Discharge characteristics of a plasma display panel cell: comparisons between binary and ternary gas mixtures

We have performed simulations on a coplanar structured alternating current plasma display panel cell sustained in the ternary He-Ne-Xe gas mixture and its discharge characteristics were compared with those of the conventional binary Ne-Xe mixture, by using the two-dimensional fluid model simulator. Since plasma display panels use micro-discharges in the Xe mixed gas to generate vacuum ultraviolet light to excite phosphor for visible light emission, the condition of discharge gas mixtures is one of the main factors that determine luminous efficacy and thus, intensive studies on discharge gas mixture are essential to optimize it. As the He concentration increases in the He-Ne-Xe mixture, luminance and luminous efficacy increase but power consumption decreases, which agrees well with the recent experimental findings. We have found that the enhanced ion mobilities in the gas mixture by adding He gas to the conventional Ne-Xe mixture play an important role in increasing luminous efficacy of a plasma display panel cell, by reducing the cathode fall potential. In addition, He atoms increase the number of Xe^*(³P₂) in the excited state and thus, the dimer emission is increased while the resonant line is reduced with the He content. As a result, the total vacuum ultraviolet emission is increased and higher luminance and higher luminous efficacy can be obtained.