Deterioration of MgO layer in a plasma display panel

Summary form only given, as follows. The deterioration of the MgO protecting layer in an AC-PDP discharge is one of the important problems that should be examined. The MgO layer in in AC-PDP discharge is subjected to a flux of energetic bombarding particles sufficient to cause changes in the properties of surface layer. This energetic particle bombardment may increase the erosion of MgO layer, changing the surface reactivity and gas condition and so on. In order to obtain guidelines for design and operation of a PDP, experimental and numerical analyses for the behavior of the sputtered particles and ionized gases during discharge must be carried out. In this study, we studied experimentally the behavior of the sputtered Mg particle using laser spectroscopy and investigated the erosion properties of the MgO. Also, analyses for the behavior of ionized gas particles during discharge were performed using a computer-based simulation. The results of simulation show that the energetic ion bombardment plays an important role in sputtering and secondary electron emission of MgO layer. The results of experimental and numerical analyses will be presented and discussed.