Getters for flat-panel displays

Getters play a crucial role in solution of the main technical issues on the way to commercial exploitation of new flat-panel technologies: packaging, reliability and lifetime. The production steps of flat-panel displays (FPDs) often include a long baking and exhaust process to minimize the impurity content prior to the final sealing, which dramatically increases the manufacturing costs up to a level that might be incompatible with mass production requirements. These problems can be tackled and solved by the introduction of a specific getter device that can permanently remove the undesirable species by the formation of irreversible chemical bonds. In this paper we will focus on long-studied FPD technologies such as vacuum-fluorescent displays, field-emission displays, and plasma display panels, showing how proper getter solutions based on special metal alloys can increase their lifetime and reliability and, in particular cases, also improve the manufacturing process conditions.