Affordable High-field Spacers For Field Emitter Displays

Field Emitter Displays (FEDs) represent the "leap frog" technology which can rebuild America's dominance in the information display industry. This represents simultaneously a critical technology area for Defense and a multi-billion dollar market opportunity. Basic technology feasibility for FEDs has been amply demonstrated already. The remaining questions are those of engineering and economics. Improvements are needed most in spacer technology, low energy phosphors, and cathodes. LETI proved that current phosphors are at least adequate, if not ideal, for the time being; and the MCC/SI Diamond Team has recently developed a major breakthrough in diamond cold cathode fabrication and performance. This leaves high field spacer technology prominently exposed on the critical path to FED commercialization. We propose herein to demonstrate an affordable, reliable approach to fabricating and installing high performance spacers for Field Emitter Displays. Failure mechanisms in current spacers are fairly well understood, and presumabley one can improve spacer performance by any number of brute force routes. We shall confine the Phase I Program, however, to identifying economical solutions that support rapid market entry, consistent quality and high volume production. Phase II will focus on setting up pilot scale production based upon the Phase I results. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS: Improved spacers will help enable a new generation of flat panel display technology, Field Emitter Displays. FEDs will serve advanced computer, telecommunicaions and entertainment applications in the consumer market, as well as avionics, CCCI and general hi-rel applications in Defense.