Dynamics of a coplanar-electrode plasma display panel. II. Cell optimization

Plasma display panels (PDPs) are a leading technology for large-area flat p anel displays. As a result, there is significant interest in improving thei r efficiency, luminosity, and lifetime. In this article, results from a two -dimensional model are used to investigate the consequences of operating co nditions, gas mixture, cell dimensions, and material properties on the visi ble light generation capacity (luminosity and efficiency) of a coplanar-ele ctrode PDP cell sustained in He/Ne/Xe gas mixtures. Of the species that dom inantly lead to the generation of visible light (Xe*, Xe**, and Xe-2*), Xe- 2* makes the largest contribution for our conditions since its UV radiation is optically thin and Xe-2* is efficiently generated from the long-lived x enon metastable. Significant improvements could be made in PDP light genera tion efficiency by choosing operating conditions that favor production of X e-2*, such as increasing gas pressure to enhance the three-body collision p rocesses that generate Xe-2*. Gas mixtures with more Ne (or less He) were f ound to produce more visible light at higher efficiency since electron tran sport in Ne is less collisional than He and Xe-2* is produced more efficien tly in three body collisions with Ne. PDP light emission characteristics ar e sensitive to the spacing between the dielectrics and there is an optimum spacing where both total visible light output and efficiency are high. It w as found that PDP cells do not generate visible light efficiently during th e postavalanche discharge phase due to low values of E/N (electric field/to tal gas density) in the bulk plasma region. Slight improvements can be made in light generation efficiency be choosing conditions for which PDP cell s pends less time in the discharge phase in each cycle. (C) 1999 American Ins titute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)07207-2].