Addressing and sustaining in alternating current coplanar plasma display panels

In a coplanar plasma display panel the discharges in each pixel are sustain ed between two parallel electrodes on the same substrate. A third electrode perpendicular to the sustaining electrodes and placed on a facing substrat e is used to address the pixel. A self-consistent two-dimensional model of the microdischarge has been used to simulate and study the addressing and s ustaining phases in an alternating current coplanar cell. The formation and decay of the transient plasma during the address and sustain discharge pul ses are described. The time evolution of the charges on the dielectric surf aces above each electrode is also discussed and the model is used to derive the voltage margins of the address and sustain regimes. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)02113-1].