High-performance plasma display panel with cathodes in the cell walls

An improved color DC plasma display structure was developed and its characteristics were investigated. The configuration of the device is formed using a multiple thick-film printing technique which allows the realization of a large-scale panel. Discharge occurs from thick cathodes formed on three of the cell sidewalls. The panel developed exhibits the following improvements when compared to a conventional panel with straight row-and-column electrodes: it generates a high luminous efficiency of 0.16 lm/W (a 1.3-fold improvement with a 200-μA/cell), produces high uniformity in light output (a 1.4-fold improvement), and has an increased lifetime under accelerated conditions of 240 h at 400 μA/cell (corresponding to a 4-fold improvement at 70% of initial brightness). The mechanisms of the improvements used in the new cathode structure are discussed