Efficiency improvement of high-pressure microplasma by an electron beam

Efficiency has been a paramount issue for the past few years in high pressure microplasma devices such as Plasma Display Panels (PDP). In order to achieve a better efficiency, a novel method based upon electron beam emission has been investigated by a two-dimensional (2-D) fluid simulation. The injection of electron beam inside the PDP cell gives rise to substantially large density of excited Xe species (Xe*), while reducing ionized xenon (Xe/sup +/) and electron densities. This, in turn, enhances the efficiency, luminance, and reduces power consumption. The primary reason for generating more Xe* species could be attributed to the formation of low electric field region inside the PDP cell, which consequently improves its operational efficiency. The validity of 2-D fluid simulation results is ensured through a qualitative comparison between the one-dimensional fluid and the kinetic results.