Diagnostics and control of three-dimensional behaviours of microdischarge in a unit cell of an ac-type plasma display panel

The influences of surface potential formed on the address electrode by the applied pulsed voltage V a combined with the accumulated charge on the behaviour of microdischarge in a unit cell of an ac-type plasma display panel was investigated in the sustain periods by systematically varying the timing and amplitude of V a . Using a special panel, which enabled three-dimensional observation from the front and side, the spatiotemporal behaviour of excited Xe atoms in the metastable (1s 5 ) and resonance (1s 4 ) states and the 2p state was observed by microscopic laser absorption spectroscopy and optical emission spectroscopy, respectively. When V a was applied synchronously with the rise of the sustain pulse, the discharge started from the temporal anode side and the density of Xe*(1s 5 ) atoms distributed over the whole area between the sustain and address electrodes. When the rise of V a was set in between the fall and the rise of successive sustain pulses, a pre-discharge occurred between the address electrode and one of the sustain electrodes which had worked as a preceding anode. In both cases, the production efficiency of excited atoms was enhanced compared with the case without V a , but the increment in the former case was larger than in the latter. However, there was an optimum amplitude of V a of about 60 V.