Field emission display development and testing

Field Emission Displays (FEDs) can have significant advantages over existing display technologies, particularly in the area of small, high-resolution displays. Micron Display Technology (MDT) has been developing a high-resolution display for use in camcorder viewfinders, HMDs, and virtual reality headware. The display has characteristics which make it superior to the present LCDs which dominate the small color display market. The history of this display development, its advantages, and the display characteristics are discussed here. In addition, as FEDs move from prototypes into production, it becomes necessary to develop new technologies which enable production-level testing of these devices. A vacuum probe station has been developed for rapid testing of FED cathodes. This probe station is discussed.