Surface change by plasma discharge in plasma display panel

Summary form only given. Inside of working PDPs, there exist highly reactive conditions in the gap between two glass panels. Accordingly, reactive species generated by plasma collide each other and the wall of the plates. In fabricating process, front and rear panel are sealed with a glass frit, followed by baking and charging with gas. The inside surface of panel starts to change after turning on the PDP and applying plasma in each cell. In order to achieve a stable discharge condition, a period of time is necessary. This final step of manufacturing is called an aging process. For reducing the time of process, it is important to understand the physical and chemical changes of inner surface of the panel and composition change of inside gas during the aging process. We designed an in-situ analysis system for 7-inch test panel prepared by each fabrication process. Test panels with various aging time are also introduce to the UHV system. The panels are disassembled by wobble sticks and transferred analysis chambers to investigate the changes. We examine the surfaces mainly by using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscope (AFM).