Electrical properties of plasma display panel with Mg1−xZnxO protecting thin films deposited by a radio frequency magnetron sputtering method

In order to improve the material properties of the protective layer for alternating current plasma display panels, a small amount of ZnO was added to the MgO protective layer. The electrical properties and the surface characteristics of the Mg1−xZnxO films, deposited by a radio frequency magnetron sputtering method, were investigated. As the concentration of ZnO increases, the crystallinity of Mg1−xZnxO thin films improves and the grain size becomes larger. The firing and the sustaining voltages of panels with the Mg1−xZnxO protective layers, when the concentration of ZnO was 0.5at.%, was reduced by 20V, compared with the conventional panels with the MgO protective layers. It was also found that the panels with Mg1−xZnxO protective layers show the higher discharge intensity as the ZnO content increases at the same applied voltages, compared with panels with the conventional MgO protective layers.