Breakdown and plasma formation in coplanar plasma displays

Our previously developed, 2-D discharge model (J.P. Boeuf and L.C. Pitchford, IEEE Trans Plasma Science, vol 24, pp. 95-96 (1996).) has been used to study the discharge initiation and plasma formation in AC plasma display panels a coplanar (single substrate) geometry. Results from this model show that the voltage required to initiate the discharge is strongly dependent, not only on pd, the product of the gas pressure and the distance between the electrodes, but also on the distance, h, between the coplanar electrodes and the addressing electrode. The minimum breakdown voltage is in qualitative agreement with experiment; the minimum voltages moves to larger pd values when d is increased. During one current pulse in steady-state conditions, the maximum light emission occurs at the sheath edge, but in the coplanar geometry, the sheath is never parallel to the dielectric surface. We <A HREF=http://cpat.ups-tlse.fr/themes/operations/oper3/posters/pdp/inde x.html>reported previously</A> in ref. 1 for matrix geometries (electrodes on opposite substrates) the radial spreading of the plasma along the dielectric surfaces, due to the accumulation of wall charges. This also occurs in the coplanar geometry, and, as a result, a secondary maximum in the light emission appears near the anode.