substrate, or the like having an insulating layer such as SiO ₂ formed thereon. Scan wirings and data wirings may be formed of a metal such as Cr, Al, Mo, Cu, Ni, Au, or the like, by using a general deposition technique, for example, 1000 to 10000 μs, and indium tin oxide (ITO) and ZnO, if necessary. Transparent conductive layers such as can be formed to 1000 to 2000 kPa.

The insulating layer 3 may be deposited within a range of several nm to several tens of micrometers by using a common insulating layer forming method such as screen printing, sputtering, CVD, or vacuum deposition. As the insulating layer 3, SiO ₂ , SiN _x, or the like may be used. The two regions 5 separated by the scan wiring Sp are connected via the fuse F. As shown in FIG.

3 is a schematic perspective view of a portion of an electron emission display device employing a pixel structure according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The electron emission display device includes a first substrate 50 and a second substrate 60 which are disposed to face each other at predetermined intervals and are sealed to form a vacuum container. At least one scan lines S1, S2, ... and at least one data lines D1, D2, ... formed on the substrate 52 are arranged in a matrix form to define respective unit pixels. do. Referring to FIG. 3, the scan lines S1, S2,... And the data lines D1, D2,,, form a pixel structure formed of an array of unit pixels, and output a signal from an external unit. It serves to deliver to the pixel. As described above, each unit pixel connected to one scan line is sequentially connected to one data line every other pixel.

Meanwhile, the unit pixel includes a plurality of openings, each of which is formed in the insulating layer 54, and has an electron emitting unit (not shown) connected to the data lines D1, D2,. It is exposed so as to face the phosphor 66 of 60. The second substrate 60 includes at least one anode electrode 68 on the substrate 62, and at least one surface of the anode electrode 68 includes a fluorescent film 66 having a stripe shape, for example. The anode electrode 68 may use a transparent electrode such as indium tin oxide (ITO) or the like, or may form a thin metal layer. In addition, the anode electrode 68 may be any one having an integrated electrode, a stripe shape, or a split electrode. The fluorescent film 66 may have a stripe shape or a dot shape, and a light shielding film 64 may be additionally formed between the fluorescent films 66.

On the other hand, the first substrate 50 and the second substrate 60 are supported at a constant distance by a known means, for example, by a support means such as a spacer. On the other hand, the number of electron-emitting portions that can correspond to one fluorescent film 66 of R, G, or B as the unit pixel is not particularly limited.

As an example of the voltage applicable to the electron emission display device, a voltage of approximately 5 to 120 V is applied to the selected scan wiring, and a voltage of 0 V to -20 V for the unselected scan wiring and approximately -120 to 0 V for the data wiring electrode. Is authorized. In addition, a voltage of 1 to several kV may be applied to the anode electrode so that electrons emitted from the electron emission unit may be accelerated.

The pixel structure of the electron emission display device has a delta type structure which is advantageous for the representation of a moving image. In addition, since the number of data wires connected to one scan wire corresponds to half of the total number of data wires, when the selection potential is sequentially applied to the scan wires, data signals can be applied to every other data wire one by one. This can prevent the phenomenon that the focusing effect is degraded by adjacent pixels when the image is implemented in each unit pixel. That is, when the same scan voltage is applied to each unit pixel and the unit pixel adjacent to the pixel, the electron beam emitted from the electron emission unit causes interference by the scan voltage for the image implementation of the adjacent pixel, thereby reducing the focusing force and reducing the color. There was a problem of poor reproducibility. According to the present invention, it is possible to fundamentally solve this problem.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram for driving the electron emission display of FIG. 3.

The display panel 100 includes M scan wires and N data wires formed in an insulated and intersecting structure, and unit pixels of MXN defined by respective scan wires and data wires. It has the pixel structure of FIG. 1 mentioned above. (M and N are two or more natural numbers)

First, when an image signal is input to the controller 120 through a known means such as a buffer (not shown), the controller 120 stores the image data for each RGB in the RAM 170 in units of one frame, and separately stores the RAM ( The image data stored in 170 is read and transmitted to the data driving circuit 110. The data driving circuit 110 receives a power supply voltage from the power supply unit 160 and outputs a data signal (pulse) to the display panel 100 in which a pulse width is modulated according to the gray level of RGB image data transmitted from the control unit 120. Is authorized.

