High-efficiency PDP micro-discharges

Abstract

Abstract— High‐efficiency plasma‐display‐panel micro‐discharge characteristics will be discussed. An increase in the discharge efficiency for a higher‐Xe‐content gas mixture is well known. In this article, the interdependency of the capacitive design, the sustain voltage, and the Xe content will be discussed. A high panel efficacy was obtained, especially for the design and driving conditions that govern the development of a fast discharge. A fast discharge was observed for a higher discharge field at sustain voltages higher than 200 V. A +C‐buffer design, where the extra capacitance acts as a local on the panel power source that lowers the voltage decrease inherent to the discharge of the discharge capacitance upon firing, and efficient priming of the discharge at higher sustain frequency, also stimulates a fast‐discharge development. Apparently, a “high‐efficiency fast‐discharge mode” exists. It is proposed that in this mode the cathode sheath is not, or incompletely, formed during the increase in the discharge current, and the electric field in the discharge cell is dominated not by the space charges but by the externally applied voltage. The effective discharge field is lowered, resulting in a lower effective electron temperature and more efficient Xe excitation. Also, under a fast discharge build‐up condition, the electron‐heating efficiency increases, due to a decrease in the ion heating losses in the cathode sheath. In a 4‐in. color plasma‐display test panel, operating in a high‐efficiency discharge mode and containing a 50%Xe in Ne gas mixture, a panel efficacy of 5 lm/W concurrent with a luminance of 5000 cd/m2 was realized. This result was obtained at a sustain voltage of 260 V. These data compare favorably with alternative high‐efficacy panel design approaches.

Diagnostics of PDP micro-discharges

“…Apart from higher sustain voltages, a fast discharge development can be stimulated by other design or driving characteristics. For instance, by an adapted capacitive cell design, a special sustain waveform or a high sustain frequency [14]- [16]. In all cases, a correspondence between a fast discharge development and high discharge efficiency is found.…”

18.1: Invited Paper: High Efficacy PDP Design

“…The very high values for luminance and efficacy in high Xe panels allow for trade-offs in high-resolution designs. The efficacy increase rate with increasing Xe-content is affected by design and operation conditions [5]. For instance, the efficacy depends on the sustain voltage and the voltage, Vs,eff.…”

“…The effective discharge field is lowered, resulting in a lower effective electron temperature and more efficient Xe-excitation. Also under a fast discharge build-up condition the electron-heating efficiency increases, due to a decrease of the ion heating losses in the cathode sheath [5]. The high efficiency mode is usually found for sustain voltages >200V at a sustain frequency of 50 kHz, but the high efficiency mode region can be stretched to lower voltages for higher frequency operation [6].…”

Characteristics of a micro dielectric barrier discharge ignited by a cold cathode with high ion-induced secondary electron emission for plasma display panel

“…1, 2 The fundamental property of microdischarge in a PDP cell has been experimentally investigated for the last 10 years, [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] and the high Xe concentration of the discharge gas becomes one of the most promising approaches to improve the luminous efficiency. 13,14 But, the condition of high Xe partial pressure accompanies an increase in breakdown voltage, and the development of new cathode material is strongly required for low voltage PDP operation.…”