Disclosed are an electron emission thin-film with improved secondary electron emission characteristics compared with conventional ones, a plasma display panel including the electron emission thin-film, and their manufacturing methods. Using a vacuum deposition system, a protective layer that is an MgO thin-film is formed on a dielectric layer formed on a front glass substrate. At the time of deposition, angles that lines linking the central point of a target material for the protective layer respectively with the central point and both ends points of the front glass substrate form with the front glass substrate are exclusively in a range of 30 to 80°. This enables at least some of MgO columnar crystals constituting the protective layer to have flat planes that are inclined with respect to the surface of the thin-film.