The power supply unit 160 supplies a data driving power supply voltage to the data driving circuit 110 and a scan driving power supply voltage to the scan driving circuit 150. The anode power supply / control circuit 130 is controlled by the controller 120 and receives an anode driving power supply voltage from the power supply unit 160 to supply the anode potential to the anode electrode of the display panel 100. The scan voltage control circuit 140 sets the scan order and timing of the scan terminals, receives a scan driving power supply voltage from the power supply 160, and applies a predetermined pulse to the scan driving circuit 150. The scan driving circuit 150 receives a selection signal (scanning signal) for scanning the scan terminals of the display panel 100 by the control of the control unit 120 and receives the selection signal (scan signal) by the scan voltage control circuit 140. Accordingly, the pixels are driven by selecting a scan terminal of the display panel 100.

Next, a method of driving the electron emission display device having the pixel structure of FIG. 1 will be described in detail. 5 is a conceptual diagram schematically illustrating the pixel structure of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are timing diagrams of a scan signal and a data signal applied to the pixel structure of FIG. 4. Referring to Fig. 5, scan wirings are shown as S1, S2, ..., and data wirings are shown as D1, D2, D3 ....

Referring to FIG. 6, the first driving method is a method of sequentially applying selection signals by one scan wiring. In this case, when the total number of scan wirings is 1024, for example, 1024 selection signals are sequentially applied. When the p-th scan wiring is selected, only the data lines D ₁ , D ₃ ,..., Or D ₂ , D ₄ .. Of course, it is also possible to apply the corresponding data signal to the entire data wiring for other reasons such as design. However, even though the data signal is applied to the unit pixel to which the selection signal is not applied by the scan wiring, the electron beam is not emitted and thus the image is not realized. According to the first driving method, the electron beam focusing power of the unit pixel as described above can be improved, and the data driving circuit can reduce the number of data signals applied, thereby simplifying the structure of the overall data circuit.

Referring to FIG. 7, the second driving method is a method of simultaneously applying a selection signal to two scan lines. In this case, if the total number of scan wires is 1024, for example, two scan wires are selected at a time, and a selection signal of 1024/2 is applied. When the p-th scan wiring is selected, the data signal is applied to all the data lines D ₁ , D ₂ , D ₃ ,... According to this method, it is possible to increase the time for selecting one scan wiring, thereby improving electron emission efficiency, and by selecting two scan wirings at the same time, the selected unit pixels and adjacent pixels in the scan wiring direction are selected together. The interference phenomenon that occurs is also reduced. This is because of the delta structure, the adjacent portion is reduced compared to the stripe shape.

Although the technical spirit of the present invention has been described in detail according to the above-described preferred embodiment, it should be noted that the above-described embodiment is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. In addition, those skilled in the art will understand that various embodiments are possible within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

As described above, if an excessive current is applied to a region by dividing the unit pixel into two regions based on the scan wiring and connecting each of them with the wiring and the fuse, only the region can be isolated from the scan wiring. . This isolation prevents the entire scan wiring from becoming defective.

In addition, since the unit pixels driven by one scan wiring are operated all at once, the phenomenon of interference caused by adjacent unit pixels can be eliminated and the emission amount of the effective electrons can be increased.

In addition, there is an effect that can provide a delta-type pixel structure that can display an image more effectively.

In addition, it is possible to improve the display efficiency by improving the scan period required to scan one scan wiring, and there is an effect that the configuration of the data wiring driving circuit can be simplified.

Claims (9)

A plurality of first wires and second wires formed to be insulated from and cross each other; And A plurality of unit pixels defined by them; Each unit pixel has two regions separated based on the first wiring, and the two regions and the first wiring are connected through at least one fuse, respectively. According to claim 1, And a melting point of the fuse is smaller than a melting point of the first wiring and the second wiring. The pixel structure of claim 1, wherein the pixel structure is delta type. According to claim 1, And the first lines have a structure penetrating through a central portion of the unit pixel. The pixel structure of claim 1, wherein the two regions have the same area. M scan wires and N data wires formed in an insulated and intersecting structure; And Including unit pixels of M X N defined by the respective scan wirings and data wirings, Each unit pixel has a structure divided into two regions based on an x-th scan line, and the two regions and the x-th scan line are connected through at least one fuse, respectively. Pixel structure. (M, N, x are two or more natural numbers). The method of claim 6, The pixel structure is delta type, and the unit pixels adjacent to each unit pixel connected to the xth scan line in the scan wiring direction are the scan wires ((x-1) or (x + 1) th) adjacent to the xth scan wire. A pixel structure for an electron emitting display device having a structure connected to the same. The method of claim 6, And the scan lines have a structure penetrating through a central portion of the unit pixel. A first substrate having unit pixels; A second substrate facing the first substrate, the second substrate including image implementing parts for implementing an image corresponding to the unit pixels; The unit pixels are defined by a plurality of first wirings and second wirings that are formed to be insulated from each other and cross each other. And each of the unit pixels has electron emission regions separated based on the first wiring, and the electron emission regions and the first wiring are connected through at least one fuse, respectively.

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