Two-dimensional modeling of a surface type alternating current plasma display panel cell: discharge dynamics and address voltage effects

To improve the luminance and efficiency of an alternating current plasma display panel, the direct measurement of infrared and vacuum ultra violet (VUV) imaging is performed to study discharge dynamics. Images show two emission regions. One is the cathode glow and the other is the anode glow. In the course of discharge cycle, the cathode glow propagates toward the outer edge of the electrode, while the anode glow does not propagate. We developed a two-dimensional model to simulate the time evolution of the discharge dynamics. We learned from the modeling results that the dominant role for the propagation of the cathode glow is the ion transport and the electron transport for the anode glow. In addition, the effects of address voltage on the luminance and efficiency are investigated during the sustain period. When the address electrode is floating, VUV output is larger than that of biased conditions, but the efficiency decreases slightly. The comparison of 100 V with 0 V bias shows that biased voltage does not affect the luminance and efficiency at the steady state.