Negative Sustain Waveform for Improving Discharge Characteristics in AC Plasma Display Panel

The discharge characteristics produced by a negative sustain waveform were examined in comparison with those produced by a positive sustain waveform. An image-intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) revealed that the negative sustain waveform produced a faster and stronger sustain discharge than the positive sustain waveform. Simulation results also showed that the fast and strong sustain discharge produced by the negative sustain waveform was induced due to the rapid acceleration of the negative wall charges, such as electrons, when applying the negative sustain waveform directly to the electrode with negative wall charges, such as electrons. As a result, the luminance and luminous efficiency were both improved by about 14% and 13%, respectively, with a negative sustain pulse of -180 V when compared to the results with a positive sustain waveform of 180 V.