A 2-DIMENSIONAL MULTISPECIES FLUID MODEL OF THE PLASMA IN AN AC PLASMA DISPLAY PANEL

A time dependent, two-dimensional model for simulating the plasma evol ution in an AC plasma display panel (AC-PDP) is described, Reaction-co nvection (mobility)-diffusion equations for charged particles and exci ted heavy neutral species are solved along with Poisson's equation, a radiation transport equation, a surface charge buildup equation, and a n external L-R-C circuit equation using a fully implicit numerical met hod. Electron-driven rate coefficients are computed with a O-D Boltzma nn solver in the local held approximation. For studying the particle d ynamics in pure helium, we consider a reduced model in which radiation transport is ignored and the excited species manifold is collapsed to composite metastable and excited states, The model predictions of bre akdown voltage are quite sensitive to the value of the secondary elect ron emission coefficient assumed and the uncertainties in the electron -driven reaction rates. An initial comparison between the model predic tions and I-V measurements from a specially constructed helium-filled panel if made with qualitatively similar behavior. The lack of quantit ative agreement can be explained by a combination of uncertainties in the model input data and uncertainty in the initial surface charge sta te in the experiments.