Electron generating apparatus, image forming apparatus, method of manufacturing the same and method of adjusting characteristics thereof

It is an object of this invention to provide an electron generating apparatus which eliminates, with a simple process, variations in electron-emitting characteristics of electron sources caused by various factors, a method of adjusting the characteristics of the electron generating apparatus, a method of manufacturing the electron generating apparatus, and an image forming apparatus using the electron generating apparatus. Characteristic measuring voltages are applied from pulse generators (6, 7) to each surface-conduction emission device of a display panel (1), so that the electron-emitting characteristics are measured by a current detector (12). A pulse peak value setting circuit (8) is controlled to output a voltage signal having a peak value determined in the above manner, and characteristic shift voltages are applied from the pulse generators (6, 7) to the surface-conduction emission device. With this process, the electron-emitting characteristics of the surface-conduction emission devices are equalized. The characteristic shift voltage is higher than the characteristic measuring voltage, and the characteristic measuring voltage is higher than a driving voltage.