Microcavity plasma devices: new concepts for the high resolution plasma displays

Summary form only given. The plasma display is perhaps, the foremost example of a successful plasma application. Plasma display technology has evolved continuously since it was first developed by Bitzer and Slottow in 1966. Recently however, it has faced severe challenges by other display technologies. To strengthen the competitive position of plasma display technology, much effort is being expended at present to find new break-through technology especially with regard to improving luminous efficiency, pixel resolution and fast addressing. In this presentation, we review microcavity plasma devices as a candidate for the next generation of plasma displays. Characterized by a microcavity spatial dimension as small as a few microns, these devices show unique optical and electrical discharge properties. Furthermore, as they can be fabricated in a wide range of materials and configurations thanks to microfabrication technologies such as conventional photolithographic and thin film processing techniques, we can control the device structure and discharge properties precisely, even in large scale arrays. Recent progress in the luminous efficacy and discharge properties of addressable structures fabricated in various materials platforms will be discussed and compared with conventional plasma display technology. To date, we have developed device structures having the cavity dimensions of 50-200 mum, a range suitable for high-definition pixels but there are no barriers to decreasing the pixel size to a few microns. The results suggest the potential of this technology for high resolution and efficient plasma displays for the next generation