Origin of the bistable voltage margin in the AC plasma display panel

Bistability in gas-discharge cells is discussed from a general viewpoint. The physical mechanisms controlling the extent of this bistable range are examined by performing numerical simulations of the discharge dynamics in ac plasma panel cells under various assumed conditions. For the particular case of the commonly used neon + 0.1-percent argon mixture, the results give realistic bistable operating margins only when all three of the following conditions are satisfied: 1)incorporation of the electric-field distortion due to space charge; 2) inclusion of the dependence of the secondary-emission coefficient, γ, on the reduced electric field,
E_{c}/p_{0}
, at the cathode; and 3) assumption of an insignificant value of γ for argon ions in comparison to that for neon ions.